According to Trent Bowers, author of From Survive to THRIVE: What Great Substitute Teachers Do Differently, “Over the course of a kindergarten through 12th-grade education, the average student will spend an entire school year with a substitute teacher leading their education.” In other words, classroom teachers are absent from their rooms about thirteen days per year due to illness, collaborative plan time, meetings or family issues. With this much instructional time at stake, it is critical that teachers and administrators plan carefully to help substitute teachers succeed.
Preparing for Instruction
Although classroom management is a significant concern when substitutes are in the classroom, academic progress remains the primary goal. It is important that teachers take planned absences into consideration when making long-term lesson plans. To best help substitute teachers, they can schedule specific lessons for days they will be gone that do not require prior knowledge of the curriculum or learning objectives.
When there is an unplanned absence, however, instruction flow and pace may be interrupted. There are instances in which the substitute teacher can easily pick up where the teacher left off the day before and provide seamless instruction. But content becomes more complex at the middle and high school levels. Even if a teacher’s daily lesson plans are complete, the substitute teacher may not be able to continue with the classroom teacher’s discussion or presentation with the flow necessary for meaningful progress. In this case, teachers can help substitute teachers by leaving plans that focus on skills already learned or those that need additional practice. Well-thought-out review lessons can be placed in a special binder that is updated regularly as lessons are taught. This binder is then included in the other substitute materials kit prepared early in the school year.
Preparing the Environment
Substitute teachers generally put classrooms in one of two categories: I’d be happy to come back and Not in a million years. Permanent classroom teachers are responsible for creating a welcoming and respectful environment for students, administrators and visitors. Preparing a classroom for a substitute teacher starts early in the year and requires setting consistent expectations.
Students in a classroom designed to help substitute teachers will greet the substitute with respect because they show their own teacher and other visitors respect. From the beginning of the year, students in this class understand that responsible behavior is not dependent on who is or is not in the room. Their classroom teacher has created an environment in which character is valued as much as academic success and deviating from expectations is not tolerated. In this classroom, students know that reports of their behavior while their teacher is away will be scrutinized. There will be rewards for following classroom rules and consequences if they choose anything else.
School-Wide Planning
School administrators and those in teacher leadership roles also have a vested interest in helping substitute teachers. Team members, principals and paraprofessionals are often called into emergency service when a substitute teacher walks into a classroom that has not been well-prepared. To avoid last-minute chaos, some schools require the preparation of a substitute teacher folder or kit during the first days of the school year. These kits include detailed information about the school day, including the location of instructional materials, emergency procedures, classroom management guidelines, accommodations for students with special needs, and basic supplies, to name a few. School leaders may also require that generic plans for one or two days’ absence be placed in the school office. These undated plans are appropriate for the grade level but not necessarily tied to the curriculum sequence.
Preparing for a substitute is no easier than planning for any other school day. In fact, in many ways it is more difficult. But experienced teachers will agree that having good instructional plans and a well-prepared classroom are crucial for success while they are absent. For many teachers, leaving the classroom in the care of someone else is unsettling. However, if they know that they will return to relatively normal instead of chaotic conditions, the days of absence are less painful.
Learn more about the Lamar University Master of Education in Teacher Leadership online program.
Sources:
Worthington City Schools: From Survive to Thrive: What Great Substitute Teachers Do Differently
Intervention Central: Strategies to Prepare Classrooms for Substitutes Teachers
SubJournal: Permanent Teacher Preparation for Substitute Teachers
