207 | A Case for Digital Sub Plans (My GoogleDoc Template)

Sub plans aren’t anyone’s favorite part of teaching, but having a system that works every single time can take a huge weight off your shoulders. In this episode of That Music Podcast, Bryson shares how switching to a simple Google Doc completely changed the way he handles sick days. No fancy software, no overthinking, just one reliable document he can update from anywhere.

He walks through the structure of his digital template, why it’s so helpful to keep everything in one place, and how using a shareable link can save you from scrambling when you’re already not feeling your best. You’ll also hear a few practical tips for choosing activities that any sub can handle and setting yourself up so you’re ready for the unexpected without spending hours prepping.

If you’ve ever found yourself stressed about taking a day off (or avoiding it altogether), this episode gives you an easy, doable way to make sub plans one less thing to worry about.

Episode Chapters:

• 0:00 Introduction
• 3:35 Getting started with digital sub plans
• 5:51 Template walkthrough
• 7:50 Tips for making it work
• 9:35 Takeaways

Links and Resources: 

• The Elementary Music Summit®
• Elementary Newbie Guide
• Disabilities Guide
• Steady Beat Survival Guide
• Join Elementary Music EDGE™

Have questions or want to share feedback? Reach out to us at hello@thatmusicteacher.com - we’d love to hear from you!

Have questions or want to share feedback? Reach out to us at hello@thatmusicteacher.com - we’d love to hear from you!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 3:35 Getting started with digital sub plans
• 5:51 Template walkthrough
• 7:50 Tips for making it work
• 9:35 Takeaways

Transcript

Bryson Tarbet: 0:00

Welcome back to this episode of That Music podcast. We've talked over the last couple weeks all about sub plans, the good, bad of the ugly, and also just reminding you to take the day. Um, so today I'm going to share one of my all team favorite strategies, which is using a Google Doc. Using that as your sub plans. Let's talk about that. You are listening to that music podcast with Bryson Tart, the curriculum designer and educational consultant behind that music teacher in the elementary music summit. Each week, Bryson and his guest will dive into the reality of being an elementary music teacher and how music can truly be transformative in the lives of the students you serve, show notes and resources mentioned in this. Episode can be found@thatmusicteacher.com. I used digital sub plans for pretty much everything. Um, but what really, really came to shine was when I had an unplanned day off. So when I woke up in the morning and I'm like, everything is awful. My head is pounding, I can't do this. Um, because I didn't have to go into school to update my sub plans, I could. Roll over, open up a laptop and like try my best to make sub plans in bed. Um, that way that they were there. And then we're gonna talk a little bit about how I did that because I used a Google doc. Um, I'm sure you could do this in other software as well. Because they're really good for allowing you to change things because it's a Google doc. It, it, it's a live edit. Um, so, you know, I talked, you know, a couple episodes ago I shared how, you know, when I had my first foster daughter, uh, we ended up in the hospital for about a week and obviously I was not able to go into school to update my sub plans. So by being able to, you know, when she was asleep, update a Google doc, that really came in clutch because it allowed me to make sure that my lesson plans were so good. Um. I didn't have to completely uproot where I was needed to be in order to do that. So let's talk a little bit about this. So, when I was in the classroom, I quickly realized the limitations of paper plans, um, especially for those unexpected sick days. I needed a way that I could update my plans, share resources, and communicate with the school from wherever I was. In whatever state that I was. Um, so actually I came across this very simple solution, which is having a master Google Doc. Um, the key here is to sh to, to, to set it so that it says anyone with link can view it. Um, this meant that, you know, subs don't have to log in for anything. There's no special software. All they have to do is use a link. Um, and to make it even simpler, I took it a step simpler, a step further. Um, I created a, um, a Bitly link or a tiny UL link basically, you know, a QR code or basically a URL shorteners. So, you know, for instance, my, for example, this is not the real one, but, you know, my student or my, my sub could log in, you know, tiny url.com/target-sub, and my lesson plans would always be there. This meant that if I woke up with a fever and I really didn't wanna drag myself into school to print something out, I could update the Google Doc from my couch, text it, or email the link to the, my secretary, put it in the notes in, um, in Asop and ev, know that everything the sub needed was right there and bonus. I would say, Hey Cindy, thank you for being wonderful. Um, these are my sub plans for today. Can you print out a copy for my subs as well? So they had a physical copy and at the bottom of the, the copy, it had the link so that they could get it digitally so they could pull it up on my smart board on whatever else they needed. Um, and we're gonna talk a little bit about why that's important, but let's, I'm, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. So first of all, here's a few steps. So step one, choose your platform. If you have a Google, um, if you're a school that uses Google Docs, use Google Docs. But if you don't, you will likely have something similar, right? Cloud-based, um, I don't know, Microsoft Word. Is that a thing that's cloud-based now, um, if you are a Microsoft school. Um, and then step two is just create a new document. So create it, um, start a Google doc, make sure that your share settings are correct, um, so that anyone can view it with a link. Um, put all of your information. I'm gonna walk you through my copy in a little bit. So if you're not watching on YouTube, this is actually one of those episodes you might wanna hop on over YouTube so you can get a visual. Um, but put anything in here. Welcome message, important contact school, procedures, things like that. I will say, since this is something that you were setting, that anyone with Link can view. I really would not put anything, um, specifically confidential in here. Um, you know, IEPs or anything like that or information. Um, this is something that I would leave for physical on slash in my desk. Um, but you can put pretty much anything else in here. Um. And giving them any specific links. Um, so we'll talk about a little bit about that when I go through it. Um, and then once you have the link again, make sure that it is set to anyone with linking view, um, and then creating a Bitly link or a QR code, um, or both. That way they can, um. They can pull them up digitally if they need to. They can pull it up on their phone if they need to. Um, and then I think, you know, if you're able to, if you know that you're gonna be out and you're doing this, um, printing out a copy and put it on your desk is great. Um, or you know, if you don't know you're going to be there, you know, sending it to your secretary or your principal and asking them to print it. Um, and this is a bonus step if you have an interactive whiteboard smartboard. Whatever any of those are called, um, favorite, this link in your browser for easy access. So if you know, you might just say, Hey, click on the browser, click the star, click sub plans, boom, they're now on your board. Whatever you can do to make it as simple as possible. Um, and also just like, make sure that your administration and your secretary knows this, like, so let them know that you have a digital system. Um, show them how to access it if they need to. Um, and just let them know that this is gonna make things a lot easier for you, uh, for them too. You know, there's no hunting for binders. And again, I talked previously like also have some physical plans that are ready in the, um, in your classroom, just in case the internet is out or whatever. But like for the vast majority of the time, this is something that I think is gonna be a game changer. So let's go ahead and walk through my sub plans. So obviously I have some things blocked out, but let's take a peek Alrightyy. So here I have my sub plans. So here I have basically a welcome letter that kind of tells them all the ins and the outs. Um, then I have at the bottom again, I have a, you know, an easy to type in link. So you can use Tiny URA or Bitly. Um, so that if they need to get it digitally, they can, um, because it's really important if I have any links. They're clickable in here, right? They don't have to type in a thousand words. If they're clickable on here, um, then I have my schedule here. Um, so I was at two schools, so I had my middle school schedule. I kind of talked a little bit about the tv 'cause the TV at that school was kind of a hot mess. Um, so like how to do that. I have my schedule. Um, and then different, some different sub plans. So here's some options. Like apparently the last time I did this, I don't know what I was doing, but, um, so option one is just basically using the predetermined sub plans that I had on my desk. Um, and then option two I gave, um, a choice day. Um, and then I gave some different songs to kind of do this and my students know how choice does work. Um. And I also said basically if none of those work, there's a red bin behind my desk that's also there. So you have options. Choose whatever you want.'cause I never wanted my principal to be able to say, well, you didn't give them plans that were easy to follow or, you know, your plans were too technical. Nope. They have plenty of choices. Um, and then here, for instance, I have, um, some examples of why it's important to have the digital. So for instance, for my preschool, I wanted 'em to be able to do some music. So I actually included the clickable links for them to do, and. For instance here, you know, I said the egg shaker is gonna be next to the desk. Like I was very clear, and all they have to do is push the button and it opens up the video. Um, I also included information about how to get into the computers. Um, you know, I have my principal and my secretary phone number is here. Um, you know, different, um, you know, you know, emergency procedures for each building. Basically everything that they need to know was in this document. So you can really take that and make it anything. So, for instance, I've, I've also purchased like. Choice boards, you know, digital choice boards on TPT for sub plans. Alright. I linked those in my, my Google Doc. So all they had to do was click it to open it. They didn't have to find it, they didn't have to go searching. They just clicked it and it opened it up. I've done it before where they're watching a video of their performance. I linked it into that Google Doc and all they had to do was open that up. So here are some different tips that you can do. First of all, keep it clear and concise. Um, subs are often overwhelmed, so using things like headings, bullet points and simple language can make it super simple, especially if they're getting pulled in at the last moment and they don't have a lot of team time to like look through your plans. Um, but. On the flip side of that, also assume nothing, explain every step as if a sub has never been in a music classroom. Um, also make sure that your school's wifi is reliable enough for you to use this, especially if you're using, um, sub plans that have some sort of requirement to be connected to the internet. Um, and always have a backup plan just in case. Um. Especially when the, the internet goes down.'cause it does go down, let's be honest. It goes down sometimes. So always having a backup plan, um, just in case, um, be mindful of sharing school systems. Um, so maybe instead of putting the specific password in the document, say where to find it, you know, you're gonna, you know, you can see the login information on the laminated card by my computer or whatever, rather than listing in the direct the, um. The document itself. Um, also test it out. Send it to somebody to, um, double check your lesson or your, your document and make sure it's easy to follow and that they can open everything they need to. Um, especially on school wifi.'cause sometimes you'll have everything that looked works great on your home wifi, and then when you go into your school wifi, everything is blocked. So just be aware of that. So over the past month we've talked a lot about sub plans and taking days off. And because I think it's really important, especially as we, we dive into flu season. I'm sorry for bringing that up, but like. You. It matters how you show up. If you show up with no voice, feeling like absolute garbage, it's not the same as if you just like, just take a sick day, do what you need to do, take care of yourself. Take care of your family, set your students up for success. Set your substitutes up for success. Set yourself up for success with some of the strategies that we talked about over the past few weeks, but also just don't feel bad about taking a day off because sometimes. You just have to, and I think using something like a Digital Master doc, like we've talked about in this episode can be really helpful in allowing you to do that in a way that doesn't create like so much more work for you when you're already feeling like garbage. So with that being said, thank you so much for joining us for another week of that music podcast. It would mean the world to us if you were to leave us a review and subscribe wherever you are listening to or watching us. Um, and as always, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much for making a difference in the lives of the students.