Substitute Teachers: Great Resources

Substitute teacher. That was me for a short time. After becoming a classroom teacher, I was fortunate enough to have two people who often substituted for me who were both caring teachers with a professional attitude. I had a successful working relationship with each person because we worked hard at detailed, two-way communication.

If you are a teacher, the links below will serve as a guide in providing the important information a substitute needs to be effective in your absence. If you are substitute teacher, you will find resources and ideas to help you be well-prepared. These plans will be especially helpful to you for one of those inevitable days when a classroom teacher for one reason or another, does not leave clear or adequate plans for you.

The best place to start is the NEA's website. Six categories of resources for both classroom teachers and substitute teachers are offered on the Substitute Educator's Resources page.

Jefferson County Public Schools' resource page on Creating A Substitute Teacher Packet guides classroom teachers to prepare information for a substitute. Time Fillers, also from Jefferson County Public Schools, offers good ideas for substitute teachers as well as links to other substitute resources. Classroom teachers might find a helpful idea or two in the list as well. As an alternative, Scholastic's simple and straightforward Substitute Teacher Information Sheet can help a teacher provide some of the basic information a substitute needs.

Education World provides substitute teacher resources in their Substitute Survival: Mini Lessons for Unexpected Moments lesson plan article. Suggestions and more general resources for a substitute teacher can also be found at Education World's Substitute Survival: Tools You Can Use page.

Publishers offer free sample chapters from their books written for substitute teachers. Download the National Council of Teachers of English's sample chapter from the Substitute Teachers' Lesson Plans for meaningful writing activities for grades 7-12. These writing activities stand on their own and offer something beyond the busy work sometimes left for older students. For Grades 3-5, download these sample pages from a book for substitute teachers from Scholastic's Substitute Teacher Resource Book (Item # NTS944411).

Do you have any suggestions for substitute teaching? Comments and suggestions are welcome.


Clip art from Discovery School at http://school.discovery.com/