Teacher Tip Tuesday #1

Sub Planning

When creating Substitute Plans I found it easiest to make generic lesson plans for the sub to follow throughout the day, and have written directions on post-it notes attached to the activity.  Also, having procedures in place ahead of time with your students will help with a substitute teacher.  I also have a sub tub that I keep behind my teacher table that holds files for each subject that can be used at any time throughout the year. This comes in handy if I need to be out unexpectedly or toward the end of the year when I don't have time to write sub plans.  I go into my sub tub and grab activities for each subject for the students to complete that day.  I can also have another teacher on my team prep this for me since the copies are already made and all they have to do it set out for my substitute.

 These are what my sub plans look like.  They are a "skeleton" copy off my daily/weekly schedule broken into subjects and times of when to do what.

 This is an example of my math lesson and what I leave for the substitute to do with my students.  This includes a math book, and 2 pages.  I usually have them do a journal page and a Worksheet each day in math.  With a substitute, I usually have them read a story and i will include some extra work activities in case they need a time filler.

 This is an example of my post-it note directions for what to do with the activity.  Since my lesson plans are so vague, I include the directions to the activity so that the sub can pull extra activities to do with the class if needed.

 These Time For Kids Magazine are a GREAT resource. My students LOVE reading these in class and they are a really easy activity to have a substitute complete with the class.  Sometimes I have them complete a worksheet along with the magazine, sometimes, I have them just read the magazine and write about it in their language arts journal.

This is how i organize my sub lessons and worksheets/activities by subject.  I have several copies of my lesson plans in the front file, in each subject, I try to keep at least 4-5 activities so that the students have plenty of work to keep them busy.