Sub Plans 2.0
Raise your hand if you enjoy writing sub plans. What, no hands going up? You mean you don't enjoy the often tedious, time-consuming task of writing lesson plans for a substitute teacher? Me neither. I have yet to meet a teacher who does. While writing sub plans, have you ever thought, I wish I could just tell the teacher and students what I want them to do while I'm gone? Ladies and gentlemen, you can. I want to share with you something magical, something that will change your life. Okay, it won't change your life, but it will save you time. I introduce to you...audio sub plans.
Like life, substitute teachers are like a box of chocolates -- you never know what you're going to get sometimes. There are some incredible substitute teachers out there and, unfortunately, there are some not-so-incredible ones. What if you spend two or three hours writing really detailed sub plans, but the substitute doesn't read them or misinterprets what you wrote? All that time spent was wasted. Enter audio sub plans. Instead of writing it all out, record a short message for the guest teacher and students. Then place the audio file on your classroom computer's desktop or burn it to a CD. Now, all the teacher has to do is double-click the file or play the CD and...Bingo -- your message, spoken with your own voice, will be heard as you intended. All you need to include in your written plans is a short sentence telling the guest teacher to play the audio file for the students. And don't underestimate the power of your voice when you're not there. I teach fifth grade, and the ability to insert a reminder in an audio message about classroom behavior is extremely powerful.
Below is a message I created for my students explaining what they were going to do during a math lesson when I was out of the classroom one day.
If you haven't yet tried creating audio sub plans, I highly encourage you to give it a try. You, your students, and your substitute teacher will be glad you did.
Listen to an audio version of this post below.
