What to Do When You Have a Substitute Teacher

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Being out of school can be stressful, I, like many others, have gone into school when I probably should have stayed home because it was just going to be more work to be absent. Here are some tips to make things easier for you and for your substitute teacher.

Have an afternoon routine.

If you have a daily routine where you leave your classroom ready for the next day, it will be easier for unexpected absences. Often the biggest issue with an unexpected illness is that you did not make the copies that you need to make the day before. You thought you would have plenty of time before school starts to get in there. But, that all went awry when you woke up and were so sick! Or maybe your child was sick, or you had some sort of issue around your house that required immediate attention.

I know teachers that will sneak into school early and make sure that everything is set up for their substitute teacher. But, if you had left yourself prepared before you left, all of your copies would have been made and all of your materials would have been left out. Then with a quick call to a teacher bff, you can have them make any necessary changes and you’re good to go!

And on most days when you’re not sick, it’s just that much less for you to do when you get to work. This will make your morning a breeze!

Have backup substitute teacher plans.

Maybe you were planning on introducing a new concept today. Even if you were all prepared and set up for the day, you are not going to have a substitute teacher introduce long division to your fourth graders. Having back-up substitute plans ready would ensure that you still had all your prep done and ready to go. You should also keep them in a place that is easy to find.

Our principal actually requires that we have substitute teacher plans ready to go. We leave them in our mailboxes at all times in case of these emergencies.

The same substitute plans may not be appropriate for the whole year. Since you are constantly switching topics throughout the year, maybe you will need to rotate between a group of lessons. You can reuse the copies in the following year if you did not need them.

Leave your substitute an overview of the class.

I was a substitute once, walking into a classroom full of unfamiliar children can be really overwhelming and challenging. I know you don’t want to say negative things about your students. But, finding professional and appropriate ways to let your substitute teacher know what they are dealing with is helpful.

Leave them a list of the students who can be used as helpers. Let the teacher know if a certain student is going to be talkative so that they are prepared. It isn’t appropriate to spill all of the details but there are professional, appropriate ways to leave friendly hints. This way the substitute teacher will know what situations they may need to be careful in.