Emergency Sub Plans: A 20-Minute Method and a Template

Emergency sub plans are written at the worst possible time. It is six in the morning, you have a fever, and someone you have never met will stand in front of your 32 students in two hours. Whatever you send now has to work without you, without your voice, and sometimes without your language. Most of us send a worksheet and a prayer.

This post gives you a 20-minute method for the morning you are sick, a sub plans template that fits on one page, and the short list of things to put in a folder now so that the morning is only 20 minutes and not an hour.

What a substitute actually needs

I have covered other teachers' classes many times, and I have had my classes covered. The same things are missing every time. Not the lesson. The context.

• Who is in the room. A seating plan, the two students who help, the two who need a quiet word before they need a loud one.
• What the routine is. How the lesson starts, where the books are, what happens if a student finishes early.
• One task that runs itself. Clear instructions on the sheet, an answer key, enough to fill the time.
• What to leave behind. Where to put the work and one line of feedback for you.

Emergency sub plans that include these four things let a substitute teach a mediocre lesson well. A substitute with a brilliant lesson and none of these will spend the period finding the books.

The sub plans template

Sections 1, 2 and 4 are written once and kept in a folder, paper or shared drive. On the morning you are sick, you only write section 3 and attach the folder. That is the 20 minutes.

The folder you build in advance

Set aside one free period early in the term. Put these in a folder labelled with your name and room.

1. The class snapshot and routines for each class you teach (sections 1 and 2). Half a page per class.
2. Three generic lessons per subject that work for any week of the term: a reading passage with questions, a review worksheet with an answer key, a writing task with a sentence starter and a word bank. See the five checks for printable worksheets before you choose them.
3. A backup task that needs zero explanation: a vocabulary sort, a puzzle page, silent reading with a one-paragraph summary.
4. The note-back sheet (section 5), photocopied ten times.

Tell the office and your head of department where the folder is. A folder nobody can find is the same as no folder.

The 20-minute method for emergency sub plans

1. Minute 0 to 2: Message the school. Say where the folder is.
2. Minute 2 to 5: Decide: continue the unit or use a generic lesson? If the next lesson needs you to explain something new, use the generic one. Students can continue practice without you; they cannot start a new concept without you.
3. Minute 5 to 15: Write section 3 for each class. Objective in one line. The task, with page numbers or the attached sheet. Timing in three blocks. Where the answer key is.
4. Minute 15 to 18: Add two lines a sub always needs: "If they finish, they do X" and "Collect everything and leave it on my desk."
5. Minute 18 to 20: Send. Go back to bed.

Example: Grade 8 English, persuasive writing unit, day 4 of 6

The next lesson was meant to introduce counter-arguments, which needs a teacher. So section 3 became: "Objective: use three persuasive devices in a paragraph (practised on day 2 and 3). Task: read the model paragraph on the attached sheet, underline the three devices (10 min). Write your own paragraph on the topic 'Phones should be allowed at break' using all three (25 min). Swap with a partner and tick the devices you find (10 min). Early finishers: write a second paragraph for the opposite view. Answer key: devices are labelled on the teacher copy. Word bank attached in English and Arabic." The sub needed no knowledge of the unit. The students did real practice, not a film.

What not to leave

• A film with no task. Students know it is a filler. So does the substitute.
• A new concept. It will be taught wrong or not at all, and you will re-teach it anyway.
• Group work that needs managing. A sub who does not know the names cannot manage six groups.
• Instructions that live in your head. If it is not on the sheet, it does not exist.

If you are choosing a generic lesson from a free lesson plan, cut it to the parts a stranger can run and attach a sheet with the instructions on it. The one-page lesson plan template works for subs too, with section 1 doing most of the talking.

How TeachBuddy AI helps

The 20 minutes get shorter when the class snapshot already exists. In TeachBuddy AI the classroom profile holds the groups, needs and languages, so a plan for a substitute starts from the right class. In the lesson plan generator, point to the textbook pages in your Resource Library, type "practice lesson for a substitute, no new content, clear written instructions", and edit the draft. The worksheet generator makes the practice sheet with an answer key, and both download as PDF or Word to attach to the message.

Buddy, the chat assistant on the home page, can build the same plan from a sentence while you are still in bed, and shows you a summary before anything is created. The AI drafts; you decide what goes to the substitute.

Frequently asked questions

What should a sub plans template include?

A class snapshot, the routines, today's lesson with timing and an answer key, a backup task, and a note-back sheet. Write the snapshot, routines and backup once; write only today's lesson on the morning.

How do I write substitute teacher plans quickly?

Keep a folder with the class snapshot and three generic lessons per subject. On the day, choose practice over new content, write the task in one page with timing, and attach the folder.

What is a good emergency lesson for any subject?

A reading passage with questions, a review worksheet with an answer key, or a writing task with a model and a word bank. All three run without the teacher explaining anything new.

Want a practice lesson and worksheet for a substitute built from your own class and textbook pages? Create a free TeachBuddy AI account and build the folder before you need it.