Math teacher John Nevola doesn’t have any planning period this semester. This makes it so that he has to plan all of his classes in the morning and during Pirate Block.
Nevola began his ninth year of teaching at Riverside with one section each of AP calculus AB, standard math 3 and honors math 3. A few days into the school year, he gave up his planning period to teach a second section of math 3.
“We had a teacher leave after the first week and we needed someone to take over,” said Nevola. “She was a floater teacher who was already in my room, so I volunteered to be a substitute at first and eventually I ended up teaching the full class.
Math department chair Christy Simpson said finding a qualified teacher to cover math 3 was a priority.
“The class is an EOC course and he volunteered to fill the spot,” she said.
Simpson also said that the school was able to find a sub for the teacher’s other two vacant classes. Assistant principal Jasmine McKoy, who is in charge of the math department, said that instead of hiring a substitute teacher for the EOC class, Nevola stepped up and was “a team player.”
Nevola gets paid extra for teaching an additional class, but not the same amount that he gets for his other classes.
“I get paid the sub coverage money,” he said. “The same amount as for a substitute teacher who just sits at the front, except I’m actually teaching and grading.”
The extra grading takes up the most time.
“Lunch and Pirate block are more busy,” he said.
He does have two student teacher assistants who help out.
“They organize classwork and homework and see who has and hasn’t done it,” he said.
Despite the packed schedule, Nevola tries not to bring work home.
“I try to keep everything here [at school],” he said. “The teacher assistants help me manage all of the grading.”
Most students in Nevola’s classes haven’t noticed any changes since he started teaching four periods.
“He’s been pretty normal,” said sophomore Ben Davis, who’s in Nevola’s fourth period Math lll Honors.
Other teachers at school will give up their planning period occasionally to help out with vacancies but no one else doesn’t have any planning at all. Simpson mentioned the lack of math teachers who are looking for jobs.
“It’s hard to find math teachers,” she said. “There’s nobody to interview.”
McKoy, who runs the math department, agreed saying
“It’s been hard finding experienced, certified staff,” said McKoy.
Next semester Nevola plans to return to his normal workload.
“Right now, I should have first period planning next semester,” he said.
