Have an Awesome Day With a Substitute in Your Classroom!

Happy Halloween! This year my team and I were "candy rappers"--- hilarious!! My teammates did an amazing job and really went all out! The kiddos ate this up! We wore baggy pants, candy logos, sideways hats, chains and even had temporary tattoos! So much fun!! Now, onto the topic for today.... some tips to have an awesome day with a substitute in the classroom.

Kids can be really thrown off by a sub. This isn't all their fault. They should definitely be respectful to adults but, with the whole routine thrown off, a stranger where there is usually a trusted role model, and twenty-something other confused kids, it's bound to be a little strange. You will also have the overly helpful friends who are really trying to help the sub but, end up causing more issues than they fix. I tell my kiddos to just roll with it and do what the sub says, even if it is different. I think I also have a good perspective on this since I was a sub myself. Tips to a sub --- please try to clean up the classroom when you leave. I always did and this makes a huge difference. That's like coming to my house, trashing the place, and then just leaving it. Teachers, try to make it as welcoming as possible and set those kiddos up for success!

Most of these tips are for a prepared day out but, you could tweak some of these to work for emergency days too! You could always put the notes in your emergency sub binder along with a "Sprinkles from the Sub" poster.


1. First tip is "Sprinkles from the Sub"

I make a poster like the one shown above. It's pretty self-explanatory.. the sub can give sprinkles then, the class earns a reward if they get their sprinkles. I actually bought my class donuts for getting their sprinkles!



2. Notes for the kiddos

When I have a planned sub, I always leave notes for my students. Yes, I write them each a note, yes this takes awhile. I cannot tell you how much they love these notes! It truly shows them that you care about them as individuals. If you do any of these tips, this is the one I recognize the most.

3. Emergency Sub Binder

I was a former sub and let me tell you, having sub plans is so important. Especially for unplanned absences. If you search on TPT you will find a TON of emergency no-prep sub plans. No need for your team to run around like crazy to whip up a plan for you. Usually these plans are also fun and project-based which the kiddos love! Win, win!


4. Sub plan in "kid friendly" language for the students

This is a recent change that I read about on Twitter and implemented in my class. I take whatever sub plans I made for the adult and tweak them into kid friendly language. That way the kiddos can see what's coming, there won't be surprises AND they know that I actually said to do something and the sub isn't making it up. I can't tell you how often I heard as a sub "but, we never do that!" This will help eliminate that problem. 😀


5. Sub note template

One last tip, I created this Sub Note template. As a sub I always left a note using this template. I actually would have teachers text to tell me how much they appreciated it. As a classroom teacher, I am SHOCKED with how many subs don't leave a note. That just leaves us wondering about the day and not knowing what we should talk to the class about. I would suggest leaving this on your desk. That way, the sub sees it and knows you expect a note.

Try to relax on your day off and let your students show you how awesome they are when you come back!