Reply To: Maternity Leave

[nafmeadmin]

My district expected 2 weeks (10 days) worth of lesson plans, because then after that, the sub gets extra pay for being “long term” which includes them writing their own plans for that time. Our union/district also offered a “sick bank,” so that during my leave I used sick bank days and got paid during that time that the doctor approves. To pull from sick bank, I just had to donate one of my sick days and then I was “in” but I had to do this at the beginning of the school year to qualify. Beyond my 6 weeks, I did not get paid, but since mine was at the end of the year only missed out on about 8 or 9 days worth of pay.

Music learning games, anything with instruments, and a few group projects for the older grades are good bets. My sub did a composer project for 5th, in that they chose a composer (could be contemporary, many of mine chose John Williams because they’re all about Star Wars 😉 ) and they had to create a Promethean flipchart with information about the composer. You could do the same thing in Power Point, or create some kind of template for them to make a mini-book (with drawings, bullets, and all that) if you don’t have access to computers. Mallet Madness is one of my kids’ faves, and I have some of the best behavior when we do those lessons; as well as drum circle things. With younger ones, hand clapping/singing games, anything in which they can practice social skills like finding and working with a partner or a group is so good for them.