Substitute Teacher Report

Creating plans for a substitute teacher is hard!  Whenever I have to take a day off from school I feel like I make plans on plans on plans.  Do you ever feel like you spend a whole day just planning for the substitute and then get a post-it note the next day saying “Kids were good.” Is that all!?  I want a full substitute teacher report!  Which students were good? How were they good? What did you teach? Did you need anything I didn’t provide? Did you use my plans?  Did my hard work pay off!?I have always struggled with how to prepare for a substitute teacher.  I’m sure you can empathize.  What if I get a “non-music person” who can only show videos?  What if I get someone who can’t work a CD player?  What if I get someone who will forsake all of your careful planning and teach the limbo for 8 straight hours (I had this happen to me my first year). How can I effectively plan for all contingencies so that the sub feels supported and kids actually get quality plans while I’m out?

This year I’ve made it part of my focus to collect/create good sub plans, find resources that a sub could use and modify as needed no matter their training, and figure out a way to plan for subs in general that makes sense.  I want to have a really good base of ideas so that any time I have to plan for a sub (a specific day I know I’ll be gone) that I don’t spend hours agonizing and reinventing the wheel.  Here’s another post I wrote about planning for a substitute and some of the things I do.

Substitute Report – Collecting Data for ME

The latest addition to that list of “stuff” that I leave for a sub is the substitute report.  I wanted a quick little sheet for the sub to fill out at the end of the day so that I know what happened while I was gone.  I used to leave a pretty open-ended sheet that basically asked “What did you do?  Who was good/bad?  Did you follow my plans? Etc.”  However, the substitute teachers that filled in for me never answered anything on that list.  I decided to get a bit more specific and I made this little form so that subs can quickly check off answers and leave feedback that is helpful for me to know.

I tried to cover all the bases of things that I would want to know from the sub.  Your name and sub number (in case I want to ask you specifically again).  What you did with each class (if you deviated from my plans or if you had to modify them).  Things you might like to have next time (Ex. Did I forget to pull out the TV, do you need more paper, etc.).  Then I put a behavior list on the back in case the kids had issues and their names needed to be recorded AND a spot for those great kids who need recognition for helping.

Finally at the bottom of the substitute teacher report I have the important question of “Are you a music person or not?”  Asking subs if they’re comfortable making music or at least leading musical activities is important.  I don’t ask this question in a rude way but I want to know so that I can leave the right kind of plans for them and still ensure my students get good music content.  I try my hardest to ask our few “music subs” (folks who have training teaching music) to take over for me when I leave but that doesn’t always happen.  It’s always good to find a substitute who is willing to sing and actually make music with the kids.  I want to find those people and REMEMBER them for next time!

Let me know what YOU think about this form and how you might modify it.  I’m leaving this sheet for a sub in the near future and I’m sort of excited to see how it works out.   Check it out and download for FREE from my Teachers Pay Teachers Page. Let me know what you think and if it works well for you and your classroom!