Start With Your Desk

Position your desk so you can see the classroom, and try to keep the items on your desk to a minimum.
You want to model good managing skills for the students.

Make Your Substitute Teacher Folder A.S.A.P.

The folder is a “two-fer”; it not only helps the substitute immensely, it saves valuable time for the
teacher to not have to scramble each time a substitute is needed.

Keep a Routine
The first day of school is when the routines begin, but you need to know before schools starts how you
want the room to run.

Keep a Mailbox
Rather than pass out papers to the students all day, or try to ensure they receive important notes, invest
in a mailbox for the classroom. You can use the students’ numbers on the tabs to keep them organized.
This also helps the teacher know at the end of the day who did not take their paperwork home with
them.
Plan Your Week Ahead of Time
When doing your plans, use color coded folders to help keep track of your days. For instance, blue is for
Monday, green for Tuesday, and so forth. In each folder you can have the day’s plans, worksheets, ideas,
or anything else that is needed for the day, right at your fingertips. Make extra copies of worksheets,
too, because someone will invariably lose theirs within four minutes of receiving one. Folders will also
help a substitute teacher work through her day.

Crates
Crates work in many different capacities in the classroom. They can be used to hold folders, books,
crafts, and paperwork. They can be stacked to save space and then flipped over to use as chairs.

Go Backwards
In order to keep a good flow to your lesson plans, it is a good idea to section the school books into
fourths. Once you have done that, divide the number of pages by weeks in a quarter. This way you will
know how much material is needed to get through for each quarter so you can finish the book.

Keep Student Information Handy

Index cards are an invaluable source of organizing help in the classroom. These, along with an
alphabetized insert, will enable you to keep track of students’ birthdays, phone numbers, addresses,
emails, best to time call their parents, and their allergies if they have any.You can also keep track of their
likes, dislikes, days absent, and what they succeed at doing. You can also take notes of what intervention
they appear to need in order to discuss it with parents at conferences.

19. Write it Down

Many children are visual learners, and it helps to write on the board what the day’s schedule entails.