grrr... pregnant teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No posts have criticized teachers, just noted that this or that teacher took leave..I think.there was one that said administration n could have been more on top of things.

I'm a teacher and I've been on maternity leave twice. If your kid's class doesn't get a good sub, it's not because the administrators aren't "on top of things." There isn't exactly a huge pool of highly qualified, experienced, long term substitute teachers out there. If they were that great, they would be in full time position. Administrators can't conjure up a great sub like magic.

As others have noted - there's a systemic problem here. Obviously not the teacher's fault. But the lack of a society that deals with maternity leave in an effective, thoughtful, supportive way for all impacted. I think at a minimum, the administration should communicate what their plans are with the parents - and also since maternity leaves happen regularly, there needs to be a better investment in developing a pool of long term subs... based on the track record of LT subs at our school, I am very concerned my child's class - where the teacher is only going to be there about half of the year. Having a good teacher is a big deal. I don't imagine helicopter parents WOTP are concerned about teacher quality and wanting their children to have strong teachers throughout a child's career, and don't consider dealing with a lesser quality than they deserve as something little kids should just 'deal' with. Seriously. It's an issue that should be dealt with by the school system and administrations at school.

What plan do you want communicated? Here's the plan: they will hire a long term sub. 9 times out of 10, you can't hire this sub months in advance because if a person is subbing, they want to keep their options open. Of course everyone wants a great, high quality sub when a teacher goes on maternity leave. You don't think the administration wants the same thing you want? Where do you suggest we get these great subs? Reality check-- it's hard enough to find quality teachers for full-time positions. Teacher shortages are real. No one is saying it doesn't suck, but the solution is not as simple as "the administration needs to get on the ball!"

I'm not part of the school system, but as a parent who's had a child with a sub for half of the year last year, one thing I wonder is why couldn't there be a temporary position announcement? Like for an actual teaching role vs. a sub, or is that not feasible? I know that most teachers probably look for work during the regular school cycle, but have also known teachers who have, for various reasons, wanted to enter the work force after the school year had already started. If you know far enough in advance that you are going to need a teacher for X class, then it seems like there must be better solutions than long term subs. Substitute teachers are great for a little while, but don't seem like a great choice for teaching 50% or more of the year.

It's like people are not even reading. Everyone wants high-quality long-term subs. You. The regular teachers. The administration. Everyone. But they do not exist, or at least very few of them do. If they were even close to high-quality, they would be in full-time teaching positions. It is not anyone's fault. It is just how things are. Teaching is a stressful job and lots of folks burn out. So schools are having a hard enough time finding good regular teachers let alone subs.

No, I am reading. Maybe I didn't word it well. In my field of ministry for example, there are people who specialize in interim positions to fill in when someone gets moved. So what I meant was maybe there is an opportunity in this kind of situation to create a position that does not yet exist, at least in a viable form. I wonder if there could be enough work for someone like an full time dedicated interim teacher (not a sub) to tandem teach with the educator who plans to go on leave. Like an actual shared position. And they could post availability so that school districts could interview and line up someone who would be a good fit for when they need them.

Rather than a generalist, like a sub who can enter any classroom and follow the plan that the primary teacher has left, I'm imagining a different career structure that isn't confined to the September through June cycle. If people could be guaranteed enough work (which it sounds like they could with the amount of parental leave happening), then they could be like a qualified contractor who is able to not just follow plans but design them well and tag team as co-teacher with the permanent staff.

Clearly it doesn't exist yet, but I think it could be useful. It's a viable system that works in some other professions where people need to take big chunks of leave.

[Anonymous]

Last year my DD"s first grade teacher had a baby in February. I really wanted to harass the administration to find out what the plan was, but had to restrain myself and trust at that they were indeed working on it. The long term sub was in the classroom for a week before the main teacher went on leave, and the transition went really well. We felt lukewarm about the original teacher and ended up thinking the sub was a way more effective educator and more fun. Obviously the school thought so too, as she's there as support teaching staff this year, and as I look around and see several pregnant teachers, I won't be surprised to see her back in a classroom soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No posts have criticized teachers, just noted that this or that teacher took leave..I think.there was one that said administration n could have been more on top of things.

I'm a teacher and I've been on maternity leave twice. If your kid's class doesn't get a good sub, it's not because the administrators aren't "on top of things." There isn't exactly a huge pool of highly qualified, experienced, long term substitute teachers out there. If they were that great, they would be in full time position. Administrators can't conjure up a great sub like magic.

As others have noted - there's a systemic problem here. Obviously not the teacher's fault. But the lack of a society that deals with maternity leave in an effective, thoughtful, supportive way for all impacted. I think at a minimum, the administration should communicate what their plans are with the parents - and also since maternity leaves happen regularly, there needs to be a better investment in developing a pool of long term subs... based on the track record of LT subs at our school, I am very concerned my child's class - where the teacher is only going to be there about half of the year. Having a good teacher is a big deal. I don't imagine helicopter parents WOTP are concerned about teacher quality and wanting their children to have strong teachers throughout a child's career, and don't consider dealing with a lesser quality than they deserve as something little kids should just 'deal' with. Seriously. It's an issue that should be dealt with by the school system and administrations at school.

What plan do you want communicated? Here's the plan: they will hire a long term sub. 9 times out of 10, you can't hire this sub months in advance because if a person is subbing, they want to keep their options open. Of course everyone wants a great, high quality sub when a teacher goes on maternity leave. You don't think the administration wants the same thing you want? Where do you suggest we get these great subs? Reality check-- it's hard enough to find quality teachers for full-time positions. Teacher shortages are real. No one is saying it doesn't suck, but the solution is not as simple as "the administration needs to get on the ball!"

I'm not part of the school system, but as a parent who's had a child with a sub for half of the year last year, one thing I wonder is why couldn't there be a temporary position announcement? Like for an actual teaching role vs. a sub, or is that not feasible? I know that most teachers probably look for work during the regular school cycle, but have also known teachers who have, for various reasons, wanted to enter the work force after the school year had already started. If you know far enough in advance that you are going to need a teacher for X class, then it seems like there must be better solutions than long term subs. Substitute teachers are great for a little while, but don't seem like a great choice for teaching 50% or more of the year.

It's like people are not even reading. Everyone wants high-quality long-term subs. You. The regular teachers. The administration. Everyone. But they do not exist, or at least very few of them do. If they were even close to high-quality, they would be in full-time teaching positions. It is not anyone's fault. It is just how things are. Teaching is a stressful job and lots of folks burn out. So schools are having a hard enough time finding good regular teachers let alone subs.

No, I am reading. Maybe I didn't word it well. In my field of ministry for example, there are people who specialize in interim positions to fill in when someone gets moved. So what I meant was maybe there is an opportunity in this kind of situation to create a position that does not yet exist, at least in a viable form. I wonder if there could be enough work for someone like an full time dedicated interim teacher (not a sub) to tandem teach with the educator who plans to go on leave. Like an actual shared position. And they could post availability so that school districts could interview and line up someone who would be a good fit for when they need them.

Rather than a generalist, like a sub who can enter any classroom and follow the plan that the primary teacher has left, I'm imagining a different career structure that isn't confined to the September through June cycle. If people could be guaranteed enough work (which it sounds like they could with the amount of parental leave happening), then they could be like a qualified contractor who is able to not just follow plans but design them well and tag team as co-teacher with the permanent staff.

Clearly it doesn't exist yet, but I think it could be useful. It's a viable system that works in some other professions where people need to take big chunks of leave.

OP here. First, thanks to Jeff & others for getting intent and not derailing... and THIS - the above post where pregnancy is treated like a regular course of events and there's a plan and system (like in the field of ministry noted) for ensuring teachers receive support for maternity leave and there are trained, prepared professionals to specialize in these interim positions to support the children having high quality teachers and learning experiences!! It seems like it should be possible...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I get you: I wrote a similar post a couple of years ago, got slammed, felt aggrieved, and later realized I was an idiot. (or a worse name I won't type.)

It's hard in the moment to separate the desire to make sure your kid has a good educational experience from the obvious reality that teachers are humans whose life events should be celebrated not growled about. (as well as the obvious reality that worrying about a long term sub in young elementary school is pretty much the definition of a first world problem.)

We're in MCPS but if it helps give you some perspective my kid had a fabulous long-term sub, the teacher came back right now schedule and was even more fabulous. I still feel a little ashamed about my jerky post here.

I expect a teacher to be in a classroom all year. It's too disruptive to children to have to switch. Lots of lost educational time.

I planned my pregnancies around work. Simple.

I take it you are super fertile.

How ignorant can you be????

+100000

- Teacher whose DW suffers from infertility (and who has had to take off for 3 losses in 18 months)

[Anonymous]

This would be a non issued if the school system did a little planning and hired high quality interim teachers.