The last ten minutes as a substitute

1 Why the end of the day needs a plan

Most sub plans are detailed about the morning and thin about the afternoon. By the last hour, students are tired, the work may have run out, and everyone can feel the bell coming. That is when small problems grow: a lost paper, a loud room, a student who leaves with the wrong group.

The cure is to treat the last ten minutes as their own part of the day, with a plan you carry in your head for every school. It doesn't depend on the teacher's plans, so it works even when everything else has gone sideways.

1. The tidy, started early.
2. A quiet finish.
3. Work collected in labeled piles.
4. Dismissal, the school's way.
5. The note, once students have gone.

Look at the clock at lunch and decide when the tidy will start. Fifteen minutes before dismissal is a good default in elementary; in middle school, the last five minutes of each period are your small version of the same thing.

2 The tidy

Leave the room as you found it, or better. The teacher walks in tomorrow to the room you leave, and a tidy room says the day went well before they read a word of your note.

Give the tidy a clear start and a clear end. Tell students what to do, set a short timer, and let them work. Specific jobs work better than "clean up."

• Pick up everything on the floor around your seat.
• Put books and supplies back where they came from.
• Push in chairs, or stack them if the class does that.
• Clear desktops except for what goes home.
• Helpers check shared areas: the library corner, the supply shelf, the sink.

What to sayWe have three minutes to leave this room looking great for your teacher. Floor around your seat, supplies back, chairs in. When the timer ends, I'd like you seated and ready.

A five-minute timer on the screen makes the tidy feel like a challenge rather than a chore. When it rings, look around and thank the class for something specific, like a clear floor or a neat book corner.

Check the room yourself afterward. Turn off anything that was turned on, close windows if the teacher would, and put the teacher's own things back where you found them.

3 A quiet finish

Once the room is tidy, there are usually a few minutes left. Fill them with something calm, so students leave quietly rather than in a rush. A loud last few minutes often spills into the hallway, which is where staff will notice.

• A read-aloud. Read a chapter or a picture book. Even older students settle for a good story read well. The read-aloud books work on the projector.
• A quick review. Ask three questions about the day: one thing we learned, one thing that was hard, one thing we finished.
• A quiet game. A guessing game, a silent sort, or a round of twenty questions about the day's topic.
• A calm brain break. Stretching or slow breathing from the brain breaks.

Avoid starting anything new or exciting in the last ten minutes. A competitive game, a craft or a video will be hard to stop when the bell rings, and it will leave the class wound up for dismissal.

If the plan already has something for the end of the day, use it. Teachers often have a closing routine, like a class job check or a quick reflection, and students find it reassuring to finish the day the usual way.

4 Collecting work in labeled piles

Everything students did today should end up on the teacher's desk, sorted, so the teacher can see it at a glance. A jumble of papers in one tray makes the teacher do your sorting, and some of it may be lost.

1. Keep a separate pile for each subject or each period, all day long.
2. Put a sticky note or a half sheet on top of each pile saying what it is.
3. Note on the label how many students finished and whether anything is missing.
4. Put work that wasn't finished in its own pile, labeled "not finished."
5. Stack the piles in the order of the day, first on top.

Collecting work as you go is much easier than at the end. When an activity ends, have one student per table bring the papers up, and put them straight into their pile with a label. By the last ten minutes, most of the sorting is already done.

Don't grade or mark the work unless the plans ask you to. The teacher wants to see what students did, not what a stranger thought of it. If the plan asks you to check answers, use a pencil and keep it light.

5 Dismissal

Dismissal is the part of the day where safety matters most, and where each school does things differently. Find out how it works at the office in the morning, and read the plans for anything specific to this class.

• How each group leaves: bus riders, walkers, pickup, after-school programs.
• Who walks students to the bus or pickup area, and when.
• Whether any students leave early and how they are picked up.
• What to do if a parent or another adult comes to the room.

Follow the school's routine exactly, even if it seems slow. The routine exists because it keeps track of every child. If a student tells you their plan is different today, check before you let them go.

What to sayI'm going to check that with the office, just to be sure. Wait here with me for a minute.

Ask the office if a student's way home isn't clear. That is always the right call, and no one will mind. Never send a student home with an adult the school hasn't approved, and never let a student leave alone if you aren't sure that's their plan.

Stay with the class until every student has gone where they should. Then walk back to the room and finish up.

6 The note, and leaving

Write the note as soon as the room is empty, while the day is fresh. Leave it on top of the work piles, where the teacher will see it first.

Keep it short and factual. Say what was done and what wasn't, who helped, and anything that happened, with the time and what you did. Describe events, not students; the teacher wants to know what happened, not your opinion of anyone.

• What we did: finished, started, didn't get to.
• Who helped: first names.
• Anything that happened: the time, the event, what you did.
• Attendance and the office: absences, early pickups, messages from the office.
• Messages: calls or notes.
• From your substitute: your name and how to reach you.

The sub note tool lays out those headings with sentences to start from, and you can print the note or copy it into an email.

Before you leave, take one last look: lights, windows, the teacher's things, the key. Return the key and sign out at the office. Thank the office staff on the way out; they are often the people who decide which subs to call back.

7 The end of the day by grade

The last ten minutes look different depending on the age you're with. The order stays the same, but how much help students need with each step changes a great deal.

Kindergarten to second grade

Young children need more time for everything: coats, backpacks, folders, papers that go home. Start the tidy and packing up a little earlier than you think. Have students pack one thing at a time while you watch, and check that notes for home actually go into backpacks. A short story or a song on the carpet makes a calm last few minutes, and lining up is easier from the carpet than from desks.

Third to fifth grade

Older elementary students can tidy and pack on their own with clear jobs. Use classroom helpers, and give the class a short, quiet challenge at the end, like a quick review question or a guessing game about the day. Many classes write homework in a planner at the end of the day; check the plans for it.

Sixth to eighth grade

In middle school, every period has its own ending. Stop the work a few minutes before the bell, collect papers into that period's labeled pile, and have students straighten their area. Stand at the door as they leave, as you did when they arrived. At the very end of the day, follow the school's routine for the last period, and make sure the room is ready for the teacher before you write your note.