You’re right- he is very lucky! I wouldn’t mind having a “work day” at home. I really would get a lot done. Great last sentence by the way! Your team work day sounds a lot like our “Quarterly Planning” (I’ll be writing about that shortly), and yes that is super productive and a great way to mingle with the team. Some parents think teachers must work all the time, when in fact we do. So a once-in-a-while lunch break to a local restaurant as a reward for our hard work should be encouraged and supported, not complained about. I am so sorry you had that reaction!

One year we had a team work day where we planned and wrote units and assessments. We decided to take advantage of a full hour lunch break and go to a local restaurant. We were asked not to do that again. Our presence at a restaurant sent the message to parents that we weren’t really working that day – event though unit ideas continued to emerge over lunch discussions.

In my perfect world, we teachers would have the freedom to use our work days in a way and in a place that is most productive. The work has a deadline and we will hit the deadline no matter the location from which the work is done.