Your alarm goes off at 5:30 am. You’ve been up all night with your 3-year-old daughter because she has been throwing up all night. You are worn out and your daughter is lying on top of you in your bed because you haven’t changed her sheets yet. She can’t go to daycare sick so you call in for a sub and go back to sleep. Wait! That’s not what happens. Let’s try the scenario again.
Your alarm goes off at 5:30 am. You peel your sick daughter off you and wake up your husband (who has no idea what is happening). You tell him you have to go to school to get ready for a substitute because you have to stay home today. “Watch our daughter while I’m gone and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
You put on the clothes you had on yesterday and head to school. You get into your room and have no idea what you will leave for the sub. You stare at your plans and realize there is nothing you can leave for the substitute to do.
Have you been in this situation before?
I know I have. Well, I have a solution for you. Invest in a sub tub. This is a folder or a tub you have ready for emergencies. Inside the tub are activities that can be done with the class in case of an emergency. All you have to do is call a teammate to go into your classroom and put the sub tub on your desk and you are done.
Sub Plans
It does take some preplanning on your part but, it is definitely worth it in the long run. I have used these before in my room and my teammates have been using these for the past 8 years in their rooms. It is a huge time saver. I even have it set up for a whole week of activities in case I am out more than one day.
This is an example of what a day of my sub plans looks like. I have all the materials needed for the 5 days in a container with the directions and activities attached to that day’s plans. These examples are part of my sub plan bundle. They are editable. I also have other important information such as a class list, welcome note, special student information, and my classroom management system.
Organization
There are several ways to organize them so they are easy to find. They should be kept close to your desk so they are easy to find by your teammates. Make sure you show your teammates where they are. If you don’t have a teammate to share the information with, leave a note near your computer or on your desk that tells where the sub plans are.
I also have my sub plans separated by day and put in an accordion-style folder. In the folder are all the day’s activities, directions, and the book being used for the day.
What’s Inside
First, get one of your favorite classroom books. Find or make activities that go with them. For reading you can do any time of story maps or sequencing charts. You can do story problems for math or make word searches online. Add some fun science or social studies activities and a craft. You can also add any worksheets that you have not gotten to yet.
Make sure that whatever you leave is not too hard for the kids. Make sure it is review and nothing that the sub will have trouble explaining to the kids. Most of all make sure it is fun!
I have made these free sub plans for you that can help you get started on your sub tub. Just click on the picture to get them.
You Don’t Have Time to Make Sub Plans
So this just seems like too much work? Let me help you out. I have already made a week’s worth of sub plans that you can use with just three picture books. Just get the books, print the plans, or assign them in Google Classroom, and get your classroom schedule and you are ready to go.
Click below to get the sub plans so you are ready for any emergency and don’t need to stress.
