Planning for Substitutes

Teachers,
Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday.

Planning for Substitutes —
I was talking with the Community Council on Wednesday afternoon and we were talking safety and a concern came up about how substitutes will know what to do in case of an emergency in a classroom. So I thought about this. I would like for every teacher to put together a Substitute Information page that you can leave out whenever you have a sub. It is page that will not include daily plans, but will include information that a sub might like to know to help run your classroom better. Procedures that are used all the time and are not written into lesson plans. Topics like; procedures during an emergency fire drill or any emergency drill, How do students line up, How you deal with situation in your classroom, procedures for students using chrome books or iPads in the classroom, how you call on students, procedures for specials and PE, and any specific times students go to ELL, Resource, Speech, or other places, How you line up to go to iReady… There are many things that are procedures we see everyday that you might like a sub to know when they come to your room. When you put this list together just print it and put it next to your sub plans when you have a sub. If you would send Anita a copy of the Sub Info also she can print it if there is ever an emergency. The biggest piece of information we would like on this page is what to do in an Emergency. Where to go, how to line up, who to they report to, and anything specific they need to know that will help them through an emergency.

Quote I’m pondering —
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

What I’m watching —
Taylor Mali: What Do Teachers Make?
If you have not seen this, you need to see it. We are in a tough profession and you do an amazing job teaching our little ones.

Favorite Article This Week —
15 Questions to Replace “How Was School Today?
These are great questions to ask our on kids when they get home from school. Which tells me that we need our students to be able to answer these questions before they leave school each day. So how do we do this?

A Big Thank You —
Thank you Shelly. There are so many things you do at this school that it is hard for me to say thank you for just one thing. Thank you for everything. For setting schedules, for preparing lessons six grade levels of science and teaching them each week, for housing and cleaning leftovers from animals in your room so students have the opportunity to see animals up close, for taking a morning or afternoon duty when someone has a meeting or is not feeling well, for helping in the office and doing odd jobs when we need them so the school will keep running. This list could go on and on. Thank you for all you do. I thank you, we all thank you Shelly. Thank you.

I appreciate all your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.