Get Schooled

By Teacher2

July 3, 2006 01:01 PM | Link to this

Yes, yes, YES it happens! It happens to me at daycare, church, the grocery store, sporting events, etc. etc. etc. I teach 160 students each semester and parents still expect me to discuss their precious darlings’ specific grades. I love my students, but it’s impossible for me to remember whether James or Sally turned in the last assignment, much less what their grades were. My stock answer is “I’ll have to get back to you on that,” but it feels like a cop-out. I love getting to know my students and their parents outside of school, but the off-the-clock conferences drive me crazy. Since I live in a relatively small town, I’ve started doing my shopping in a neighboring city or at odd hours just to avoid this situation.

By Kim

July 3, 2006 01:13 PM | Link to this

It’s natural for parents to want to talk to me as a teacher. There’s no doubt most professionals (doctors, accountants, etc.) face the same thing when out in public. When I’m on my own time, I’ll be friendly and let the parent know I’m available to talk later. As a parent, I NEVER talked business with a teacher unless a meeting was arranged.

By Robert

July 3, 2006 01:35 PM | Link to this

Oh yes, this does happen.

I have had parents stopping me in a grocery store wanting to discuss their son’s quiz grade from 5 weeks ago….. like I remember!

It is so funny to be in education. One on extreme is the perception that teachers are god-like people that know everything all of the time and can answer any question on the spur of the moment. One the other extreme is the perception that teachers are lazy idiots that only want summers off and want to get paid big bucks. Go figure.

By SNY

July 3, 2006 01:53 PM | Link to this

I have to admit, I have done that to a teacher. I asked her if my daughters final grade was an “A” or “B”. It wasn’t until she looked at me like I had two heads that I realized that this poor lady had no clue. I apologized and let her finish her shopping. The next Monday, she called me and gave me my answer. She didn’t get mad or mean or smart, she just gave me a look that said it all. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Teachers are not the God-like people we want them to be. There is no way that they are going to remember everything all the time. I don’t remember every new tax law and I shouldn’t expect them to remember every grade my daughter made.

By Lee

July 3, 2006 02:04 PM | Link to this

Actually, my wife is just the opposite. She sees a parent out in public and she’s usually the one who corners them. Typically, it’s the parent that she has tried to call or never responded to a note home…

Course, it doesn’t hurt that when God gave out vocal chords, he gave her the heavy duty set. Dang woman would talk to a concrete block…

By decaturparent

July 3, 2006 02:13 PM | Link to this

OFF TOPIC - Hey Patti, how about a blog on school lice policies. We have been swimming in the little darlings thanks to a big outbreak at the end of the school year.

Many districts/schools are dropping their no nit policies due to pressures from NCLB. This would make a great blog debate… I’d love to hear from teachers on this one.

Sorry to be off topic - but I can’t figure out how to email you directly - could be my computer.

By Leia

July 3, 2006 02:17 PM | Link to this

Yes, that happens to me all the time, since I live in the same district in which I teach. I can honestly say that I have only been asked about grades a handful of times in my career, and I have to explain to them that I cannot even remember all of my own children’s grades! For the most part - parents have been very nice. I have only had one really bad experience when a father wanted to have a conference with me in the Target parking lot, and called me rude when I told him I had errands to run and would answer his questions that Monday. He explained to me that since I was a teacher, I was “on-call 24/7, and he paid my salary”.

The funniest thing is to see the students’ reactions to seeing you out of “teacher mode”. They find it hard to believe that you wear shorts, play sports or pull your hair back in a ponytail!

By SNY

July 3, 2006 02:20 PM | Link to this

Lee,

Are the parents that your wife usually yelling at stopping to talk to her or do they run away? Also, are these the parents that may be on a blog like this caring about their kids or not? If not, how are those kids grades in school? Just something to think about and ponder.

By Teacher's Daughter

July 3, 2006 02:25 PM | Link to this

SNY—I’m glad you learned your lesson. You wouldn’t BELIVE some of the things people have asked my mom about their kids while we were out in public! If you need to speak with your child’s teacher, SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT and then SHOW UP ON TIME for that appointment! You wouldn’t believe how many people forget this common courtesy. Teachers have busy schedules just like everyone else!

Mom doesn’t mind though when former students recognize her and stop for a moment to say HI. Please keep it to just that though: a moment. Teachers also have errands to run just like everyone else.

By Patti Ghezzi

July 3, 2006 02:25 PM | Link to this

ooooo….Good topic, Decaturparent.

I had an experience with nits and lice way back when when I had a second job carting kids from my neighborhood to their private school each morning. One day, the kids got turned away at the door for failing nit inspection. I took them home and called their parents who were both already at work. Neither offered to come home!!! They asked me to stay there until they could find a babysitter, which of course they could not!!! Then they asked me to go to CVS and buy the various products used for nit removal. Needless to say that job didn’t last long!

All right, give me a minute to get a post together…

By SNY

July 3, 2006 02:56 PM | Link to this

Teacher’s Daughter,

I have to admit that I was late to both of my Parent/Teacher conferences this year. The first time I didn’t have my watch set to the same time as the schools. It was correct for my job and 5 minutes late for the school. The second time, I was leaving the house and my 6 month old son threw up all over himself and me. I called and switcched places with another mom whom I knew was always 15-20 minutes early. I got lucky that time.

By Just Wondering

July 3, 2006 03:30 PM | Link to this

SNY - And you wonder why your daughter’s teacher didn’t have the “warm-fuzzies” for you and your daughter?

By dragonlady

July 3, 2006 03:58 PM | Link to this

I’ll bet I’m the only teacher who can tell about a principal stopping me in the hall and demanding to know what his son’s average was in my class at exactly that moment. Of course I didn’t know—I wasn’t carrying his child’s average around in my head—but he thought I should know. And he was a former teacher and was married to one. Needless to say, he wasn’t our favorite administrator.

By owl

July 3, 2006 04:02 PM | Link to this

A parent came up to me in the grocery store and wanted to know about an upcoming test. I did my best to look shocked at the assumption that I was on call whereever and whenever. I told the parent I was not in work mode and that I was with my family at the moment(2 small children) That parent then called the principal and complained that I had been rude to her and demanded an apology! The principal suggested it would be good to “smooth ruffled feathers” I flat out refused but I heard later that the principal called and apologized for me!

By Manny

July 3, 2006 04:10 PM | Link to this

I had a parent follow me through the mall complaining about how I graded a test paper! This lunatic was literally screaming, “YOU SHOULD HAVE ONLY TAKEN OFF ONE POINT!” The point of contention was that the student didn’t show any work, and I gave one point for the correct answer, and deducted all the other points. Anyway - I didn’t get the opportunity to say anything - my wife went B-A-N-A-N-A-S on her and saved our shopping trip! I almost felt sorry for the woman, my wife is no joke!

By Lee

July 3, 2006 04:12 PM | Link to this

SNY, huh??? Nobody is yelling at anyone nor is anyone running away.

By SNY

July 3, 2006 04:24 PM | Link to this

Lee,

I’m sorry, I used slang terminogology. I meant yelling at as far as stopping to speak to. I should not have used slang on the blog - sorry.

By SNY

July 3, 2006 04:27 PM | Link to this

Just wondering,

It is apparent that you don’t like me and I don’t give a flying f_. For the record, these two incidents happened at the private school and there were no hard feelings. It just so happened that her teacher was a mother to twins. She understood perfectly and asked me if I wanted to reschedule. I said no and made it in time for the next appointment.

By Jeff

July 3, 2006 04:33 PM | Link to this

Only experience I had with this so far was a give and take with a parent who was a parapro at my school. She would drop by my room occassinally and ask about her daughter’s grades or something I did in class, and I’d drop by her office some just making sure her daughter was etting everything. Daughter was one of the best students in the class - in all respects, not just grades - and for the most part it was no biggie.

Moving down though…. unsure. I’ll be living outside my county, but I’ll be living in the closest shopping/ restaurant area. We’ll see!

By Just Wondering

July 3, 2006 05:01 PM | Link to this

SNY - LOLOLOLOL

Do you use that filthy mouth to kiss your precious babies?

Grow up!

By Vicki

July 3, 2006 05:03 PM | Link to this

I’ll stop and talk with my children’s teacher when we’re out and about. But, there is NO WAY I’ll ask about anything related to grades or performance of my guys. I will, however, ask if she needs anything for her classroom…I can always add it to my shopping list and have my child bring it in the next school day.

If we see a teacher in a restaurant, we smile and say hi and try to sit as far away for them as possible. They (or I) may want to have a cocktail and I respect them enough to give them their space.

By Lee

July 3, 2006 05:06 PM | Link to this

Due to my innate ability to get right to the point, let me summarize….

A) Some parents are jerks.

B) Some teachers are jerks.

When the two meet in a grocery store, it can be fun to watch. Unless, of course, you are the produce manager and have to clean up the mess….

By Leia

July 3, 2006 05:12 PM | Link to this

Lee - you crack me up!

By Karen

July 3, 2006 05:15 PM | Link to this

SNY - I made the same assumption that Just Wondering did in thinking that you were referring to your child’s public school teacher because you said that you were late to the parent conferences this year. As we all know, your child was in the “bad” (according to you) Gwinnett County public school this year.

By a high school parent

July 3, 2006 05:42 PM | Link to this

Really, it doesn’t matter how many students a teacher has…it is way too egocentric for a parent to expect any teacher to recognize the parent of a student! Geez. I’ve run into my son’s teachers in public from time to time. I always acknowledge their presence, but would never discuss anything school-related involving my child. Actually, I haven’t scheduled a teacher conference since my son was in the 6th grade. He’s a good student, and I ask to be contacted only if there is an issue.

One of my best friends from high school taught 5th grade for many years. She and her husband did not purchase their dream home in their dream community because she taught at the elementary school there. She actually shopped at odd hours and sometimes in a neighboring town to avoid a particular type of parent. She referred to one or two of them as stalkers, always popping up at the most unexpected times, expecting up to the minute evaluations.

By Recently Retired

July 3, 2006 05:48 PM | Link to this

After working at the same school for thirty years, I can honestly say that most of the uncomfortable impromptu conferences were at school rather than in public. Most of the parents and kids that I ran into in public gave hugs and warm wishes. However, I have had several staff members who approached in the hall, mailroom, cafeteria. I remembered how much I hated being put on the spot that I made sure that when my daughter started to my school, I didn’t do the same thing. I would ask her teacher if there was a time when we could have a quick talk. To parents in public(and I consider aking questions in the hall to be pretty public)I say that I don’t have my gradebook with me, and could we set up a time to get together later.

By Jeff

July 3, 2006 05:50 PM | Link to this

Vicki,

Thank you. While I don’t have a problem drinking in front of my students per se, I have a problem drinking in front of kids in general. That my students happen to be kids is irrelevant there as far as I am concerned. If I ever teach college-level, some of my TUTOTING sessions may very well be at a bar! (Actually had a college prof do that!!)

By Vicki

July 3, 2006 06:04 PM | Link to this

Good for you Jeff; I don’t have a problem having a glass of wine with dinner when my children a present, as long as my husband is driving.

Have a great 4th!

By Jeff

July 3, 2006 06:20 PM | Link to this

eh, to each his own there. I just know for me, teaching is a burden that I carry 24/7. Even when I’m not in full-on “teacher” mode, I’m not all wild just-got-out-of-college boy either.

Do other teacher have this problem? I don’t know.

BTW: I was doing decently well, had a good couple of weeks off. But I strapped in the long sleeve shirt, tie, and dress shoes yesterday… teacher is re-emerging! (One thing my students would be suprised about is that while I try to be good about wearing the above described clothes at school, I RARELY wear them outside of school - not even to church! It is one of the FEW distinctions I try to put up in my life between “me” and “teacher”.)

By Principal's Principles

July 4, 2006 08:46 AM | Link to this

I’m a principal. I get ambushed at health clubs by spandexed over-40 soccor moms who actually quiz me in historical dates, math theorums or grammatical rules. Then, if I get it wrong, I have to listen to how overpaid teachers are, and boy are they gonna get the word out on me. I got a 1450 on my SAT’s and compiled a 3.9 in college. So what if I didn’t know when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor. And ladies, if you are no longer in the coveted 18-49 year old age demographic, then stop wearing spandex. Thank you.

By East cobb redneck

July 4, 2006 08:55 AM | Link to this

If you are involved with your teachers and students throughout the year, the need to harass teachers in public is not necessary. If you see a teacher at the grocery store, in church or a sporting event, stop and say hello or thank you and then move on. Teachers have lives that don’t revolve around you child. Respect them and you will be respected.

By Nikole

July 4, 2006 10:50 AM | Link to this

This never happened to me, but I did do this to my nephews teacher, despite being a teacher myself. It won’t ever happen again.

By Lisa B.

July 4, 2006 10:50 AM | Link to this

During the nine years I have been teaching 4th graders, I have met many parents while running errands, attending sporting events, etc. I’ve never felt a single parent tried to have an impromptu conference with me. Conversations were normally limited to salutations. Occasionally, when I run into a parent whose child struggles with behavior, the parent may ask how he or she is doing. I only teach 25 or so students, so it is easy for me to give out my home and cell phone numbers. I have rarely had a parent abuse the privilege of having my phone numbers, but I think parents like knowing they have access if they need it.

By 30 Year teacher

July 4, 2006 03:31 PM | Link to this

Dear Principal’s Principal,

Newsflash! The Germans did not bomb Pearl Harbor. Maybe the parent is right to be concerned about this school…

By Student

July 4, 2006 03:50 PM | Link to this

I know what it is like to encounter teachers outside school, and it is not fun. Usually, they are the ones who try to start up a conversasion and I just try to survive w/o offendng anyone. It is especially bad when you encounter teachers from your old school when you just changed (public to private)because you know they are wondering why you changed and it is just embarassing. I waould never ever try to talk about grades or tests, because i try to separate life and school probably more than they do. My mom, who is also a teacher is the same way. She will talk but not about my school (unless it is just asking if i am doing ok). so i dont like encountering teachers either.

By Fred

July 4, 2006 04:03 PM | Link to this

Are you kidding? I tell parents no all of the time when it is the summer time or the weekend. They don’t have the right to infringe on my time nor do I have the right to infringe upon their time. I politely tell them to contact me on Monday or whenever and leave it at that.

It is just plain rude to impose on people on their time. Same goes for doctors and other professionals at church, restaurant, wherever.

Just say no.

By North Georgia Middle School Teacher

July 4, 2006 05:29 PM | Link to this

I think we are always fair game to be asked general questions about a child, but not specific questions about their grades. For example, “Is Susie doing well in your class?” or “Is she going to be okay next year?” or “Does she need special help?” is appropriate, but if a parent asks me specific number grades on assignments, I ask them to call me at school when I am looking at the grade report. I think if we don’t make ourselves available as teachers all of the time, then we don’t have the right to ask our students to learn outside of our classroom since the students wouldn’t be “on the clock” then.

By SNY

July 5, 2006 08:15 AM | Link to this

Karen,

Sorry, saying “this” year was a typo. I was actually thinking and speaking about “last” year. The 2004-2005 school year.

It is just amazing how everyone can correct me on this blog, but no one corrects anyone else. You teachers really don’t like me do you?

By unhappycobbparent

July 5, 2006 09:04 AM | Link to this

The teachers and Karen A. own this blog.

By Elane

July 5, 2006 09:16 AM | Link to this

Once I sat near my child’s dentist at a restaurant. It was REALLY hard to resist bringing up the clinical specifics in conversation (though I did resist) — the reason it was so hard was, the only way I knew this guy was as a dentist, so what else do you talk about? Granted, I’m hardly the world’s leading conversationalist. But I can sort of understand the temptation to “talk shop” when you meet a teacher, doctor, etc. outside the workplace. It’s great when the crowds and the clock keep you moving to prevent that sort of awkwardness.

By SNY

July 5, 2006 09:34 AM | Link to this

unhappycobbparent,

I found that out the hard way, didn’t I?

By em

July 5, 2006 09:55 AM | Link to this

It seems that Principal’s Principles has a bit of an inferority complex. By the way, not only did the Germans NOT attack Pearl Harbor, soccor is spelled soccer.

By luvs2teach

July 5, 2006 10:05 AM | Link to this

I now teach at my neighborhood school, yet surprisingly this doesn’t happen as often as I thought it would.

I’ve run into a couple kids with their folks at the grocery store - all were pleasant conversations. Questions about the kids were general - “How’s he doing?” as opposed to specific grades. One technique I use when the student is present is to turn the question on the student - “What DID you get on that last test?”

The more embarassing (for both of us, I think) is when I run into my students at the gym - I’m certainly not looking my best, nor very teacher-like.

It’s all good, though - I always note any conversation on my parent contact log!

By Karen

July 5, 2006 10:09 AM | Link to this

SNY - I’m not Karen A.; I’m actually Karen T! There are several people named Karen! I am not a teacher; I’m actually a pharmacist and a mother who frequently reads this blog. I cannot speak for teachers, but, I will say that based on your comments and the tone that your comments have - no, I don’t think I would like you. I also think that any teacher who has to deal with you should receive hazard pay.

Additionally - your comment that you are the only person corrected on this blog is immature and incorrect. You sound like a 4 year old who gets in trouble - “But, Johnny did it too!”

By happygwinnettparent

July 5, 2006 10:20 AM | Link to this

unhappycobbparent - Actually, jim d, SNY, and the AJC own this blog!

By SNY

July 5, 2006 10:26 AM | Link to this

Karen T!,

I’m not the one who stated that Karen and the teachers own this blog, someone else did. I don’t care if you are a teacher or a doctor or anything else. I don’t care about you one way or another. My daughter’s teachers do not need hazard duty pay, they need to do their jobs. Don’t get angry with parents who expect teachers to be teachers. I don’t get mad when one of my vendors calls me for payment of an invoice. That is my job. If I didn’t want to do it, I’d get another one. I don’t ask any more from one teacher than I do from another teacher. Why is it that I get different responses from the public school teachers? I had great relationships with the 4 other teachers my daughter had, I had a horrible time with the public school teacher and I was asking the same things from her that I have been asking from teachers in the past. I would say that I am sorry if my tone on this blog makes you or anyone else unhappy or uneasy but to be honest, I don’t care if you don’t like my tone. My comments, that you call immature and incorrect, were actually made to make people lighten up and laugh. Some people on this blog actually understand me, you just happen to be one that doesn’t. That’s fine, it is what makes the world go around and around and around.

Believe it or not, I do read what is said about me and I think about what I wrote and I wonder if anything that people tell me can help me in one way or another. I find that Jeff and Jim d., usually give me the best advice or critism.(sp) Jeff is hard on me but he tells me the truth and he isn’t an *ss about it. Others just jump and don’t care how it comes across. I am the same way.

Karen T!, you weren’t walking in my shoes this year with this particular teacher so you don’t have a clue what I have been through. All teachers are not good and all of them aren’t as dedicated as the people on this blog.

By SNY

July 5, 2006 10:32 AM | Link to this

happygwinnettparent,

No I do not, nor do I want to own this blog. I put my stories and opinions on the blog just like everyone else. Don’t get upset with me because I have serious issues with the public school teacher my daughter had this year. Get mad at her. She is the one that didn’t do her job.

By Karen

July 5, 2006 10:33 AM | Link to this

SNY - I think that you are the one who needs to lighten up! Perhaps I can prescribe something for you!

By happygwinnettparent

July 5, 2006 10:41 AM | Link to this

SNY - I’m not upset with you or anyone else - read my name! I do think you use this blog as free therapy though! And FYI - I think a lot of people say things just to provoke you because it’s so amazingly easy to get you riled up! You’re like a yapping chihuahua - arf, arf, arf!

Try to have a Gwinnett day!

By SNY

July 5, 2006 10:49 AM | Link to this

Karen,

I didn’t have any of these problems at private school only at public school.

Being drugged up and happy isn’t going to help. Although I will keep you in mind the next time my kids are yelling and running around the house, driving me crazy. Maybe I’ll shoot you an email begging for something to help me relax and mellow out. (Just kidding in case someone thinks I’m serious.)

By SNY

July 5, 2006 10:50 AM | Link to this

happy,

Gwinnett is not all that it cracked up to be. I am really glad that you are happy, but not everyone lives your life and your happiness.

By SNY

July 5, 2006 10:59 AM | Link to this

happy,

There is no reason to call me a b**ch, either. That was rude.

By happygwinnettparent

July 5, 2006 11:10 AM | Link to this

SNY - I never called you a b**! Reread my post. I compared you to a yapping chihuahua. If it helps, let me translate it into your native language - arf, arf, arf!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

By SNY

July 5, 2006 11:38 AM | Link to this

Happy,

I chihuahua is a dog, if you are calling me a dog and I am a female then yes, you are calling me a b**ch. Don’t compare me to anything, you don’t know me. I could compare you to Mary Poppins or someone like that, would you like that?

By SET

July 5, 2006 11:46 AM | Link to this

SNY:

I’ve seen your postings from time to time and we have probably exchanged points here…

Anybody who is into direct personal insults to another blogger or to anyone else in a public discourse setting is not worthy of your response or your concern. We all see them for what they are.

You don’t have to say anything at all. All of us know you - no one has to defend you. You don’t need defending. Ignore the lower class, just like we do in real life.

By happygwinnettparent

July 5, 2006 11:52 AM | Link to this

SNY - Once again, I did not call you a b*tch. I don’t speak that way face-to-face or online. Anyway - you TOTALLY missed the point! The point was that you are easily provoked (as you are illustrating quite nicely - thank you!). The truth hurts!

If you compared me to Mary Poppins I really wouldn’t be offended! We both have lovely singing voices!

By Leia

July 5, 2006 11:56 AM | Link to this

SNY - you know that you and I have not agreed on much on this blog, but, even I was shocked that you would allow yourself to be goaded into a “fight” like this! I agree with SET. Some people are such that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with them. Ignore these folks. They can’t fight by themselves! Don’t supply them with fodder by responding to every single post!

By SNY

July 5, 2006 11:57 AM | Link to this

SET,

You are correct. I apologize for everyone else how has to read this. Just having one of those bad days where every thing seems to be setting me off. My poor co-workers are looking at me like I’m crazy. I had some idiots in my neighborhood setting off firecrackers until 3 this morning. Can you believe that. Anyway, I am going to lunch and shake off my morning with Happy and when I come back, I will be happy (not being funny here) and alive myself.

Thank you SET for bringing me back.

By em

July 5, 2006 12:07 PM | Link to this

I live and teach in a small community; therefore, I see many of my students and their parents when I am out and about. My experiences have been similar to Recently Retired and Lisa B. Usually impromptu conferences in public places such as Target or Kroger are short because we all are running errands. By the way, I left the “i” out of inferiority in my last blog. Shame on me for casting stones! :)

By SET

July 5, 2006 12:22 PM | Link to this

On point about the report card thing…

I’ve been sitting in on Bird Flu emergency preparedness planning and the public schools are there also. One of the issues is social distancing - if a problem breaks out we would have to minimize human contacts. The schools must (If they are going to get ready) beef up their software so that more functions can be done through the internet. The colleges are already well into this process. Secondary schools are way behind.

At some point (Soon, I hope) parents will be getting routine and automated Emails with Sonny and Cher’s assignments, corrected assignments, grades and attendance. Alternatively they can be “available” on the school’s website if the parent cares to look. I favor a combination of both. The kicker is an online school transcript so they can see how the kid’s performance is being written to the permanent record - grades, discipline and standardized test scores and all.

When they Email the teacher with questions the teacher can pull up the kid’s data and copy or compose an answer back.

Whether the flu pandemic becomes a problem or not, the investment in software could make things better for the teachers - and increase productivity. It can also reduce face to face contacts while speeding up parental reaction to the kids problems.

If the parent doesn’t have a computer - that’s their problem. Those that do will get the benefits. The others can borrow one or go to the public library.

If things do hit the fan on the Flu situation much of public school operations can be moved to the internet with each class having a webpage with assignments, deadlines, and collection of work by uploading. Lectures can be recorded by the teacher for downloading and viewing by the students. Shifting grading to pass/fail for online work, and graded work on the periodic live testing would contain impersonation/cheating issues. It’s an idea anyway. The colleges are already there.

By SET

July 5, 2006 12:57 PM | Link to this

Another thought about the Bird Flu planning. It seems that if the schools can pursuade the Public Health Officer to declare an “epidemic” (a lesser thing than declaring an emergency) they get all of their ADA money regardless of school attendance.

Problem I see is that once the school districts get their hands on the cash, they have no incentive to actually teach anything. Or to pay the teachers. Could they lay off the teaching staff and keep the ADA money? Or would they do all they could to operate by internet and/or drop off/pick up points - and try to keep the education going?

One thing is clear - when and if human to human transmission starts occurring the schools will have to close for a (significant) period of time to allow things to settle. In any flu the schools are second only to the workplace for spreading the disease. Time would be needed after human transmission develops to make vaccines.

There is concern that the people most likely to fall mortally ill in this flu are adolescents. Thus the need for the school districts to plan for continuation of operations if they get social distancing orders preventing normal indoor operations. If a problem hits in the winter, outdoor classes won’t work either. Thus the Internet option. Who knows, maybe it will improve working conditions.

Brave New World!

By SNY

July 5, 2006 01:34 PM | Link to this

I’m back.

I feel so much better now.

Leia,

Just as SET was correct, so are you. I’m over this morning and ready to get back on topic.

So, I was talking to a teacher friend(yes, I have friends) of mine and mentioned this topic. She told me that she took her oldest daughter to a skating party last weekend and a parent from her class this past year wanted to know thier childs scores on the CRCT. From what I understand, those don’t come home until next year in the Friday packet during the 1st or 2nd week of school. When my friend told her that she didn’t have them at school or with her at the skating party, the parent (Cobb County) got mad and informed my friend that she was calling the Cobb County Superintendent because her childs teacher should have more information. The parent wanted my friend to guess what the child scores could possibly be. My friend told her that she must have at least passed because they did not call the parent and have the child go to summer school. Now I will agree with every teacher on this blog - THAT WAS WAY OUT OF LINE. I want teachers to do the job that they are being paid to do, but they aren’t being paid to know my childs test score at the drop of a dime.

To make matters worse, this was a parent that couldn’t come to parent teacher conferences because she was always out of town on business. Go figure.

By SNY

July 5, 2006 01:35 PM | Link to this

Does anyone know how I can reach Patti myself?

By Leia

July 5, 2006 02:08 PM | Link to this

SNY -

Patti Ghezzi, reporter, statewide prek - 12 issues and trends; Atlanta Public Schools, private schools; blogmaster; 404-526-2782, pghezzi@ajc.com

By SNY

July 5, 2006 02:30 PM | Link to this

Leia,

Thanks

By Amazed (Independent Woman)

July 5, 2006 03:10 PM | Link to this

I usually avoid the teachers, because I don’t want to be bother when I am out and about. I also avoid them in school halls and at church. Unless I make an appointment to see a teacher, I think it should be Good Morning or Good Evening and keep on moving.

I’m the same way with co-workers, outside of my job.

By Leia

July 5, 2006 04:07 PM | Link to this

I have also had one parent/neighbor who came up to me while I was sitting in my yard and ask me what her son should study for the final exam. I explained to her that he had been given a review sheet to use for this purpose, and, that I was off the clock. She looked embarrassed, apologized and left my yard. I’m sure that she had assumed that I was going to give her specific questions/topics that he should study. Anyway - he’s in his third year at Tech and she ended up being one of my really good friends!

By Leia

July 5, 2006 04:17 PM | Link to this

Patti - how about a blog about exactly what parents expect from teachers. I honestly would like to know if a parent expects a weekly progress report. If the parent makes this request known - I can accomodate it. If the parent doesn’t let me know what he/she wants, it’s very disheartening to find out at the end of a semester that the parent was expecting this service and felt disappointed. I am really good about accomodating parents to a certain extent. When they ask me to call everytime the student doesn’t do homework, or to call them after tennis practice at 9:00 pm - that’s where I draw the line! At the high school level, I have certain expectations from the students and believe that they should be responsible for communicating information to their parents. But, I think that if we knew exactly what the parents expected up front - there would be less “friction” between the two groups.

By SNY

July 5, 2006 04:28 PM | Link to this

Leia,

You are a teacher that tries to accomodate what parents want. What do parents do about the teachers that don’t try to do anything. They think that they are suppose to teach and grade papers and that’s it. What are we suppose to do?

By Patti Ghezzi

July 5, 2006 04:41 PM | Link to this

Leia, good topic! I just wrote something for tomorrow based on a parent request. I’ll put yours up either tomorrow afternoon or Friday.

Patti

By Leia

July 5, 2006 04:43 PM | Link to this

SNY - that is why I suggested the blog topic to Patti. I honestly would like to know what parents expect. I recall that you mentioned that your daughter’s teacher sent weekly reports and you expected them to come more frequently. Unless there was a special needs situation (504 plan, IEP), I would explain how that was not feasible. We could have come up with a plan to work for all of us.

By Jeff

July 5, 2006 05:16 PM | Link to this

Ok everyone, I have some (at least temporarily) sad news….

This is my last post from North GA. I’ll be offline until pre-planning, as I don’t have a computer moving with me. Just found out that my utilities can’t be turned on in one day like I though, so I have to do that TOMORROW! (My stuff will come down Saturday.)

New Teacher Orientation starts a week from tomorrow… FUN!!!

Goodbye for now!

By luvs2teach

July 5, 2006 05:52 PM | Link to this

Leia, SNY - when my kids were in elementary school, I liked getting the weekly packets that had all their work for me to review, as well as anything I needed to read and/or sign. I especially liked the teachers that put in weekly newsletters - it gave me good jump-off topics other than “How was your day, dear?” Because I saw the work, I knew if my child was in trouble academically. I was lucky that both my kids were well-behaved, but it was my understanding that behavior info went home in those as well, if needed.

I thought that was an excellent and fair system - of course, it required me to do my part, and review the material myself, with my kids.

I missed that weekly communication when my kids went to middle school - of course, I know now that that kind of communication is more difficult when you have 5 classes of 25 - 30 instead of 1 class of 25. Still, I read everything that came home with report cards and progress reports - including the highly informative PTA newsletter.

Now my daughter is in college and my son is in high school. In addition to monthly newsletters, his school has most of his info online - attendance and progress reports from each teacher. I can log on and check when I want (I know some high schools also have discipline info as well as automated e-mails if your child is absent - even from one class). The only times I communicate with teachers now is at the start of the semester, just to introduce myself, and if I have a specific question about something in the online progress report - it’s set up so that teacher can comment as to why the grade was what it was - failure to make up work, no homework, etc. It saves us both an enormous amount of time and aggravation. I can’t say that my son loves the system as much as I do!

For me as a teacher, I freely give out my e-mail address, and I respond to e-mails usually the same day (phone calls are tougher for reasons mentioned by many before). I also have a class website and blog with links to my e-mail, and online grades. I post my assignments on a homework hotline as well as the class website. Also, I post my powerpoint notes, online flashcards, and online practice quizzes on the class website. That’s just the techie stuff - we also send home progress reports, report cards, PTA newsletter, etc…With all this, I still have parents tell me that they don’t understand why their child failed my class.

My standard for myself is to be the teacher I would want my child to have - it’s worked pretty well so far!

By SET

July 5, 2006 06:29 PM | Link to this

Leia is right about establishing what the boundries are early so that no one is surprised. Maybe a handout at the beginning of the school year? Or a statement on the teacher’s page of the school website?

I like the idea of distributing the (work) email address. But if you hand out your cell phone number you may be getting calls all over the clock.

With better school software parents wouldn’t have to ask the teacher questions at a restaurant or backyard.

The more I hear about internet integration with School operations the more promise it seems to have. Especially the part about posting the child’s corrected homework, tests and grades on the web accessable by the parents and the child. And using the web to collect homework and assignments. Mommy and Daddy would be able to see everything from the kid’s handwriting to the timestamp on the late submissions. Maybe even the class average scores on the various tests and assignments to get an idea of what Jr is up to without having to waste limited teacher time with basic questions. That means when the teacher-parent contacts do occur they can focus on what needs to be changed with Jr. (as opposed to what is Jr doing - and how sure is the teacher about it.)

Yes this could allow outsourcing of reading and scoring. But the teachers can concentrate on tailoring assignments specifically for the strenghts and weaknesses of the individual student. And allow more (student evaluation) work at the teacher’s convenience time & place wise.

I’ve been worried for some time that some children are mismatched in class to their ability, and end up being dumped on because they don’t perform as well as Ken and Barbie. The more early and objective feedback we could provide to the families about what Jr is doing in his classes the more opportunity the families will have to decide if Jr needs to develop Plan B. Teacher’s have limited time. A system such as internet web software that allows parents to continuously see how the child is performing may smooth the process of them seeing and responding to the child’s needs without the personality clashes of sporadic parent-teacher conferences.

Parents have the most at stake with the kid’s future and if they can see that their kid is doing much better or worse than average in certain areas they may respond by adjusting the childs program.

By Leia

July 5, 2006 06:45 PM | Link to this

SET - in my county, we are required to have our email address, the department phone number and our website URL (if one exists) on our syllabus. I will be glad when they buy a grading program that is integrated with web capabilities so that the parents can have access to grades at all times. The only problem I foresee is parents wanting items graded and recorded in one day - ugh!

By Leia

July 5, 2006 06:50 PM | Link to this

SET - if the students are submitting assignments via the computer, how would the parents see handwriting? I teach online courses as well, and the assignments are typed, not handwritten. Are the students expected to have a scanner at home? My county would never support this - we cannot even require a student to buy his/her own calculator! FYI - the ones who claim that a graphing calculator would be a financial hardship are the same ones who can tell you the exact date the new Jordan’s are going to be released! And you can bet your last dollar that they will be wearing the sneakers the very next day - at upwards of $150 a pair!

By luvs2teach

July 5, 2006 06:57 PM | Link to this

Hi, SET! I love the new integration of technology, both as a parent and a teacher.

One site my son’s high school uses is turnitin.com. His English teacher used it in a couple ways - one thing she did was to post topics for the students to write about. They were graded on both their response as well as their response to others. The other cool feature of turnitin.com is that you submit papers to it that are automatically checked against online content for plagiarism.

My onlie grading program allows me to see the averages on a test, but not the parents - however, your comment gave me a good idea - I can simply post the class average on a test in the comment section so parents can see it that way. Currently I put things down like - “Needs to study more - had week’s notice” etc.

I also used a scanner creatively this year - I had a student write some pretty bad stuff in a note I confiscated - I scanned it and then e-mailed it to her mom. There were no questions for me about that write-up!

By luvs2teach

July 5, 2006 07:01 PM | Link to this

Leia - my school’s policy on updating online grades is once a week, which is fair, I think. I further clarify with my parents that I typically do a lot of my grading over the weekend, and so Monday is the best day to check. If something comes up, then I’ll let them know, if I have their e-mail. It’s actually very good for me - it keeps me from procrastinating and having work build up!

By EW

July 6, 2006 11:29 AM | Link to this

I don’t mind brief conversations in public, but please remind me of your name (and your child’s)- I can’t always remember the parent faces of 160+ students each year!

By jim d

July 10, 2006 10:30 AM | Link to this

Oh yeah,

Not only tell them you’re not on the clock, but let them know they are welcome to make an appointment to visit you once you are.

I make it a point when running in to one of my child’s teachers in public to never bring up any particulars. I will speak, asking how they are doing and let them know to call if I can be of any assistance. (well unless the teacher is a butt head and then I just ignore them)