There are very few things I want to do less at 5 AM when I already feel terrible than figure out what 100+ teenagers should do without me in the morning. We all know that writing chemistry sub plans can feel like more work than just going to school sick. So let’s make this easier.
You do not need a special, beautifully designed “sub activity” sitting in a folder somewhere. Some of the best chemistry sub plans are probably already sitting in your classroom, on your computer, or in your stack of extra copies. Here are some of my favorite ways to turn what you already have into an easy sub day.
1. Save Your Extra Copies
This is one of my favorite teacher hacks because it requires almost no additional work.
If you have some worksheet you never got to, clip it together. If you have a worksheet from another teacher that doesn’t totally fit your vibe, run copies and clip it together. When you have extras of something, bring it back to the copier and make some more. Clip those together. Label these packages A, B, C etc. Then in a Google Doc describe to yourself what’s in these packages.
Come 5AM, you write an email “In this drawer, pull out package B and distribute to students.” Boom. Sub plans done.
If you don’t mind students redoing an assignment, (I know I don’t!) create “Unit Folders.” All your extra Atomic worksheets can go into a folder and students can choose 1 Atomic Worksheet to do again while you’re away. It doesn’t even have to replace the old grade. Just treat it as a review assignment. You can have 10 sheets on isotopes, 15 on average atomic mass, 25 on spectral lines… As long as it can go in your grade book as “Atomic Review” it’s fine! Wins all around.
2. Make a Quick Practice Review Packet
This is basically the more organized version of the extra-copies method. If you have my Quick Practice Worksheets, pull a few from topics your students have already learned and combine them into a review packet. You don’t even need to perfectly match whatever you’re currently teaching.
Actually, I like using sub days for older material. Students forget things. Giving them a dimensional analysis problem when you’re currently teaching bonding isn’t wasted time. It’s retrieval practice! Plus if you’re using interactive notebooks, you know your students have the reference material they need to complete the work you left for them.
Choose a few skills, and you’re done. Make a couple of these packets ahead of time. Keep them somewhere labeled CHEMISTRY EMERGENCY SUB PLANS and forget about them until you need them. Drop them in that Google Doc I mentioned earlier. “Package D: First Semester Math Review.” “Package E: Graphing Review.”
3. Have a Vocabulary Day
Vocabulary review is another easy option because it works with almost any unit. Pull vocabulary from your current, or several previous units and have students review it.
Depending on how much structure your class needs, they can:
- Define the terms
- Draw diagrams or examples
- Use each term correctly in a sentence
- Create their own review questions
- Do a crossword or joke puzzle
It’s not flashy, but sub plans don’t need to be flashy.
4. Bring Back an Old Game
You know that review game your students loved three units ago? Use it again.
The same goes for task cards, card sorts, matching activities, stations, or other hands-on review activities you’ve already taught students how to use. These are especially good sub plans for classes you trust to work somewhat independently. And because students have already seen the format, your substitute doesn’t have to spend 15 minutes trying to decipher your elaborate instructions.
I tend to do things like this when the marking period is changing, and I don’t want to have to squeeze in a last minute grade to the gradebook. It’s also good for when you know your students well enough to know that they’ll take care of the materials and put them away nicely.
5. Turn on a Movie, But Make It Chemistry
Yes. I said MOVIE. There is absolutely a time and a place for a movie day. But you can make that movie do a little more work for you. I have chemistry movie sheets that take regular movies and sneak chemistry questions into them.
A movie sheet might mention that a kiln operates at 1500°C, for example, and suddenly your students need to calculate that temperature in Kelvin.
They’re watching a movie, quietly, not destroying your classroom, but they’re also reviewing chemistry. Everyone is happy!
6. Know When Your Class Needs Quiet Work
Of course, not all of these tricks work, because you’ll eventually have that class. The class where you second guess how high your fever actually is. The class that is absolutely better off with you half conscious in the corner than leaving them with a substitute.
This is where I love reading comprehension. Give everyone their own copy. Give them the questions. Let them work quietly, independently, and locked into their seats.
Sometimes the best thing you can leave behind is structured, independent work that forces everyone to have a little quiet time. And they’ll still learn some chemistry while they’re at it.
7. Don’t Feel Like You Have to Move Forward
This might be the biggest one. Your students do not have to learn new content every single day. If you’re unexpectedly absent, you don’t necessarily need your substitute to teach the next lesson in your curriculum. You don’t need to have the sub pull up my YouTube channel to teach your students while you’re gone (although you totally could!)
Review is valuable! One day spent strengthening things your students have already learned is not going to derail your pacing. In fact, if you have something relevant prepped, it may even help! (Nothing like some dimensional analysis review right before jumping into stoichiometry!)
Build Yourself a Sub Plan Menu
Instead of creating one day’s worth emergency chemistry sub plans, create a menu of options you can pull from depending on the class and the situation. And keep them in that Google Doc so you don’t have to think much when you’re already feeling down.
Keep:
- Extra copies from previous assignments
- A few cumulative Quick Practice packets
- Vocabulary activities
- Old games, task cards, and card sorts
- Movie sheets
- Reading comprehension activities
It’s so much easier to stick with this “menu” than it is to come up with something on the fly and panic buy something from TPT that you’ve barely looked at. If being too sick to teach somehow creates three additional hours of work I feel like we’ve misunderstood the purpose of a sick day.
