TeachersFirst Collection: Substitutes - Ideas and Resources
This collection of ideas and reviewed resources is selected to help both substitute teachers and regular teachers leaving instructions for a substitute. The list includes useful time-fillers for when plans are not a perfect fit as well as teacher-friendly suggestions to make subbing a positive learning experience for all. Be sure to check "In the classroom" suggestions for practical tips and ways to use these offerings.
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Substitute Teacher Activities Pack - HMH
Grades
K to 6
tag(s): critical thinking (198), crosswords (24), literacy (123), puzzles (179), substitutes (28), Teacher Utilities (228)
In the Classroom
Have students complete one of the pack's writing prompts independently, then invite partners to share their responses and identify an interesting detail or idea in each other's writing. Brainstorm other writing prompts based on seasons or events, or use Journal Buddies, reviewed here to get writing prompts. Invite students to complete a word search or crossword from the pack as a quiet early-finisher or transition activity, then ask them to select several terms and explain or illustrate their meanings.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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55 Tips, Tricks, and Ideas for Substitute Teachers - WeAreTeachers
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): substitutes (28), Teacher Utilities (228)
In the Classroom
Use sites like Baamboozle, reviewed here or Kahoot!, reviewed here in the classroom to engage students during your time together. Use SchoolAI, reviewed here to help generate substitute lesson ideas. Read stories from Epic! For Educators, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Professionals of Substitute Teaching - Chantell Jo
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): podcasts (186), professional development (304), substitutes (28), teaching strategies (87)
In the Classroom
Share the link for substitute teachers. Create a book using Canva Docs, reviewed here of tips and tricks for substitute teachers. Create a Wakelet, reviewed here of videos on ways to build student engagement.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Padlet Arcade - Padlet
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (356), crosswords (24), flash cards (45), game based learning (333), matching (9), puzzles (179), quiz (58), sequencing (22), study aid (178), Teacher Utilities (228), worksheets (71)
In the Classroom
Students can design their own learning games using a unit topic, such as vocabulary, historical events, or science concepts, and share them with classmates. Before a quiz or unit test, create a review activity in which students match questions and answers, sort ideas into categories, or identify correct concepts. After reading a story or chapter, have students complete a sequencing activity created in Arcade.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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Classroom Management Strategies - American Federation of Teachers
Grades
K to 12tag(s): behavior (47), blogs (82), classroom management (152), professional development (304)
In the Classroom
After reviewing a strategy from the collection, have students act out scenarios (e.g., transitioning quietly or resolving a conflict). Use an article or video from the collection as a starting point, then have small groups discuss what respect, responsibility, and inclusion look like in your classroom. Groups can present their ideas back to the class. Work with students to design posters that illustrate key classroom routines or behavior expectations. Display them around the room as visual reminders created by students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Insta-Lesson - Insta-Lesson
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (356), substitutes (28), Teacher Utilities (228)
In the Classroom
Use this tool to create lesson plans for substitutes or remediation, including detailed instructions and standards-aligned activities. After generating the lesson, use the editing tools to modify the plan as needed to match your professional needs and standards. Share the slide presentation with students and add an exit ticket slide to review upon your return. If needed, clarify directions or provide additional instructions for students or your substitute for your lesson by creating a short recording using Awesome Screenshot, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Classroom Zen - ClassroomZen
Grades
K to 6tag(s): classroom management (152), emotions (77), social and emotional learning (221), Teacher Utilities (228)
In the Classroom
Although the activities on this site are pretty basic, they offer many benefits as tools for classroom teachers. Include the Morning Warm-up with Mio to engage them as they prepare and to set a welcoming learning atmosphere, and customize the content for your grade level by selecting from the grade-band offerings and topic choices. All students will enjoy the quick brain break activities that encourage participation. Share daily breathing and mindfulness techniques on students' computers so they can access them during stressful or anxious periods. Share this site and others on a Wakelet collection, reviewed here with parents to use at home. Find other resources to include with your collection on TeachersFirst Special Topics Page: Brain Breaks for Students, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Achievery - AT&T
Grades
K to 12tag(s): blended learning (29), coding (110), digital citizenship (111), engineering (137), environment (246), equations (127), geometric shapes (151), graphic design (57), internet safety (117), literature (214), map skills (68), measurement (123), media literacy (137), narrative (16), numbers (117), operations (70), order of operations (30), problem solving (286), remote learning (32), Research (92), social and emotional learning (221), spanish (114), STEM (378), substitutes (28), writing (308)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a resource for lessons in many content areas to engage students using popular video clips. Although originally designed for remote learning, all lessons can be easily adapted for in-class instruction. Easily find activities to differentiate instruction for different student ability levels by browsing options below or above the student's current grade level. Many lessons include worksheets in PDF format. Turn these activities into a digital format by taking a screenshot of the document, then save as the background on Google Slides, reviewed here. Add text boxes in the appropriate place on the slide for students to add responses. Use Pear Deck Flashcard Factory, reviewed here, to create flashcards for students to practice the vocabulary highlighted in each lesson.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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World's Largest Lesson - Project Everyone
Grades
K to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (167), earth (188), energy (137), engineering (137), environment (246), inequalities (27), maps (223), STEM (378), substitutes (28), sustainability (56)
In the Classroom
Discover the many free educational resources found on this site to include in your lessons about global cultures, the environment, health, and technology. Use the activities and lessons found on the World's Largest Lesson to engage students in understanding and processing information related to serious global issues. Have students use a collaborative whiteboard tool such as FigJam, reviewed here, to brainstorm solutions to problems using the sticky note feature or to create mind maps and flow charts to organize further research. Enhance learning by asking students to create an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure story using StoryLab, reviewed here. Ask students to use information learned from their lessons to create a story that tells what happens if the Earth continues on its current course vs. what happens when suggested changes are implemented.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Virtual Manipulatives - Toy Theater
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): charts and graphs (184), decimals (90), fractions (175), measurement (123), money (114), number lines (32), number sense (75), place value (43), substitutes (28), tangrams (10)
In the Classroom
If you teach elementary math, this site is a must-have to add to your bookmarks. Include manipulatives from this site with blended learning and remote teaching lessons to provide students opportunities to explore and practice math content. Include a link to manipulatives and other student sites using Symbaloo, reviewed here, and share with students as a resource for practicing math concepts. Items to include might be instructional videos, online games, and other practice activities. Add manipulatives within a learning system such as Curipod, reviewed here, to create a complete online lesson that has opportunities for students to share and discuss their learning. Encourage students to share their findings by creating a screen recording using Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here. Ask students to conduct a math talk in response to a teacher prompt after they have had the opportunity to explore and interact with the virtual manipulatives.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Classroom Management Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): classroom management (152), Teacher Utilities (228)
In the Classroom
Find management tips and tools to make your class run smoother. Share this collection with your colleagues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Woo! Kids Activities - woojr.com
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): holidays (291), Juneteenth (33), poetry (195), preK (347), substitutes (28), worksheets (71)
In the Classroom
Use Woo! as a starting point for lesson ideas and activities, then go beyond worksheets to challenge your students. Ask your students to create their own templates and review materials using Google Documents. Incorporate game-play into your lessons using Bamboozle, reviewed here. Baamboozle is a quick and easy game creation tool that creates multiple types of games for two teams. Incorporate questions into videos using playposit, reviewed here. Students and teachers can comment and add responses directly into this video resource.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TeachersFirst Reading Treks - Make Learning a Journey - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): independent reading (85), maps (223), reading comprehension (147), reading lists (79), Reading Treks (56)
In the Classroom
These units are perfect for use with a whole-class novel, literature circles, or individual reading! Ask students to keep a journal about what they are reading and learning. Replace traditional paper and pen journals using an easy virtual journaling tool such as Penzu, reviewed here. With Penzu you can add images or your own artwork as illustrations. If you are conducting literature circles a good tool to use for small group assignments and communication is Asana, reviewed here, or Canvas Free LMS, reviewed here. For students or student groups to share their book with their peers, challenge them to enhance their learning and design an interactive multimedia poster using Genially, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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A Year of Picture Prompts - New York Times
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): creative writing (127), descriptive writing (46), journals (26), writing prompts (56)
In the Classroom
Save this website to your favorites or link from your class web page. These inspirational ideas are perfect for journals, quick writes, or to develop into a full story or essay. There are plenty of unusual ideas to give even your most reluctant writer or artist an inspirational nudge. ENL/ELL students can be motivated easily with picture prompts. Share these prompts with your gifted students for some "out of the box" writing ideas. Keep these creative ideas in your "emergency" lesson plan folder for substitutes, or for your own spontaneous writing needs. Extend student learning and challenge them to share writing aloud in a podcast format using a site such as Buzzsprout, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Classroom Freebies - Charity Preston
Grades
K to 8tag(s): back to school (57), book reports (26), classroom management (152), commoncore (63), posters (46), preK (347), substitutes (28), worksheets (71)
In the Classroom
Bookmark Classroom Freebies as an excellent resource for teaching materials throughout the school year. Take advantage of the free printables for use on bulletin boards, for classroom management, and centers. Choose materials from the site to use in substitute folders. Be sure to share this site with your fellow teachers! You might consider finding snow day and vacation day activities to post on your class website for parent and student use.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Math Salamanders - Crispin Salamander
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): addition (137), division (109), geometric shapes (151), measurement (123), money (114), multiplication (132), number sense (75), numbers (117), place value (43), preK (347), substitutes (28), subtraction (116), time (98), worksheets (71)
In the Classroom
Although there is relatively heavy advertising on this site, the many resources make it worth a look. Take advantage of the free worksheets on Math Salamander for use with students needing additional practice, to send home when parents request additional work, or to keep in your substitute folder for quick practice activities. Be sure to share a link on your class page for parents to access at home. Create a link to online interactives on your classroom computers for use as a math center.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Wayground (formerly Quizizz) - Quizizz
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (356), DAT device agnostic tool (133), differentiation (103), flash cards (45), game based learning (333), gamification (88), polls and surveys (44), quiz (58), quizzes (82), spanish (114), study aid (178)
In the Classroom
Use Wayground (formerly Quizizz) to generate lessons and formative assessments that engage students in learning. Assign solo quizzes for students to review classroom information and easily differentiate learning by adjusting the reading level and content of the questions. Host a live quiz before starting a new unit to guide lesson planning based on students' prior knowledge. Create and share flashcards with students to use as a study tool, build flipped learning lessons using the interactive video option, or use AI features to generate questions using your documents and websites.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
Comments
Great way to conduct formative assessments that students love! Its got a great quiz creation interface and many useful customization options too.Deepak, , Grades: 0 - 12
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CommonLit - CommonLit
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): critical thinking (198), differentiation (103), literature (214), reading comprehension (147), spanish (114), substitutes (28), Teacher Utilities (228), themes (16)
In the Classroom
CommonLit is an excellent resource for literature teachers, speech and debate teachers, and history teachers. Share the site with students on an interactive whiteboard or projector, and ask the class what themes they would like to investigate. Under each theme are two questions. Divide the class into small groups with each group investigating one of the questions for one of the themes and reading the accompanying text. Differentiate for students by having students read on the same theme, but at their reading level. Challenge individuals, pairs, or small groups to create a graphic organizer for the story they read replacing paper and pencil and using a tool like Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers, reviewed here. You could take this to another level and have two groups read different selections on the same theme, use a graphic organizer to make comparisons for how the theme was presented, and then enhance learning by challenging the groups to present their findings to the class via video. Use a simple video creator like Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here. This site would also work when you have to make substitute plans unexpectedly. Just put the link in your plans and tell the sub what theme you want students to read about, or better yet, let the sub choose!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Nearpod - Nearpod
Grades
K to 12When in the "live presentation" mode (in person or remote web conferencing), teachers control the lesson's pace, and students do not move to the next screen until advanced by the teacher. With the "student pace" mode, students progress through independently, whether at home or in class. The third mode is "front of the class;" you project your presentation, and the students do not use their devices. Use the teacher version of the app to push out the presentation to your students. For the first two modes, every student uses their own student app to follow the screens and answer the questions. This provides immediate feedback about every student. The feedback can be emailed to the teacher for later review. This formative assessment tool is invaluable and a unique part of the app. The tool also includes drawing for students to work out problems. Teachers can identify students who are not "on task" and not working within the app when a little red light pops up. Absent students can complete the assignment at home.
The free version of Nearpod for Educators is called Silver; you get 100 MB of storage, 40 students per session/lesson, access to standard formative assessments features, pre-made interactive lessons up to your storage limit, pre-made interactive videos up to your storage limit, create interactive videos, lessons, and activities, upload PDF, PPT, and Google slides, and more. Again, how many lessons and videos will depend on your storage.
tag(s): assessment (141), classroom management (152), DAT device agnostic tool (133), differentiation (103), Formative Assessment (48), gamification (88), Learning Management Systems (19), multimedia (70), Online Learning (35), personalized learning (13), playlists (7), remote learning (32), slides (39), Teacher Utilities (228), teaching strategies (87)
In the Classroom
This is an exciting way to begin iPad (or BYOD), blended learning, or remote learning integration into the classroom. Initially it may be difficult to determine the best pacing of the lesson, the ability to slow down the advancement of the next screen allows more time to digest the information. Be aware that students needing more time may be very frustrated as the screen may advance before they are able to finish. Start small by uploading presentations and using JPEG and other images. Add interactive elements such as polls and videos. Grab students attention by using the first slide to deliver a piece of humorous information. Create guided learning stations and push out several presentations to different devices as students move through the various lessons to be learned. This technique can be helpful for struggling learners. Use this tool to help reinforce the most difficult parts of the lesson. Use the app to create schedules for training, clubs, and more. For English, learn about grammar rules, sentence structure, and other elements necessary for good writing. For ENL/ESL classes and world languages, practice various vocabulary words and learn tenses of verbs. Learn vocabulary and basic scientific concepts in any science class or facts about historical periods in history classes. This app is a valuable tool in any classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Form Time Ideas - Jonathan Hall
Grades
5 to 9tag(s): grammar review (34), literacy (123), news (223), numbers (117), riddles (16), substitutes (28), vocabulary (264)
In the Classroom
Form Time Ideas is perfect for daily review and bell work as students arrive in class or as a quick review at the end of class. Print out different pages for use during quiet times or send home for absentee students to complete. This site is excellent for enrichment. Include it on your class web page for students to access both in and out of class. Substitutes will love the handy ideas on this site!Comments
AWESOME RESOURCE!Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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