Instructify

Missing class terrifies many teachers. Not to knock brave substitute teachers – they’re in an unwinnable situation where they have to walk into unfamiliar territory and try to teach a subject they may or may not know. Still, when you get back, you know you’ll have to play catch-up to get your class back on schedule.

Dan Meyer at dy/dan has a solution. In his post, How I Work: Sub Plans, Meyer outlines how he burns an electronic sub plan onto a DVD. Like the picture says, his substitute merely has to press “play” and the learning begins.

Though Meyer uses pricey programs like Final Cut Pro, you could accomplish the same thing with free tools like Audacity, OpenOffice‘s Impress presentation tool, or create a screencast with Screencast-o-Matic.

What his idea will cost you is time. Meyer said it took about 90 minutes. Before that scares you away, he says, “forty of those could be chalked under the Bumblin’ Around column.” The more you do it, the less time it’ll take you. But the real figure to consider is the amount of in-class time this approach could save. Spending 45 minutes to an hour doesn’t sound like so much when it means you won’t have to squeeze two 50 minute lessons into a single class period. -BILL FERRIS

How I Work: Sub Plans

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