Last week, we discussed new substitute teachers and how they can prepare for their journey; today, we’ll discuss how you, as the class’s main teacher, can prepare for a substitute teacher.
Did you miss part one of this series? Make sure you check it out:
Handing your classroom over to someone else can be a tough job. Not only does it throw your schedule and plans off, but it is a lot of work to prepare for a substitute teacher and organize yourself and your class after the sub has been there.
As someone with extensive experience subbing in classes ranging from preschool to high school and subjects from art to science, here are some suggestions to make having a sub go that much more smoothly.
This guest blog post was written by Rebecca Gettelman, who is a middle and high school teacher from the Midwest. She has been teaching for over eleven years. This blog post has been edited for clarity.
7 Tips to Prepare for a Substitute Teacher
Be Prepared Ahead Of Time
At some point, you will need a sub. Sometimes, you know well in advance and can make your plans at your leisure, but things happen, and sometimes, sub-plans have to be thrown together at the last moment.
If you are starting to prepare for a substitute teacher, have a document prepped with basics that you can quickly add to. Here are some things to include:
- Computer/Technology log-in procedures
- General schedule – when should students go where
- Important numbers and how to call them
- Names of a couple of trustworthy students in each class that the sub can ask for help
- Any policies you want to ensure are followed (bathroom policy, assigned seating, whether kids are allowed to talk/work together during work time, etc.)
Having this information put together ahead of time not only makes your life easier – you have a basic format that you just need to fill in – but also ensures you don’t forget some of the very helpful basics when you are in a hurry.
Information is Key
Little makes me happier as a sub than when I walk into a room or open my email and find detailed sub plans. Most experienced subs can walk into a classroom and pull together something with very little, but that doesn’t mean it will be great or that it will be pleasant.
You know your students and classes better than anyone. Leaving notes that include specific and detailed information makes a sub’s life so much easier; your classes run much more smoothly and help ensure that what you want to happen in them does.
Here are a few things that can help a lot but that you might not think of:
- Basic timing and how long the sub should work on any part of a lesson. For example, “grading should take the first ten or so minutes, the new lesson should take about 20 minutes, and then the rest of the class is work time,” or “Students generally need five minutes to get ready to go out to recess” are very useful for a sub who is not familiar with a given group’s timing.
- Textbooks (and other materials) and where to find them. A simple note is more than enough (e.g. page 146 in 8th Grade Algebra – it is the blue book on the shelf behind my desk). Even better, pull the books (and any other resources) the sub will need and leave them on your desk with sticky note labels.
- Students who should not work together. Remember, the sub is not there every day. If you leave group work and let the students or the sub pick the groups, be sure to let them know if there are students who are better off not being in the same group.
The one caveat to this recommendation is that information needs to be easily and quickly accessible. A three-inch “sub binder” stuffed to the gills with information is only useful if it is well organized and very easy to find things in.
Subs are often on a very short schedule from when they are called to when they have to start in your classroom and having to search through 200 pages of information with a classroom full of excited students to find out how to do morning work is nearly impossible.
When you prepare for a substitute teacher, remember: If you are going to leave a large binder for subs, make sure it is exceptionally well organized and has easy-to-follow sections and tabs.
Seating Charts Are Valuable
Leaving seating charts (seating plan) is good, and they are even better if they have student pictures. These charts are helpful for many reasons.
The obvious is that a good seating chart cuts down on misbehaviour right off the bat. A seating chart with pictures lets a sub proceed as if they know everyone’s name almost from the get-go. There is less chance of students trading seats or any such shenanigans.
Knowing names also allows the substitute teacher to leave more specific notes – who the misbehaving student was, who was struggling, who was exceptionally helpful, etc.
Finally, learning names is a great way for subs (and all teachers) to connect with students. A seating chart, especially one that has pictures on it, can help a sub do this more quickly. From greeting students by name to using their names to nip problems in the bud, the sooner a sub learns the names of their students, the better for everyone.
And remember, keep your seating charts updated and in an obvious location – your subs will thank you!
Provide A Backup Plan
It is essential to remember as you prepare for a substitute teacher that things don’t always go as planned.
You may have a beautiful PowerPoint with lovely graphics and embedded videos and a great lecture worksheet to go with it, but what happens when the sub walks in and the computer system is down for the day? Or what if the lesson you left takes significantly less time than you thought, or students leave their project supplies at home?
A good sub can figure something out, but it is much easier on everyone if you have a backup plan. This could be as simple as a folder (kept in an obvious location and noted in your sub plans) with high-interest activities that take no prep. These backups are not usually needed, but when they are, they are a blessing.
For easy, no-prep substitute teacher resources, check out these links:
- Free Sub Plans
- Middle School ELA Sub Plans Bundle
- Middle School Science Sub Plans Students Will Love
- Easy and Engaging Canadian History Sub Plans For Middle School Students
Additionally, letting the sub know which are the vital things to get through and which are the extras can be especially helpful, particularly in the older grades. Some of the best plans are those that leave about twice as much as the sub could get through.
The plans that let the substitute teacher know which parts the class should “ideally get through,” which parts the class should “maybe get through,” and which parts are the “in case of shockingly speedy students” are extremely helpful.
Subs Don’t Usually Mind Making Choices
When you prepare for a substitute teacher, remember they can make choices – they are teachers, after all!
I love it when an elementary teacher leaves a stack of books, and I get to pick which one we will read for read-aloud time. Being allowed to read the room and decide if work should be done individually or in groups can be useful, particularly with older groups of students.
If it is a beautiful day, it is nice to be given the option of staying inside or going outside when teaching gym class. Game time? Give the sub a couple of choices and let him or her pick which review game to play. If you’re looking for suggestions on games to use in the classroom, check out either of these posts:
- Using Puzzles and Games in the Classroom to Engage Students
- Level Up: Incorporating Fun Games into Your Classroom for Interactive Learning
If you know who your sub is and what their abilities are, giving them some freedom can be a nice change of pace for them. It allows them to consider circumstances and tailor lessons to the students and day.
Reconsider Study Halls And Movies
One of the most common misconceptions among teachers is that giving a class a study hall makes a sub’s day easy. If you cannot guarantee that students will have work to work on to keep them busy the entire period, ideally, you can list this for the sub but don’t leave a study hall.
Students on these days can get into trouble if they do not have to complete. If some of the students have work that they are trying to get done and others do not, it can be nearly impossible, even for an experienced sub, to keep the room in a positive study environment.
This doesn’t mean you can’t leave a project for students to work on. Projects are often great. You don’t have to rely on whether a sub is familiar with the material to continue productive learning, and students are all asked to participate in class.
If you have already introduced the project, consider leaving a copy of the assignment and any specifics you want the sub to make sure the students are covering in their work so he or she knows what is going on and what to watch for.
On a similar note, if you are going to leave a movie, be sure to leave some sort of material to keep students on task – a movie guide, a writing prompt, something that will keep students focused. Leaving a movie that is “just for fun” often means students are not particularly invested in what they are watching, and keeping students focused can become an issue.
Consider leaving a movie related to your Book Versus Movie Comparison Analysis Project. Not only will students get to watch a movie, but it will be a movie that relates to the class material.
Subs Can Help Prep Things
Not always, but often, subs have blocks of time in their day that are free. Most of us carry a book or other thing to keep us occupied in these instances, but we are also more than happy to help you out.
I have done everything from correcting math tests to cutting out laminated name tags. Substitute teachers might not always have the time (sometimes we get pulled to fill in other spots during free time), but we know just how busy teachers are and are glad to help lighten your load when possible.
If you are going to leave correcting, be sure to leave a key that clearly identifies how to grade.
- Do you take points off (and how much) for missing labels in story problems?
- What do you do with flipped bs and ds on a first-grade spelling test?
- Do you want us to put a grade on top or just the number of correct or incorrect?
Knowing these sorts of things makes life much easier for your sub.
In Closing
It can be stressful to leave your students for the day. Teachers often come to work because taking time off takes a lot of planning work. Knowing how to prepare for a substitute teacher effectively and having a plan in place to execute that prep can make all the difference.
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