Teaching a course for the first time? A checklist for new, LTO and supply teachers

It happens to almost every teacher: a new course, a long-term occasional assignment, or a timetable change with a few days' notice. Here's a checklist for getting ready fast without burning out.

Before day one

Find the curriculum document. Read the overall expectations for each strand first. They tell you what the course is really about.
Ask what already exists. Your department may have a course outline, textbooks, past exams or shared folders. Ask the department head before you build anything.
Write or adapt the course outline. Include the units, the evaluation plan (in Ontario from 2026: 65/20/15 in Grades 9–10, 65/25/10 in Grades 11–12), the attendance and participation scale, and how to contact you. Here's how the new rules work.
Plan the first two weeks in detail. You don't need the whole semester mapped on day one. Two solid weeks buys you time to plan the rest.

The first two weeks

Start with a diagnostic. A short reading, writing or skills task tells you where students are.
Set routines early. Warm-ups, exit tickets and a clear class structure make every 75-minute period easier to run.
Collect a baseline sample of student work for each strand you'll report on.

Keep it sustainable

Keep a few stand-alone lessons ready for assemblies, flex days and the day you're sick. They shouldn't depend on where you are in a unit.
Use free tools to save time: a marks calculator, a report card comment builder and a 75-minute lesson timer.
Don't build everything from scratch. Borrowing and adapting good material is normal, and it leaves you time for the students in front of you.

Ready-to-teach options

K9solutions makes complete courses for Ontario high school, written so a teacher can pick them up the morning of: a teacher plan for every lesson, slides with speaker notes on what to say and ask, handouts with answer keys, a day-by-day schedule and buffer lessons for flex and supply days. Every course has a free lesson to try first.