I had lunch with a friend yesterday. She asked how I like you. I said 99% love...but that 1%, man, can you do something about that 1%? You and I both know your methodology is bunk. This task is to produce a forecast based on a forecast of a forecast of a forecast of a forecast. Not even kidding. And I am forced to misrepresent it anyway because if the Forecast^5 is too high or too low compared to the KPI (which is another layer of forecast!) then too many people ask questions. I feel like a liar and I hate it. Could you just fix that please?
You can go live with twinmomma's and dashook's DHs. Have a lovely time staying up all night and then being surprised that you're so tired and sore when morning rolls around. Yes, I can hear your performance of heavy sighing and grimacing. You're not getting sympathy from me today.
PS - don't think for one second that this is going to fly at Kindergarten time. I will leave your ass at home and you can get yourself to the train station.
Dear other mom, I don't think you realize - I'm the last person on earth who will have sympathy for you when you complain that your kid's teacher won't "make time for you." I'm on the other side of that and people like you make my teacher spouse miserable. Teachers are doing their best, and likely missing out on a lot of shit at home already because of people like you. They are not personal servants for parents, at your beck and call. Cut the woman some slack, and let her figure out when she can fit you in. You're not allowed to be "not impressed" because she didn't have an immediate answer and a wide open schedule for you at the drop of a hat. School hasn't even started yet. Signed, I guess we can't be mom friends after all
Post by erinshelley21 on Aug 24, 2017 8:17:21 GMT -5
Dear Youth League, 90 minute games for 3-5 year olds? You seriously think this is a good idea? If it takes that long to have bat through the line up twice then let's break it out into 4 teams. Signed, you have to be high
Post by supertrooper1 on Aug 24, 2017 8:29:53 GMT -5
Dear twinmomma, I'm right there with you. DH is constantly checking his school email in the evenings because he feels like he can't keep up if he doesn't. And many of those emails are from parents. He even had a parent and student in his classroom yesterday that somehow got into the school, and school doesn't start for another week. Signed, Wife of a busy teacher
twinmomma, supertrooper1, When my kid starts school and if I ever complain about the teacher not having time for me, please redirect me to this post. I never want to be "that" parent.
I think part of the problem is that society doesn't see teaching as a difficult job. There is a mind set that you start work when school starts and then get off work when the kids do. They forget that teachers have to plan lessons, grade assignments, deal with the school meetings, doing the extra duties as well like cafeteria monitor or detention.
xctsclrx, It's so true that people don't get it. At a birthday party recently several parents were complaining that teachers are only available for meetings before school or right after school. Um, yes. Why do they have to be on the clock at 7 PM because that's when YOU want it?
I adore my kid's teacher. I hope I don't ask too much of her. I do text her sometimes. I sent her a podcast and asked her to listen recently. I think it gives a lot of insight into my kiddo. Last night was a parent meeting and I did not attend. It was also a book sale. I sent $ with DD and when I arrived she showed me a book and asked if I wanted to see her things. I said yes go get your things and you can show me. After 2 min she came out the front door (not allowed). I sent her back in and said come out the right way. Crickets. 10 min later I went in looking for her and her teacher said go to your car and I will bring her to you. And she did! I do have a hurt foot but OMG that relatively small gesture of wrangling the crazy wild child and getting her shot together and getting her to my car was such a relief.
Post by traveltheworld on Aug 24, 2017 9:20:23 GMT -5
I think part of the problem too is that whem we were growing up, teachers had free blocks of time that were specifically allocated during the workday where they could do administrative things, mark assignments etc., so those of us who grew up in that era are left with that impression. Whereas nowadays teachers are expected to teach throughout the entire school day, so they end up working so much more.
Not to mention that parents are crazy these days, and have gotten used to constant communication. I just enrolled DD in a daycare and all the parents and teachers use this app that allows the teachers to send us notifications on when they changed her diaper, what amount of food she ate, how she slept, and other random texts. DD was there for only 3 hours that first day and I got 7 texts/pictures. So yeah, if a parent gets used to that, any amount of communication from an actuals school teacher would seem lacking.
Post by supertrooper1 on Aug 24, 2017 9:31:54 GMT -5
traveltheworld, that's true that they don't have free blocks of time anymore like our teachers did. When I was a kid, the teacher workdays that we had off actually were for teachers to do report cards and work in their classrooms. Now, they're filled with trainings and meetings, requiring all report card work, planning and correcting to be done on the teacher's time.
But I will have to say I want to scream with DH complains that his 2 months off during the summer isn't long enough. I would love to have 2 months off during the summer. And all holidays.
traveltheworld, good point! I know Montessori can be an adjustment for a lot of former daycare parents who are used to daily sheets that tell them how many times their kids urinated and defecated, how many bites of each food they had, how long they slept, and for the most part Montessori doesn't give them that info. They feel like the child has their own school identity, and details are need to know. Like if a kid usually poops twice a day but today is acting constipated, they will tell mom, but all the other days she's not going to get confirmation that Billy, indeed, popped twice a day. I can imagine what it is like for some parents transitioning to elementary.
Sorry for the stupid question, but what do elementary teachers do when the kids are in specials? Is that not a block of time for planning and grading? Not that it is enough, obv.
traveltheworld , that's true that they don't have free blocks of time anymore like our teachers did. When I was a kid, the teacher workdays that we had off actually were for teachers to do report cards and work in their classrooms. Now, they're filled with trainings and meetings, requiring all report card work, planning and correcting to be done on the teacher's time.
But I will have to say I want to scream with DH complains that his 2 months off during the summer isn't long enough. I would love to have 2 months off during the summer. And all holidays.
The bolded is why teaching is on my list of careers I'm thinking about exploring if we sell this business.
Sorry for the stupid question, but what do elementary teachers do when the kids are in specials? Is that not a block of time for planning and grading? Not that it is enough, obv.
Go to the bathroom? lol
I'm not sure, but I'd assume that's considered their "free block" to plan and prep. I know that's when DH usually ends up pulled into stuff like IEP meetings because they see it as "free time" on his schedule.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I'm a former teacher, and the job wasn't as be-all, end-all demanding as I hear people claim. If you are organized, efficient, and good with managing your time, it's not that hard. And I taught at a school for kids who were no longer welcome in traditional public schools, generally for gang activity. So I had my fair share of IEPs, meetings with probation/parole officers, parents, guardians, halfway house resident advisors, defense attorneys, etc, in addition to planning lessons, teaching, grading, etc.
But I agree that parents need to keep a lid on their expectations of what/how much teachers need to communicate with the parents. And keep in mind what teachers are supposed to be teaching. I was there to teach English, so whether or not your kid knew how to use a period was up to me. How to track periods to determine if the kid or gf was pregnant? Not me.
Sorry for the stupid question, but what do elementary teachers do when the kids are in specials? Is that not a block of time for planning and grading? Not that it is enough, obv.
Make phone calls to parents, respond to parent emails, copies, plan, prepare lessons, meetings with special ed teachers, IEP meetings, ELL meetings, filling out paperwork for students being tested to qualify for an IEP, & having to run assessments on students during their specials (yep many buildings view these times as acceptable to miss).
Part of the issue is in the last 5 years there is a huge push for data. So the graded work is no longer enough. There needs to be a break down to support why a student earned the grade.
I'm a former elementary teacher who left the profession, this is my second school year off. My building became all about the numbers and data to prove you were teaching and data to prove accommodations were being made.
I agree with MommyAtt good time management is important and lots can be accomplished but I worked in a building in which I had 1 30 minute special a day and 20 minutes to eat lunch (but first I had drop my students off and be back to pick them up at the end of the 20 minutes) and that was all for breaks. It depends on the school how many "breaks" you get but near me it's usually just 1 and if your lucky an additional time to eat.
traveltheworld , good point! I know Montessori can be an adjustment for a lot of former daycare parents who are used to daily sheets that tell them how many times their kids urinated and defecated, how many bites of each food they had, how long they slept, and for the most part Montessori doesn't give them that info. They feel like the child has their own school identity, and details are need to know. Like if a kid usually poops twice a day but today is acting constipated, they will tell mom, but all the other days she's not going to get confirmation that Billy, indeed, popped twice a day. I can imagine what it is like for some parents transitioning to elementary.
Yup. Frankly I find the whole thing a bit unnerving - as in, shouldn't you be paying attention to my child instead of taking pictures of her / writing down everything she is doing so that you can text them to me to prove that she is having a good time? *insert eye roll*
This is probably unpopular in line with what mommyatty said somewhat...but I think teaching is still fewer net hours than other careers with similar compensation. That's based largely on having this discussion with local friends who are/were teachers over wine and what I have experienced. I mean, 7-3 is an 8 hour day. Most people work 9 hour days, myself included, and do it year round. So tack on that extra hour for the misc stuff and it's a wash. I don't see teachers doing a heck of a lot more than other careers in the evenings - like answering emails and prepping for the next day. I do that too, so does almost everyone I know who works. Instead of drinks with clients or team dinner or work travel teachers have very occasional events at school. It's almost like some teachers themselves bought into the 1970s description and were surprised by the workload. Certainly not all.
And coaches, theater teachers and activity sponsors at higher grades are crazy. Those are the people that really put in crazy time. But average classroom teachers? I just don't see it so much as being super beyond.
mommyatty , yes but you are a superwoman. I only student taught before I went on to get my masters in a related field. I was up 5 am in bed at 9 pm. Worked from 6-2 or 3 came home exhausted collapsed for 2 hours and then working on lesson planning for 2 hours every evening.
I am sure inexperience was part of it, but also I think the curriculum was a bit looser back in those days or that school. I had certain things I had to teach, but how I taught them was up to me. Also we had block scheduling with 90 min. I found scheduling 50 minutes was easy but was racking my brain to fill the other 40 min. I didn't really care for it honestly. Some teachers may like block scheduling and maybe think its less planning, but not for me.... I didn't want to shove a ton of into (lecture the entire time) and I wanted them to have time to absorb it...
traveltheworld , How old is your kid? I noticed they stopped writing down all the toileting when my kid was in the 3 year old room, and incident reports became less as well. They would both come home with bruised legs (normal kid bruises) and I would be wondering where my incident report was ha ha. So anyway, I think as they transitioned that way I did too, so transitioning to school age was no problem, but I am not that mom.
The main thing for me for transitioning to school age was more all the homework, meetings, e-mails, PTO, things to sign, nickel and dimed for school events, fundraisers. It would be less for most people because I was doing an IEP. And this year I guess I am just used to it and laugh at all the e-mails. The principal even said she would send a weekly e-mail to consolidate for less e-mails, then sent 4 more school e-mails out. Not all by the principal some the superintendent, student advisor, PTO etc etc.
I just saw an article in the paper with a teacher poll asking what their number 1 improvement would be and 52% said more parent involvement. Makes me curious based on your comments. I know that my SIL struggles with it when she has students that have behavior issues and special needs but the parents won't make time to discuss or meet with her.
I just saw an article in the paper with a teacher poll asking what their number 1 improvement would be and 52% said more parent involvement. Makes me curious based on your comments. I know that my SIL struggles with it when she has students that have behavior issues and special needs but the parents won't make time to discuss or meet with her.
For my DH, he would not necessarily say more meetings or interaction with parents. It would be more parent involvement with their child. If the child is struggling with reading, read with the child every night. Make sure they do their homework. So many kids that are struggling don't have parents making sure the kids are doing their homework and keeping up on their work, or doing extra to help them get caught up.
Sorry for the stupid question, but what do elementary teachers do when the kids are in specials? Is that not a block of time for planning and grading? Not that it is enough, obv.
Go to the bathroom? lol
I'm not sure, but I'd assume that's considered their "free block" to plan and prep. I know that's when DH usually ends up pulled into stuff like IEP meetings because they see it as "free time" on his schedule.
DD1 has an IEP which is one of the things that makes me worried about K because of the unknown and how often will I get to talk to her teacher, special ed teacher, nurse, etc. There has been no communication so far, I was just told to talk to the teacher at Open House. I get it that they don't have a lot of time during the school day, but when are you supposed to meet with the teacher to go over it and make sure it's working?
mellym, It's not that the meetings can't happen, more that people need to have more realistic expectations about how much "prep and free time" teachers actually have during the day. DH prioritizes parent meetings and responding to emails during his prep time, which means he's not actually do any prep work or grading during that time. So that prep gets pushed to evenings at home and weekends. This year he actually doesn't even have a prep because they needed to overload his schedule due to staffing issues.
In my original example from my letter, my annoyance was that this mom seemed to think the teacher was blowing her off, even though the teacher had responded and said that she had to figure out what her schedule was for back to school before committing to a time. If you see that answer as unacceptable, I think you have to take a step back and reset your expectations. A teacher is probably doing everything in his or her control to make the meeting happen, but they're not sitting at a desk waiting to handle meetings and admin work all day.
I have heard some schools are bad at scheduling the IEP annual review. I was worried, but my school called me today and it is scheduled for 2 weeks.
I frequently get an email from his hearing itinerant teacher almost monthly. His speech teacher a little less but still enough. The teacher doesn't email on my child specifically, but lots of notes back and forth and is receptive to emails. I don't usually meet with the teacher except the IEP and parent teacher conferences.
mommyatty , yes but you are a superwoman. I only student taught before I went on to get my masters in a related field. I was up 5 am in bed at 9 pm. Worked from 6-2 or 3 came home exhausted collapsed for 2 hours and then working on lesson planning for 2 hours every evening.
I am sure inexperience was part of it, but also I think the curriculum was a bit looser back in those days or that school. I had certain things I had to teach, but how I taught them was up to me. Also we had block scheduling with 90 min. I found scheduling 50 minutes was easy but was racking my brain to fill the other 40 min. I didn't really care for it honestly. Some teachers may like block scheduling and maybe think its less planning, but not for me.... I didn't want to shove a ton of into (lecture the entire time) and I wanted them to have time to absorb it...
traveltheworld , How old is your kid? I noticed they stopped writing down all the toileting when my kid was in the 3 year old room, and incident reports became less as well. They would both come home with bruised legs (normal kid bruises) and I would be wondering where my incident report was ha ha. So anyway, I think as they transitioned that way I did too, so transitioning to school age was no problem, but I am not that mom.
The main thing for me for transitioning to school age was more all the homework, meetings, e-mails, PTO, things to sign, nickel and dimed for school events, fundraisers. It would be less for most people because I was doing an IEP. And this year I guess I am just used to it and laugh at all the e-mails. The principal even said she would send a weekly e-mail to consolidate for less e-mails, then sent 4 more school e-mails out. Not all by the principal some the superintendent, student advisor, PTO etc etc.
DD is 2, so I agree, the constant communication probably will die down as she gets older. But it still seems like a lot of picture-taking and text-writing.
mellym - in my experience the kids who need the most parental engagement often have the least. Girl Scout camping trip, parents optional. The only parent who didn't attend had a special needs child who had a very rough weekend with behavior. If that parent would have been present I am sure they have strategies to handle things. But they'd rather not. A short lived friendship my oldest had - the friend, who was a smart underperformer, asked me if I would go to her PT conference as her parents never did. She just wanted someone to show up for her.
I could never be a teacher - the emotional load of dealing with that x30 or however many kids have issues every year would kill me. It would break my heart. Like today the kid with a packed lunch who wanted a drink, but not his water. "We can't 'ford juice". I wanted to magically make juice appear for him.
I had a boss tell me I couldn't report the amount of time it took me to pump on my timecard honestly, b/c it was too much "unworked" time. And I'm salary.
I'm confused...why do you have to put your pump time down at all?
Throw us a bone, huh? I don't expect meds to make things perfect but it would be nice if it made things better instead of worse or trading one problem for another.
Edit: Signed, too tired to remember to even sign this.