A good sub plan answers the questions a stranger will have at 7:40 in the morning: where do I go, who is in front of me, what do they do first, what if something goes wrong, and who do I ask. This template is built around those questions. Type into it, add as many schedule rows as you need, and print it. Nothing you type leaves your browser and nothing is saved, so print or save a PDF before closing the tab.
Keep two things off the page. Do not write passwords or login details on a sub plan, and do not put student medical or family information on it. Say "see the office for health notes" and let the office handle it. A sub plan gets left on desks, photographed and forwarded.
Write the plan
Starter wording is generic. Edit it so it matches your building.
Substitute teacher plan
Schedule
| Time | Class | Room | Task for the period |
|---|
For the substitute to complete
What was finished: ____________________________________________
Absent or late students: ______________________________________
Behaviour or other notes: ______________________________________
Anything I should know when I return: ________________________
How to use it
Fill the schedule
One row per period or block. Put the task in plain words: "Hand out the packet, read pages 4 to 6 together, then questions 1 to 8".
Write the routines
The things you do without thinking are exactly what a stranger cannot guess. Passes, late students, devices, the end of the day.
Name your allies
A neighbour teacher and one or two reliable students are worth more than a page of rules.
Print and test it
Print one copy and read it as if you had never been in your room. Anything you had to guess, write down.
What makes a sub plan work
Give the sub work students can do without the teacher's expertise. Review, retrieval practice and practice sets with an answer key travel well. A brand new topic does not. Put the answer key on the plan, mark what is collected and what is not, and say how long each piece should take, so a sub who finishes forty minutes early has something to do next. Keep an emergency folder prepared in advance, so the plan on a bad morning is a copy and a few edits instead of a blank page. There is more on that in emergency sub plans and on handling the work students miss in absent students and make-up work.
How it compares with ClassSense
ClassSense does not replace this document. A sub still needs the schedule, the routines and the emergency information. What ClassSense can add is the work. If a unit is already uploaded and approved, students can work through practice on their own at their own pace, it is multiple choice so it is marked for you, and the day still produces mastery data you can look at when you are back. That needs devices, a class that already uses it, and a reviewed unit; it is not a rescue for a morning when you have never opened it. There is no assignment scheduling, so you tell the class and the sub what to open. See the sub plans page for the full picture. Your first 30 days are free, no card.
Common questions
Is this really free and private?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no sign-up, no network calls and no storage. When you close the tab the plan is gone, so print or save a PDF first.
Can I save it and edit it next time?
Not on this page. The simplest route is to print to PDF, or copy your text into your own document. Keeping a finished plan in a folder means the next emergency is a copy and a few edits.
How many schedule rows can I add?
Up to fourteen, which covers a full day with extra blocks. Use Remove last row to take them back off.
What should I not put on a sub plan?
Passwords, personal phone numbers you do not want shared, and student medical or family details. Leave those with the office and point to them.