Teacher Chat

KMD1106

I didn't know if this should go in randoms or not, but I figured no one else would really be interested in teacher chit chat. I started thinking about long term sub plans and am feeling overwhelmed. I'm hoping some ideas from other teachers will help me feel more secure in my my plan. 

1. What grade/subject do you teach?
2. How many weeks of school will you miss?
3. What is your district's plan for covering your leave?
4. What are you leaving for your sub?

kat81

I'm chiming in even though I don't totally belong here because I teach college and our semester ends right around my due date. I feel like some things might come up in this conversation that will be more relevant, hence my chiming in. So to answer the questions --

1. What grade/subject do you teach?
I teach psychology / neuroscience to undergraduates. This semester it's mostly sophomores and some juniors. One senior. I have about 80 students in the classroom (multiple classes) and 6 independent research students.

2. How many weeks of school will you miss?
Our faculty handbook is worded in the worst way on this topic so I thought I would get no maternity leave (because it's a "summer" baby when we're not officially on contract), but I just found out I get 6 weeks paid that I can use at the start of NEXT semester (September.) The way it works at our school and most colleges & universities is that faculty don't teach over the summer (unless they want to for extra pay), but we are expected to get a certain amount of research/scholarship done (publications and whatnot) each year. Most people work full time over the summer on research to accomplish this goal. So having a summer baby cuts into time for that work. But I'm happy to learn that I'll be able to recoup it in the fall.

3. What is your district's plan for covering your leave?
At the collegiate level I think they try to avoid having substitutes for courses at all costs. Some courses are too specialized for anyone to teach other than the primary person, and others that are more general (like intro courses) don't have standardization, so everyone does it differently. So luckily I get the fall semester off from teaching, but I have a bunch of other work for my department to make up for the fact I'm only off for 6 weeks of the 12-14 of the semester.

4. What are you leaving for your sub?
Thankfully I won't have one! I just have to not deliver early. If I do, I'll have to figure out something to leave for someone. Probably I'd cut out some of the content at the end, leave a bunch of videos and activities, and then still grade from a distance. I might also skype in. Please think positive thoughts for me NOT to go early. My last final exam is 3 days before my EDD. It's ok if I miss that one and even the other finals (someone will proctor), but I really can't deliver before 38ish weeks without it being very hard. And hopefully I will go on time and that way all of my tests can be graded before the baby comes.

KMD1106

1. What grade/subject do you teach?
I teach 9-12 grade EL. I'm the only EL teacher in the building at teach newcomers to advanced English speakers. 

2. How many weeks of school will you miss?
If I have a repeat c-section, I'll miss 4. If I have a vaginal delivery, it's anyone's guess. My EDD puts me at missing 3. I don't get to recoup the 2-4 weeks I should get in the fall, so I'm bummed about that. Obviously if I deliver early, I'll miss more so I'm planning topics for the rest of the year.

3. What is your district's plan for covering your leave?
I wish I knew! With DD they had a (crummy) long term sub for me. I'm hoping I'll get the same sub for my whole leave, but with it being so close to the end of the year, who knows. 

4. What are you leaving for your sub?
-General notes for the policies/expectations in my class 
-Notes about each student and their needs and proficiency levels
-Notes about specific content teachers/classes and the support kids need
-Topics to teach each day I'm gone (I'll leave my resources, but let the sub determine how to teach the topic.)
-Each class will have a novel study to end the year, so that will be laid out for the sub

Am I missing anything?

hp_momma

I don't technically belong here as I'm on my "SAHM leave" but I can definitely chime in when needed! I did teach while pregnant with DD1 and did some substitute teaching off and on since then. 

1. I've taught special-education preschool and 1st grade. 

2. With DD1 I took 8weeks maternity leave. 

3. My district hired a long term substitute for my class. Usually it's someone familiar with the school so they aren't completely lost. 

4. I'd ask your principle what it is expected of you to leave for the sub. When I was pregnant with DD1 I was expected to leave detailed plans for the entire 8 weeks. It was a PIA. In another district I worked in, fellow teachers on maternity leave only had to leave an outline of what they were teaching and when. As well as printed worksheets, homework, etc. It was up to the long term sub to meet with the grade level team to plan for the week and see what was being used in addition. 

chocolatelemons

@KMD1106 I teach ELs too!

1. What grade/subject do you teach? I am an English Learner teacher for grades 1 and 2. I'm also the district EL Coordinator. 

2. How many weeks of school will you miss? I'm missing about 4 weeks at the end of the year and then I'll miss another 8 weeks at the beginning of next year. Fortunately, I get 12 weeks paid leave not including summer.

3. What is your district's plan for covering your leave? As of now, I have no idea. I know the position was posted and I'm hoping it goes to someone in house. It would make my life easier in regards to planning.

4. What are you leaving for your sub? Another big question mark here. Part of my job requires me to screen all new students at the beginning of the year. This usually takes a good 3 weeks so I'm not sure how that's going to be handled, but I have a feeling that the other EL teachers will have to cover for me. Until I find out who is covering my leave, I'm holding off on making plans.

KMD1106

@chocolatelemons, very cool! Can I ask what state you're in? I'm always curious what programs are like in other states.

heath313

1. What grade/subject do you teach?

special education, K & 5th grade 

2. How many weeks of school will you miss?
if I can work up until my due date, only 3 weeks.

3. What is your district's plan for covering your leave?

since it is only 15 days, I think it will end up being a student teacher from the current K classroom that I work in. She's not special ed certified, but since it's short term I think it's ok. 

4. What are you leaving for your sub?

plan wise? Nothing. It's the end of the school year with field trips, field day, step up and k graduation. I will have completed all of my IEPs and transition meetings, as well as progress reports before I leave though (fingers crossed).

ETA: I'm taking next year off, so they will hire a long term sub for next year.

Cubslove12

1. What grade/subject do you teach? High School Special Education

2. How many weeks of school will you miss? If she stays till the Due date I will only miss 11 days, 3 of them will be finals.

3. What is your district's plan for covering your leave? I have no idea... traditionally they would get a long term sub, since it's only 2 weeks I believe they are using who ever they have... I'm terrified!! My kids are already starting to act up about me leaving and it's still 10 weeks away!! If I needed/wanted to I could take more time in the fall. I'm choosing not to, there is too much to do, I'm terrified if someone were to start my class other than me with my population and my husband will be home a decent amount of time, so that will be helpful. 

4. What are you leaving for your sub? I'm leaving detailed daily plans since I don't get a traditional maternity sub, who knows what the options will be. Since it will be right before finals that will be nice, mainly reviewing. The part that worries me is I'm also the case manager for students and I'm not sure who will cover that aspect...

museic-2

1. What grade/subject do you teach? Kindergarten, all subjects, 28 kiddos

2. How many weeks of school will you miss? Maybe about 2 at the end of school and 14 (whole first quarter) at the beginning of next year. Our state offers 4 months unpaid leave (summer doesn't count) so I took all of it. The school I'm at offers paid maternity depending on how long you've been there- so I have 8 weeks of that plus they stretch our checks over summer plus whatever sick/personal time I have. Should wind up with about 4 months out of 5 1/2 paid. It's a tough place to work at but that's definitely a perk!

3. What is your district's plan for covering your leave? I'm the first lead teacher to ever be pregnant/go on maternity leave so that's an interesting question. We usually don't have subs at our school...I don't know if they'll cover me for the last 2 weeks of the year and if my associate teacher will just take over by herself. But I do think they're planning on hiring someone for the beginning of next year. I'll probably end up being co-teachers with someone, that way they can set up the class and the kids will have consistency throughout the year.

4. What are you leaving for your sub? Each teacher is in charge of writing our own entire curriculum for one subject (so the other 3 subjects will be provided by other teachers), but admin has changed our yearly plan every single year so we are constantly re-writing units/lessons (and they do not have this available for us yet), and I'm officially not allowed to work while on maternity leave.....so considering all that, not much? I'll write plans through the end of this school year and leave all my old plans, but I don't plan on prepping anything for next year. It will probably fall on the co-teacher.

melonmug

1. What grade/subject do you teach? Preschool & Middle School (6-8)--I'm the speech therapist.

2. How many weeks of school will you miss? 1-2 at most at the end of the year, and I'm thinking I will take 3-4 at the beginning of the school year. I can take up to 60 days (not including Summer, other holidays, or weekends). I took the full amount with my first baby, but she was born late June. I'm thinking I will be ready to go back when this one is about 12-13 weeks old.

3. What is your districts plan for covering your leave? Not quite sure, but I'm assuming that they will not do anything to cover the leave at the end of the year. I will likely not miss more than 5-7 school days, and those days will be filled with school activities/assemblies/early release. The beginning of the year, they will likely ask a couple SLPs from nearby schools to cover my caseload. Or I will just make up any missed therapy throughout the school year.

4. What are you leaving for your sub? I will probably leave any pertinent information about my students that others who work with them should know. I will also probably make a binder that has their IEP objectives and service times in it for easy reference. I will not leave any plans, as they will likely be able to create their own appropriate plans (any sub will likely be another certified SLP).

cmcookaln

1. What grade/subject do you teach?
2. How many weeks of school will you miss?
3. What is your district's plan for covering your leave?
4. What are you leaving for your sub?

1.) 9-12 Family and Consumer Sciences (new and improved version of home ec)
2.) last 5 weeks of semester give or take
3.) I just talked to my principal on Wednesday about this.  With my last pregnancy, they got the teacher that had retired who I actually had replaced a few years prior.  At the time, it seemed like the best logical solution.  I put together a notebook because she told me that her husband said that she would not be paid enough to plan lessons and I needed to have everything done for her.  I spend HOURS creating this notebook with lessons, powerpoint, projects, labs, tests, everything you could possibly need.  I came back and she had done none of it. She had basically cooked every single day and it was impossible to come back to that because that's all my students expected me to do. I have requested not to have the same sub again but the principal told me that they may not have a choice.
4.) I don't know at this point what I am leaving.  It will depend on the sub.  I really don't even care though.  There will be so much testing and schedule difference during those last few weeks that it's going to be chaos anyways.

chocolatelemons

@KMD1106

I'm in Massachusetts. We do a combination of pull-out and push-in services at the Elementary Schools and at the MS and HS, English is a class. So, there are different levels depending on the students' proficiency. Our state is constantly changing the guidelines (like more than once a year) so our program has evolved quite a bit. We have to provide students with a certain number of minutes of "direct language instruction" and all other content must be taught by a sheltered English immersion teacher. All teachers are supposed to have this endorsement, so that usually isn't a problem. My groups are huge though, because my district has no money. 

What about you? Where do you live and what's the program like there?

marissy8

1. What grade/subject do you teach?
I teach ELA/ELD at an alternative high school in CA

2. How many weeks of school will you miss?
I am going to be gone the last 6 weeks of the school year then hopefully work three days a week next year (still need to figure out the details)

3. What is your district's plan for covering your leave?
My sub for the last 6 weeks will be one of our regular subs, she's great. Not sure about job sharing next year. It may be the same woman. 

4. What are you leaving for your sub?
Do you have to leave something for the sub? Since I work at an alternative high school, I have a lot of flexibility on what I teach. I was going to let her decide what she wanted to do. 

KMD1106

@chocolatelemons, I live in Minnesota and our service models are really similar to yours. We don't have many state requirements, so different districts do it differently. Our district does mainly pull out in the elementary with some push-in. At the high school I teach their English class by proficiency level and two study skills hours, which is basically homework help and test support. My biggest class is only 10. What are your groups like?

@marissy8, I taught 1 hour of EL at our alternative school for the first half of this year. Hats off to you guys! It's such a tough job to get those kids motivated to do anything! I struggled even though I knew the kids from having them at the main high school the year before. 

Amybee5

1. What grade/subject do you teach?

Grade 3

2. How many weeks of school will you miss?

I'll be taking the full year of maternity leave as long as financially we are able to make ends meet on the reduced salary. Maternity leave benefits are around 55% of your salary. (I live in Canada)

3. What is your district's plan for covering your leave?
long term sub until the end of this year then a replacement teacher until May of the following school year. 

4. What are you leaving for your sub?
- notes about each student, where we are in the curriculum, one weeks worth of plans (unless I go early), information on classroom routines

n&a0630

Thanks for starting this thread! I teach 4th grade. I'm planning on working until she arrives or until my doctor tells me to take off (I've had GD, Low fluid, & a minor placental abruption, so we are aware she might not make it to her due date). My due date is May 4. I will definitely not work past Friday, May 5 (if she happens to be overdue). So if she's overdue or on time, I will only miss 2 weeks of school, but there's the possibility of missing more. My plans & school secretary are prepared for missing school as early as the last 2 weeks in April. 

We are planning for one of our regular subs to be my long-term sub. I have started getting a large binder ready & have bins with folders on shelves labeled & ready to go. I purchased organizational (& colorful!) materials from TPT- it was easier for me to fill in than completely make my own. With it being the last 2-4 weeks of school, I won't have to leave much really, just how to finish up on our main curriculum & then some fun end-of-the-year projects. Oh and extra stuff to do if needed (down time, morning work, etc).

hp_momma

A teacher from my previous school shared this on Facebook today! She writes the "Diary of a Wimpy Teacher" Facebook page if your familiar with her!

 https://www.weareteachers.com/maternity-leave-prep/

skeetied

1. What grade/subject do you teach?

3rd through 12th, computer science/engineering

2. How many weeks of school will you miss?

Since I teach online, I'm hoping to only miss a few since any leave is unpaid.  I took two or three weeks last time.

3. What is your district's plan for covering your leave?
Another part time teacher (like me) or a full time employee will take my students.

4. What are you leaving for your sub?
I'll mostly leave notes about any issues/concerns.  Our curriculum is standardized so they should be able to pick the students up pretty easily.

hp_momma

@skeetied You teach online?! Tell me more! 

skeetied

@hp_momma I teach for Center for Talented Youth Online Programs.  It's not the most well-paying, but it fits into life with two kids in a parent participation co-op preschool!

hp_momma

@skeetied Since my DH is military, keeping up with my teaching career is difficult because of the different certifications in each state and the moving at various times during a school year. I've pretty much chalked it up to just being a SAHM until we can move to one place for a longer time but online teaching would be an awesome way to keep up! I'll have to look into it... 

skeetied

@hp_momma I think that would be a great fit!  When I interviewed, the lady said they have a lot of SAHMs who need the flexibility one way or the other

museic-2

Question: When are you all planning on starting your leave?

I was hoping to wait until 39 weeks but as I'm getting bigger it's becoming more and more difficult to teach Kindergarten! I just hate the thought that any time I take before means less time with her after she's born.

kat81

museic said:

Question: When are you all planning on starting your leave?

I was hoping to wait until 39 weeks but as I'm getting bigger it's becoming more and more difficult to teach Kindergarten! I just hate the thought that any time I take before means less time with her after she's born.

I looked back on what your whole plan is and I'd say if it were me I'd probably go on leave earlier even if it does cut out time on the other end. You still have the whole summer, too. But it is personal preference.

As for me I won't have any option of subbing or anything until I'm all the way done with my semester (college), so I need to go pretty much all of the way to the end. My due date is May 11 and my last exam is May 8. But in a pinch someone can proctor my exams. I still need to grade them, though, so I might be working after the baby is born.

KMD1106

museic said:

Question: When are you all planning on starting your leave?

I was hoping to wait until 39 weeks but as I'm getting bigger it's becoming more and more difficult to teach Kindergarten! I just hate the thought that any time I take before means less time with her after she's born.

I was going to work right up until he's born, but now I really want to leave at 38/39 weeks. I'm going to talk to my doctor on Thursday about making that happen. I don't get any time after summer, so I want to get the most time off. 

museic-2

Thank you both for the feedback! I'm kind of leaning towards at least leaving at 38/39 weeks with how I've been feeling lately, but wondering if I can even make it to then haha. I've been coming home just drained and sore (to the point where I can barely walk sometimes) because the kids are so active, the day is so long-8.5 hrs with the kids, and I can't really sit much there. But on the other hand we have tons of testing the two weeks before I'm due and I'm cautious of being out during that as they do SO much better with consistency. I still want to be there for my kids and to use the time with baby after, but I also don't for my sanity and body/baby's health. Very torn.

@kat81 That stinks that exams are so close to your due date Can they be scantron or anything that someone else could possibly grade?? Wishing you the best of luck!!

kat81

museic said:

Thank you both for the feedback! I'm kind of leaning towards at least leaving at 38/39 weeks with how I've been feeling lately, but wondering if I can even make it to then haha. I've been coming home just drained and sore (to the point where I can barely walk sometimes) because the kids are so active, the day is so long-8.5 hrs with the kids, and I can't really sit much there. But on the other hand we have tons of testing the two weeks before I'm due and I'm cautious of being out during that as they do SO much better with consistency. I still want to be there for my kids and to use the time with baby after, but I also don't for my sanity and body/baby's health. Very torn.

@kat81 That stinks that exams are so close to your due date Can they be scantron or anything that someone else could possibly grade?? Wishing you the best of luck!!

@museic well for the the same reason that you want to be there for your kids I also feel like I can't give my "kids" (I guess they're adults) scantron tests. It just doesn't work with what I want to do pedagogically. We also don't have a scantron, but obviously someone could grade a multiple-choice test. I will definitely have multiple-choice questions on there, but I just MUST have some essay questions as this is a cumulative final exam and the whole point of it existing at all is to bring the whole course together thematically. I want them to analyze real-life scenarios (e.g. walk through what the person's brain is doing over a period of time when they're completing certain actions, feeling certain emotions, etc.) I want them to design and/or evaluate experiments. I'm sure I can have fewer essays than last year but I just can't bring myself to have none. I suppose if I go really early, like before the first exam (May 3) and I haven't written the test yet, I will be more willing to say "fuck it" and do away with the essays. But I am holding out hope that I will deliver very close to my due date as I have in the past, in which case I think I can manage grading essays. If I deliver ON my due date, I really think I will have the grading done before then because many of the students will have taken the test May 3.

Hansolosparka

1. What grade/subject do you teach?
Im a central office based instructional coach working with PreK. 
2. How many weeks of school will you miss?
Im due May 22 and summer doesn't count for FMLA so my return date is Sept 1. 15 weeks total as I only get 3 weeks off this summer. 
3. What is your district's plan for covering your leave?
Im trying to wrap up the year with my teachers because it's such a personal relationship and I'm a little territorial about someone else visiting them. My supervisor will
probably be the go to if they have questions while I am out. 
4. What are you leaving for your sub?
Nada because I am hoping not to have one and other people on the team can fill them in or they can read my documentation if they need to catch up. 

Regarding when to go out on leave- this time I'm planning to work until I deliver because I can spend the last week sitting at my desk and working via the phone but with DS I was the technology person at an elementary school and it was September and I just couldn't deal with the workload/drama that came with the beginning of the year so I stopped working at 39 weeks. One day in the middle of the day I was just like ugh and told my admins I was leaving and didn't come
back until maternity leave was over. 

KMD1106

@Hansolosparka, When do other teachers go back to work in your district? Are you taking part of your FMLA leave in the fall? My district is telling me that I can't take my FMLA leave split up between the end of the school year and the start of the next one.