Admittedly, I don't have any kids with medical or other concerns at this point, so it's easy for me to say - but I can't help but think that even in emergencies there are ways of handling that like their have been for the last 50 years. If the teacher wants to give it out for those circumstances, cool. But I don't think they should be expected to. I guess I also know how much my kid isn't with her classroom teacher anyway between specials, recess, lunch, etc. But I might change my tune if it was MY kid.
Oh we didn't ask. She gave it to us. I preferred email and sometimes she didn't have a chance to check before school. And usually I would just email saying she was on steroids, etc.
But again super convenient, but we were fine with email or phoning the office. (No nurse at school)
Yea that's how our preschool is, too (and probably most?), everything through the front office or email the teacher. I don't know what our teachers would do if they felt that wasn't sufficient but I know our director wouldn't be pleased w/ personal cells being given out.
I didn't mean to accuse you of asking either. It was just interesting that several people w/ children w/ an extra need/special circumstance had said they did have the cell of the teacher.
Post by mamaalysson on Feb 26, 2016 12:37:42 GMT -5
Even in the case of a child with extra medical needs, I wouldn't have given out my number. Honestly, if it's a normal school day, my cell is the worst way to get ahold of me. I always kept it in my purse, locked in my filing cabinet and only checked it sporadically. If I needed it accessible for personal reasons, I was only answering it if it was a number I recognized and was expecting. Parents were much better off calling the office and leaving a message through the secretary.
I do think teachers not having & giving out a work/district email is strange this day in age. Do you think that is normal or because the strike issues, quesyrah?
100% the strike. I asked Eta: they are working to contract and can't always answer emails during their day because of the kids. So they just didn't give them out.
I taught high school, but I never gave out my personal cell number until I started teaching drama and had kids after school for practice until fairly late. Those kids and their families had my cell, but I didn't give it out to anyone I just had during the day. I'm fortunate that it never became an issue with the drama kids, but they were all pretty good about keeping it quiet and only using it when it was necessary.
I teach middle school and coach the high school dance team. I think my MS parents probably have access to my cell because I don't have a home phone and I think it is on some contact stuff. But, they never call or text me. All of my dancers and their parents have my number and use it for questions, practice info, to let me know who is where, and when we travel.
Post by regencygirl on Feb 26, 2016 22:35:38 GMT -5
I have a google voice # that I use to make phone calls from home. I have parents who work crazy shifts and if I need to talk to them, sometimes it's got to be at 10:00 p.m. or not at all. No one gets my actual cell phone #. My google voice message states that messages left may not be returned if before or after school hours and my district email address. If I call a parent and leave a message and they call me back, I'll answer. If a parent calls and it's not in response to me attempting to contact them, I ignore it and call back during school hours.
Post by rosesandpetals on Feb 27, 2016 0:14:27 GMT -5
This probably varies by district,too. Like we have established that everyone here is involved in their kids' education to some extent. A teacher I work with gives out her number to text parents because it is really hard to get them to call you back but they will text pretty quickly.
Some of them are crazy though and I don't want them to have my number.
Post by Kcthepouchh8r on Feb 27, 2016 11:28:18 GMT -5
Huh, our school is working to contract and I still text back and forth with my sons teacher and she responds to personal emails as well.
I find texts so much easier to coordinate events than emails personally. When the teacher needs extra hands/donations for something in the classroom she texts me what/when, I send out a group text to the parents who asked to be on the phone tree and just text her back when everything is coordinated. It's so much easier than email because people don't check it as often, it can easily get forgotten or overlooked in a junk folder, etc. Our school tried to go paperless this year and found they get way less volunteers when they send emails vs dropping papers in kids' folders.
Post by Kcthepouchh8r on Feb 27, 2016 15:48:17 GMT -5
The amount of volunteers increased by 50% when we started sending forms home again. I had the same experience when sending group emails too among the class. I get significantly more donations/volunteers when notifying via text.
Wow. I am pretty shocked that parents don't respond to an email from their kids teacher. When i see the teachers name in my inbox I look at that first and answer immediately.
I personally would not like a group text with random parents either. I prefer to keep my number a bit private. I feel like that would also have a lot of potential drama. But that could just be my area. When I did parent pickup for a year, there was so much gossip and drama (this parent did...or that teacher said...) I seriously started to nicely rush off and pretend to have somewhere to be.
Anyway, point is I have never needed a teacher cell # and don't see why i would ever need it.
Post by dizzycooks on Feb 27, 2016 18:37:13 GMT -5
As a teacher I don't really think I should have my cell out except for my prep and after kids leave. At that point it seems a bit useless to the parents.
Post by Kcthepouchh8r on Feb 28, 2016 9:56:26 GMT -5
People's info isn't posted publicly. School messenger gives you the option to do this. You have everyone who wants to be part of the group text a five digit code. You get a text maybe once every 6-8 weeks along the line of "mrs. c is out of glue sticks. If you could send some in that would be great. Thanks!" Or "we are having a valentines day party on Friday at 1:30. We are looking for volunteers as well as plates, cups, popcorn, fruit, etc. Let me know if you can make it and/or what you can bring!" Your name comes up to the group as Johnny's mom, Mrs. smith or whatever you set it to. No other group members could private message you or obtain your contact info. An email from the room parent janesmith@yahoo.com could easily end up in a junk folder or forgotten/overlooked in the masses of a million emails. So much easier to contact/get responses in my experiences. It's helped my school immensely with both classroom volunteers and donations since the PTA rolled it out.
Post by penguingrrl on Feb 28, 2016 20:27:29 GMT -5
No. Six combined years (K,1,2, and now 3 for J, and K and 1 for E) in two different schools and I have never had a teacher's cell phone number. Even as room mom twice I never had it. Any communication is done in person, by email, or phone if necessary.
Oh we didn't ask. She gave it to us. I preferred email and sometimes she didn't have a chance to check before school. And usually I would just email saying she was on steroids, etc.
But again super convenient, but we were fine with email or phoning the office. (No nurse at school)
Yea that's how our preschool is, too (and probably most?), everything through the front office or email the teacher. I don't know what our teachers would do if they felt that wasn't sufficient but I know our director wouldn't be pleased w/ personal cells being given out.
I didn't mean to accuse you of asking either. It was just interesting that several people w/ children w/ an extra need/special circumstance had said they did have the cell of the teacher.
I didn't ask either. It was given to me. I have never used it, but I am fine with having it because she is not comfortable having him in her class (and has made that ridiculously clear). She has never had a T1 kid. I have made it clear that we have it under control, but she is a stressed out person in general.
Yea that's how our preschool is, too (and probably most?), everything through the front office or email the teacher. I don't know what our teachers would do if they felt that wasn't sufficient but I know our director wouldn't be pleased w/ personal cells being given out.
I didn't mean to accuse you of asking either. It was just interesting that several people w/ children w/ an extra need/special circumstance had said they did have the cell of the teacher.
I didn't ask either. It was given to me. I have never used it, but I am fine with having it because she is not comfortable having him in her class (and has made that ridiculously clear). She has never had a T1 kid. I have made it clear that we have it under control, but she is a stressed out person in general.
Yea that's how our preschool is, too (and probably most?), everything through the front office or email the teacher. I don't know what our teachers would do if they felt that wasn't sufficient but I know our director wouldn't be pleased w/ personal cells being given out.
I didn't mean to accuse you of asking either. It was just interesting that several people w/ children w/ an extra need/special circumstance had said they did have the cell of the teacher.
I didn't ask either. It was given to me. I have never used it, but I am fine with having it because she is not comfortable having him in her class (and has made that ridiculously clear). She has never had a T1 kid. I have made it clear that we have it under control, but she is a stressed out person in general.
How insensitive. Reese's teacher is VERY comfortable with her. I would say probably about 50-75% of the texts we get from her teacher is videos that the class made/photos when she was out sick and in the hospital. In the beginning we didn't have the cell number and her teacher checked her school e-mail less infrequent. Some days she didn't have a chance to check it until lunch, so she just would rather me text any important information--like any new side effects in the beginning. Now, she pretty much has a clear idea of when she will get each side effect. We drop off before the teacher is in school and the main office isn't open yet-and as much as I love her morning care teachers they don't always relay the information.
I didn't ask either. It was given to me. I have never used it, but I am fine with having it because she is not comfortable having him in her class (and has made that ridiculously clear). She has never had a T1 kid. I have made it clear that we have it under control, but she is a stressed out person in general.
That's rude. It's not like he can help it.
It really is. We are just trying to power through this year. I am very pro teacher, but this one is making me crazy. If I went through the list of all that has happened this year, y'all would be appalled!!!! But, our school has a rule you can only change teachers one time per kid in the time you are there (don't get me started on that either) and I am holding on to that for a couple of years from now, just in case. Fortunately, the nurse is fantastic and so is our guidance counselor and they look out for him. The thing that is crazy to me is he has a monitor that alerts if his sugar goes out of range and he now knows what to do to take care of it. So, there truly isn't ever going to be an emergency. But, she doesn't get it and prefers to stick her head in the sand about it. A year ago that would have really stressed me out, but we are much more confident in it now thank goodness.
No. I am a class parent and I would never dream asking the teachers for their personal information. I do have one personal email address and I've never shared it and use it very sparingly.
All teachers have DOE email addresses which I use. I also swing by in the morning to let them know of anything critical.
No. I am a class parent and I would never dream asking the teachers for their personal information. I do have one personal email address and I've never shared it and use it very sparingly.
All teachers have DOE email addresses which I use. I also swing by in the morning to let them know of anything critical.
As a room mom, I never asked for a teacher's personal number. As a teacher, I have not been asked for it either. My room mom already had it because she has a child DS's age so we already knew each other. I would not be happy if a parent asked me for my cell phone number unless they had a really good reason( and I'm not even sure what that might be).
Post by soexcited317 on Mar 1, 2016 11:07:49 GMT -5
DH is a high school teacher and coach. He does give his cell phone to athletes and their parents. Unfortunately he is constantly being contacted on his cell phone at odd hours. But that is just part of his role as the coach. He has never had an issue with a non athlete student getting his cell phone number or abusing it. Students are also issued district emails and can contact their teachers through that email. I also agree with other posters who said cell phone is not the easiest way to communicate with a teacher during the school day. If I need to communicate with DH during the day I email. If I had a true emergency and needed to speak with him in person, I would more reliably get a hold of him by calling his classroom phone. DS1 is enrolled in preschool in the same district and I also communicate with his teacher through email and in person at drop off and pick up.
No. DS in in kindergarten, and I feel bad that his teacher answers my emails within seconds of me sending them, so I try not to send them during the weekend or evenings. His teacher really likes class dojo, and that's our primary method of communication.
No I don't have my kids teachers or give out my cell number. There is zero reason parents need my cell number. They can email me and I have a class phone number they can reach me at. I return all emails within 12 hours usually sooner. I have 4 BSC parents hell to the no.
Sign up genius is my go to if I need parents to bring something.