Sub Binder

Over the summer, I spent a ton of time on Pinterest. It is one of the best places a teacher can go for new ideas. One of the things I found on Pinterest was the idea of a Sub Binder. I created a binder with tabs that I thought were important and I leave it sitting on my desk for a substitute teacher. Here is basically what my binder is:

Before the first tab:

• Welcome letter to the sub
• Classroom management system
• Think sheets
• A seating chart
• A list of all my students with their pictures and names (kids like to play tricks on subs).

Tab 1: Schedules

• The daily schedule
• The specials schedule

Tab 2: Emergency Procedures

• My principal required this of our sub folders, and it is just good sense. Subs need to know what to do in the event of an emergency.

Tab 3: Lesson Plans

• Here I include the lesson plans for the date of my absence.
• I also have sheet protectors for any papers that they will need. I wrote with a sharpie on the front of the 6 or 7 page protectors exactly what subject they would need the papers inside for. 

Tab 4: Emergency Plans

• This section is in case you get ill out of the blue and don't want to be up at the school at 4 in the morning to prepare sub plans. I arranged it exactly like my normal plans, but these plans are generic based on the unit we are studying. In my welcome letter I state that if there are not plans in the Lesson Plans section, then this was an unplanned absence and they should refer to the plans in the Emergency Plans section. 

Tab 5: End of the Day

• This section has a checklist of everything that needs to be completed before the bell rings or before they leave. For example, students are to stack their chairs and mark their days (color the color they ended up on from our clip chart to show their parents). If it is Friday, they will also need their Friday Folders. Things like that. I also have the sub leave me a note to say how the day went (I have a cute template that I got for free on TPT). 

I have gotten several compliments from subs to say how much smoother their day went with my plans and my binder than with other teachers' plans. One sub even wrote a note to my principal to say how impressed she was. It feels awesome to get great recognition from your principal your very first year. 

Lesson: The more prepared you are (with your sub binder in particular) the smoother things will run!