It caught up with me. I thought I had escaped. Even allowed myself a smirk or two. Everyone around me was catching it, but not me. Until today. Flu. I feel like I was put into a blender, on high, with a baseball bat. And, there couldn't be a worse time for being confined to bed (as if there is ever a good time). My schedule is jam packed right now. I don't have time for this!
And... then.. the trouble of preparing for a sub. I can't even think straight. How on earth will I prepare for a sub? It is so much easier to go to work feeling sick than to plan for a sub. We've all drug ourselves out of bed and off to school just because staying home was not worth it. The plans and preparation for the substitute make going seem like a piece of cake. And what if a substitute can't be found. Many districts have a shortage of substitutes. My absence means that someone else has to forfeit their plan time or my kids are divided up into groups and placed in various classrooms.
And then there is the loss of educational time. Some substitutes are awesome and can teach just as well as the classroom teacher. In fact, they may be a retired teacher. But there are some that really shouldn't be on the list. They don't have the first idea of how to teach a class a given lesson. They are simply a warm body practicing crowd control. No matter how good or how poor the substitute is, they are not the teacher.
We all know how important instructional time is, don't we? Especially when so much hinges on test scores. Sadly, teachers can't afford to miss one day of teaching or their student's test scores may be lower. Wait a minute! Did I just say that teachers can't afford to take off because test scores may be lower? So... my health isn't important, but test scores are? That's about the size of it!
The only suggestion I can make is to be prepared. That's rich coming from me. Oh, I have a week's worth of sub plans in my desk, but I forgot to get cat food or milk. My husband had to go to the grocery store. This isn't such a bad thing. He came home more appreciative of my trips to buy groceries, but it took him three times as long. So, while I'm miserably waiting for my medication and juice, he's looking for the ice-cream! :)
Back to the lesson plans. Having them prepared in advance is important. Take today for instance. My head is thumping. There is no way I can string together two thoughts (which is why this blog is probably jumping all over the place) let alone come up with a solid plan reinforcing skills my kids need. Take advantage, in advance, of resources that you can keep on hand for a time such as this.
Some lessons suitable for a substitute. Just print and teach! They are even priced a little lower to help take the sting out of being sick, but they are jam-packed with nonfiction passages and reading strategy practice.
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| White Tigers Nonfiction Passages |
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| Nonfiction passages about shooting stars |
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