Activities that need no prep and no context
You arrive at 8:35, the plan is a sticky note that says maths, and nobody has told you where the whiteboard pens are. The class has already worked out that you do not know their names. What gets you through the day is not a bag of resources; it is a small number of activities you can start from nothing and a way of handling the first ten minutes that stops the day being decided before break.
Quick answer
The activities a substitute can rely on are the ones that need nothing but a whiteboard and a voice, work at any grade level with a change of difficulty, and can be stopped at any moment. Keep four or five of them memorised rather than carrying a folder. The harder part is usually not the activity but the first ten minutes, which decide how the rest of the day goes.
Key takeaways
- Learn names in the first ten minutes; it changes everything after.
- Carry activities in your head, not in a folder you will not find time to open.
- Every activity needs a version that stretches and a version that shortens.
- Do the set work first, always, even if it looks thin.
- Leave a written note for the regular teacher, including what went well.
The first ten minutes
Most substitute days are decided before the first lesson starts. The class is working out three things: whether you know their names, whether you will follow through, and whether you know what you are doing. You can answer all three quickly.
- Be at the door as they come in and say good morning to each one.
- Take the register slowly and deliberately, repeating each name back once.
- Ask two students what they normally do first and follow it.
- Ask what the class behaviour system is and use their words for it, not yours.
- Write your name on the board and the shape of the day underneath, in order.
Writing the day on the board matters more than it sounds. A class that can see what is coming tests less, because the uncertainty they are probing has already been answered.
Activities with no materials at all
These need a whiteboard at most. Learn four of them properly and you will not be caught out.
- Twenty questions with a subject constraint, such as an animal, a historical figure, or a number under a thousand. The constraint is what makes it a lesson rather than a game.
- Would you rather, with a written justification. Two options on the board, three minutes to write why, then a vote and two arguments read aloud.
- Countdown letters: nine letters on the board, longest word wins, everyone writes silently first. Works from age seven to eighteen.
- Guess my rule: sort things on the board into two columns without saying the rule and let the class work out what it is. Endlessly extendable.
- One-minute stories: give three unrelated words, students write a story using all three, best two read out.
- The line-up: order historical events, fractions, or story stages, written on the board and argued out as a class.
| Situation | Use | How long |
|---|---|---|
| No plans, first lesson | Guess my rule, subject-tied | 20 minutes |
| Set work finished early | Countdown letters or would you rather | 10 minutes |
| Ten minutes before lunch | Twenty questions | 10 minutes |
| A wet afternoon with nothing set | One-minute stories, then a class read-aloud | 40 minutes |
| A class that will not settle | Silent writing task with a timer visible | 15 minutes |
Matching an activity to what you have
Activities that need only paper
There is always paper. These run longer and produce something the regular teacher can see was done.
- Design a game: rules, board, and a written explanation. Groups swap and play each other's if time allows.
- Write the instructions: pick something ordinary, such as tying a shoelace, and write instructions precise enough that you can follow them literally and get it wrong.
- A map of somewhere they know well, with a key, drawn from memory.
- Letters to the class that will sit here next year, sealed and left on the desk.
- A newspaper front page about something that happened at school this term.
Holding a class you do not know
You cannot build a relationship in a day, so you are working with what is already there. The routines exist; your job is to find them rather than replace them.
- Use their attention signal, whatever it is. Ask a student to demonstrate it.
- Position yourself where you can see everyone and move, rather than staying at the front.
- Address behaviour quietly and individually. Public correction from a stranger escalates faster.
- Give clear time limits with a visible countdown. Uncertainty is what most off-task behaviour fills.
- Believe the students on procedures and check the ones that sound too convenient.
Adjusting for the grade you were not expecting
Substitutes rarely get the year group they planned for. Every activity above works across a wide range if you change one dial rather than swapping the activity. For younger classes, shorten the working time and do more of the writing on the board yourself. For older ones, add a constraint, ask for a justification in writing, and put them in pairs rather than running it as a whole class. The activity stays the same, which means you only have to remember four of them rather than twelve.
The note you leave behind
Five minutes at the end, and it is the part that determines whether the school asks for you again. Write what was completed and where the books are, what did not get finished and why, anything that happened that the teacher needs to know about, and at least one student named for something good. That last line is the one that gets read properly, and it is the one a returning teacher can do something useful with on Monday morning.
Names in the first ten minutes are worth more than anything in your bag.
