Substitute Teacher Guide • Grade 9 • Unit 1: The Client & The Designer
Managing a Design Project — Day 1 of 2
Today's focus: The 5-Step Process
✅ Before Students Arrive
- Materials needed today:
- Large paper or poster board (1 per pair/group)
- Markers
- Sample project brief (teacher-provided, 1-paragraph scenario)
- Most students keep their class notebook at its usual spot in the room and use it every day (see routine below) -- but it's each student's own notebook, so a few may bring theirs from home instead. Either way, everyone should have one out.
- Write today's Do Now on the board before the bell rings (see below).
📓 Daily Notebook Routine (students already know this)
Keep this going every day, in your class notebook: date today's entry, jot your Do Now response, add any new vocabulary word(s) from today's Key Vocabulary section (word + a quick picture + a simple definition in your own words), and take 60 seconds to sketch something connected to today's topic. This notebook is yours to study from, reference on projects, and pull evidence from later for your portfolio.
🗣️ Opening: Do Now
Write or project this, and have students start immediately:
“Answer Yes or No: Is it OK to work on a client project without ever communicating with the client? Why or why not?”
📋 Class Plan (step by step)
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Step 1 — 15 min
🗣️ Say: "Today we're looking at ___." Then walk through the point(s) below at the front of the room.
📋 Mini-lesson (15 min): introduce the 5 steps of managing a design project in order, with a real example for each.
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Step 2 — 10 min
🗣️ Say: "Here's what we're doing next." Then read the instructions below to the class.
📋 Vocabulary (10 min): scope, pitch meeting, timeline, scope creep -- and why scope creep is dangerous for a project's deadline and budget.
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Step 3 — 10 min
🗣️ Say: "Let's do the first one together, then you'll try the rest on your own."
📋 Guided start (10 min): as a class, begin mapping the sample brief onto Step 1 (Planning & Analysis) together, so everyone starts Day 2 knowing what's expected.
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Step 4 — 5 min
🗣️ Say: "Here's what we're doing next." Then read the instructions below to the class.
📋 Preview (5 min): tomorrow, groups finish mapping all 5 steps on their own.
🔑 Vocabulary Introduced Today
- Pitch Meeting
- The initial meeting with a client to discuss the project's basic goals and plan.
- Scope
- The work required to deliver a project's final product; changes to scope must be managed carefully.
✅ Wrap-Up: Exit Ticket
A few minutes before the bell, say: "Time to finish your exit ticket."
“Put the 5 project steps in order from memory, then circle the one you think is easiest to skip by accident (and explain why that's risky).”
Collect exit tickets (or have students leave them in the usual spot) for the regular teacher to review.
⏳ If You're Short on Time
Protect the Do Now and the Exit Ticket above all else -- those are how the regular teacher tracks daily progress. If a step above is optional/homework, or is a "share out"/discussion step, shorten or skip it first.
⏳ If Students Finish Early
Have them keep working in their notebook: add extra detail to today's vocabulary sketch, review previous vocabulary, or -- if this is a portfolio update week for this class -- work on their portfolio. Early finishers should never be idle or distracting to classmates still working.
📝 For the Regular Teacher (fill in ahead of time)
- Regular teacher's name / how to reach them: ______________________________
- Where finished work / exit tickets go: ______________________________
- Front office extension / emergency contact: ______________________________
- Anything else this class needs to know today: ______________________________