Organizing the Summer to be ready for a beginning of the year maternity leave

As stated in my original post, I am going to be starting my school year on maternity leave.  I am spending my summer prepping for the sub, making my sub binder, and breaking down all of my procedures in my room in a series of blog posts.

This post is about the preparations made for a long term sub (at the start of the school year).

I have been doing a great deal of prepping for the long term sub. I teach in a 4k program that is play based.  It follows a weekly theme with a letter of the week.  The format is rather predictable, with changing of the theme (taught Monday & Wednesday) and the letter of the week (taught Tuesday & Thursday). There is no school on Fridays for these little ones.

I wanted the sub to have everything they needed and I wanted to start with the structure I was going to use and continue the structure through out so that it was the same when I returned.  I decided then, to plan all 12 weeks of my maternity leave...the first 12 weeks of school.

I created a folder for each week.  On the folder was the list of the theme, letter of the week, and what originals were in the folder as well as when/who they were for.  The letter of the week folder also went in this folder.

 This way, when the sub comes in, they take the correct week, bring it to the copy machine, copy it in this order, and put it in the days of the week drawer to use.

I then created all of the lesson plans that explain the material in more detail.  These plans are all available on planbook.com.  To view, click on "student view."  Teacher Email: sgloudemans@stedwardk5.org Student Key: gloudemansplans

I will then print the plans for the sub and place in the sub binder.  I also put all the procedures I follow in the binder as well as other vital information the sub may need to know.

Finally, I kept in frequent contact with my janitor to find out when when the waxing would be done in my room and my room would be ready for set up. While waiting for him, I made a list of all the things I was going to do need to do to the room.  I made a list of all the things that the students would need their names on.  I then created all of these materials at home (cubby names, locker names, table spots, job chart names, etc).  The day I got the call that my room was ready, I headed over with my roll of contact paper and all my pre-made materials.  I contact papered all the names on, filed all my folders, and put the binder in an obvious location.

Finally, I took all the bins we would need for the locker night (parent night/orientation/supply drop off).  I laid them out around the room where they make the most sense and posted my checklist on the door.  All ready to go.

This process took about 3 weeks and was a lot of work, but I feel as ready as I can.  I hope that this information was able to help you plan and give you a structure in which to follow when making your own plans.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask