Playing Hookie?

Everyone likes a day off of work once in a while. Teachers are allowed several sick days per year, depending on the district contract. You may think that we would take full advantage of this, especially considering how stressful our jobs can be.

But being absent is often more work than it's worth. Firstly, one needs to write out plans for the sub. Of course, teachers have lessons planned already, but usually it is just an outline of what they want to cover for that day. All the details are in their head, and it can take an hour or more to write them all out in a way that someone who is unfamilliar with the curriculum can follow.

Next is the preparation of the materials. If one knows ahead of time that they will be out on a particular day, they can take whatever time they need to prepare photocopies and set out textbooks and any other materials where the substitute can easily find them. However, if you wake up sick one morning, you may have to go in to work just to get everything ready. You may as well just stay there and save your sick day.

The most frustrating part of being absent is coming back. One can't be sure of what condition the classroom will be in, how much if any of the lesson plan was completed and what kind of note was left by the sub until returning the next day. I have returned after a substitute has covered my class to find things stolen, broken and vandalized. Recently, I found that my American flag at the front of my room had a large rip or cut in it. Most subs do attempt to follow the lesson plan, but many times they don't get it all accomplished. I have often found a note saying "...Then I let them work on homework with their friends." I wonder how much homework got done. So, the teacher ends up wasting the next day reteaching what should have been taught the day before, and the whole schedule is thrown off.

Sometimes it is necessary to take a day off, like when attending a conference or jury duty. Other times, it's just nice, like after six weeks without holidays. But it is always a trade-off. The teacher has to decide if spending six hours away from the students is worth practically the same amount of time in preparation and recovery.

Helicopter Parents

You have probably heard of the term "helicopter parent." It is used to describe a parent who is always hovering around their child, ready to take charge if the child has a problem. Teachers do complain about this kind of parents for two reasons.

Firstly, they're annoying. But more seriously, though they are trying to help their child, they can often slow their maturation. If Mommy or Daddy takes care of everything for them, they never learn to solve their own problems.

The most depressing situation is when a helicopter parent has an unmotivated, slacker child. I have one such in one of my classes now. The mother spends so much time seeking help for her son, and he takes no advantage of the opportunities she secures for him. It seems to me that she thinks he's doing poorly in school because the teachers aren't providing him enough help. In reality, his grades would be much better if he didn't sleep in class so much.

I wonder how this kid will turn out. He's headed for failure, yet his mother sticks up for him. Will he live at home for the rest of his life, getting fired from a series of minimum-wage jobs? Or will the mom eventually recognize the pattern of his failures and beign to hold him responsible?