When it came to having a substitute teacher use a technology resource such a SMART Board Notebook file or video, teachers had difficulty sharing these resources when they were out of the classroom. Fortunately, over the past few months, a new method of sharing and accessing sub plans remotely has been successfully devised and used by elementary teachers making this challenging situation a thing of the past. For teachers such as First Grade teacher Ms. Stephanie Iozzo (pictured below working on her classroom computer), she has used the new setup to keep the daily use of the SMART Board part of her classroom instruction even when she couldn't be there herself! The system involves leveraging the collaborative abilities of Spartan Apps, the district's email and document sharing technologies, in a creative and purposeful way. During their training from District Technology Director Mr. Jim Dieso on using Spartan Apps earlier in the school year, Iozzo and all other elementary teachers were guided in setting up a Spartan Apps collection they have shared with the approved district substitutes for their grade level. In addition to the approved subs, there is also a generic sub account per grade level that can be used to access the collection if the sub is new to the district and does not have their own account. Using this shared collection, teachers can simply save any documents, videos, or Notebook files there that they want the substitute to use. The sub can then log on, download the files, and make use of the technology just as the teacher would do if they were there. "Being able to work on your plans anywhere and making them available online for your sub, even if you are home sick, is a real time saver. It relieves so much stress about leaving plans." says Iozzo, who has used her remote sub plans setup successfully a few times this year. "I like that I can leave just a few files electronically and the sub can teach a regular lesson like I would rather than tons of copies and folders like I used to have to do without the technology." While elementary teachers have set up and used this system in their own buildings, secondary teachers can also make use of shared collections on their own if they know the Spartan Apps email address of the approved subs in their content area. Overall, shared collections for sub plans are very useful and effective for teachers, substitutes, and students alike. If you would like to see how to use remote sub plans via Spartan Apps, just ask the Tech Staff how to set this up. They will be glad to work with you so you can keep the technology of your classroom accessible even when you cannot!