Emergency Sub Plans

There are not many things that I would say I dislike about teaching, but I think we can all agree on one...making sub plans.  I find it neither fun nor engaging to narrate a detailed description of my school day in the hopes that a stranger will somehow memorize the plans before the students arrive, and then accurately carry them out throughout the day.  This situation is made even worse when it's last minute, unexpected, it's too late in the day or too early in the day, or I'm sick.  So, when I came across this website, Clutter-Free Classroom, and read her ideas about creating emergency sub plans, I was pretty enlightened.  

The idea is that I can make specific kindergarten plans that can be used at any time.  In the past, my struggle has been that I wanted my class to stay on track.  So, if we are talking about the farm, for example, then even when I'm gone I expect them to be talking about the farm.  After reading about emergency sub plans I realized that one day away from the current theme isn't going to hurt anyone.  My emergency sub plans may not be about farms, per se, but they will still address appropriate kindergarten skills, such as high-frequency words, story comprehension, number sense....you get the idea.  These type of plans can be created and held onto until needed, whereas theme specific plans would need to be made as needed.  Creating plans that can sit around until I need them means that I don't have to make them unexpectedly, late at night, or when I'm sick.  Hooray!  

Because I teach kindergarten I did think of one draw-back.  Kindergarteners grow and change so much throughout the year.  Their learning is always progressing, so there are no plans that would be suitable for the beginning of the school year, AND the middle, AND the end.  My plan of attack for this problem is to make different emergency sub plans for each quarter (sounds like something to add to my summer "to-do" list).  The Clutter-Free Classroom blog recommends having five days worth of plans.  I agree that sounds nice, but I wasn't about to create 20 days worth of sub plans (5 days times 4 quarters- in case you were wondering).  I figured that I am typically gone 1-2 days at a time, so my goal is two days of emergency sub plans for each quarter.  8 sounds more manageable than 20.

Thanks to my sister's pregnancy I had a need to try out my emergency sub plans ideas right away.  (I wanted to be able to go visit her and the new baby as soon as it popped out!)

The first step was deciding how I was going to organize and conveniently store all of the substitutes information and supplies.  I settled on a three-drawer system that sits on my counter top.  It's out of my way, yet accessible to the sub.  It's also contained in one place, and looks neat and organized.

I also added an eye-catching sign, so that the sub would know where to look.

I added labels to the drawers to make it easier for the sub to locate materials.  The top drawer contains general information about my class.  The middle drawer contains specific lesson plans for the morning, and the third drawer contains specific plans for the afternoon.  Separating AM and PM plans was important, because often times I am only gone for half a day.

Secondly, I assembled a binder for general information.  To give you an idea, here is a list of the information that I included, although yours may need to include different things:

1.  Daily behavior charts for specific students with extra management needs.

2.  Name tags for all the students.

3.  A page with the students' photographs and their names.

4.  Information about students with specific needs (i.e. medical needs, behavior plans, academic concerns)

5.  A list of students that may need extra help, and students that can be trusted to be of help to the sub.

6.  The daily schedule.  Our shortened day schedule.  Our specialists' schedule (i.e. gym, library, art, music, and computer).

7.  Extra information about the daily schedule.  Some things I included were: what math class typically looks like, the teacher's role during writing, what to do at lunch, recess and dismissal...things like that.

8.  Random information such as: names of paras and resource teachers that work with my class, our classroom behavior management plan, where to locate certain items throughout the classroom, what to do if the class needs an unplanned break, etc.

9.  BIST information.  BIST is our school-wide behavior plan.  I included information about this plan, and which teachers to contact for help.

I assembled all of the general information into a binder.  I also put some other supplies in the general information drawer.  I added in paperclips, post-it notes, a notebook, pens, and a highlighter.  I just thought it might be nice for the sub to have these things on hand, rather than searching all around for them.

Now on to the lesson plans themselves!  As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to break my plans up into AM lesson plans and PM lesson plans.  I also intended to make two days worth of plans.  I needed to find something that would hold Day 1 AM plans separate from Day 2 AM plans, and have those also separate from PM plans.  Whatever I chose also had to fit in the drawers that I purchased.  I decided on a simple expandable file folder.  I bought 4 total (1 file for Day 1 AM plans, for example).  These would keep everything separate and organized.  I could also organize the plans and supplies within the file by subject.  I hoped this would make it more accessible to the substitute.

I labeled each expandable file to differentiate between Day 1 and Day 2, as well as morning and afternoon.  I also listed what subjects would be covered during that time.  For example, "Day 1.  Morning: word work, writing, whole group reading, literacy workstations, integrated studies".

Finally, I needed to get down to the nitty-gritty.  I needed to create a template for specific lesson plans.  I realized that each lesson would need it's own page so that it could be put in the expandable file with it's necessary materials; separate from the other lessons and supplies.  You can see the layout of my template in the picture below.  Each lesson plan page contained certain information:

1.  general info (like where the kids usually sit, or how the lesson usually begins/ends)

2.  the scheduled times for that subject (i.e. word work 9:00-9:25)

3.  each separate part of the lesson (whether it was different activities, a mini-lesson and independent work, or a read-aloud and comprehension activity, etc.)

4.  pacing for the lesson (estimated length of time for each activity in the lesson, ex. read-aloud 20 minutes)

5.  and then of course, the materials list and directions for each part of the lesson.

The top page is a lesson plan for integrated studies on the template that I created.  Below it are the needed materials for that lesson.  Both the lesson plan and the materials will go together in one section of the expandable file.  Also, I added clip art specific to each subject on the template.  The clip art matches a picture schedule hanging in my room, and serves as another way to help the substitute stay on track.

It did take me a while to assemble these emergency sub plans, but now that the organization has been figured out and a template has been created it should be much easier to add to it in the future.  I will say that it felt pretty awesome knowing that I could leave on short notice and feel confident that my class would still be taken care of.

To my teacher friends out there, old and new,  let me know of any great ideas YOU have for creating sub plans.  I'm always trying to find the best way to succinctly and efficiently share information about my class with a substitute.  Good luck to you in your future sub planning endeavors! :)