Stress Relief for UFT Leaders

A Unity Caucus critic comments:
"It amazes me that time and time again people like you in ICE/TJC fail to acknowledge the amazing efforts and the incredible stress that our officers face."

Six figure salaries and double pensions not enough boobie?

Here are some ways for UFT leaders to reduce stress as recommended by the classroom teachers of New York City.

#10 Become an ATR.
No paperwork, enjoy the experience of different classes, different schools every day. Get to know all parts of the city from the north Bronx to Staten Island while enjoying the luxury of a pay check.

#9 Do Lunch duty and potty patrol.
One of the great stress relievers of all time, which unfortunately was not available for the 10 years between the 1995 and 2005 contracts. The sounds of kids talking, eating - join in the fun of food fights.

#8 Spend 37.5 minutes a the end of the day teaching small groups of 10.
A great relief after spending the first 7 hours with classes of 30 or more.

#7 Go to school 2 days before the Labor Day weekend.
See all your friends early. Relax during faculty conferences and hours of staff development.

#6 Go to school 2 days before the 2 days you're supposed to go back.
Set up your room, wash your desks, put up bulletin boards.

#5 Be observed by a supervisor out to get you.
One of the great stress relievers. And no anxiety of having to grieve a negative letter in your file thanks to the 2005 contract.

#4 Get excessed.
Staying in the same school gets tiresome and is a known cause of stress. Meet new friends.

#3 Give up seniority with all these additional stress relievers:
Try the Open Market System.
Put in for 10 jobs. When you get no response, you save the stress of traveling to job interviews. Then you can.....
Go to a hiring hall.
Enjoy nice relaxing interviews, especially if you are an experienced, higher salaried teacher waiting on one slow moving line. Watching the separate line for Teaching Fellows and new teachers moving at 3X the speed of yours will sooth you.
Make up a portfolio of yours and the kids' work to bring to interviews.
Relive the fun of those childhood days of scrapbooks.

#2 Read a book on differentiation of instruction.

And the number one way to reduce the stress of working full-time for the UFT?

Go back to teaching full time.
Get the advantages of 1-9 and end worries on how to spend all that extra money you make at the UFT while ending worries about what to do with that extra pension.