@Bird mama wrote:
Have you been home trying to get better or have you been working while sick @lolakimono ?
@Bird mama
Working while sick.
If you read my college thread a few weeks ago in CC, I have a special dude I am trying to get into college on a full ride. HE was sick, and then I went to his parents' house to help them fill out the FAFSA on his germy computer. Then the next day I spent like three hours with him at school (on his computer) filling out a scholarship application for my department, that required a personal writing sample limited to 650 words.
The next day I went to the Sat. symposium and woke up with the scratchy throat.
I have sick days that I can use, but after three I need a doctor's note. I could have seen the doctor immediately, but I figured they would say that it's a virus and to drink liquids and take a decongestant. I did take two half "sick" days, one to take he and his mom on a college visit and the other to miss professional development. The kids had an early dismissal, so I didn't need to have a sub and write plans, so I came home to take a nap and power through the week until I could make it to Presidents' Day.
Our subbing situation is in a crisis level, such that many of our outside PDs have been canceled so that teachers are not out of the building. This year they did raise the pay a bit, but it's been the same rate for approximately 30 years, and shockingly people aren't lining up to sub in high school. This marking period I am going to be out for 5 days between meetings and trips. To compare, I have missed exactly one day with students, because I was required to attend my department chair meeting off campus. We should have had one again in December, but they canceled due to the sub crisis.
This year they pulled our one "permanent" building sub to be the sub coordinator. He's doing a great job, so there are fewer times when I have to cover classes, but many times when my people call out at the last minute we get a patch job, so for three periods there will be three different subs. They come from other buildings on campus, so sometimes they are late to class. It's not ideal, but I know that when I spend six hours to write very detailed instructions and sub #1 walks off with the plans by mistake, it's a problem. Many times I have left color coded packets only to find that they were never passed out, handed to the wrong class who couldn't complete them because the level was too high, etc. Sometimes they don't even take attendance, so when I return I have emails from the parents about their kid skipping, when they were there in class but it wasn't reported. It's a PITA, so even on my half dead days, I know that they are getting better instruction with me at 50% than with a sub at 100%, if that makes sense.
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