By the time April rolls around we have spent countless hours together in the classroom with our students. We have established our rhythms and our inside jokes and our unspoken expectations. This late in the game the training wheels should be off. I believe that if we have done our jobs well we should be able to step out of the room without the entire structure crumbling into dust. I trust my students and last week I decided to show them exactly how much.
I was absent last Monday and the plans I left were a direct reflection of that confidence. The plans for the sub simply said, "The students know how to run the class and what is expected of them." I provided a brief outline of the work but I did not micromanage the minutes. I did not leave a list of names to watch or a script of threats regarding their grades. I treated them like the capable young adults they are becoming because that is the only way they will ever learn to actually lead themselves.
The note from the substitute confirmed everything I hoped to be true about my classroom. They wrote, "I was extremely impressed with the self-sufficient, smart, and highly motivated students."
That kind of feedback is the ultimate win for an educator in the spring. It is easy for students to behave when their primary teacher is watching from the desk but the real magic happens when they choose to be excellent on their own. This note told me that my students do not just follow instructions; they understand the mission. They took ownership of the space and the schedule and the outcomes without needing a heavy hand to guide them.
If you are still writing five-page sub plans in April you might want to ask yourself why. We should be empowering these kids to take the wheel by this point in the year. When we give them the chance to be self-sufficient, they almost always rise to the occasion. Trust is a powerful motivator and there is no better feeling than knowing your class can thrive even when you are not there to witness it.
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