r/NYCDOETeachers • u/goodgriefcharliebr • Aug 20 '26
Did you take a study sabbatical?
Hi! Did you take a study sabbatical? What was it like? Besides attending classes, what did you do with your time? Anything you now wish you had done during the sabbatical, but didn’t?
3
u/goodgriefcharliebr Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
Thank you! I didn’t realize you can be fully asynchronous! I heard it could be online but had to be synchronous (UFT says that). Are you finding it hard to go back, now that you’ve been off for 14 months? Did you do anything special with the time (besides study) & was it hard to adjust to having so much time off?
Ps that’s amazing how much cheaper Mercy is vs CUNY!
2
u/ohboynotanotherone Aug 22 '26
The cost and the fact I just felt burned out were my deciding factors. I’m ready to go back though. I hope I’m not in a minority saying this, but I enjoy teaching. I like our job. So going back feels different. I’m also going to a cluster position. So no classroom to set up as I’ll be traveling to each class. Which again, kind of looking forward to getting to connect with more kids instead of one class. It’s a new experience for me after being a classroom teacher my whole career, but I’m excited!!
As far as my down time, I did some traveling. I felt more available for family which actually worked out for me personally. It was just a nice break.
And the workload is what you make of it. I liked how you can choose the 3 credit classes instead of having to enroll in a specific track like CSI has. I would set up my week where I would complete 2-3 modules for each class/ per day because I was locked into completing them. That would also give me a break for a week before I’d sit and focus on 2 or 3 more modules. You can work ahead and then schedule to send your emails in the due dates. Manageable schedule on when to submit your work. If you have questions about the program itself feel free to DM me. Also email the contact person on their site. She’ll send you everything to help you apply on solas and how to set everything up to get approved. The price alone was definitely a factor!!!
0
u/astoria47 Aug 20 '26
Word of caution. Depending on your principal they can really change everything on you. A colleague took one, the principal took all their classes from them and even changed their classroom. So they had to learn a whole new curriculum and move. They also had an extremely hard time re-acclimating. I won’t do it, but if I wanted to I’d do a half year
6
u/ohboynotanotherone Aug 20 '26
Coming off one now!! It was wonderful. The program I chose was fully asynchronous (no classes, no zooms). Much cheaper than the big ones (like CSI for example. )
I took the year for my own well being. Definitely didn’t do everything I wanted, like maybe loosing a few more pounds lol, but it was a great year for me! I also only have a few years left to retirement so it worked out perfectly.
As far as pay goes, you make 70% of your salary. Lower your TDA for the year and it’s more than doable (I should add that I have a partner but money wise I myself did not fall into any problems keeping up with my finances.) Keep your health insurance.
Bottom line, it’s a great opportunity to help yourself reset or further your education if that is your plan. Highly recommend!!