My Favorite Ways To Prepare For A Substitute

Would you rather….

Go to school when you aren’t feeling 100%

OR

Figure out how to prepare for a substitute?

I know, you are thinking, “What sub?” Let’s face it, even if there isn’t a sub, sometimes you don’t have a choice - if you come down with the flu and can’t stand up, you won’t be going to school.

Prepping for a sub when you are already sick or an emergency has occurred can be so tough. There are moments when it feels easier to just deal with how you are feeling and teach, but there are times when that just isn’t an option.

So how do you prepare for a substitute teacher? 

The best time to prepare for a sub is before you need one.

Here are some ideas on how to prepare your classroom for a substitute teacher so you can have some peace of mind when you are sick.

Make A Binder

If you’ve seen the show Parks and Recreation, then you’ll know what I mean when I say that I love binders the way Leslie Knope does. 

Creating a comprehensive substitute teacher binder will save your (and that substitute’s) sanity. 

This binder should have a few “lifesaver lesson plans” instead of trying to right plans for what your class is currently studying. You almost always have to come back and reteach that material anyway, so just make your sub binder stand-alone. 

Great activities for your binder are review work, low-mess activities. You never know how experienced your sub will be, so the easier the activities are (direction-wise) the better.

I would check the binder once a month to make sure all of my information is still accurate (names, contact information, etc.).

What Do I Put In This Binder?

Precise And Organized Information

I always assumed that the substitute walking into my classroom had never been there before. So I thought about things that I needed to know on my first day and went from there. 

• A list of the students for each class

• Seating chart(s)

• List of any regularly-occurring activities, like when students go to other teachers, etc.

• Location of the bathrooms

• Location of the emergency exits

• Explanation of emergency protocols

• Location of the break room

• A campus map

• How to contact staff and who to contact for different issues

• The bell schedule

Know Your Class

Are there any students in your class with IEPs, allergies, or an unusual schedule? Write as much down as possible. The more they know, the more prepared they are. 

Note: IEPS and 504s are confidential. Subs need to know what they need to do, but they do not have access to the confidential information. Example, if Johnny needs notes provided, then that is what you tell the sub. You don’t need to say that Johnny has an IEP.

Behavior And Dismissal Policies

Every school has a behavior policy. Keep yours in the binder so your substitute knows what they should do if they need to. 

You also should have your dismissal policy in the binder!

Find A Support Teacher

Even the most prepared substitute will have a question or two. Ask a teacher buddy (maybe someone in your pod if you have one) to be on call for your substitute if they have a question. 

My favorite way to include most of this information is to simply create a Class Information Flipbook, shown above, at the beginning of the year for the parents, save it as a new name (like Class Info Sub), and edit the information to fit the needs of a sub. The information is easy to update, as it is all together in one file.

Evaluation Paper

I always found it helpful both to me and the substitute to have a way for them to communicate with me how their day went with my class. 

This helped me better prepare for the next time I needed a substitute.

What Else Goes In The Binder?

Information On Technology

There is nothing quite like the panic of not understanding what to do with the technology that has been handed to you. 

Help your substitute out by writing down the ins and outs of your classroom’s technology. 

Have Extra Work Prepared

You know your students better than anyone else. You know that you have at least one student who will finish early and ask the substitute for something else to do. Or the class may run through the activities you leave. 

Be sure to have a lot more in the sub binder than you think they will need - better safe than sorry!

Don’t Forget The Actual Lesson Plan

I know I’m giving you a lot of different things to work on, but don’t forget to actually write up your lesson plan for the day. 

You should also include a detailed schedule of the day. You know how students are: they will be all over your substitute if they go off script (especially in elementary school, where students know what class starts when.)

This schedule can be written in a generic way and just check it for any updates regularly. Just write out a plan with the skeleton outline. 9:00 ELA 11:00 Math, etc - and have the activities in the binder listed under each class.

The Best Type of Work to Leave for a Sub

My advice? Unless you absolutely need the sub to follow the sequence you were on, just scrap it and leave an assignment that follows a known work pattern your students are familiar with.

Unless you know your substitute and you know they are going to follow your lesson, you will most likely end up having to reteach a good part of it anyway.

For example, if your class has regularly done close readings, then written responses to the readings, that would be something easy to leave for the sub, because the students will (should) already know what to expect.

If you don’t have anything like that, the other lesson that works great is something that is already organized and includes teacher directions. You can find lessons like this on TPT, and when you are sick, you will be so happy you spent the few dollars to have them prepped. (Honestly, it cost me more in gas to drive in sick to write sub plans and make copies than some of the lessons would.)

Personally, I like to leave things that have a lot of parts and can be stretched out to last the day (or two) and prevent the speed-demons (you know who they are) from flying through everything in 15 minutes. Like I suggested before, close readings plus writings are good. Another one is just a writing piece that needs to go through the writing process. There are many real-life math projects that would be good sub plans, as long as the skills used are ones your students know. Otherwise, review games that the students already know how to play help get the energy out and keep them on task.

Here are a few of the lessons in my TPT store that I used for sub days:

Hopefully using these ideas will give you the confidence to take a sick day (or a mental wellness day) when you need it. 

Do you have any tips for preparing a substitute?