Leaving Your Desk Always Ready for a Substitute Teacher

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My Classroom Desk

{2017 Summer Fun Rerun!} 

Organization is the difference between a good teacher and a great teacher! It is the difference between a great teacher and an excellent teacher because you are not wasting your time & energy looking for things!

I leave my desk each day ready for a sub. My husband works midnights and is home during the day, if my 15 y/o son or my 82 y/o Dad is sick, my hubby can be home with them, However, I remember what it was like when one of my children got sick unexpectedly in the middle of the night. I was divorced, and I was teaching BEFORE SCHOOLS USED COMPUTERS & HAD EMAIL, gasp, I know, that World really existed at one time! 

SO....

I would be up at 4:00 am writing out sub plans, calling a friend at 6:00 am, driving sick kids to meet my friend halfway, give her the plans and hope for the best! 

Nothing better than learning the hard way! 

Now it takes about 5 minutes at the end of everyday to make sure my desk looks like this....I'm not saying it looks this way EVERY, SINGLE DAY, but I try.

Here is a description of the numbers on the picture.

1. Here is my daily lesson plan, always on my desk so any administrator or county visitor can see it without interrupting my lesson. I keep a second copy on the clipboard while I teach to refer to it, a copy of this template is at the bottom of this post.

2. This is our school's weekly calendar, it lists meetings, fire drills, the resource schedule, etc. This way I don't have to waste time rewriting the dates into my plans!

3. This is my Sub Plans, a terrific notebook for the sub. I've had it for four years now. 

4. This is all the work that is needed for Tuesday! See my blog post Organizing Your Student's Work for the Week! to see how I organize my folder system.

5. Three hole-punch ready when I print my plans or get the weekly calendar. No wasting time looking for it! Right by it is the pen/pencil/paperclip/stickie note holder my daughter made in 1st grade! Everything a sub needs! 

6. Lovely 1980s tape dispenser and stapler right within reach! The stapler says McAllister, my maiden name from before 1991....am I thrifty or what?!?! Every year I look at all those fancy sets of office supplies at Office Max and think, "Nope, I'm good!"

7. My personal reminder, handwritten, no chevron background, no fancy clip art, JOY! {Jesus, Others, Yourself}    

~*~ BEST PART ~*~

When you don't need a sub, you are organized and your next day is so much easier! 

Click on the picture to download an editable Word document of my lesson plans.