Planning for a Long Term Sub

Planning for my maternity leave was a bit of a struggle. I didn't know how simple or complex I should make my sub plans. I didn't want to overwhelm the sub but I also didn't want to leave out any details. Here's what I ended up doing!

1. I bought two milk crates and filled them file folders. Each file folder is labeled for a week at a time.

2. Within each week is a lesson plan and five folders, one for each day.

 

3. Within each daily folder contains everything needed to carry out the days lesson.

That's it! Anything and everything needed is in a handy dandy folder! Yes, this was extremely tedious and took hours to make copies and lesson plan!

Blood, sweat, tears, and paper cuts went into this long term planning, but it was so worth it! I got so into the process that I even prepped and planned for the entire first month that I return! I almost wish that I could prep an entire school year at a time! Tempting...

Along with my two crates of plans, I left the sub with my classroom bible, aka, my teacher binder. (Full post here !)

This binder contains anything and everything the sub might need to know.
-Student Info. (includes class list, parent contact info, IEP info, class schedules, bus schedules, etc.)
-Lesson Plans
-Calendar
-Journal Topics
-Website Passwords
-Staff Info.
-Standards
-Attendance records
-Misc.

Anything and everything is included in my binder. As difficult as it is for me to just relax, things have been a breeze thanks to my long term sub plans. So far, so good!

Although I've included extremely detailed instructions, I know things don't always go as planned. I made sure my sub is aware that he has freedom to be creative and tweak activities as needed. Every day is an adventure, especially in special education, so I know every day will come with it's own set of problems or changes. As long as the core work is getting done, I'm a happy camper! I'm so thankful to have classroom aides in my room that are able to help the sub out and make day to day changes as necessary. Things have been going great and I couldn't be happier!