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1 minute read
I still remember the first time I considered using my emergency sub plans. I was waiting at a stop sign on Halloween morning. I had worn a T-shirt emblazoned with “fortunes told,” and I had prepared spooky lessons for each class. My Latin students would be practicing the imperative by creating a spell á la Harry Potter, and my Western Literature students would discuss how to present the ghost of Hamlet’s father on stage. I was trying to decide if I would get a parent email for calling our Latin activity “spells.” Maybe, I mused as I waited for a break in the traffic, I should change the wording on my Canvas page when I got to school.
And then, BANG!
My car lurched forward, and as I looked behind me, I saw a Jeep taking up my entire rear window, perched on my bumper. Oh, no, I thought. I’m going to have to use my emergency sub plans.
Not necessarily the reaction you expect for a car accident, or a child waking up sick at 3 a.m., or a hot water heater flooding the attic, but “ugh, sub plans!” was something I regularly murmured, muttered, or shouted as a teacher. Ideally, teachers have the freedom to create sub plans that provide continuity during their absence, but sometimes there’s no alternative to emergency sub plans.
Good emergency sub plans work at any time of year. They should be engaging enough that students don’t get bored and entertain themselves with shenanigans, but also not so challenging that students panic over their inability to finish the task on time, or without your guidance. Some teachers prefer paper assignments, or fully independent tasks, as a mercy to any colleague who gives up a planning period to provide coverage.
Truly good emergency sub plans are a challenge to craft, and creating new ones adds one more task to an already stressful time. To make sick days, plumbing disasters, car accidents, and all the other reasons you use emergency plans a little less horrible, we’re sharing ready-to-go activities that focus on social studies skills. Add your seating chart, emergency procedures, and student medical information, and you’re good to go for another school year.
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