As a classroom teacher, the occasional mental health day isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity.
Every day from the end of August through the middle of June, I think about my students–all 160 of them. I work with them during every student contact day; I focus on them during every staff development day; I assess their work and plan lessons almost every weekend and during my “vacations.” Some weeks are extra long, with parent/teacher conferences adding 10 hours to what is usually a 50-hour week already.
Some days I don’t feel well, but I go to school anyway because it’s what’s best for my kids. Some days, however, I just need a day for me. I don’t see anything wrong with that because I make sure the substitute has plans to keep the learning going.
If, however, I had breaks throughout the year, I wouldn’t need that day.
Going to year-round schools would be a perfect solution for addressing the teacher absentee issue. In major metropolitan areas, kids don’t go home in the summer and help their parents with the crops. We don’t need 2.5 or 3 months off from school. If more districts parcel out that three months over the course of a year, everyone, students and teachers, would get the breaks they need.
