Hi there, Learners! Christina from Learning with Lowrimore here to help you with resources, tips, and strategies to help you achieve the life you want both in and out of the classroom. Today I want to talk about the stressor of sub plans and how that relates to teaching music. We know all teachers dread making sub plans, and everything that goes along with that, but there are some special concerns for the music teacher that I’ll be talking about today.
SPECIAL CONCERNS FOR THE MUSIC TEACHER
PREPARE AHEAD OF TIME
There are several things you’re going to want to do before you need to take a day away from school. You definitely don’t want to wait until the night before and be scrambling. You’re gonna want to have materials prepared ahead of time such as a sub tub and a sub binder. These will include information and materials that the substitute will need. Not just for running the specific activities you have planned, or any emergency lessons you have prepared, but also the day-to-day so that they have all the information they need to feel confident that they can step into your shoes and access what they need in order to have a successful day. I’ll go more into detail of what to include in a sub tub and a sub binder in a future post.
PRE-TEACH EXPECTATIONS AND SYSTEMS
You will also want to have pre-taught your expectations and systems very well with your students. Teach your expectations, systems, and procedures within the context of some activities and games that can be student led with limited facilitation from the teacher. I personally like to use these types of activities and games during the first few weeks of school. Not only do these games and activities often use student names a lot, which is helpful for learning names. Elementary music teachers have hundreds of names to learn! Soon I’ll be sharing some of my personal favorites for the elementary music classroom, some of which my middle schoolers still liked to play now and then. Not only does it simplify my first weeks’ lesson planning, but then I know that the students are learning activities and games that can be go-to’s for any emergency situation or when there is a need for a quick time filler.
NOT ALL MUSIC SUBS ARE MUSICIANS
One of the biggest reasons to have sub materials in place and have the students know these student-led games and activities is that you’re never guaranteed that you will have a substitute that can read and understand music. Even if you have pre-scheduled with a guest teacher who is a musician, things can happen, and you never know who will actually be showing up that day in your absence.
CONSIDER UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
Do you have a performance coming up? Can the students afford to not run their program music for one or two days while you are out? If not, or to continue their program prep, is there a recording track that they can rehearse to with the substitute? Always be sure to clearly note and label practice tracks and performance materials. It is also a good idea to make quick notes at the end of each class of where you left off and where you want to start the next lesson.
PROPER CARE AND FEEDING OF GUEST TEACHERS
Something else I’d like to add, is to think about really taking care of your guest teacher. Think about having a stash of some bottled water and snack items like chips or cookies to show your appreciation for having them. Always leave a thank you note with your lesson plans. It will help make them want to come back for you in the future. And having a returning guest teacher helps them to develop a relationship with your students. In doing so, it is so much easier when you do have to be gone if students know that the sub that they love is coming back. Then are you’ve got buy in already for the substitute, and it’s going to be less
stressful for everybody.
So to recap, have materials for the guest teacher prepared in advance, preteach your expectations, systems, and some student-led activities, consider performance rehearsal calendars, and have something nice to welcome and thank your substitute.
Be sure to like, share, and subscribe and let me know down in the comments what is one of your favorite activities or hacks for when you have a sub coming in your room? I hope you have a great day. I will see you next time.
Happy teaching!
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