Seating charts your substitute can actually use
Big names, one page, nothing private. Make the chart below, crank the name size in the PDF dialog, and it's sub-binder ready. Free · no signup · nothing uploaded unless you turn on sync.
What a sub chart needs (and what it must never have)
A substitute glances at the chart from the front of the room, mid-sentence, while twenty-eight strangers test the boundaries. So the chart needs names readable at distance — in the PDF dialog, drag the name-size slider up and the layout adapts while staying on one page. It needs the room drawn the way it actually is, door and teacher desk marked, so "the pair by the window" means something.
Just as important is what it must never include: which student has priority seating and why, who's on a behavior plan, your keep-apart pairs. That information is confidential — and in RosterOwl it is structurally unprintable. Rules, zones and absence marks exist only on your screen; every printed or downloaded chart is names only. You don't have to remember to hide anything.
The two-minute sub prep
Lock any seats that must not drift, download the PDF at large name size, and print two copies — one for the binder, one for the desk. Nothing here is a separate sub-only tool: it is the everyday RosterOwl seating chart maker, so the chart you keep current all year is the chart your sub gets. Prepping a full substitute pack (schedule, notes, and chart in one printable) is on the roadmap for winter, built from the same roster.
Questions teachers ask
Can the sub mark attendance on it?
Yes — each printed desk has open space around the name, so checking off students with a pen works fine. Keep the name size a notch below maximum if you want more room to write.
What if a student moved seats since I printed it?
Charts regenerate in seconds — update the seat, re-download, reprint. Locked seats make sure the rest of the room doesn't shift in the process.
Is there a whole substitute binder tool?
Coming this winter: chart + schedule + class notes as one printable pack, powered by the same class list. The chart above is the foundation of it.
One roster, every other tool
Your class list is already saved in this browser — every tool below picks it up, with no names retyped and nothing uploaded unless you turn on sync.
- Group maker Balanced teams that honor your keep-apart rules
- Student picker Fair cold-calling, nobody picked twice
- Classroom jobs chart Class jobs that rotate fairly, every week
- Award certificates One PDF, a certificate for every student
- Name tags & desk plates Desk plates and Avery-style badge sheets
- Class checklist Names down the side, your columns across
- Attendance sheet The month's real school days, pre-built
- Bingo cards A unique card for every player
- Flashcards & name cards Names or word lists as bold printable cards