What to do when there are no sub plans
Regular teachers sometimes leave plans that only last ten minutes, or nothing at all, because they do not trust substitutes. This forces last-minute subs to improvise emergency activities for every grade level on the spot, making the experience incredibly nerve-wracking.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1letting kids do work for other classes or study when assignments finish early
- 2permitting students to talk quietly at a low level after finishing
- 3walking around and monitoring student screens
- 4Carrying a work bag stocked with emergency word searches, puzzles, and books.
- 5Having students do silent reading with whatever books are available in the classroom.
- 6Improvising lessons based on whatever subjects the substitute knows well, like singing songs or performing magic tricks.
- 7Having students draw portraits of each other or write letters.
- 8Giving the students extra recess time.
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Hey - I was wondering if any of you had any successful activities for what to do when you get into a classroom and the plans given are nonexistent or only last about 5-10 min.”source ↗
“Then, when talking to the same teachers they say they wont give subs any meaningful plans because they never trust the sub...? So it seems like as a sub who wants to try, we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.”source ↗
“I just get really frustrated sometimes with the lack of planning.”source ↗
“It is very nerve wracking the first times it happens. Very. I improvised. Desperation, common sense, and using subjects I knew.”source ↗
“I looked all around the room and found no sub plans! I reached out to the office, and they said they had nothing.”source ↗
“Am I supposed to just have emergency activities with me for every grade level? I was pushed into this position at the last minute, so there was no way for me to plan for it.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 6Why is my school teaching schedule so impossible to follow?
- 41Why is teaching so joyless now?
- 2Why does the classroom chaos never go away?
- 15Why is the new school curriculum so bloated?
- 3Why do mandated teaching methods fail in the classroom?
- 59Why are students coming to class missing basic foundational skills?