(Original image by nlyl, Open Clip Art Library)
I apologize for the late post today, but family matters superseded blogging until now. I am actually glad that they did, as it gave me time to put some real thinking into this week's "Thinking Thursday" ideas.
During one of my family meet-ups of the day, a relative of mine (who also teachers . . .lot of educators in our clan!) lamented her recent experience of being asked to give up some of her planning time for the day to "sub" for an absent teacher, even though she is a full-time teacher with responsibilities, as well. It was to be "for only 15 minutes" -- which turned into more than an hour. While my relation is a very accomplished teacher in her own right, it is always nice -- when being thrown to the wolves -- to have a bone. After panicked searching, she did find enough teacher information to make an attempt at teaching a group of children she did not know, er, something. Pitfall after pitfall ensued, mainly because the teacher who was not there was REALLY not there. Where was her presence? You know: overview of the year/marking period/month, key questions to consider/answer, objectives of some kind -- materials in a stack for others to use in case one is absent?
I was going to rant on and on about this topic of unpreparedness in a field striving to have its members considered professionals -- which they most certainly are. However, the whole "extra thinking time" came into play at this point. Rather than protest loudly at the few who drag down the many, or relate my own war stories (you have yours, too, I know), I would prefer to end this on a productive and collaborative note.
Question 1: What do you do to make sure that your room has you in it, whether you can show up that day or not? What do you leave for a substitute teacher at all times to make sure that things run smoothly in your absence (and the day does not turn into a glorified babysitting gig)?
Question 2: In what form (i.e. paper, Word doc, Intranet server forms) do you write and manage your daily and weekly lesson plans? Are they easily accessible for the substitute teacher to understand and follow?
Questions 3: Is there a standard operating procedure in place in your building or district that requires your lesson plans to be in a certain format? What, in your opinion, is the actual compliance rate for those specifications?Any comments or best practices that you can share in a "Comments" post would be greatly appreciated. Many teachers work countless hours to make their classrooms run well, with or without them. Let us laud the hard work of those professionals who do so.
Some Online Lesson Plan Authoriing Options
(Image by TheStructorr, Open Clip Art Library)
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