What would you say if a group of parents from the school stayed after school for a 1 to 2 hours each day and let their kids run around and play with each other?
Now obviously I am one of the parents that stays after school and lets the kids run off energy, so I pretty much think I’m awesome, but what would you say if I told you that one teacher has her panties in a bunch over this whole thing? What would you say if I told you that this particular teacher has said to MANY of the other staff members that “we have no business standing around gossiping about the teachers”?
I know. Paranoid much? Now seriously. Do teachers really think that parents don’t talk about them? I mean come on. We leave our children with them for pretty much the majority of the day and of course we will want to know about other teachers in the building. But really…while I will admit that the topic of teachers does come up…it surely is not what we talk about all the time.
This teacher is so paranoid that I really am considering designing a t-shirt on cafepress.com and getting one made for our entire posse. Now wouldn’t THAT be funny?!?
i am definitely the "answer c" teacher…even if you were talking about me i could give 2 sh*ts…most likely talking about how awesome i am…if you are watching your kids why do i care…my answer to your question i realize does make me the teacher of the year:)
have fun & let your kids have fun…
That is ridiculous! Why on earth would she think that your purpose in letting the kids play is to gossip about the teachers?
ildeva
At the elementary level children "releasing energy" is permissible as long as the children are being supervised. Parents comments about teachers at the school can really only focus on classroom performance. A teachers personal life is none of the parents business. The parents nee to focus their energy on assisting the teachers in making the classroom environment condusive to increased learning; not peeking into the teachers personal life.
Dear Anonymous,
Where did I say anything about peeking into teachers personal lives? And obviously the kids are supervised.
However I will say, sometimes a teachers behavior outside the classroom, does affect how they are in the classroom.
You can say that teachers' outside behavior affects the classroom, but you'd simply be talking about yourself and everybody else, as well. Come on.
Stop trying to second guess teachers' performance quality and get involved with supporting them. How do you do that? You explain why the teacher does some things your child complains about, or just doesn't understand. You NEVER say a negative word about schools and teachers in front of your kid, because it never helps them become analytical; only cynical. Understand this: you only sabotage your child's respect for education when you present yourself as some viable teacher "judge" in front of them. Your child must realize that when it comes to his/her education you and his/her teacher are supportive allies. Especially when the teacher is a parent like you are.
Teachers' griping about your "supervising" kids comes from a more sophisticated level legal liability understanding and risk than you seem to recognize here. Regardless of the the supervision of children after school, teachers are often legally charged with students' safety until they have left the school grounds. That's in state law and in their employment contracts. If, in your school's case, they are not primarily liable for their safety, then the principal is. And you should be concerned about whether you yourself are increasing safety liability for the principal if you haven't gone through volunteer processing with the district. Public schools can't just be ad hoc "taken over" by parents; other parents want general community consensus on principal and staff liaility when you show up and "run" some afternoon program. You forgot to mention whether that's true in your school's case, or not. So you can get over yourself anytime, now.
First of all Constance, this is after school hours, the principal knows that we stay after and has come out on many occasions to talk to us. He has also commented on how nice it is for the kids to run off their energy.
Second of all, we are not "taking over the school" to "run" some after school program. Each of us parents that stay AFTER SCHOOL HOURS to watch OUR OWN children follow them from spot to spot, so if they are on one side of the building playing, we are there to. If they want to move to the other side of the building to the other playground, we go there as well.
And finally, I think you are adding in your own little twist to this post. I don't talk negatively about the school or any of the teachers in front of my children, nor do the other parents that stay after (at least while we are at school…what they do at home is their business). This post was about the fact that a teacher is paranoid that we are talking about her…not what she does on her free time at home, or the need we must have to run some sort of program and take over the school.
Oh and all the parents that stay after are parents that volunteer in the school on a regular basis and our district requires all parents to go through a volunteer process that includes a background check that stays on file. Though I really don't see where that is necessary given we are staying after school hours watching our own children play.
I could care less what the parents think about me! I am not here for the parents, I am here for the students! Way too many parents have to much time on their hands and do want to run the school and talk about the teachers as well as adm. these parents should go home and clean their homes or go get a job. In the end the teachers start hating you and your kids! Get a LIFE!!!
Seriously? What an idiot that teacher is for thinking you are talking about her! I assume her paranoia is because she must have something in her teaching that is not up to par. What is that old saying "when you point one finger at someone, you have 3 more pointing back at you"? Yep. That seems like a good fit.
As for not judging your children's teachers in front of them (as stated by one of the other commentators), well what are we supposed to do when your child's teacher tells you, as you are signing her in for class that day, that she cannot attend class because she has boogers?
This actually happened to my child. She had to have a "health check" every day at check in, performed by an unqualified to perform medical exams teacher. As an educator she was very good. As a nurse, completely inept.
So there I am with a child who loves school. LOVES it and being told in front of other parents, her classmates and teacher's aides that I had to take her home because she has BOOGERS!! My daughter threw a fit. THEN I was told I had to CARRY her to our car. IN THE POURING RAIN. I was not allowed to hold her hand and walk her out. I was INSTRUCTED to carry her. We nearly fell THREE times.
Because it was a torrential downpour.
BRILLIANT, right?
Let me be clear, my child was not sick. She simply did not do a good job of blowing her nose that morning, as many 4 year olds do. This was a PUBLIC preschool. Tell me where THAT is conducive to trust in your child's teacher? The next day, AFTER I had attempted to talk to the principal and was pawned off to the school nurse, the teacher said the same thing. I marched to the principal's office where we waited (wasted) 20 minutes waiting for the principal to look up my daughter's nose for 2 seconds and declare her fit for class attendance.
I'm sorry, but if a teacher is not treating my child well or doing stupid things like mistaking boogers for great dripping gobs of green snot running down her face, I am going to say something. And I will say it TO my child so that she will learn how to stand up for herself.