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The No Prep Plans Blog
Practical, classroom-tested writing about sub plans, lesson design and getting a real day of learning out of a day you cannot be there.
September 16, 2026
How to Make a Missed Day Still Count Toward Your Standards
A sub day does not have to be a hole in your pacing guide. With the right lesson choice it can cover a standard you were going to have to find room for anyway.
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September 15, 2026
Teaching Media Literacy in One Class Period
Media literacy is usually taught as a checklist and forgotten by Friday. A single well designed period does more, if you build it around a real disagreement instead of a list of rules.
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September 14, 2026
Planning for a Long Absence: Leave, Surgery and Extended Time Away
A three week absence is a different problem from a sick day. It needs a sequence, a grading plan and a handover document. Here is how to build all three without spending your leave working.
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September 13, 2026
The Week Before a Break: Lessons That Still Count
Nobody is starting a new unit three days before a holiday. That does not mean the days have to be wasted. Here is how to run a short week that is still real school.
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September 12, 2026
Group Research Projects That Do Not Collapse
Group work fails for structural reasons, not social ones. Fix the structure and the same students who coasted last time will carry their share.
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September 11, 2026
Filling the Last Fifteen Minutes Without Busywork
The end of a period is the hardest fifteen minutes to plan and the easiest to waste. Six ways to close a class that are worth the time they take.
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September 10, 2026
Five Signs a Sub Plan Will Fall Apart by Second Period
Sub plans fail in predictable ways. Once you can spot the five failure patterns, you can fix a plan in about ten minutes before you ever need it.
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September 9, 2026
What Substitutes Wish You Left Behind
Ask substitutes what makes a good assignment and they do not say easy. They say clear. Here is what the people covering your room actually need from you.
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September 8, 2026
The Sub Binder You Only Build Once
A sub binder is not a filing project. It is a two hour investment in never writing emergency plans from bed again. Here is exactly what goes in one, and what to leave out.
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September 7, 2026
Emergency Sub Plans That Hold a Class Together
The difference between a sub day that works and a sub day that unravels is almost never the content. It is the structure. Here is what a plan needs before you hand your room to someone else.
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