Online Learning Sub Plans

    Sub plans have always been my least favorite part about teaching. I always forget how much I do as a teacher until I have to write sub plans. It takes me a couple of hours to write just one sub-plan because I want to make sure that my substitute has everything they need for the day plus extra just in case they need to fill time. I write down in detail how my class is run, I provide copies of worksheets that the class will need, made extra copies of filler activities if needed, and I provide the sub with lengthy directions for each subject matter of the day. I always try to make clear directions so the substitute knows exactly what I need them to do and how to do it. Kindergarten is a whole different ball game for subs. They need to know how to redirect their energy when they are having a hard time in class. Now, imagine being a sub during a pandemic? There are no copies of worksheets or filler activities. All the students are online and the subs have limited access to any curriculum resources. At the beginning of the school year, I made a very generic emergency sub-plan. I optimistically thought I wouldn't need a sub because if I ever got sick, I could make it through a zoom with no problem. I was completely wrong when I contracted Covid-19.

I did my best to stay in contact with my subs for the 2 weeks I was sick. My sub-plans were not up to par. However, I had great subs that did the best they could with what I had given them. My emergency sub plans were not updated with the changes I had made throughout the last few months. I had to share my materials as much as I could. Luckily, I have been using google slides each week with my students so that was an easy share with a lot of resources on them. After this experience, I knew I had to change my sub plans and make them virtually friendly for my future subs if I needed them. A few weeks after my illness, my principal contacted me and asked me to be on the interview panel for our Elementary Administrator interviews. I immediately went to work on new sub plans. I went back to old sub plans that I had used before and revised them to online learning sub plans. I wrote in detail what occurs when at each time of the day, how we take classroom breaks, and survival tips to help them get through the day. I also provide my google slides.

    My grade-level team and I have been using Google Slides for each unit. The slides include what we need for our Wonders unit and Eureka Math unit. It also includes a calendar, our classroom W.I.G, and our leadership roles. I got found these google slide templates from a Facebook group in August. All I did was make a copy and made the changes we needed for our class. I had to go to google images and save images I wanted for my slides and then add links to the images. I discovered VideoLink that generates links for youtube videos so that you don't have pop-up ads or any inappropriate content that you don't want your students to see. This takes time to complete, but worth it when it's all done. I never have to look for links or save videos in my tabs anymore! I can easily share these slides with the sub and all they have to do is click on the images and the link pops up. This is a game-changer that I will use from now on especially when we go back to in-person teaching! Another resource I was able to share was my TE's. I uploaded them to my google drive and have saved them as PDF's for my subs. 

 

  I have discovered through this process that I can share some resources from Wonders with my subs. I use the leveled readers with my students during U.A time. I needed to find a way to share the readers. At first, I went to the week and unit and clicked on small group and then clicked on the level reader. I was only able to use it from my account or share it to google classroom. This didn't work for me because so many parents could not access my google classroom or know how to use it. I had to abandon Google Classroom and only use Seesaw for activities. However, I discovered if you use the magnifying glass on wonders, type in the leveled reader you need, it will provide 2 images of the text. Click on the one that has a download option. I then downloaded the leveled readers I needed and saved it as a PDF and shared it with the sub. You can also share the close reading companion and TE's (by week) with the subs. Everything that I have learned through online learning sub planning I will take with me when we return to in-person teaching. To learn more about this process in detail, request a visit to my virtual classroom. 

We're all in this together, Maricella (Marcy) Mesa