Why I Spend My Lunch Hour with Students

My favorite part of my job is not actually part of my job. As a public high school teacher in a state and district with a teacher’s union, my contract entitles me to a “duty-free” lunch. Over the years, however, I have willingly and somewhat proudly developed a lunch crew. Many teachers have a lunch crew — that same group of students who choose to make their classroom a home base during the week. When I was a first-year teacher and new to the school and district, I left my classroom door open at lunch in the hopes that coworkers... [Read more...]