January 2016 Moms

Teacher Moms

Anybody else having an impossible time saying trimester? I keep calling them semesters!

BabyFruit Ticker

Re: Teacher Moms

  • Lol it's fine for me, my school actually has trimesters!
  • @willashbaby Haha yes! I teach kindergarten and we run on trimesters.
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  • I almost died when I was trying to teach the Health topic on reproduction, and my body was literally going through the same process. It was so weird!
    STM - EDD June 24 '18
    DD - January 2016
  • @nickicb7 Haha, I could see that being a little too personal! I'm in elementary school and I'm a little nervous about answering questions in the fall when it's obvious I'm pregnant...keeping it vague enough that I don't have parents calling me complaining about their kids knowing the facts of life, haha!

    BabyFruit Ticker
  • Haha...surprisingly it's been my husband who keeps saying "semester." And he's not the teacher.
  • LOL! We just have quarters-I'm in elementary school. How do your school districts handle maternity leave? My state doesn't have it, my sick days will be my maternity leave.
  • I work for the NYC public schools, largest union in the country and even we can only use our sicks days, and only up to 30 for vaginal delivery or 40 for C-section, after that it's unpaid even if you have more days banked. Lame.
  • @MelissaA225 I'm actually a career-changer in grad school (I've been substituting this past year meanwhile) to become a full-time elementary school teacher, I'm student teaching in the fall, so I'm really lucky in that I'll give birth in January and have until August w/ baby before hopefully starting a full-time teaching gig (assuming I can get a job, I know it's a competitive field right now), so I don't have to worry about it right now...I've been looking into it for next time around though and the state education website is of course insanely confusing (NY state, if there are any other NY teachers out there who know the policies). It seems the only paid days will be sick days, but you're allowed to take longer and still have your job waiting for you, but of course they use convoluted language and don't make it easy to figure out! 

    BabyFruit Ticker
  • @willashbaby Oh, you answered my question while I was busy blabbing on in an epic run-on, haha. I'm assuming NYC is the same as NY state (I'll be teaching in Westchester)? Or is it a separate union so separate rules?

    BabyFruit Ticker
  • willashbabywillashbaby member
    edited June 2015
    @Caraboonie every district has it's own union and may have it's own policy. I work for NYC and stated above the usual maternity policy. You do have the right to take a childcare leave for up to 4 years and they hold your position, but there is no pay, no insurance, and you are not guaranteed the same position when you return. I know may teachers who will take 1 year off but not many who take more than that. Don't worry too much until you have a position, then your union will let you know the specifics.  

    Again, every district is it's own union. NYC is technically one district, I'm not sure if Westchester is one or dozens like Nassau and Suffolk counties. 
  • @willashbaby Thanks. It'll be a couple of years before I even need to think about it, but it's definitely worth taking into consideration whenever I do start planning #2. I planned this one down to the week to make sure I had optimum time with baby during a time I likely wouldn't have been working anyway (at least not full-time). I know it will be a little harder when I have a job to consider too!

    BabyFruit Ticker
  • I'm glad to know its not just an NC thing, but I thought with a union y'all would get a little more time! I'll barely have enough time for 4 weeks of maternity leave, so I'll have to use my personal days...praying for some snow days so I can have a little more time off! :)
  • Haha I can only think of Summer currently! I think I will be ok but I keep thinking of pumping somehow at school. That could be tough.
  • lwebleylwebley member
    edited July 2015
    "Maternity leave" for anyone is terrible in the states. I'm a little worried about how mine will go next year. With my first I had a lot of sick leave accrued, so it wasn't too big a hit financially, but I don't have any left as of now. We get to use sick leave and then 60 days unpaid FMLA. (California)

    PS I'm so happy it's summer right now!
  • I just read today that Obama wants to get paid maternity leave for America (you know, like every other industrialized nation)...he has limited time before his term is up to get it done though, so no high hopes at the moment...

    BabyFruit Ticker
  • I teach in FL and we only get FMLA. I'll use my short term disability benefits for 6 weeks, then use my personal/sick leave for however many extra I can. If baby comes on time and I take 8 weeks total, it will bump me right up to Spring Break, and I'll have an extra week. Of course, that's a big "if."

    I also am SUPER glad it's summer. I teach Culinary Arts in high school, and had to take 5 students to a competition out of town for a week. My patience level is about a quarter of what it usually is, especially when you add in exhaustion, nausea, etc, etc. I'll only be about 3 weeks into my 2nd tri when we go back to school, and third tri is mostly Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, etc. This little baby is already running on a fantastic schedule! :)
  • This is my first time posting!! I'm expecting twins at the end of December, early January! I work at a charter school in upstate ny. We have 3 months paid maternity leave! I am super duper lucky!
  • I am in Tennessee and we only have FMLA, so we only get paid for the sick days we have built up. Luckily, I have almost enough days built up for six weeks of maternity leave. That is assuming, of course, that I don't have to take any days before little one is born!
  • I get no paid maternity leave and our sick days don't roll over to the new year. I'm totally screwed :(
  • One of the reasons I was so stressed about our little surprise was because of the timing and maternity leave. I really wanted to try and have a baby towards the end of the school year so I could use my disability and sick leave to take the rest of the year off. I won't have enough leave to last from February to May. Oh well, it is what it is. I have already created some new classroom jobs for my firsties so I won't have to get up as much from my chair, hehehe.
  • edited July 2015
    I live in New Zealand and am a primary teacher. Firstly, our school year finishes in December so I'll still be paid through the holidays until the end of January, plus our government pays us 16 weeks maternity pay which I'll get from February. We have free public health care, so very very lucky. It surprises me the States health care system and maternity cover is the way it is.
  • I say phases. I don't like the word trimesters.
    BabyFruit Ticker
  • bruhnbruhn member
    I teach middle school in Iowa, in my district I get 6 weeks then I can use whatever time I want for my sick time.. I am hoping to come back from Christmas break for a couple of weeks and get the kiddos rolling (I'm not due till the end of January) then come back in the middle of April to finish out the year... I have major curriculum to get set!
  • Mine is the same. I can take additional time without pay of course.
  • We have to use sick, and then we had an optional disability insurance we could pay for. If we signed up for that, they will pay 80% of our paycheck for 6 weeks.
  • @bruhn that is my plan too! I teach high school and we have finals the 2nd to last week of January; a week before my due date. I plan to get them through finals (fingers crossed) and then take off through spring break. This is my first so I'm guessing I'll be late and actually have a February baby...
  • I am an elementary school counselor and am also anticipating questions! A little nervous for how to respond!

    BabyFruit Ticker
  • ^^^ Congrats to you!!!! I know you must feel 1,000 lbs lighter. It's a tough road to become a teacher but so very worth it.
  • @caraboonie congratulations and best of luck to you! I hope for your sake things are a little better by the time you're ready to start looking. 
  • @MrsBeyl Indeed! I've been subbing this past year and my worst day as a sub (and I'm sure you know how some kids treat subs) was still more rewarding than a normal day in my old career, which was reassuring to learn!

    @willashbaby Thanks, me too...I know it's crazy right now, but it's what I want to do, so I guess it is what it is! I only wish I had realized in college and saved myself some time and money, but ce'st la vie.

    BabyFruit Ticker
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