Have you guys ever called in sick but you weren't really sick? And that you just wanted to take a break hmy: How many sick days do you guys get in a year?
I've taken personal days because I didn't feel like being at school. I've always been able to schedule those at least a few days in advance, though, so I haven't had to mess around with sick days. We get 14 or 15 sick days per year. Most teachers choose to donate one sick day to the sick leave pool (to be used by teachers who have used up their sick time, usually due to chronic illness or caring for a sick family member). I have about 90 sick days in the bank right now.
It is just too much work to prepare for a sub with my students. Once the kids get to a certain age the damage they can do usually isn't worth missing a day of work.
We get 10 sick days. I used one for a doctor's appointment already. I am really tempted to take a day off because my head is not feeling in the game lately, but as NC said, it's a lot of work to prepare lessons for the sub. I'm barely getting lessons planned for myself. D: That's the only reason I'd want to take a day off, because I'm tired of thinking about what I'm going to be doing each day and all these worksheets I have to write, all these powerpoints I have to make, all these materials I have to buy, all these papers I have to grade... There's simply no way to escape the planning.
Yes - I have certainly taken a mental health day. I come back refreshed and it is better for my students to have their energetic teacher back. I always leave something with the sub that they have to turn in at the end of the period, so there is no wasted time. Generally it is practice and review on something we have been working on.
I really only take a day when absolutely necessary (I'm really sick or my children are sick). It is too much work to get everything ready for a sub. If I needed a mental health day, I would definitely use a personal day. I think that I've used one personal day in my entire career teaching (my great aunt passed away).
Yes, I've used mental health days. Our bank rolls over from year to year - we can earn up to 10 days a year. I think I have about 25 sicks days right now. And about 9 comp days already.
No. I have never taken a sick that wasn't health related. Usually, it's when I am sick, although I have taken a sick day when my parents needed me to take them to appointments. Otherwise, I go to work. We get 10 per year. Unused accumulate.
If you need it then take it as long as you leave sub plans and have the days. What's the point of having them accumulate to 100s of days. I hardly ever get sick or sick enough to call out but I know I will take a day whenever. Some people just don't get sick so I don't think they should be penalized by making them never use their sick days.
We get one sick day a month in my last school (in USA). I used every single one. Not any of them were because I was sick with virus. I was just sick of kids! :lol: I think it's better for the school, kids and sub to prepare for a day off a week in advance or so. Better sub lessons, kids are prepared, school knows I'll be gone, etc. So I never felt bad about it.
I don't. I have 3 kids. If they're sick, I need to be home. I'm not using a sick day if I can avoid it.
I have no problem using personal days for mental health days, usually about one every year. When my children were young, I allowed them one mental health day per semester. Everyone needs a break now and then.
I do this maybe once a year. It's usually a day when my husband has off and we do something fun together.
I don't. But that's because I don't like to be gone. I feel like I get behind when I'm gone and have to play catch up. I have to be gone 3 days in the next three weeks (2 with activities I sponsor and 1 for a workshop) and I was kind of stressing about it. Our days accumulate (10 per year). I have 75 days right now (the flu took me down for a week a couple of years ago).
We get personal days for that...I would never want to get caught not being sick, I actually. Know of someone who was fired for that...called in sick and an administrator saw them at the airport.
I have no problem using a SICK day when I am becoming dangerously stressed. It's happened a couple of times. I wouldn't use a personal day as a mental health day for this reason.
I'm on year 2 of my job & I've never yet taken a sick or personal day because I didn't feel like going to work. I have a great schedule where I get EVERY Monday off & some Fridays as it is, so I shouldn't have to take a personal day really.
We only get 5 personal/sick days per year. So, I'm very careful about how I use those days. I've never used all 5 days though.
We get 10 a year. I saved mine up early in my career. I have more than enough accumulated now if something serious pops up. I used to not use them unless I was really sick. But now that the treatment and disrespect of the staff is the norm, many of us have decided to put ourselves first and foremost. Therefore, I use all 10 every year.
I use about one a year on a day when I feel really run down, but maybe not 100% sick. I sleep a lot, don't go out, do a little catch up work. I think it helps me fight off whatever is trying to get me. But I save the other 9 a year in case I do get sick. Last year, I got some kind of virus and had to stay home for 5 days in a row. Hated it! But I was too feverish to go in. I would not take a sick day just for fun--I think it is great that we have 10 days because we are exposed to a lot of germs! I know too many people who have gotten seriously ill and needed all their accumulated sick days for cancer treatment. We can donate some days to a colleague if we keep a certain balance.
No, I'm the opposite. If I am just a bit sick, I usually still go in sick. I only stay home if I am really sick. Most years I don't take sick days, but I do take days for professional development. I am not saying what I do is right, it is just what I do.
In the past I have taken days off when I really just had a cold or something that I could have gone in for as a "mental health day." However, in that job I didn't get a sub. Now, I feel it's just as much work to prepare for the sub, and then you don't know what is being done all day or if the sub is any good...I'd probably spend half the day worrying about it! I'm currently in the middle of a two day PD. It's required for new teachers. I didn't like prepping for the sub, but I'll admit it's been nice. Being with adults all day, actually getting to go to a real lunch, none of the regular stresses...it has been a mini break without having to take days off!
If the teacher is absent and there is no sub, where do the students go? Has this ever happened to you?
I use strategic mental health days a couple times a year, especially during the time we go for 2 solid months with no holidays (February and March).
I'm an SLP & we no longer get subs, like a couple years ago. If the SLP is out, there's just no speech that day.
In our school, staff cover classes when there is no sub. So, for instance, a secretary or a librarian's assistant would act as sub for the day.
I feel that right now has been a pretty long stretch of continuous school. D: Early September to mid-November, there are no holidays in our district.
I do not call in sick when I'm not sick. I don't mind calling in when I have a bad cold though. I could go in, but I would feel awful, so I would rather rest at home.
If there is no sub, our students get a free period. Some teachers give their students free periods every time they are out, but I try my best to get a sub when I'm out. So my students end up having maybe one free period for my class the whole year.
In my district you can swap 100 sick days for your 30th year teaching and retire one year early with full benefits. You can also exchange unused sick days for money when you leave the district. Many teachers also try to accumulate lots of sick time in order to be covered when they take maternity or paternity leave. Nine weeks (45 sick days) is a long time to go without pay, especially if you have more than one child.
We get 3 sick days per year. I've used 1 sick day since starting. I hope I won't have to use anymore. I try and rely more on asking for scheduled days off and using my PTO when needed. Well, more scheduled days off now considering I'm trying to save my PTO for the wedding/ honeymoon! =)
Only 3? That seems extremely low. I live in a non-union state and we get 10 sick days and 3 personal days a year.
I don't work in a school. I am a RMC (Residential Mentor Counselor) at a not-for-profit rehabilitation organization that serves individuals who were born with or sustained a traumatic brain or spinal cord injury. My fiance I believe gets either 10 or 15 sick days per year. He works at a University as a Librarian/ Adjunct professor
We get 15 sick days a year, and three personal days. Unused sick days go accumulate, personal days do not. I use sick days when I am sick, or need to go to a doctor appointment. I use my three personal days for anything else.
No, I never have. I would feel too guilty, and the time it takes to prep for a sub isn't worth it. We have 10 sick days per year, and they carry over if we don't use them.
With kids you save them for the kids being sick. IF I take a mental health day (very rare) invariably I will need a real sick day almost immediately Murphy's law. 100 sick days counting as a whole year is amazing. That way a high salary retires earlier and no cash payout. Both are benefited. Genius.
I don't recall ever taking a sick day when I wasn't actually sick*. As others have said, too much work to prepare for a sub and I also don't really think that a "mental health day" falls under what is allowable to take a sick day for. If I needed to, I'd take a personal day for that, but I guess I've never felt so stressed that I absolutely had to be out - because being out is more stressful! We get 2 personal days and 15 sick days each year. I accumulate as many days as I can because you just never know what might happen. I've taken maternity leave twice and hopefully will be taking it again soon. I'd have to check my pay stub, but I think I have about 12 weeks saved up. If I have a doctor's appt. I try to schedule it for before or after school. If it has to be during the school day, I try to take just a 1/2 day. *A couple of years ago I ended up missing almost a month of school due to complications of pregnancy that ended in the loss of the babies. I was supposed to return on a Friday, but it was the Friday before Thanksgiving, so I did take 2 extra days off and returned after Thanksgiving Break. I actually ended up regretting it because it would have been easier to go back for our short, 2-day Thanksgiving week than to face a full week back the Monday after Thanksgiving. And to answer the question about what happens if there is no sub, at our elementary school the class without a sub gets split up and the students go to other classrooms for a day (2 or 3 students to each classroom). You may end up with 5th graders in a 1st grade class or any combination like that. It's far from ideal. Once I volunteered to take an entire K class for the day. I had 50 kindergartners (that class and mine) for the whole day. It actually ended up being a really awesome day.
