Sub Binder for Life's Emergencies

I am pretty embarrassed about this confession: I haven't had a sub binder until just now. For some of you that may not seem like such a deep, dark secret, but those of you who have been following me over my blogging career, know just how earth-shattering that is. You see, I was (am still am) Sub Hub and blogged all the time about being prepared for a sub. I even sell two different lines of emergency sub plans in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. But did I use either one of them? No (hanging my head in shame). Just file that one under the "do as I say, not as I do" category.

This Spring Break, I decided to remedy that and show you all just how easy it was to get things in order. Now, I used a couple of my own products, but you can use whatever you like and works for you. The two I used were: Just Add Paper: Fourth Grade (and I have these plans for K-5) and Sub Forms for Teachers (and I only used the pages that worked for my school).

First, I filled out the Sub Forms for Teachers with information for my class this year and printed those out.

Then, I printed out multiple copies of the Daily Summary Form that is also in the Sub Forms for Teachers.

Next, I went to my gradebook and printed several copies of my class attendance list.

I also printed out the Just Add Paper: Fourth Grade Emergency Sub Plans.

Finally, I put them all in a binder with a cute cover and dividers.

This will be somewhere in my classroom that is easily accessible, so if there is an emergency, a sub will at least have some basic information and some things to get started, if not get through the whole day. All they need to add to this is a picture book (which there are numerous choices in my classroom library) and paper (which is out in a visible location in my classroom).

Of course, best case scenario is to write up sub plans continuing your scope and sequence, and I will continue to do that if at all possible (even if it's in the middle of the night). But now, I have some peace of mind that if something were to happen and I couldn't write plans in the middle of the night and email them to my awesome teammates, that my classroom and students would still be taken care of.

So now you can "do as I do" as well as "do what I say" and always be prepared for life's emergencies.

A Sweet Freebie Just for You

I know. I know. I am so crazy behind on blogging. Honestly, I have so much so share with all you that I am quite overwhelmed. There are so many awesome things happening in my classroom this year! And also some new challenges that I am working my way through, which is a lot of the reason I am behind in blogging. Plus, my daughter is a freshman in high school this year and joined the cross country team. Cross country runners keep an INSANE schedule! But, now cross country season is over, and my son's soccer is in between seasons, so my hope is that I can get back on track blogging about some great ideas of activities and teaching that you could use in your classroom as well.

For now, please accept my apologies... and this SWEET freebie! I do a gingerbread theme in my classroom for December. You see, I teach the ESL fourth graders at my school, and many of them do not celebrate Christmas. I always want to do Christmas activities, while still allowing everyone to participate. My solution has been The Gingerbread Man... Christmas-ey without being specifically Christmas. I even have a freebie in my store of some gingerbread activities I do. Anyway, I was perusing Pinterest looking for gifts for my students and came across this cutie pie wrapped around a Hershey candy bar:

Well, I am always looking for ways to simplify as well. That guy was cute, but also looked like a lot of work. So, I decided to design some Gingerbread Candy Wrappers. They just need to be printed, cute, wrapped around a candy bar, and taped. And I have specifically designed them generically, so they will work for students both do and don't celebrate Christmas.

So, feel free to grab this forever freebie for your student gifts this year, or wait and use it next year.

Big Savings at the Teachers Pay Teachers Cyber Monday Sale

Who doesn't love a sale, especially this time of year. And one you don't even need to leave the house for? Even better. Just enter the code "CYBER" at checkout to get an extra discount off stores that are already on sale... like mine! Every item in my store will be on sale at 20% off. That, plus the code, will give you 28% off! 28% off emergency sub plans, writing resources, and downtime ideas!

So many of your favorite sellers will have their stores on sale too. Now is the time to buy all those fantastic resources you have saved in your Wish List. And spend this weekend finding awesome things to add to that Wish List before you buy. Find something you just can't do without? Feel free to share the link in the comments section so everyone can get in on the action.