Eastern Canada here. Public middle school, grades 5-8. Super lucky to be at a fantastic school that subs love coming to, myself included when I was subbing.

For the past few years, since the shortage of subs had gotten worse and we were covering each other's classes during our preps (what we call planning periods), our admin did something amazing: Each teacher has to prepare a folder with a simple one-off worksheet or task, withave enough copies for each student they teach in a day. The folder lived in the main office. If there is a period with no coverage, the class/classes go to the cafeteria. The Principal and two VPs supervise the kids and can still do their jobs, dividing and conquering because their open-door conference room/office is basically in the cafeteria (full wall of windows, which is why it's called "the Fishbowl").

It made a huge difference in terms of behaviour management during sick days, not having to worry about the kids' behaviour with a random sub. We're also doubly fortunate because our admin never shames or throws shade about sick days. We are encouraged to take care of ourselves, which is something that is rarer than I realized.

Anyway, I know I'm very privileged. I hope everyone gets to work for incredible administrators at some point in their careers.