It's that time of year when you never know when you might be out and need sub plans! I'm actually writing this on a Monday morning after being up all night with a sick dog so at 3:30 in the morning I double checked my emergency plans and then put in for a sub.
Last week I was out for curriculum writing and my sub left a note about how organized and detailed my plans were and how it made the day much easier. Happy subs are much more likely to return! Here are my top tips for sub plans.
My NUMBER ONE TIP - leave your plans in a slide deck.
Subs just pull it up and advance the slides. You can embed any videos, activities, and/or screenshots of worksheets you want completed while you're gone. I had to cover a second grade class last year and the teacher left her plans like this and it made everything SUPER easy. Since my students are used to me teaching from daily slides this makes it so much easier on the sub. I also have a sub binder with different tabs with more information, but I have found that few subs look through it. The slide deck is the most often used.
In my sub template this year I include several things:
1. A slide with a note from me explaining why I'm out and to please be extra respectful to the guest teacher.
2. A slide with the class rules. We go over these every single Spanish class and it helps with continuity for students.
3. If I know I'm going to be out and know the schedule I make slides for each class period and add the time at the bottom so the sub knows when class starts and ends.
4. Slides with the videos to watch during class. When they're embedded in Google slides you don't have to worry about ads!
5. A slide with the screenshot of where to go on Google Classroom and what activities to complete OR a screenshot of the worksheet they are to complete after watching the videos together.
