For those of you who do not get a lunch break..I did the same thing for the first 2 years of this job. I would eat after the kids left for the day. You know what? That's just not right. Ask yourself if the rest of the staff in your building would skip lunch every day. The resounding answer would be NO!
Our teachers and classroom aides get an HOUR for lunch. (Kids have 1/2 hour for lunch, and 1/2 hour for recess.) The staff can leave, run errands, get lunch out, etc. The least we can ask for is 30 minutes with the door closed to eat something.
Really, it's not too much to ask and it makes a HUGE difference in your day. Some days I might get only 15 minutes beofre I am interrupted with an issue like a child who threw up, has a fever, etc. But it's still something!
You all deserve at least that much.
I didn't take lunch my first few years but in the past 2 years I have been taking lunch everyday. I leave my office and go to the faculty room. They know where I am in an emergency but are also reminded that a Band-Aid is NOT as emergency. In my contract I get a 30 min lunch and I need that 30 min of downtime. If they start abusing the "we need to interrupt you" at lunch then I will start leaving the building for that 30 min. Everyone needs to shut their brain off for a few minutes.
I want uninterrupted lunch.......simple thats all. And to the teachers who know when my lunch is and you still send them down..shame on you cause you cant deal with a child in your class for 30 min..
Yes! Along these same lines--I would like for parents to care for their 1,2,or3 children because I have 1,000 students to care for. Like you said--bring in shot records, birth certificates, give me at least 1 phone number that hasn't been disconnected!, don't call me five minutes after the buses unload to ask me to check little Suzue's foot pain that she's had since the basketball game Saturday morning.....
It's good to know that I'm not the only one who thought last week was especially rough! I got cussed and yelled at and threatened to be sued this week by a family member because I was trying to care and show concern for their child.... Forgive me for trying to be a ray of light in a young-person's life. What some of our students have live like at home is heartbreaking but being treated like scum gets old.
I would like everyone to stop looking at me like I have an extra head when I say that just because a forehead feels warm to touch, the child really doesn't have a fever unless the thermometer says they do. Unless we're talking about an infected wound, "warm to touch" does not mean they need to go home.
100kids, BSN, RN
878 Posts
I didn't take lunch my first few years but in the past 2 years I have been taking lunch everyday. I leave my office and go to the faculty room. They know where I am in an emergency but are also reminded that a Band-Aid is NOT as emergency. In my contract I get a 30 min lunch and I need that 30 min of downtime. If they start abusing the "we need to interrupt you" at lunch then I will start leaving the building for that 30 min. Everyone needs to shut their brain off for a few minutes.