If your child had a long term sub at the beginning of the year...

[Anonymous]

not to be a Negative Nancy - But my long-term sub was awful! I left the best (very scripted) plans, and he couldn't 1) control my classes and 2) follow my guidelines. It was a disaster. My AP classes - seniors! - were challenging to him.

So while they may be paid more, that doesn't mean they're any better!

Anonymous wrote:OP, what grade are we talking about? Seems like in elementary school, it's fine, but in middle/high school, it could be a challenge. My DH will be leaving his foreign language classes for 6 weeks this fall for child care leave, and the process of finding an "approved" long term sub was extensive. He will be providing a framework for all the lessons and the sub will also be getting support from the foreign language team. They don't let just anyone roll in and be a long term sub, and they get paid more than regular day-to-day subs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry - this has hurt my DD in MS big time. Both in 6th grade and 8th grade

Her Math teacher did not take a long leave of absence. What she did instead is take leave from day to day and made an appearance every so often just for a day. so this allowed her not to go on long term leave. This went on for months after months after months. So the subs my DD got were on a daily basis...uninterested middle aged men with starbucks coffee cups and Sudoku books in hand.

Eventually - she went for long term leave and a very substandard long term sub was found.

The same teacher pulled the same stunt after 2 years again.

And in the summer she applied and got transferred to another MCPS MS. Where I am sure she is doing the same thing.

Maybe she has a child or spouse who is severely ill at home...maybe something bad is in her life. I have sympathy for whatever her situation may be in life...I just thought that this was a very horrible thing to do to her students. Anyways, Karma will come and bite her someday.

So - my answer to any situation where there is long term sub ...or prolonged use of short term sub is occurring is to transfer the child.

3 subject areas to be particularly vary about is Math, Science and Foreign Language.

Which one is it? You have sympathy or you think it was a horrible thing to do?

I had a school year where my child was really sick -- like specialists, feeding tube, multiple hospitalizations sick. Despite a special needs childcare for medically fragile kids, there were times when I was out and my kids had subs. To make matters worse, I had many of the same kids who had had a sub the year before when I was on maternity leave. I felt awful about it, but I'm really not sure what you think I could have done differently.

I also think that the notion that a teacher who is missing work, because they have cancer, or a sick child, or whatever, will have karma bite them in the future. It's not like those things aren't happening right now.

I have sympathy if something bad is happening in the teacher's life...I think it was horrible that she did not go on long term leave from the get go...instead she pulled the daily leave stunt for months...coming to school for 1 day after taking short leave for many days....

This prevented the school from hiring long term sub for the students...we are talking 6 months of no instruction in 6th grade math and 8th grade Honors Geometry...

So sympathy if something was happening on the home front ....and feeling horrible that she did not take long term leave and left kids dangling for 6 months...

Present day situations are based on the deeds of the past...this is what Karma(deeds, work) means based on Hindu philosophy...

[Anonymous]

not to be a Negative Nancy - But my long-term sub was awful! I left the best (very scripted) plans, and he couldn't 1) control my classes and 2) follow my guidelines. It was a disaster. My AP classes - seniors! - were challenging to him.

So while they may be paid more, that doesn't mean they're any better!

I imagine your situation is not the norm--if you had to go on leave unexpectedly, then I can understand if you didn't have the opportunity to vet the sub properly. But it sounds like in OP's case, since they already know they will begin the year with a long-term sub, then there has been advanced notice to find someone credible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:is this a clown question?

2nd. Ever heard of rolling with the punches?? Just dealing with shit as it comes?? Shit usually works out in the long run, doesn't it?

yea...why do we try to make a non-problem into a problem
personally i have enough real s*** to deal with to not MAKE UP SOME S***

+100.
Give my kid a substitute every day for I care.He is in the same school in the same classroom with same kids...

[Anonymous]

I was pregnant (due in late May). So they did indeed have plenty of time to find a sub, as I started the school year off pregnant. Furthermore, he had only about a month with my freshman and maybe a week with my seniors. That's not terribly long.

I always hope for the best in these cases; trust me on that. But it doesn't always work out for the best. The most successful t subs, in my experience, are those who have retired from the same school - and who WANT to return to sub.

Situations like the ones described are disastrous for both students and teachers returning from leave.

I am out of the classroom now (still in education) and can honestly say that teaching was the most stressful job of my life. If your own child is sick, you'd feel guilty staying home. And there was often no way to just cater to your child, as you had to ensure a sub was called in (and present) and sub plans were understood and implemented correctly. It's not easy. And forget being sick yourself. I've seen plenty of teachers come in extra early just to tweak their plans b/c emergency plans would have disrupted the routine.

I compare it to a lawyer who's suddenly on leave on the day of a trial! It's THAT stressful - no exaggeration!

Anonymous wrote:

not to be a Negative Nancy - But my long-term sub was awful! I left the best (very scripted) plans, and he couldn't 1) control my classes and 2) follow my guidelines. It was a disaster. My AP classes - seniors! - were challenging to him.

So while they may be paid more, that doesn't mean they're any better!

I imagine your situation is not the norm--if you had to go on leave unexpectedly, then I can understand if you didn't have the opportunity to vet the sub properly. But it sounds like in OP's case, since they already know they will begin the year with a long-term sub, then there has been advanced notice to find someone credible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:is this a clown question?

2nd. Ever heard of rolling with the punches?? Just dealing with shit as it comes?? Shit usually works out in the long run, doesn't it?

yea...why do we try to make a non-problem into a problem
personally i have enough real s*** to deal with to not MAKE UP SOME S***

+100.
Give my kid a substitute every day for I care.He is in the same school in the same classroom with same kids...

That's really a simplistic approach to take, as your kid can indeed lose quite a bit of instructional time necessary to prepare him/her for the following year or course. You can't expect a kid to excel in English 10 when English 9 was a disaster. Skill building is very important.

But if that's your feeling, then at least save a chunk of money for a tutor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:is this a clown question?

2nd. Ever heard of rolling with the punches?? Just dealing with shit as it comes?? Shit usually works out in the long run, doesn't it?

yea...why do we try to make a non-problem into a problem
personally i have enough real s*** to deal with to not MAKE UP SOME S***

+100.
Give my kid a substitute every day for I care.He is in the same school in the same classroom with same kids...

That's really a simplistic approach to take, as your kid can indeed lose quite a bit of instructional time necessary to prepare him/her for the following year or course. You can't expect a kid to excel in English 10 when English 9 was a disaster. Skill building is very important.

But if that's your feeling, then at least save a chunk of money for a tutor.

Yes, that's how I feel, and I am the tutor. Just arrived from Europe with bunch of school books for 1st grader.I find it interesting to see what they study there at the same age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:is this a clown question?

2nd. Ever heard of rolling with the punches?? Just dealing with shit as it comes?? Shit usually works out in the long run, doesn't it?

yea...why do we try to make a non-problem into a problem
personally i have enough real s*** to deal with to not MAKE UP SOME S***

+100.
Give my kid a substitute every day for I care.He is in the same school in the same classroom with same kids...

That's really a simplistic approach to take, as your kid can indeed lose quite a bit of instructional time necessary to prepare him/her for the following year or course. You can't expect a kid to excel in English 10 when English 9 was a disaster. Skill building is very important.

But if that's your feeling, then at least save a chunk of money for a tutor.

Yes, that's how I feel, and I am the tutor. Just arrived from Europe with bunch of school books for 1st grader.I find it interesting to see what they study there at the same age.

You're a tutor?

Yet you make absolutely NO sense . . .

Cosa vuoi dire, PP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was pregnant (due in late May). So they did indeed have plenty of time to find a sub, as I started the school year off pregnant. Furthermore, he had only about a month with my freshman and maybe a week with my seniors. That's not terribly long.

You're surprised that a sub had trouble controlling an AP class of SENIORS AFTER the AP Exam had taken place? Are you kidding me? They've all checked out at that point. I'm surprised they bothered to show up for class.

Nothing's worse than Seniors in late May. I know. I've taught them.

[Anonymous]

I teach elementary school and was out of school for 8 weeks at the beginning of the year for maternity leave when I had my DS. Trust me, any decent teacher is just as stressed out about missing the first few weeks of school as you are about he/she not being there. That time setting up routines and expectations is CRUCIAL to the success of the school year, especially in elementary school.

That being said, I worked closely with my long term sub (who had a great deal of teaching experience) over that summer to make sure she understood the way I ran my classroom and understood the curriculum. I attended back to school night/open house/other evening events, wrote letters to my class weekly, talked to my sub throughout each week, and emailed parents individually during the 8 weeks. When I returned to school, I jumped right into the curriculum where the sub left off, the kids did a great job transitioning, and we had a wonderful school year.

I think the biggest factor is how well the teacher prepared for his/her absence. I would have loved to have my DS in June so I wouldn't have to miss the first 8 weeks of school, but life happens. You just have to make the best out of the situation.

[Anonymous]

When I went out on maternity leave, I wrote a binder of information for my sub. Had lessons in place in case I went into labor early and left a whole flash drive of work and my filing cabinet full of years of units. I also arranged for my sub to follow the lessons of another English teacher. She shared everything she did with him

A lot of teachers now work in teams like this. It is very helpful when a teacher is on long term leave because we can guide their subs.