So, just curious My school has a bad habit of not securing subs. Some of it is lack of subs, other is "oversight." Just today, the math teacher across the hall isn't here, hasn't been here all day. No sub. I absorbed her kids during one of my blocks--there are kids roaming every where. That same teacher was out for maternity leave from September through November, and they didn't have a sub all quarter. I've come back from a field trip and had no sub in my room. I've been out writing curriculum for the district and my kids have emailed me to let me know they don't have sub, but they're all there doing work. I do my best to help out my colleagues as do those around me, and emergencies do come up, but this is a safety concern. I do call the office and inform them, but what else can I do? But then I got called to the carpet today because I went looking for a coverage for my last block today on my own, instead of going through our secretary downstairs. Guess what, I have a sub.
If there is no sub, they put paras in a room, or an admin covers, or teachers split their planning period (so, like 3 shifts of about 20 minutes each.)
How in the world did parents not lose their mind over their kids being without a regular teacher the entire quarter? Typically teachers on planning will have to cover if there is not an available sub. Occasionally we absorb kids for a class period. It is not common, though. We have had years where it was an issue for various reasons. I got sick at 7am a couple of weeks ago, and I called for a sub immediately. I have kids in my room at 8. I had a sub. She also subbed for me the rest of that week.
This just happened today for the teacher across the hallway. Usually when there is a sub that cancels there is a para that can cover. It just so happened that today paras were shorthanded. We were benchmarking and we are at the tale end of the flu season. Anyway each one of our classes took in some guests today. That is the first time I have ever had to take in some kids but I think it has happened in other grade levels. Both of mine actually went home sick so it was no big deal.
Only parents who would care would lose their minds. If they're "daycare center parents", then, well, you get the idea.
Sort of like our school! How about kids sitting in classrooms unsupervised? How's that for "competent" administration?
To be honest, when I was a child, I would love to have no teacher in the classroom for an entire block/period/activity time frame/subject/class/activity.
Sounds like a bunch of useless administrators not holding their useless employees accountable. I’m so sick of hearing stories about teachers not showing up to do their jobs. Then, people like you whizkid have to sub for them constantly because they can’t be bothered to show up to work. Oh woe is me! I have to work. Really? You have to work at the job you signed up for? Who would have thought? This reminds me of a teacher my school hired a few years back (who was thankfully let go at the end of the year) who kept requesting a sub EVERY week and inanely thought she would still be able to draw her FULL salary. And this ridiculousness went on even after exhausting her two personal days and six sick days in the first month of school. (Really?) Even more incredulously, she was shocked to discover that her paychecks were markedly docked pay for every day thereafter that she took off, which was a LOT (a couple months worth by the end of the school year). I lol’d each time she’d rant and rave about the “injustice” of it all because it was just so ridiculous.
I have over 100 sick days saved. I could take a day a week and still get my full pay. Obviously I wouldn't, which is how I have so many days saved, but if I had a medical issue, I'd use them all in a heartbeat.
I too have many days saved. I rarely use all of my personal days. And hardly use sick days. I have used two sick days this year because my daughter needed to go to the dr. and my father in laws funeral is this weekend and we will be traveling to get there. There are some teachers who use their days up every year for whatever reason. To me it doesn't look good and your students suffer. When I use my personal days it's because I am doing Mom stuff. My thing is when you are gone you have to do lesson plans which I despise doing so I might was well go to school and teach.
Yes, but you’ve collected those over an extended period of time (multiple years). You were not an employee just starting at a new school in a different district. Also, sick days cannot be used for personal days in most instances. The ex-staff member kept requesting subs because she was “tired” and needed breaks to “recharge”.
Now, I fully support using using a sick day as a mental healthy day now and then because yes, I think mental health days count. But if you're needing so many mental health days, that's a sign of a far deeper issue.
I agree. I have no hesitation in taking a mental health day when needed; if there weren't as many disruptions to my regular routine this week as there are, I'd be taking either Thursday or Friday. Too many, though, is the sign that more is needed than a day off here and there.
Exactly, she was absent multiple times every WEEK and needed subs for 3 or 4 of her periods on said days. It drove my colleagues and I insane because we were forced to cover her throughout the year. I mean, she would jokingly say in the staff lounge, “My fourth period is horrible. Well, I’ll just get a sub tomorrow!” I felt bad for her students.
You know your school is worthless when you need substitute teachers..........for substitute teachers. Job security is really the only good thing about this place because this district will take just about anyone. Warm bodies needed!
It's happened again. I have six students sitting in my classroom right now, with my actual class, who are in the math class across the hall. No sub for the 3rd day in a row. I've called downstairs, and the answe is--there isn't a sub. The kids that aren't with me are roaming the halls. I don't mind keeping these kids--most of them are mine anyway in other blocks, and they're sitting quietly doing work, but really?
Report the school to the district office and let them know that students are roaming the halls. Your school is responsible for finding a sub when the teacher is not there.
Our school just gets ancillary personnel to play sub. Administration picks and chooses when they're concerned about kids roaming the hall. We even have kids who simply walk off campus when security has their heads turned.
Oh, good grief. How much extra do you get paid for subbing as much as you do throughout the year, do you think?
That’s horrid! You don’t get paid extra for subbing?! Even the public schoolteachers in my area get paid because it’s beyond the purview of their contracts as they are not contracted to sub.
Our contract have the "other duties" provision even if they are against state regulations. Then again, we keep a lot of things on the "hush" around here.
If we are asked to cover a class because of a shortage of subs, we don't get paid extra, but we will get the time paid back.
Same here; a substitute is called in to cover all the teachers who lost prep time. This only happens in elementary schools though, as high school teachers usually get more prep time than stated in their contract (it should be equal to elementary teachers, but in reality it is not), so they are expected to be available to cover unfilled absences without being paid back every once in a while, as long as they get enough prep time. Sometimes admin ends up covering the classes too, or in senior grades, students are sent to the library and class is canceled.
I'm in elementary, so obviously no one is just leaving a class full of kids. Not that it should really happen in HS either... My previous P was constantly pulling the interventionists and instructional coach to sub. I can kind of see the justification in using the coach- it's better to pull someone who isn't working with kids anyway, and probably good for her as a coach to be reminded of what actual teaching is like every once in awhile. It shouldn't have happened as often as it did though. Pulling the interventionists was a major problem because then no one was getting the interventions they were supposed to. They'd literally often be subbing for 3 days out of the week. New P came in and changed all of that. Now classes are combined when there is no sub. Teachers who end up getting extra students do split the sub pay for that day. That's obviously not a great solution for classrooms either, but it has less of an impact than pulling intervention teachers constantly. Each classroom might have extra kids only a few days per year as opposed to kids in all grade levels missing their interventions day after day. And go figure, our data is significantly better than it used to be. The only major change in the structure of how we do things is holding that intervention block sacred and making sure it actually happens every day.
Happens all the time in my school. We don't have subs so TAs fill in and they will cancel art, music, etc. and have those teachers sub. So that means I don't get planning periods because the specials are cancelled. I heard one teacher say, "Oh, I can't do xyz on Friday because i'm calling out that day. How about next week"? One teacher is constantly out and I have no idea how she has any sick days left at all.
We have to split the class. Subs refuse to come to our school it's so bad. I had 43 kids in a 2nd grade class for 2 days last month.
We used to have aides cover our classes. Which I preferred. They knew the kids, they knew the procedures, they knew how I taught. I actually would usually just have my aide do the teaching so I wouldn't have to plan. Sub was there for legal reasons. That was killed by the district. Now the classes get split. Unless you're me. And your administrator loves you. Then she covers your class. It's great.
It just so happened that today paras were shorthanded. We were benchmarking and we are at the tale end of the flu season. Nox Vidmate VLC
We didn't have subs today for either the Music teacher or the Phys Ed teacher. Teachers kept their classes during scheduled Music and Phys Ed periods (we were welcome to take the kids to the Music room or the gym) and the time will be paid back in the next few days.
