Planning Ahead
for When You Can't Be In Your Classroom.
No one likes to be away
from his or her classroom. It seems to take more time
to tell someone else what to do than to actually do it.
But there are times when you really have to stay home,
and in our profession you can't just call in sick, turn
over, and go back to sleep. "The show must go on," with
or without you, and you have to make sure it does! A
little advanced planning can go a long way toward making
your absence easier on those still in school, and less
stressful on you.
First, make a blank
schedule on the computer for each day of the week. Don't
forget to include all your regular routines (pledge,
feeding pets, snack time) as well as the times for any
specials (art, music), individual or group "pull-outs," and
the times for any medications your students may need
to take during the school day. It is so much easier to
think of these things before you're sick with a temperature
of 102! At the end of each day's schedule, be sure to
add directions for fire drills, tornado drills, or any
other emergency items. If you would like specific feedback
from your "guest teacher," ask for it at the
end of the sheet. You may want to include these "communication
starters," leaving blank lines for your guest teacher
to write his/her responses: Today we were able to accomplish;
We were not able to accomplish; The following students
were especially helpful; The following students did very
well today; The following students did not cooperate
and had to be spoken to more than one time; What I (you
as the teacher) could have done to help improve your
day. Leave plenty of blank space for your guest teacher
to write additional comments, as well as a space for
him/her to sign his/her name and phone number. (Once
you discover a guest teacher you and your students like,
you'll want to be able to contact him/her regarding future
days you may be absent and, possibly, go over any special
plans on the phone before he/she comes into your classroom.)
Opening a specific day's
schedule to "fill in the blanks" is a lot easier
than starting from scratch to plan your absence. If you're
really fortunate, you will be able to e-mail your plans
for the day into school. Of course, the best course of
action would be to have already filed a folder for each
day of the week containing lesson plans. If you have
the time now, you'll thank yourself later for planning
so thoroughly for future absences. If you receive Time
for Kids, Scholastic News, or a similar newsmagazine,
consider saving one issue to put into a day's lesson
plan folder. Other items that make good "advance
planning" items are problem-solving activities (see www.figurethis.org),
special readings (such as plays that focus on a general
topic, such as a character trait), planned writing prompts,
and having your students write a letter to you about
their day(s). If you decide on student letters, consider
including questions such as: their favorite activity
while you were gone; one action they took to make the
guest teacher's day great; what they think their guest
teacher will tell his/her family after spending a day(s)
with the class; and what I (the teacher) could have done
to help the day go easier for them.
Some schools have the
policy of having "generic" lesson plans (that
can be used for any day) on file in the office in case
of an emergency. While this is a good idea (some plan
is better than none--just ask a guest teacher!), I prefer
to have my plans reflect current classroom activities
as much as possible.
I've found that by using
the term guest teacher instead of substitute, my own
students are more respectful to the person who is indeed
the guest in your classroom that day.
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