A substitute's day starts the evening before, often with a phone alert and a job you said yes to in a hurry. It is tempting to accept it and go to bed. Twenty minutes of quiet work that night will make the morning calmer than any trick you could learn for the classroom.
This lesson walks through that twenty minutes in order. You will read the job itself, work out the drive and the door, decide what to wear, pack a bag, and carry a short plan of your own in case the room has nothing ready. Then you will write down the questions you want to ask the office in the morning. None of it takes teaching experience. It only takes doing it every time.
Keep one short routine for every job: read it, map it, pack it, plan it, list your questions. The same five steps each night mean you never wonder what you forgot.
Read the whole job, not just the school
When you accept a job, most districts show it in an online absence system, on a website, an app or a phone call. The listing usually has more in it than the school's name. Open it and read every line before you close the screen.
- The school's name, and which campus if the district has more than one with a similar name.
- The room number, the grade or the subject, and the teacher's name.
- The start and end times, and whether it is a half day or a full day.
- Any notes the teacher or the office added, such as a duty, a field trip or a special schedule.
- Whether the job mentions special education, a co-teacher or a para in the room.
The notes field is easy to skip and often the most useful part. A teacher may say that the plans are in a red folder, that there is an assembly at ten, or that you will cover a bus duty after school. If the job says you are with a para or in a special education room, that is worth knowing tonight. Lesson 6 covers that kind of day.
If something in the listing doesn't make sense, such as times that don't match the bell schedule you expected, write it down as a question for the morning. You don't need to solve it at night. You just need to notice it.
Find the school and the door
Look up the school's address and plan the drive or the bus. Check how long it takes at that hour, not in the middle of the day. Morning traffic near a school can be slow, and the last half mile is often the slowest part.
Then look for three small things that trip up new subs: where to park, which door visitors and subs use, and where the office is once you are inside. Many schools lock every door but one during the day. Some ask staff to use a side entrance before the bell. A school's website or a quick look at a map can save you a walk around the building in the dark.
Plan to arrive early. Districts set their own times, and they differ. In the handbooks we checked, Warren Township Schools in New Jersey asks subs to arrive at least 15 minutes before classes begin, San Ramon Valley Unified in California says at least 20 minutes before the job, and Dysart Unified in Arizona says 30 minutes before class starts. Your district's handbook or sub office has the real number. Thirty minutes is a safe default if you don't know.
That early time goes quickly. You will sign in, get a badge and a key, find the room, find the plans, read them, and look for the drill map by the door. Arriving at the bell means doing all of that with students watching.
Set the time you need to leave the house, not the time you need to arrive. Work backward from the school's start time, the drive, parking and a few spare minutes.
Look at the school's day
Most schools post a bell schedule on their website. Find it and look at the day you're covering. Note when the first bell rings, when lunch is for the grade you'll have, and when dismissal is. Check the school calendar too. An early release, a late start, picture day or a testing week can change everything in the plan, and it is better to know the night before than to find out at 10 a.m.
If it's your first job in a new district, look for the district's substitute handbook or orientation notes. Many districts give one to every new sub. It answers a lot of the questions in this course for that district, such as arrival times, dress, phones and how to call in late. Where it says something different from this course, follow the handbook.
Save the school's bell schedule as a photo on your phone. You'll check it a dozen times tomorrow, and the room may not have one posted.
What to wear
Dress the way the school's teachers dress on a normal work day: neat, clean and professional. Dysart Unified's handbook says professional dress helps build respect with students. Wicomico County Public Schools in Maryland lists clothing it does not consider appropriate and says the administrator decides case by case. None of the handbooks we read gives subs a uniform. They expect judgment.
Think about the room too. A kindergarten often means sitting on the floor for a story. A gym class means standing and walking for hours. A science room or an art room may be messy. Flat, comfortable shoes and clothes you can kneel in will serve you better than anything stiff.
- Clothes you can sit on the floor in, if the job is in the younger grades.
- Shoes you can stand and walk in all day.
- A layer, since rooms run hot or cold.
- The badge or ID the district gives you, worn where it can be seen.
Pack the bag
A sub walks into a room they have never seen, and the room may not have what you need. A small bag packed the same way every time solves most of that. You will add to it as you learn, but start with plain things.
For you
- Your photo ID and any badge or letter from the district or agency.
- A water bottle and a lunch that doesn't need a microwave.
- A watch, since not every room has a clock you can see from the front.
- A phone charger with a short cable.
For the work
- Two pens, two pencils, a marker for the board and one for paper.
- Sticky notes and a few sheets of lined paper for your notes and the note to the teacher.
- A small timer, or your phone set to one, for transitions.
For the class
- A picture book and a chapter book you enjoy reading aloud.
- A few printed mazes or word searches for students who finish early.
- A card with three attention signals and three short brain breaks, in case the room has none posted.
Some things belong in a different pile: things you ask about before you bring them. Stickers or small rewards, food of any kind for students, and anything electronic for students to use all depend on the school's rules. Many schools don't allow food from outside, and some students have allergies you won't know about. Leave those at home until the office says yes.
Keep the bag packed between jobs. When you get home, refill what you used that evening, so the bag is ready even when a job comes in at six in the morning.
A plan in your pocket
Most teachers leave plans, and many leave good ones. Some days, though, the plans are thin, or they are on a computer you can't log into, or they simply aren't there. A sub who has a backup plan for that grade stays calm when that happens.
If you walk in and find no plans, tell the office right away. San Ramon Valley Unified's handbook says to let the site administrator know at once, because they may find the plans or give you plans from another teacher. Wicomico County's handbook says to contact the principal or assistant principal for direction. Many schools keep an emergency folder in the office or the teacher's desk, so ask about it before you start building a day on your own.
Your own plan is for the time between finding nothing and hearing back, or for a day when the school has nothing either. San Ramon Valley's handbook says it helps to have your own age-appropriate activities ready. Keep yours simple.
- A read-aloud and a short writing prompt about it.
- A review sheet for the grade: math facts, a reading passage, a word puzzle.
- A quiet activity for the end of the day, such as silent reading or a drawing prompt.
- A short game the class can play from their seats if a lesson runs short.
Keep to review, not new material. You don't know where the class is in the curriculum, and teaching something new can confuse students and their teacher. Keep the class's normal schedule as much as you can, and write down what you did, in order, so the teacher can pick up the next morning.
Peabody Teach has a plan maker for this. Choose the grade and the length of the day and it builds a printable plan you can carry. Make one tonight for the grade you are subbing tomorrow. If you never need it, you lose nothing.
Write your questions for the morning
You will have a minute or two with someone in the office when you sign in. Use it well by knowing what to ask. Write a short list tonight, on paper or in your phone, so you don't stand at the counter trying to remember.
- Where is the key, and is there a sub folder?
- How do I take attendance and send it, and by what time?
- What is the bell schedule today, and is it a normal day?
- Do I have a duty, such as recess, lunch or the bus line?
- How do I call the office from the room?
- Who should I call if a student needs help I can't give?
- Where is the emergency plan, and where does the class go in a drill?
Over your first few visits to a school, you will add more: how students go to the nurse, the school's phone rule, how students leave early, and what to do if behavior is unsafe. Lesson 5 covers those. Write each answer in a sub log, so the next time you work at that school you can skip the questions you already asked.
If something changes
Plans fall through. Your car won't start, a child at home is sick, or the bus is late. Call the school as soon as you know. San Ramon Valley asks a late sub to phone the office manager with an arrival time, and Wicomico County asks subs to tell the school right away. A call gives the office time to cover the class. Silence leaves them guessing, and leaves students in a hallway.
If you need to cancel a job, check your district's rule about how late you may drop it. Many districts ask subs not to cancel at the last minute, and some count it against you. Ask the sub office early in your first month so you know.
Then go to sleep
It sounds too simple to put in a course, but it matters. The first five minutes of a sub day need a steady voice and a calm face, and those come more easily after a full night. Lay out your clothes, set two alarms, put the bag by the door and stop reading about classrooms.
In the next lesson you will walk into the building, find the room and run the first five minutes. Everything you did tonight makes that part easier.
Before bed, say the morning in one breath: leave at 6:50, park on the side street, sign in at the front office, ask for the key, the sub folder and how to call the office.