OTT 253: What to Do Before You Get Sick – Smart Planning for the Inevitable

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Every teacher knows the feeling: waking up with a scratchy throat or fever, but dreading the thought of writing sub plans while sick. What if you could eliminate that stress with some smart planning now?

The beginning of the school year brings excitement, fresh starts, and, unfortunately, exposure to countless classroom germs. As someone who battled chronic sinus infections throughout my teaching career (later diagnosed as an autoimmune condition), I learned the hard way that emergency sub plans aren't just helpful—they're essential for your well-being and peace of mind.

Think of emergency sub plans as your teaching insurance policy. They might be tedious to create, but they're invaluable when needed. Most districts require at least five days of emergency plans stored where colleagues can access them. The best plans keep it simple with review activities rather than new learning, clear instructions, and print-ready materials that don't require technology navigation. Your substitute—who might range from an experienced former teacher to a new college graduate—will thank you for the clarity.

Creating a dedicated sub-tub or binder with clearly labeled materials makes implementing your plans seamless, even if you can't communicate directly with your replacement. Start by preparing just one day of plans; this gives you breathing room to add more gradually. Store everything where a designated buddy teacher can access it if needed.

You deserve to rest when sick without the weight of classroom guilt. Your students will be fine for a day (or more) without you, especially with thoughtfully prepared activities keeping them engaged. Whether you're managing laryngitis from teaching, caring for a sick child, or simply needing a mental health day, having emergency plans ready is your gift to your future self.

Ready to get started? Download my free day of ready-to-use emergency sub plans at the link in the show notes, and check out my complete sub plan bundles if you want comprehensive coverage for the entire year. Your future sick self will thank you!

Free Day of Sub Plans

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to One Tired Teacher, episode 253.
What to do before you get sickSmart planning for the
inevitable.
So we're talking about back toschool, my friend, and it's here
, it's upon us, it is August andwhether you're starting this
month or next month, it's righthere.

(00:21):
I know in my district we arestarting this week, or at least
teachers are starting this week.
So I wanted to make sure that Ishared a little bit about like
thinking ahead, being proactive,being set this year so you're
not super stressed out when theinevitable occurs, which is
sickness, oh, the sickness thatcomes sometimes when you are

(00:47):
surrounded by a group of teeny,tiny germs.
So let's talk all about how tobe prepared.
Hope you stick around.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Welcome to One Tired Teacher.
And even though she may need anap, this teacher is ready to
wake up and speak her truthabout the trials and treasures
of teaching here.
She is wide awake.
Wait, she's not asleep rightnow, is she?
She is awake right.
Okay, from Trina Devery,teaching and Learning your host,
trina Devery.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Hey, so welcome back.
Welcome back to One TiredTeacher.
It's August, it means thatwe're juggling more, we're
juggling prep, we're jugglingexcitement, overwhelm and all
the germs they are waiting topounce.
As you can even tell, my voicesounds a little bit raspy itself

(01:43):
and at the time of recording Istrained my vocal cords.
I participated in somethingover the weekend where I was
yelling like really loudly forlong periods of time, and my
vocal cords are strained, andit's been several days now and

(02:06):
they're still a little raspy.
This was.
This is actually something thatwould commonly happen to me
year after year after year inthe classroom, and I would get
laryngitis like almost everysingle year, I mean like
completely losing my voice.
So I don't know if it's justlike something that happens

(02:28):
sometimes, but it's just so notgood for me to strain my voice
like that, so I will.
I will have to control myselfnext time.
So anyway, today I'm going totalk to you about something that
most teachers don't think aboutuntil it's too late, and that's
being prepared for the dayswhen you just can't be there,

(02:49):
and this can be because you havelaryngitis or a stomach bug, or
maybe even you need a mentalhealth day.
And that is okay, becausesometimes we have to take those
days that's us putting our ownoxygen mask on first, those days
where we need to take a littlebreath, to take a little break,

(03:12):
to take a moment to spend ourday in bed watching Netflix or
whatever we're watching, andjust relax.
That's okay.
You can do that, you areallowed to do that.
I want you to do that foryourself.
Another thing that happenssometimes is we need a surprise
appointment, or we've, you know,we've got a little one that's

(03:34):
sick in the back seat.
I don't know how many timesthat happened on the way to
school, and it's just a part ofeveryday life when you're a
teacher and you deserve to beable to rest without guilt or
chaos.
So let's talk about emergencysubplans, what works, what to
prep now and how to make sureyour future self is high-fiving

(03:56):
you for being ahead of the game.
So, first of all, why should weplan now, at the very beginning
of August, when we're healthyand we're jumping back into the
school year?
Well, let me just say, as aperson who had chronic sinus
infections for so much of myteaching career, it was just a

(04:16):
matter of time and, yes, therewere even beginning of the year,
times where I was sick and talkabout stress and anxiety,
especially when you're trying toset up your procedures and your
routines and set up, you know,build that rapport with your
students and you're out sick.
There is nothing worse thanthat.
But the reason we are planningnow is because the first few

(04:37):
weeks they always feel likesurvival mode, but the truth is
you, they always feel likesurvival mode, but the truth is
you will be out of thateventually.
Also, no one wants to bewriting subplans at 3 o'clock in
the morning with a fever, andsubplans are like insurance.
They're boring to make butthey're essential when needed.
And this is a really importantthing to keep in mind.

(05:02):
I know in my school district,even with my principal, we had
to have at least five days ofemergency sub plans in our
classrooms and our team leader,which was me, our team leader
had to know where our sub planswere.
I on my team, I was like youknow what?
I don't want to know everyonewhere everyone's subplans are,
because I'm not responsible forevery single person being out.

(05:25):
We had 13 people on my team atsome some years.
Most years it was around 10.
But it was like not ever below,I don't even think nine.
So I was like we're gonna havea buddy and that, but that
sounds funny.
We're gonna have a partner andthat person is going to know
where our subplans are and we'regoing to rely on each other and

(05:47):
if you need me because yourpartner is also out, then you
know you can text me or call meor whatever, and let me know
where your subplans are.
So I didn't need to have like amap of everyone's subplans,
where your sub plans are.
So I didn't need to have like amap of everyone's sub plans.
Anyway, it was really importantto have these five days ready
to go in case of emergency and,honestly, I used to do 10 days

(06:08):
because I was sick every year ormy kids were sick, somebody was
sick.
So it's really important tohave these all set and ready to
go.
It is like an insurance policy,all right.
So what do we include in a basicemergency day?
Well, first, you want to keepit simple and repeatable.

(06:28):
You want to do all of yoursubjects reading, writing, math,
maybe word work, somethingscience, social studies.
We definitely want to dosomething low stress for science
and social studies, because wedon't always know what
experience our sub has.
Sometimes we get like a formerteacher and they're outstanding
and they could take it and runwith it, but sometimes we get

(06:51):
like a college graduate or noteven a college graduate and they
don't necessarily know what todo with kids that are high
engagement and also keeps kidsunder control.
So we have to remember that.
We also want to focus onreviewing, not new learning.
So it's easy for the sub andit's not disruptive for the
students, it's important toinclude classroom expectations

(07:14):
and a clear sub note at the top.
You want it to be print and goas quick as possible.
You might even want to haveyour copies already all set and
ready to pass out.
That was not the expectation inmy school.
We just had to have the plansand then we had to.
You know the buddy.

(07:34):
Our partner had to get it toour para and they would take
care of the copies, or I've donethat myself before.
I usually did have copies forthose first few days just in
case there was like I couldn'tget there or whatever, and I
didn't want to put extra work ona teammate.
But we want to make sure thatwe're not.
It's so hard for subs when wehave to log in and there's, you

(07:59):
know, the login link, and thenthey get confused and then where
do they go?
And it's, it's really hard.
I know this is 2025.
And we're like, hello, can't weget people into our system?
But it is really stressful forsubs.
I cannot tell you how manytimes I've had to go into a
classroom as the student supportspecialist and try to help the

(08:20):
sub figure out how to log intoour school.
You know Schoology platform.
So it was.
It's just, it's so much easierif it's just print and go.
Now, like I said, I had a subtub, I had a sub binder.
I actually had a tub.
It was like one of those filefolder kind of boxes that had

(08:41):
the handle, it has a little lidor whatever, and then I would
have folders hanging, folders of, like you know, month or day,
one, day, two, day three, dayfour, day five, all the way
through day 10, or just fivedays, and I would have the print
and go.
You know, I'd have the subtemplates to use that I could,
you know, make it, make it myown, and then I would have work

(09:02):
for word, work for reading,writing, math, science, social
studies and actually, if, if,that's something that would
benefit you.
I do have a freebie, a free daythat is.
I'm happy to share with you andgive you so that you can also
have, like, at least a day readyto go and you know exactly what

(09:26):
you have and you're all set andyou don't have to worry about
it.
I'm trying to find the link.
That's why it's taking me asecond.
Okay, it's Trina Devery,teachingandlearningcom forward
slash.
Let me make sure this is theright one.
Subplans day one.
All one word subplans day one.

(09:47):
That's a really long URL, butI'm pretty sure that's what it
is.
It is.
So it's sub plans day one.
I'm going to share it in theshow notes so that you can see
it and grab it.
But that has everything thatyou need and has the templates
and everything.
And if you're like you knowwhat, I love these and I want
all five days, I've got that foryou too.

(10:08):
I also have back to schoolbeginning of the year sub plans
for August.
I have monthly sub plans.
I have got you covered in subplans.
I am the queen of making subplans.
Let me tell you Whoa.
Okay, so that was an accident.
All right, sorry about that,anyway.
Okay, so let's move on.

(10:30):
How to make this doable.
First of all, you want to pickone day and get it prepped Just
one.
That's why this free day is soeasy for you.
It's all done, it will be alldone.
All you have to do is make thecopies.
You're going to keep it in alabeled folder or a tub and let
someone on your team know whereit is.
Once that's done, you've gotbreathing room and you can add

(10:53):
more days later if you can.
Now, if you like.
I said, if you, if you need aheadstart, I'm going to give you
this day for free.
It's for second grade, it'sready to go, it's printable,
it's low prep, it's standardsaligned and you can grab it and
breathe easier.
And if you want, you can alsograb the five day bundle.

(11:13):
I have a 10 day bundle.
I have monthly sub plans.
I've got perfect ones for backto school.
So if you do, by chance, getsick at the beginning of the
year oh please, let's pray thatdoesn't happen Then I've got you
covered, okay, so you're allset.
You deserve to rest when youneed to and your classroom can
absolutely run without you for aday.

(11:36):
I promise you.
I know sometimes people go toschool sick because it's so much
harder than writing sub plans.
That's why I have done it foryou, because I was sick all the
time.
I got diagnosed with anautoimmune disease when I was 40
, which explained why my immunesystem was so weak and I was

(11:58):
just constantly sick, and so Ilearned to write really helpful
subplans.
In fact, the subs used to cometo me when they were subbing in
other classrooms and say can Iplease have your subplans?
I was like no, you have to usethe sub plans that are there.
And I and they're like theydon't write good sub plans

(12:19):
Because a lot of times, you know, they tell us administration
tells us that they should beable to pick up our lesson plans
and teach from there, which isabsolutely insane and ridiculous
.
Like they're not.
They don't have the sameexperience, they don't have the
same information.
They don't, they haven't beenworking with the kids.
That doesn't even make sense.

(12:39):
Those lesson plans are for you.
They are not for someone elseto teach off of.
I think that is the mostridiculous expectation.
But anyway, and also, like youknow, you can tell subs page
whatever in the math book andand maybe they can wing that
part.
But unless you have a reallysuper scripted program for every

(12:59):
single subject.
It's very hard to just hand itoff to somebody else.
So make your life easier, makethe sub's lives easier and just
keep the kids busy and engaged,busy being the key word, so just
keep that in mind.
Also, have some early finisheractivities in my monthly sub
plans, just FYI, in case theyneed a little more to do in the

(13:23):
day, all right.
So start small, prep what youcan and give yourself that peace
of mind.
Thanks for being here.
Next week we're gonna talkabout a way to kick off the
school year with laughter,connection and zero pressure.
See you then.
Until next time, sweet dreamsand sleep tight.