Your first week as a substitute

1 The night before

Most of what makes a sub day go well happens before you walk in. The night before, read the assignment carefully and write down the parts you will need at 7:30 in the morning, when you won't want to scroll back through a message.

• The school, the room, the grade or subject, and the start time.
• Whether it is a half day or a full day, and when you can leave.
• The school's address, where to park, and which door substitutes use.
• A phone number for the office, saved in your phone.

Then pack a small bag you can reuse every day of the week. Put in your ID, a water bottle, a lunch that needs no microwave, two pens, a pencil, a watch, and a picture book or short chapter book you like reading aloud. A book you know well is the most useful thing you can carry: it fills ten minutes at any grade, and it lets the class hear your voice doing something calm.

Last, make a backup plan in case the teacher left nothing. The sub plan generator builds a whole day for one grade in a minute, and you can keep it on your phone or print it. You may never use it, but knowing it is there makes the morning less tense.

2 The office

Arrive twenty to thirty minutes before the start time and go straight to the office. The office staff run the building, and they are the people you will need if anything goes sideways. Be friendly, be brief, and ask the same questions in every school.

1. Where do I sign in, and where do I sign out at the end of the day?
2. Can I have the room key, and where do I return it?
3. How do I take attendance, and how do I send it to you?
4. What is the bell schedule today? Is anything different, like an assembly?
5. Do I have a duty: recess, bus, lunch or a hallway?
6. How do I call the office from the room, and who do I call if a student needs help I can't give?
7. Where is the emergency plan for the room?

Write the answers on a card or on the back of your checklist. You will forget the room number of the nurse the moment a student asks, and a written card saves you from guessing.

If the office is busy, wait. Don't head to the room with half the answers. Two minutes of patience at the front desk often saves twenty minutes of confusion later, and the staff will remember you as the sub who asked good questions.

3 In the room before the bell

You have perhaps fifteen minutes. Spend them finding things, not reading every page in detail. Look on the desk, in a folder marked Sub, in the teacher's planner, and on the computer screen for the plans.

• The plans. Read them once, start to finish, so you know the shape of the day.
• The seating chart and class list. You will take attendance from these.
• The emergency folder and the drill map by the door.
• The first sheets. Set out whatever students need in the first half hour.

Write your name, the date and the day's schedule on the board. Students look at the board the moment they walk in, and seeing the day written there tells them someone is in charge and the day has a plan.

Then knock next door. Say who you are and ask one question: what should I know about this class? Most teachers will tell you something useful in a sentence, like which students help, how the class lines up, or what time the class really leaves for lunch. That one conversation also means you have a friendly face to go to if you need help at 1:00 p.m.

If you can't find plans at all, don't panic. Tell the office, ask the teacher next door, and start the day with the backup you made the night before. If you have none, the sub plan generator makes one in a minute.

4 The first five minutes

Stand at the door as students arrive. Say good morning, smile, and point them toward their seats and the first task. Standing at the door does more than any rule you could announce: students see you before they see the room, and they come in calmer.

When everyone is in, say your name, one sentence about yourself and the plan for the day. Keep it short. The class wants to know who you are and what will happen, not your life story.

What to sayGood morning. I'm Ms. Rivera, and I'm your teacher today while your teacher is away. I like reading mysteries and I've been looking forward to meeting you. Here is our day: it's on the board, and we'll cross off each part as we finish it.

Ask the class which quiet signal their teacher uses, and use it right away. Then take attendance from the seating chart, quietly, while students start the first task. Send attendance the way the office asked, on time. A late attendance report is the most common small problem a new sub causes, and it's easy to avoid.

If the class is slow to settle, start a five-minute timer for the first task and say you will check in when it rings. A visible clock gives the room something to aim at besides you.

5 Running the day

Follow the plan in the order it is written. Even if you think a part could be done better, the teacher chose it, and students expect it. Cross off each part on the board as you finish it. It shows progress and quietly reminds the class what comes next.

• Give instructions once, clearly, then write the key part on the board.
• Walk the room while students work. Being near students does more than talking to them from the front.
• Keep finished work in a pile for each subject or period, with a sticky note on top saying what it is.
• Write down anything that happens as you go: the time, what happened, what you did.
• When a question depends on the school, ask the office or the teacher next door rather than guessing.

Have something ready for the gaps. Plans often run short, and the last ten minutes before lunch can feel very long. A read-aloud, a five-minute brain break or a quick game from the ten-minute fillers keeps the room busy without needing any setup.

6 The note and leaving

Before dismissal, have the class tidy the room with you for five minutes. Then dismiss students the way the school does it. If a student's way home isn't clear to you, ask the office before letting them go.

Once the room is empty, write the note. The teacher will read it first thing tomorrow, and it is the only part of your day they see directly. Keep it short and factual. Describe what happened, not what kind of child anyone is.

1. What we did: what was finished, what was started, and what we didn't get to.
2. Who helped: first names of students who helped the day go well.
3. Anything that happened: the time, the event and what you did.
4. Attendance and the office: who was absent or left early, and anything the office said.
5. Messages: calls, notes or anything left on the desk.
6. From your substitute: your name and how to reach you.

The sub note tool lays out these headings and gives you sentences to start from. Leave the note on the desk with the work, return the key, and sign out at the office.

Before you drive away, take one minute to write down what you would do differently tomorrow. By Friday you will have a short list of your own habits, and that list is how a new substitute becomes a steady one.

7 What to keep from the first week

By the end of the week you will have seen several schools, several grades and several kinds of plan. Some days will have gone smoothly and some won't. That is normal. Every substitute has a day where the plan ran out at 10:15 or the class didn't know the sub was coming.

• Keep your bag packed and ready, so the next early call takes five minutes, not twenty.
• Keep a short list of the schools you liked, with the office names and the parking notes.
• Write down which filler activities worked for which ages.
• Note any teacher who asked you back, and thank them.
• Restock your printed checklists and a few backup plans.

Teachers and office staff remember a substitute who arrived early, followed the plan, kept the room calm and left a clear note. That reputation, not any one perfect day, is what brings more calls and better assignments.

Above all, keep the routine. The night before, the office, the first five minutes, the day, the note. Repeated every morning, it makes a new building feel familiar faster than anything else.