How to avoid letting teacher maternity leave disrupt the learning environment

[Anonymous]

Do any of you people work? What on earth do you expect?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't blame you OP. And not to mention - all you need to do is read the expectant moms forum here about all the women who can barely make it through the day at work after 30 weeks, and worry about the last couple months as well. Elementary education is a very demanding, difficult job. I'd be disappointed and concerned too.

I think having a physical, demanding g job can sometimes be easier than a desk job because you stay active and you don't feel like passing out because you're sitting at a desk all day. I worked as a special Ed teacher until the day I went into labor and it really wasn't bad. My co-teachers did the same. The good thing about planned leave is that you get more time to find a good sub.

[Anonymous]

I said nothing about being annoyed with the teacher taking leave that is her right. It would be no different if it was a male teacher taking a form of sick leave.

However I do not want my child to lose months of instruction. My other DCs class descended into chaos when the teacher was on leave because the sub couldn't handle it. I'm looking for ideas about how a class can make this work or if it is usually hopeless and we should leave if we can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I said nothing about being annoyed with the teacher taking leave that is her right. It would be no different if it was a male teacher taking a form of sick leave.

However I do not want my child to lose months of instruction. My other DCs class descended into chaos when the teacher was on leave because the sub couldn't handle it. I'm looking for ideas about how a class can make this work or if it is usually hopeless and we should leave if we can.

Organize paren volunteers for extra assistance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I said nothing about being annoyed with the teacher taking leave that is her right. It would be no different if it was a male teacher taking a form of sick leave.

However I do not want my child to lose months of instruction. My other DCs class descended into chaos when the teacher was on leave because the sub couldn't handle it. I'm looking for ideas about how a class can make this work or if it is usually hopeless and we should leave if we can.

Not hopeless. But all depends on who is brought in. Talk to principal, ask who the sub will be and what his/her credentials and experience is. If it is a known sub to the school / other parents ask around and get feedback. For all you know the sun could be better than the teacher going on leave.

It kinda sounds like you are looking for an excuse or reason to change schools. Listen to your gut and act accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just found out DCs 4 th grade teacher next year will be going out for maternity leave mid year. We have experienced this already and the sub was low quality, there was bad behavior, and not enough learning. We had been considering a school change and are kicking ourselves for not doing it.

Any suggestions on how to keep things on track?

Make sure your kids have a male teacher.

[Anonymous]

OP setting aside your framing your issue seems to be that you already experienced one bad sub and are afraid you'll get a repeat. This seems like clearly an issue for the principal -- especially if you haven't already discussed the prior incident. Just be calm, reasonable and clear. The only solution is a good quality sub. If you get one, all should be well. Have the conversation sooner rather than later -- ideally as soon as you can get a handle on your initial gut emotional reaction, and before you begin to stew.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just found out DCs 4 th grade teacher next year will be going out for maternity leave mid year. We have experienced this already and the sub was low quality, there was bad behavior, and not enough learning. We had been considering a school change and are kicking ourselves for not doing it.

Any suggestions on how to keep things on track?

We had a bad leave situation as well...but there is nothing you can do about it except hope your principal finds a good sub. Also talk to your child about being responsible himself/herself during the transitions. Maybe it won't be as bad this time. You can supplement at home too.

[Anonymous]

Our school has about five pregnant teachers, one of which went out on maternity leave two months ago. The long term sub has been great and fits in well.

As previous posters have pointed out, your principal is responsible for finding a good candidate to fill in the shoes of the absent teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't blame you OP. And not to mention - all you need to do is read the expectant moms forum here about all the women who can barely make it through the day at work after 30 weeks, and worry about the last couple months as well. Elementary education is a very demanding, difficult job. I'd be disappointed and concerned too.

You know, it used to be that teachers could only stay in the classroom until they got married. Maybe we ought to go back to that system.

Yes because it's totally legal to descriminate against women for her marital status. And we all know only married women get pregnant. *eyeroll* Also we're taking a break from dog whistle racism to explore overt sexism. Good times dcum!


This is indeed an issue of finding better subs not banning pregnant women from teaching.

[Anonymous]

^this

Long term subs get paid $17/hr by DCPS. Unless you luck out and get someone who is just starting out and naturally talented, the job is going to be filled by someone who isn't qualified to earn a regular teacher's salary. So if the regular teacher is out 2 out of 8 months, your child is getting around 75% of the instruction they are supposed to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I said nothing about being annoyed with the teacher taking leave that is her right. It would be no different if it was a male teacher taking a form of sick leave.

However I do not want my child to lose months of instruction. My other DCs class descended into chaos when the teacher was on leave because the sub couldn't handle it. I'm looking for ideas about how a class can make this work or if it is usually hopeless and we should leave if we can.

You need to teach your kids coping skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^this

Long term subs get paid $17/hr by DCPS. Unless you luck out and get someone who is just starting out and naturally talented, the job is going to be filled by someone who isn't qualified to earn a regular teacher's salary. So if the regular teacher is out 2 out of 8 months, your child is getting around 75% of the instruction they are supposed to.

75% is pretty good, however you assume they get zero benefit from the sub.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our school has about five pregnant teachers, one of which went out on maternity leave two months ago. The long term sub has been great and fits in well.

As previous posters have pointed out, your principal is responsible for finding a good candidate to fill in the shoes of the absent teacher.

+1

Really, OP, I'm not sure what you think you can do in this situation. Sure, you can talk to the principal, but to what end? No one is going to try to hire a bad sub.

[Anonymous]

So here's the real question: how much do you trust your principal, OP?