Sub Plans in Case of Emergency: Don't Leave School Without Them!

It is 3AM and the sound of a child's feet bolting to the bathroom and barely making it to the toilet before vomiting, wake you from a dream you were too tired to even know you are having because you are a teacher!

It is 3AM and you bolt out of bed and race to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before getting rid of everything you ate the day before!  Yuck!

As a teacher you don't stand over the toilet rubbing your child's back, wiping a pathetic face, or your own for that matter, and think, "Looks like a sick day tomorrow."

Instead you go into panic mode!  You get the floor/your child/yourself cleaned up, and you race to your computer.  You shakily put in for a sub, and pray to the sub gods that someone is able to cover your class in a few short hours.  Then you get frustrated with yourself because you should have gotten things together before you left the day before.  You should have sensed that you or your child could possibly get sick and planned better.  Ugghhh, I know that feeling.

I also know the feeling of driving to school at 4:30 AM after getting a sick child settled back into bed and putting in for a sub, so I could race to my classroom, make copies, set out my sub plans, all to make sure my students' learning would not be interrupted in my absence.  As teachers, it is more of a hassle to be out for a day, which is why so many of us tend to "warrior-it-out" when we are sick and come and teach anyway.  You can't do that when you are throwing up or when you have a sick kiddo, however.

As organized and prepared as I think I am, I still get caught off guard.  In order to be as prepared as possible, I always have a binder on my desk with Emergency Plans.  In this Emergency Binder I keep:

• the names of my teammates so that they have a go-to person all day
•  a schedule for the day: times for each class, specials, lunch, recess,dismissal, and any duties I have
• up-to-date seating charts
• lunch count and attendance lists
• lesson plans that match the copies and work materials that I have left so the substitute knows exactly what needs to be completed, turned in, etc.
• specific directions about lining up, dismissal, etc.
• reward bucks for students to earn (yes, I bribe while I am out)
• info about how I want the classroom left-chairs pushed in, garbage off of the floor, desks lined up.  This may seem jerky, but here is how I word it, "At the end of the day, please have the students organize the classroom exactly how it appeared when they entered in the morning."  I despise walking into a classroom that looks like a hurricane swept through upon my return, so this is how I try to fix that.

Despite having my binder with random student work, I wanted something even better.  So I created  Print and Go Emergency Language Arts Sub Plans for Grades 4-8 resource to make my life a bit easier.  I plan to make about 4 more of these to cover myself in case of any future-sick-kiddo years.  Depending how long your ELA class periods are, this CCSS resource will last for 2 days of instruction.  It includes:

• 4-page high-interest reader’s theater script-Estimated Lexile Measure:800L
• Reader Response Questions
• Context Clue Word Work
• Summary Strategy Organizer
• Story Map
• Text-Based Journal Prompt
• Word Work Word Search
• Story Cover Makeover
• 3-High Interest Journal Prompts for Writing

You can grab it here if you are interested...

I would love to hear what you do to prepare your classroom for your unexpected absence.  In the meantime, here is to healthy thoughts!

Best of the Best~A Teacher Appreciation Blog Hop and Giveaway

Amy over at Teaching with Blue Jeans organized this amazing blog hop and giveaway for Teacher Appreciation Week.  There are over 106 teacher/bloggers participating to make a few AMAZING bundled prizes.  Each teacher/blogger has donated the top selling item from their TpT store in order to truly make this giveaway THE BEST FOR THE BEST! 

The novel Crash by Jerry Spinelli is an absolute favorite of mine.  It is the first novel I share with my students when they arrive in my classroom in August.  Here are my top 5 reasons that I find it to be such a hit:

1. It is the perfect read aloud!
2. My students easily connect to the characters.
3. It is realistic fiction, dealing with present day issues.
4. The chapters are short, which appeals to my students.
5. It is the perfect tool to introduce/reinforce: read to someone, read to self, listen to reading.

Need I say more?!

I have my own set of classroom copies of this novel, but they are worn out.  So I utilize our public library's teacher collection system to have 25 hardback copies for use in the classroom.  If students are absent, I send one of my copies home to make-up missed work.

Each student is given a file folder with the unit inside.  Because this is a tool we are using in the classroom, I collect the folders at the end of class and keep them.  This allows me to grade any work they completed in their unit folder, and I don't have to worry about it being forgotten-students are prepared to learn upon entering the classroom.

Below are a few pics of students working on the novel unit and the end of book project I love to use with this text to really focus on character, setting, and narrative writing.

The project is called "Spend a Day!"  The students have to select one of the characters from the novel that they would like to spend time with.  Based on evidence from the text, they write three narratives about three different activities they would do with this character.  Finally, they draw three pictures of the activities they shared about in their narratives.  The illustrations and narratives are complied into a construction paper book.

            

If you are looking for that perfect text to start the year, this truly is the best one!

I just created this reader's theater script to go with the novel because every year my students ask if the novel has been turned into a movie.  Shout out to Hollywood for making my students think that!  My students LOVE to perform reader's theaters and with the CCSS mandating that students can compare and contrast different versions of the same story, this learning tool helps my students with that skill.  It can be read to introduce the novel, or it can be utilized at the end.  Either way it is a great addition to the novel.  Grab it for $1 by clicking on the image!

Have fun navigating the rest of this BEST OF THE BEST Blog Hop!  Most importantly, thanks for all you do for your students!  Have a great rest of your year and a well-deserved summer!

Here is the next stop on the BLOG HOP:

Continue on The Best for the Best Teacher Appreciation Blog Hop by clicking the picture below.

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Test Prep....UGGHHH!

Now is the time of year when things start to get a little more tense around the school building.  The year is half-way completed, the second set of conferences are quickly approaching, and TESTING seems to be looming.  AHHHH the stress can be overwhelming!!!

I have found that cramming for state tests is not beneficial for my students.  It stresses them, retention is limited, and there are so many positive ways to keep them focused as testing season approaches.  However, every moment of instructional time counts.

For that reason, I created this Waiting in Line Challenge!  It is a fun tool to keep students thinking throughout transitional times.  Simply print, laminate, and cut the question cards.  Bring along with your WHEREVER you go with students.  During any moment, challenge students to answer what is on the cards.  Provide some little incentive-bonus point, school money, stickers, etc.

Click the image to download for FREE!

I would love for you to try it out with your kiddos and let me know what they thought.

Effective Communication Tools for an Interdisciplinary Team

While I know that all grade levels have their intricacies, I find 6th grade to be tricky in the sense that at times the students can seem so very mature and grown-up, yet they are still 6th grade kiddos.  They need reminders, follow-ups, and complete structure and consistency.  To help our students and families get a feel for some of the "ins and outs" or expectations and understandings of the year, I put together this document as a resource for both students and parents. 

There is a whole lot to communicate about our year, and this truly only touches the surface, but still I find it to be a very helpful tool.  It is placed in student planners and in the Parent Folders that go home on Meet the Teacher Night to answer some of the questions parents have about specific things!  Let me know of any tools you utilize that communicate information most effectively that you incorporate in parent folders.