15 habits of a good substitute teacher, the kind schools ask back
Schools ask back the substitutes who make the day easy for everyone: the office, the class and the teacher who comes back tomorrow. None of it takes teaching experience. These fifteen habits cover the morning before the bell, the day itself, the things good subs avoid, and the last ten minutes. Each one says what to do, what you need and the grades it fits, so you can try them on your very next job.
Before the bell
1. Check in at the office first
Go to the front office before the classroom, even if you know the way. Ask for the sub folder, the bell schedule, the emergency procedures and the name of a teacher next door you can call on. Thank the person who helped you by name, because the office is often who decides whether you come back.
Grades All gradesYou need Your ID and the job details
2. Read the whole plan once
Read every page of the plan before students arrive, start to finish, without acting on any of it yet. Then go back and mark the times, the duties and anything you don't understand. Questions asked at 7:45 are easy to answer; questions found at 10:30 interrupt a lesson.
Grades All gradesYou need The teacher's plan or sub folder
3. Find the escape routes and the phone
Before the class arrives, find the posted exit route, the classroom phone or call button and the list of student health needs if the folder has one. Know how to reach the office in one step. You may never need it, but a good sub can act in the first minute of a drill without hunting.
Grades All gradesYou need The room's posted emergency map
4. Put your name on the board
Write your name, the date and the first task where every student sees it as they walk in. Add one line about the day, such as Today we follow Ms. Rivera's plan. The class learns who you are and what to do without a speech, and the room starts working while you take attendance.
Grades All gradesYou need The board and a markerUse Sub welcome board
During the day
5. Stand at the door
Greet students at the doorway as they come in, at the start of the day and after every break. Say hello, use a name when you know it and point to the first task on the board. A class that walks past a calm adult at the door settles faster than one that walks into a sub sitting at the desk.
Grades All gradesYou need Nothing
6. Follow the plan as written
Teach what the teacher left, in the order it was left, even if you would do it differently. The teacher planned around things you can't see, like a test next week or a student who needs a routine. When something truly can't be done, choose the closest thing and write down what you changed and why.
Grades All gradesYou need The teacher's plan
7. Use their routines, not yours
Ask two reliable students how the class usually does things like bathroom passes, lining up and turning in work, and check what they say against the sub folder. Use the class's own way whenever it is safe and simple. Students behave better inside routines they already know than inside new rules from a stranger.
Grades All gradesYou need Nothing
8. Keep moving around the room
Walk slowly between desks while students work instead of staying at the front. Pause beside a table, look at the work, and say one useful thing about it. Being close by answers questions early and keeps most small problems from starting, without a single warning.
Grades All gradesYou need Nothing
9. Write things down as they happen
Keep a running list during the day: who was absent, who helped, what got finished, any visitor or phone call, and anything that went wrong, with the time. Notes written in the moment are accurate and short. Notes written from memory at 3:00 are vague, and vague notes are hard for the teacher to use.
Grades All gradesYou need A notepad or the back of the plan
What not to do
10. Don't change the room
Leave desks, seating, wall displays and the teacher's own desk the way you found them. If you must move something for an activity, put it back before you leave. A teacher who comes back to a rearranged room spends the morning fixing it instead of teaching, and remembers why.
Grades All gradesYou need Nothing
11. Don't be on your phone
Keep your phone put away while students are in the room, except to check the time or call for help. Students notice right away when an adult is looking at a screen, and so does anyone who walks past the door. Check messages at lunch or during a planning period instead.
Grades All gradesYou need Nothing
12. Don't try to be the fun sub
Skip extra free time, movies that weren't in the plan, candy and rule changes meant to win the class over. It feels good for an hour and makes the afternoon harder, and the teacher hears about it the next day. Being kind, fair and steady is what students actually remember about a good sub.
Grades All gradesYou need Nothing
13. Don't go past your role
Leave grading, discipline decisions, medicine, calls to parents and private talks about a student's home life to the teacher and the office. When a situation needs an adult with more authority, call the office and say what is happening. Asking for help early is part of the job, not a sign you failed at it.
Grades All gradesYou need The school's sub guidelinesUse Can a sub send a student to the office?
At the end of the day
14. Leave a clear note
Before you leave, write the teacher a short note: what got done, what didn't, who was absent, who was a big help and anything they need to follow up on. Say what happened rather than who was bad. Keep it to one page so it gets read on the first morning back.
Grades All gradesYou need Paper or the note toolUse Sub note for the teacher
15. Leave the room ready for tomorrow
Save the last few minutes for the room. Have students pick up the floor, stack the work turned in that day with a label, and put materials back where they came from. Return keys, badges and the sub folder to the office on your way out and say thank you.
Grades All gradesYou need Five minutes before dismissalUse My sub log
Making it work
- Arrive early enough to read the plan, find the room and still have a few quiet minutes before the first bell.
- Keep a small kit of your own in case the plan is thin: a book to read aloud, a few printed activities and spare pencils. The sub bag list covers what to pack.
- Write down the name of every school, teacher and office person who helped you in your sub log. Remembering names on your next visit is how schools start asking for you.
- If the plan runs out early, fill the time with something useful from the activity picker rather than free time.
- Read your district's own rules for substitutes once, and follow them over any tip on this page.
Questions teachers ask
- How do I become a good substitute teacher?
- Arrive early, check in with the office, read the whole plan before students come in, follow it as written and leave the teacher a clear note at the end. Steady and reliable matters more to schools than clever lessons or a fun reputation.
- What should you not do as a substitute teacher?
- Don't rearrange the room, use your phone in front of the class, hand out rewards or free time the plan didn't include, or make decisions that belong to the teacher or the office, like grades, discipline or calls home. When in doubt, call the office.
- How do substitutes get requested by the same school again?
- Teachers and offices ask back the subs whose days caused no extra work: the plan got done, the room was tidy, the note was useful and the office heard no complaints. Learning people's names and thanking them helps too.
- What are some tips and tricks for a first day as a sub?
- Write your name and the first task on the board before the bell, greet students at the door, ask two reliable students how the class does routine things, and keep notes through the day so the note at the end writes itself.
Written for teachers by Peabody Teach. No ads, no affiliate links. Something wrong or missing? Tell us.