Sub Tub: Elementary Librarian's Edition

ACHOO! Tis the season to be achy, sneezy, feverish, nauseous and oozy. It happens to the best of us, even after taking all of the necessary precautions (sanitizing and washing hands relentlessly). As librarians, we serve hundreds of students per day, touching hundreds of books that came from who knows where, sitting on top of who knows what?!?! You just know that book was on the bus floor...blech!😝

Even the most dependable immune system gets compromised every now and then. When I find myself in a pinch, I'm always relieved to know that I have a fully stocked "Sub Tub" that can be used in case of an emergency sick day.  

Sub Tub

Sub Tub Logistics

• Location! Location! Location!
• My first piece of advice is to keep your "Sub Tub" in a highly visible location. You do not want a substitute teacher (secretary, colleague, or principal) to have to search high and low to find it.
• Spread the Word
• In my building, our office secretaries are our life lines. They are usually the people finding substitute teachers, printing sub plans and getting everyone settled for the day. Our saviors! Show these wonderful people where your "Sub Tub" is to spare them additional stress during those busy mornings. 
• Do have a dependable colleague that is willing to help? Your work buddy? Work spouse? Teammate? Show them your "Sub Tub" too.  The more people that know the better. 

What's Inside?

Survival Basics

• Sub Folder
• Inside this sub folder you can find basic survival information.
• Class lists (make sure you update these)
• Directions to access my computer and circulate books (click to make a copy if you use Destiny)
• How-To directions for a Kindergarten report (click to make a copy if you use Destiny)
• I recommend setting up a Kindergarten report in Destiny for a few reasons. 
• First, Kindergarteners can never remember if they returned their book...and neither can I. 
• Second, they tend to cry easily if they are unsure or think they are in trouble. If I print the report before their class arrives, I can address the kiddos before class even starts to avoid any hurt feelings. 
• It's easy to setup and save reports in Destiny 
• Shelving cheat sheet (click here to make a copy)
• Helpful people to contact for support
• Important names (principal, secretaries, nurse, SRO)
• My cell phone #
• Where to locate critical medical info, SDI's and 504's
• Emergency protocols (fire drills, lockdown) 

Destiny K Report

Destiny Directions

          

 

Shelving Cheat Sheet

• Plans & Activities

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee

• Keep lessons short and sweet. 
• Use the same title but adapt the lesson for different grade levels. This way your substitute teacher only needs to become familiar with one story for the day.

                                            

Click to copy

Just the Facts: Using Back Issues of Magazines

• Use back issues of periodicals to create a quick and easy lesson.
• Create simple graphic organizers for students to record facts.
• Allow students to work either independently or with a partner.

        

Click to copy

 

Click to copy

Click to copy

Read Alouds

• I like to provide a bundle of books that any sub can grab and go.
• These are guaranteed crowd pleasers for all grade levels.
• Be sure to swap these out every so often to keep things fresh.

                             

Videos

• I always like to leave a few fun videos as an option for a substitute that may not be comfortable doing read alouds all day. 
• Be sure to leave detailed instructions on how to set up the video. I have a stand alone DVD player attached to my projector. If you use your teacher laptop (or external hard drive) to play videos, be sure to create step-by-step instructions.
• Videos are also another crowd pleaser.

I hope learning about the items I include in my "Sub Tub" helps you in planning for those unplanned sick/emergency days. I'd love to hear how you plan for sick days too. Feel free to comment below.