SAVING YOUR SUB...AND YOUR SANITY
"MOM!!!" pierces through the night and awakes you suddenly. You quickly make your way down to the hall to your child and before you even enter their door your mind is racing. "Who can I get to sub at the last minute?
Sound familiar?
Life happens. We will never be able to prevent these moments, but we can definitely smooth the path by having sub materials in place. For almost 10 years now I have had the privilege of training substitute teachers. They always impress me with their sponge-like eagerness to learn. And, most of them really do want to serve you and your students.
But, what can you do for them?
Be prepared. Here's three ways you can make that happen.
YOUR CLASSROOM BASICS
Inform the substitute teacher of the basic details for managing your classroom. The more they know they more likely they will be able to mange the class in a manner than aligns with your vision. This should include your daily schedule, extra duties, class list(s), discipline plan, classroom procedures, restroom policy, students with special needs (behavioral, academic, etc.), emergency procedures, etc. It is also helpful to have at least 2 students that the sub can trust throughout the day as well as the name of a team member that can answer questions and offer support.
YOUR LESSON PLAN
If at all possible, provide a detailed lesson plan with all necessary materials. This should be easily accessible. But, for the days when last minute life happens, I highly recommend that you have a back up lesson plan in place with necessary materials that could be implemented at a moment's notice. As you develop your lesson plans remember that many times you will have someone in your room that has never taught previously. If you ask them to "pull guided reading groups" they likely won't have a framework for this. Be sure that the plans are explicitly clear and easy to follow. For a test, give it to a non-teacher friend to read. If they can decipher it, congratulations. Your plan passed the test!
YOUR FEEDBACK FORM
I know many of you spend the day away from your class with your stomach in knots. Is anything being taught? Are the kids behaving? Leave your substitutes with a form for them to document what was accomplished on the lesson plan as well as behaviors (both positive and negative.) If you don't have something you already are using, check out this example for self-contained classrooms, and this one for secondary that I made and can be downloaded for free in Resources.
Do you have some additional tips or resources to share? Please share in the comments section.