Embedded Files
The Absence Plan Form
The Absence Plan Form
The absence plan form is where you enter data to create an absence plan or edit an existing plan. Each absence plan consists of a Title (an internal-only name for the plan) and a "Daily Plan" table, which is made up of individual sections.
About Sections
About Sections
Each section represents a block of time or a "row" in your daily plan table. Sections have the following optional components:
- Start Time
- End Time
- Headline - what's the "main idea" of this section?
- Description - what are the directions for the students, the sub? how do they accomplish the main idea?
Some sections will require all of these and some may need only one or two. Because you can order sections manually you have the flexibility to include sections without start or end times and place them anywhere in your plan. You might also want to include several section descriptions within one headline -- preview your plan as you go to see how it will look to the substitute.
Emergency Absence Plans
Emergency Absence Plans
Under the title field, there is a check box to indicate if the plan is an "emergency" plan. Emergency plans are complete, turnkey plans that are ready to be activated and handed to a substitute.
Many schools and districts require teachers to keep a certain number of emergency substitute plans on hand at all times. By checking this box you designate a plan as "emergency." That plan will now be located in the 'Emergency' Tab in your dashboard and school admins will see that you have an emergency plan on file.
Navigating Absence Plan Forms
Navigating Absence Plan Forms
We designed the absence plan entry form to be as clear and straightforward as possible. Because this is a web application and not a word processor, your first instinct might be to use your mouse to click on everything, but you may find that you can't move around as quickly as you'd like. The great news is that you can use your keyboard to move through the form more quickly, just like you do in a word processing program.
Here are a few tips to make navigating the form easier:
- Use the "Tab" key to move between fields quickly:
- Beginning with "Start Time" hitting the tab key will move your cursor through each field in "Start Time", then through "End Time," "Headline" and finally, "Description"
- Enter Start and End Times using numbers
- You can type in the hour or minute values using the number pad on your keyboard.
- To type minutes, like "15" just type "1" followed by "5" -- the system will input it
- Remove Start or End Times by clicking the "x" to the right of the time, rather than deleting each entry.
- Toggle between AM & PM using shortcuts:
- Type "a" or "p" to quickly enter AM or PM
- Use up/down arrows to toggle between AM and PM
Adding Sections
Adding Sections
To add a new "row" or block of time to a plan, click the "Add Section" button and a new set of section boxes will appear.
The "Add Section" button is always at the bottom of the plan, so if you need to insert a section at the top, you'll need to add it at the bottom and then re-order the sections to move it up.
Ordering Sections
Ordering Sections
By default, sections are ordered in the sequence they are added to the plan, starting from the top down, and the order that sections appear in the plan form is the same order they will appear in on the printed sub plan.
Sections do not automatically order themselves based on start or end time, it's up to you to re-order sections if you add a new section, change a start time, or for any other reason.
To re-order sections:
- Click the "up" arrow to the right of the Headline - you'll see the section move up and swap with the section above
- Continue to click the "up" arrow until the section is in the right location on your plan
Formatting Sections
Formatting Sections
The description field in each section allows for rich text formatting, which lets you format text much like you would in any word processing program. Using the controls at the bottom of the description field, you can:
- Bold text
- Italicize text
Strikethru text- Increase the text size
- Add numbered lists
- Add bulleted lists
- Indent numbered and bulleted lists
- Undo and redo formatting changes
At this time, this is the only field in SubPlans that allows for rich text formatting.
Deleting Sections
Deleting Sections
To delete a section:
- Click the "delete" button in the bottom right corner
- Confirm that you want to delete the section
- Hit "Save" before leaving the page
Note: you do not have to save immediately, however if you leave the form before saving, the section deletion will not be saved.
Previewing a Sub Plan
Previewing a Sub Plan
At any time while you're editing an absence plan, you can preview what the entire sub plan will look like. Click the "Preview" button at the bottom of the screen and a new tab will open that will show you the complete PDF that SubPlans will generate with the current data.
Note: unless the plan you're editing is "active" the PDF will not display the information entered during activation. Read about activating absence plans.
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