Dear We Are Teachers,
My 1st grade partner teacher just told our group text that she isn’t coming back after break. I can’t stop thinking about everything I need to do to prepare for her long-term sub, not to mention how mad I am that my coworker just quit on us right in the middle of the holidays. What are the things I need to do now, and what can wait until later? I feel like this is ruining my break.
—This Couldn’t Have Waited?!
Dear T.C.H.W.,
I understand that as teachers, we are programmed to overcompensate, overprepare, and sacrifice our personal time for a job in which we don’t get nearly the support we deserve. But in this case, don’t.
Don’t start writing lessons for the long-term sub. Do not hunt for a replacement. Don’t start living in a future that you don’t need to be stressing over yet. If anything, you need this time more than anything to rest for the semester ahead. Instead, let your principal be the one stressing right now. That’s why they get paid the big (OK, maybe just bigger) bucks.
For the rest of break, every time you think of another task to do, jot it down in a journal or a note on your phone. That way, you can put it out of your mind, knowing that your tasks are all in one place and you can visit them when you’re ready.
It may feel like everything is crumbling right now, but try asking yourself, “What if it all works out?” Because even it takes a while—it will work out.
Dear We Are Teachers,
I can’t wrap my head around the fact that we come back from winter break for two days … and then there’s a weekend. I feel like it’s a total waste. What can I do with my middle school history classes for two days that isn’t fluff but isn’t diving into important content they’ll immediately forget either?
—Who Made This Calendar?
Dear W.M.T.C.,
Some ideas for those first two days (just spitballing here):
- Stare at a blank Word document and slowly surrender to a fugue state.
- Send everyone outside and take a nap. Put the most reliable student in charge.
- Show them Titanic on VHS. First cassette on day one, second on day two. (They’ll be fine—they have the weekend to recover.)
OK, don’t do any of those things. First, let’s change the narrative here. Believe it or not, I actually kind of love the idea of a two-day week—for everyone! Two days might seem pointless, but would you really prefer to come back to a full five days? (Shudder.) I think the two days is a perfect time to get acclimated, reset some expectations and procedures, and have a kind of “warmup” before your first full week back.
Instead, here are two better ideas for you:
- Prep students on just the vocabulary or maybe some prior knowledge needed in your upcoming unit. It’s not a heavy lift but will get them in the right frame of mind for the following week.
- Try some team-building activities or start a new routine together. Creating strong communities isn’t fluff—it provides a solid foundation for the rest of the semester!
Not as dramatic as Titanic on VHS, but on the plus side, it won’t get you fired.
Dear We Are Teachers,
I have a student with an accommodation for “preferential seating” in his IEP. He knows his IEP well and insists that this means he gets to choose his seat every day, which is super disruptive to my seating chart (and to other students). I don’t want to seem like I’m pushing back against what he needs, but doesn’t “preferential” mean my discretion for what’s least disruptive for him?
—Profesora Preferential
Dear P.P.,
I’ve found that “preferential” can mean different things. In my experience, it often meant “what would be preferential in the child’s best interest” and not “where the child wants to sit.” But usually the IEP will have additional clarifying language.
First, I would check in with your IEP/SpEd coordinator for clarification. Wanting to understand isn’t pushing back! If “preferential” means the child’s preference, you’ll want to know that and potentially provide feedback on how that’s working. Your IEP team may want to reconvene to revisit how that accommodation is working.
Do you have a burning question? Email us at askweareteachers@weareteachers.com.
Dear We Are Teachers,
In an effort to illustrate how uncomfortable our holiday party is every year, let me just describe a few very real situations that have unfolded. 1) Our culinary teacher dressing as Santa and aggressively trying to convince teachers (especially young female teachers) to sit on his lap. 2) Our assistant principal getting so drunk she fell into the Christmas tree and had to go to urgent care for the glass ornaments embedded in her skin. 3) The same assistant principal getting so drunk she cornered me one year and cried about her divorce for 2 hours (we barely know each other). I’m always very uncomfortable at this party. How can I suggest we tone it down without sounding like a total party pooper?
—Probably a Party Pooper
