Working document
The one day substitute handoff template
A fill in template that turns a sick day into a taught day, written so a substitute who has never met your class can run it cold.
Free resources
Free resources for substitute coverage and classroom handoffs
Everything here is free, printable where it makes sense, and written for people who make coverage decisions before the first bell.
The resources on this page come from the same place ChalkHandoff does: mornings in a front office watching three phone lines ring while a secretary tries to cover a fourth grade room. The calculators put numbers on the coverage decisions that usually get made on instinct, and the template gives you the four page shape a substitute can actually run.
The comparison pages are here for the same reason. If your district already runs an absence system, you should keep it, and we say so on the page. What we care about is the other half of the morning, the part where somebody unfamiliar with your room has to teach math at 10:15 and needs more than a note that says continue chapter seven.
Free tools
Calculators for absence cost and sub folder payback
Two free tools for teachers and school office staff who have to defend coverage decisions with numbers rather than impressions.
Comparisons
ChalkHandoff compared with the other ways a class gets covered
Three honest fit comparisons for the tools US schools actually use when a teacher calls in sick and somebody has to teach the day.
Main guide
How to Write Emergency Sub Plans Any Adult Can Teach Cold
It settles what a full day of emergency sub plans has to contain so any adult can teach it cold without calling the office.
Magazine
The Sub Folder
Reporting on substitute coverage, emergency plans, and classroom handoffs in US public and charter schools.
About
Who writes all of this
The author page covers who writes The Sub Folder, the classrooms and front offices the reporting comes out of, and how claims about substitute coverage get checked before anything is published.
Start with the free material, it goes further than you think
The calculators and the four page handoff template are yours with no account, and plenty of teachers stop right there and are fine. If you would rather not keep a sub folder true by hand through every schedule change and password rotation, a demo shows how the room facts carry forward so refreshing a banked day runs a few minutes per period instead of an evening at the kitchen table.