Post Sub Notes using Screencast-O-Matic on YouTube!

Last week I was preparing for a substitute teacher.  Like normal, I was dedicating WAY TOO MUCH TIME to creating over the top, detailed lesson plans for her, even though my sub had been in my classroom time and time again.  The main reason I leave such detailed notes is because I still want to have control even when I am gone, which I have been able to somewhat accomplish through collaborative Google Documents.  I tend to assign something using a Google Document when I am gone, so that I can pop in and out of student documents, leave notes for them, communicate an idea, or help correct something.  My way of keeping some control when at a conference, presenting, at a meeting, or sick.  That said, I thought that it was time to try something new, in an effort to keep control, but offer my sub a break (considering my classroom is largely embedded with technology).  So, with the advice of a fellow educator at our high school, I created video lesson plans for my sub and my students.  Here is how the plans turned out:

Of course I was curious to find out what my students and substitute thought...

• Substitute: "Wow...made explaining "things" pretty simple.  Students knew exactly what to do, when and where."
• Students: "That was cool."  "You were with us all day Mr. Hendricks" (is that a good or bad comment). "Will you do that again the next time you are gone?"  "It was like you never left."

So, will I do a pre-recorded lesson plan again, the next time I cannot be at school.  Definitely.  The effort was well worth my time.

**I created the video using Screencast-O-Matic, which I then published to YouTube.