APS - teachers on cell phones?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My son's third grade teacher was on her phone a lot for a little while. It turned out her mother was in hospice and died. I'd leave it alone. there is probably a good reason.


+100

Going through something similar and my phone does not leave my side.

+1
I am a teacher and do not have a single moment to take a personal call during the day, much less go to the bathroom. I am having a family situation and am getting a lot of texts lately. I am doing my best to handle it when students are not there, but that's pretty tough to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I don't know what I want to do but it's one likeable teacher that they have raised this about. But there are issues as a result of the phone usage.

since everyone is busy judging me for my QUESTION - what would YOU do if your child came home and reported this repeatedly about the same teacher?

It might depend on the "issues" that have resulted as a result of the phone use. Most likely I would do nothing unless I had personally witnessed the teacher on her cell phone while students were neglected. As many PPs have noted there may be legitimate reasons for her to be on her phone.

That being said, I work in a school and rarely use my cell phone. I depend more on email for communication and always leave the main office number in case of emergency if my family needs me, I know the secretary will find me if there is truly an emergency. (I do not abuse this or have people call the school to do things like confirm appointments,just truly for emergencies.)

If you are really curious about the policy, you could inquire with the school w/o making any accusations... but again, not sure what the benefit of doing this is. Are you looking to get the teacher in trouble? Seek change to the policy if it is not to your liking? Improve safety of kids?

Does it matter?

Set up a camera to record video of the classroom. Get the teacher on video slacking off. Then deliver to Fox5 News.

Your teacher will be gone immediately, and they’ll reassign their very best teacher in the school system to your child’s class. And you’ll deserve that for taking the bull by the horns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I don't know what I want to do but it's one likeable teacher that they have raised this about. But there are issues as a result of the phone usage.

since everyone is busy judging me for my QUESTION - what would YOU do if your child came home and reported this repeatedly about the same teacher?

It might depend on the "issues" that have resulted as a result of the phone use. Most likely I would do nothing unless I had personally witnessed the teacher on her cell phone while students were neglected. As many PPs have noted there may be legitimate reasons for her to be on her phone.

That being said, I work in a school and rarely use my cell phone. I depend more on email for communication and always leave the main office number in case of emergency if my family needs me, I know the secretary will find me if there is truly an emergency. (I do not abuse this or have people call the school to do things like confirm appointments,just truly for emergencies.)

If you are really curious about the policy, you could inquire with the school w/o making any accusations... but again, not sure what the benefit of doing this is. Are you looking to get the teacher in trouble? Seek change to the policy if it is not to your liking? Improve safety of kids?

Does it matter?

Set up a camera to record video of the classroom. Get the teacher on video slacking off. Then deliver to Fox5 News.

Your teacher will be gone immediately, and they’ll reassign their very best teacher in the school system to your child’s class. And you’ll deserve that for taking the bull by the horns.

The hell is wrong with you, pp?

Btw, no TV station will give a hoot about this. Jesus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I don't know what I want to do but it's one likeable teacher that they have raised this about. But there are issues as a result of the phone usage.

since everyone is busy judging me for my QUESTION - what would YOU do if your child came home and reported this repeatedly about the same teacher?

It might depend on the "issues" that have resulted as a result of the phone use. Most likely I would do nothing unless I had personally witnessed the teacher on her cell phone while students were neglected. As many PPs have noted there may be legitimate reasons for her to be on her phone.

That being said, I work in a school and rarely use my cell phone. I depend more on email for communication and always leave the main office number in case of emergency if my family needs me, I know the secretary will find me if there is truly an emergency. (I do not abuse this or have people call the school to do things like confirm appointments,just truly for emergencies.)

If you are really curious about the policy, you could inquire with the school w/o making any accusations... but again, not sure what the benefit of doing this is. Are you looking to get the teacher in trouble? Seek change to the policy if it is not to your liking? Improve safety of kids?

Does it matter?

Set up a camera to record video of the classroom. Get the teacher on video slacking off. Then deliver to Fox5 News.

Your teacher will be gone immediately, and they’ll reassign their very best teacher in the school system to your child’s class. And you’ll deserve that for taking the bull by the horns.

So, you're going to have your kid pull out their cell phone rather than doing their work, to prove the teacher isn't doing their work? I think it would be wiser to tell your kid that perhap the teacher is dealing with someone in hospice or another family issue; that way you are teaching the kid to be empathetic first, rather than be globally accusatory/cynical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I don't know what I want to do but it's one likeable teacher that they have raised this about. But there are issues as a result of the phone usage.

since everyone is busy judging me for my QUESTION - what would YOU do if your child came home and reported this repeatedly about the same teacher?

It might depend on the "issues" that have resulted as a result of the phone use. Most likely I would do nothing unless I had personally witnessed the teacher on her cell phone while students were neglected. As many PPs have noted there may be legitimate reasons for her to be on her phone.

That being said, I work in a school and rarely use my cell phone. I depend more on email for communication and always leave the main office number in case of emergency if my family needs me, I know the secretary will find me if there is truly an emergency. (I do not abuse this or have people call the school to do things like confirm appointments,just truly for emergencies.)

If you are really curious about the policy, you could inquire with the school w/o making any accusations... but again, not sure what the benefit of doing this is. Are you looking to get the teacher in trouble? Seek change to the policy if it is not to your liking? Improve safety of kids?

Does it matter?

Set up a camera to record video of the classroom. Get the teacher on video slacking off. Then deliver to Fox5 News.

Your teacher will be gone immediately, and they’ll reassign their very best teacher in the school system to your child’s class. And you’ll deserve that for taking the bull by the horns.

The hell is wrong with you, pp?

Btw, no TV station will give a hoot about this. Jesus.

I thought the poster was being sarcastic and making an attempt at humor. That's how outlandish the post is.

I couldn't imagine: Breaking news! A teacher is caught on video using her cell phone in class!

That is not on the level of the teacher being recorded snorting lines in the (empty) classroom or 90% of DC's Ballou HS graduating despite having met the criteria to do so.

[Anonymous]

I have mixed feelings about this, because I know there could be legit reasons for the teacher to be on the phone. I'm a teacher, and my phone almost never leaves my purse while I'm at work. However, my DH works from home and has the flexibility to take on any urgent situation that comes up such as a sick preschooler. If I didn't have this fallback plan, I probably would need to keep my phone handy. While I do know of one former coworker who was always on her phone and was also a pretty lousy/lazy teacher (she didn't last long). Another former coworker who is an outstanding teacher, and for few months really did need to always have her phone on hand due to one of her children experiencing an ongoing medical crisis. The second teacher had admin's blessing and support through the crisis period.

If you really think your child's teacher is neglecting her job or the safety of her students, you might want to say something. Give her an "out" when you do ("I know Mrs. x might be on her phone for legitimate or work-related purposes, but I'm concerned that I hear she's on it a lot during the school day). Most, but not all, APS teachers have iPads that they can use as timers, etc. It can take 1-2 years before an iPad is issued to teachers new to the county.

[Anonymous]

Op there are a lot of defensive teachers on this thread.

What grade are we talking about?

[Anonymous]

I am quite frankly astonished that everyone responded so quickly and with such intensity and deference to the teacher. My son has commented on a particular substitute teacher who is always playing games on her phone while the students are supposed to be working on some assignment. I imagine how boring that must be, especially for a substitute teacher; but that's what she's being paid for. She is not being paid to play games on her phone.

While there may be temporary extreme occasions when a teacher, with their administrator's blessing, keeps her phone handy in case of an emergency text, this certainly should not be the norm. As some previous posters indicated, there are other ways to receive emergency messages -- and without the distraction of a cell phone by the teacher's side, which is a distraction to the teacher as well as the students.

If the student is commenting on it, then it is an obvious behavior that very well may be inappropriate at worst and a distraction at best. If this were a complaint about a student always being on their phone, I suspect there would not have been the immediate overwhelming benefit of the doubt given that perhaps the student has a parent or grandparent or even a sibling in medical crisis or awaiting an urgent message from a parent.

As parents are struggling to limit their kids' time on phones and screens, as students need to learn acceptable polite social manners and use of phones, and as even teachers struggle with students staying on task on digital devices, I find it hypocritical and inappropriate to excuse and dismiss this so readily.

My response to the OP is to absolutely, politely and innocently, relay your child's observation and express your concern. If there is a perfectly legitimate and acceptable reason, then it's not an issue and no harm done. But if it is indeed a problem, it can be addressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:curious what is acceptable for APS teachers being on their cell phones during class? My child has reported a particular teacher as "always being on their phone" - curious what is the norm/expected/accepted before i decide whether to raise it up.

You don't raise it up. It's not your job to police the teacher. Don't be "that" parent.[/quote

It is the job of the teacher to pay attention to her students (and teach!) in the class, the hallways and the playground. She has enough time to chat with ghet fam while her students are in specials or the cafeteria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My son's third grade teacher was on her phone a lot for a little while. It turned out her mother was in hospice and died. I'd leave it alone. there is probably a good reason.


+100

Going through something similar and my phone does not leave my side.

+1
I am a teacher and do not have a single moment to take a personal call during the day, much less go to the bathroom. I am having a family situation and am getting a lot of texts lately. I am doing my best to handle it when students are not there, but that's pretty tough to do.

If you’re having a family emergency, take some days off and let a professional caring sub teach my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am quite frankly astonished that everyone responded so quickly and with such intensity and deference to the teacher. My son has commented on a particular substitute teacher who is always playing games on her phone while the students are supposed to be working on some assignment. I imagine how boring that must be, especially for a substitute teacher; but that's what she's being paid for. She is not being paid to play games on her phone.

While there may be temporary extreme occasions when a teacher, with their administrator's blessing, keeps her phone handy in case of an emergency text, this certainly should not be the norm. As some previous posters indicated, there are other ways to receive emergency messages -- and without the distraction of a cell phone by the teacher's side, which is a distraction to the teacher as well as the students.

If the student is commenting on it, then it is an obvious behavior that very well may be inappropriate at worst and a distraction at best. If this were a complaint about a student always being on their phone, I suspect there would not have been the immediate overwhelming benefit of the doubt given that perhaps the student has a parent or grandparent or even a sibling in medical crisis or awaiting an urgent message from a parent.

As parents are struggling to limit their kids' time on phones and screens, as students need to learn acceptable polite social manners and use of phones, and as even teachers struggle with students staying on task on digital devices, I find it hypocritical and inappropriate to excuse and dismiss this so readily.

My response to the OP is to absolutely, politely and innocently, relay your child's observation and express your concern. If there is a perfectly legitimate and acceptable reason, then it's not an issue and no harm done. But if it is indeed a problem, it can be addressed.

Thank you - I am the OP and the bashers of me for asking a question were quite shocking. I am obviously not questioning if someone should have their phone with them....or even reference it for emergencies. But when behavior/safety issues about a lower elementary grade are discussed and I hear that this particular teacher (only) is "always on their phone and not paying attention" - it did raise red flags. I'm guessing all the other posters would think that sounds totally fine and not do anything about it. I don't plan to equip my 2nd grader with a cell phone to record it, but hey, maybe she can use her APS issued iPAD instead

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:curious what is acceptable for APS teachers being on their cell phones during class? My child has reported a particular teacher as "always being on their phone" - curious what is the norm/expected/accepted before i decide whether to raise it up.

You don't raise it up. It's not your job to police the teacher. Don't be "that" parent.

It is the job of the school principal to police the teachers but parents are in their right to complain. Teachers and specialists have to keep their phones away. Period

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am quite frankly astonished that everyone responded so quickly and with such intensity and deference to the teacher. My son has commented on a particular substitute teacher who is always playing games on her phone while the students are supposed to be working on some assignment. I imagine how boring that must be, especially for a substitute teacher; but that's what she's being paid for. She is not being paid to play games on her phone.

While there may be temporary extreme occasions when a teacher, with their administrator's blessing, keeps her phone handy in case of an emergency text, this certainly should not be the norm. As some previous posters indicated, there are other ways to receive emergency messages -- and without the distraction of a cell phone by the teacher's side, which is a distraction to the teacher as well as the students.

If the student is commenting on it, then it is an obvious behavior that very well may be inappropriate at worst and a distraction at best. If this were a complaint about a student always being on their phone, I suspect there would not have been the immediate overwhelming benefit of the doubt given that perhaps the student has a parent or grandparent or even a sibling in medical crisis or awaiting an urgent message from a parent.

As parents are struggling to limit their kids' time on phones and screens, as students need to learn acceptable polite social manners and use of phones, and as even teachers struggle with students staying on task on digital devices, I find it hypocritical and inappropriate to excuse and dismiss this so readily.

My response to the OP is to absolutely, politely and innocently, relay your child's observation and express your concern. If there is a perfectly legitimate and acceptable reason, then it's not an issue and no harm done. But if it is indeed a problem, it can be addressed.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am quite frankly astonished that everyone responded so quickly and with such intensity and deference to the teacher. My son has commented on a particular substitute teacher who is always playing games on her phone while the students are supposed to be working on some assignment. I imagine how boring that must be, especially for a substitute teacher; but that's what she's being paid for. She is not being paid to play games on her phone.

While there may be temporary extreme occasions when a teacher, with their administrator's blessing, keeps her phone handy in case of an emergency text, this certainly should not be the norm. As some previous posters indicated, there are other ways to receive emergency messages -- and without the distraction of a cell phone by the teacher's side, which is a distraction to the teacher as well as the students.

If the student is commenting on it, then it is an obvious behavior that very well may be inappropriate at worst and a distraction at best. If this were a complaint about a student always being on their phone, I suspect there would not have been the immediate overwhelming benefit of the doubt given that perhaps the student has a parent or grandparent or even a sibling in medical crisis or awaiting an urgent message from a parent.

As parents are struggling to limit their kids' time on phones and screens, as students need to learn acceptable polite social manners and use of phones, and as even teachers struggle with students staying on task on digital devices, I find it hypocritical and inappropriate to excuse and dismiss this so readily.

My response to the OP is to absolutely, politely and innocently, relay your child's observation and express your concern. If there is a perfectly legitimate and acceptable reason, then it's not an issue and no harm done. But if it is indeed a problem, it can be addressed.

1) Teacher is owed deference. I find your suggestion that this is not the case to be absurd and disrespectful.

2) If the students are working on an assignment, who are you to say how the teacher should spend the time? Are you going to tell him to read a book instead? Is that better behavior modeling? Absolutely. But, really, this notion of the teacher walking up and down aisles while students do work isn't real life. Real life is teacher sits at front of room while students do work. What's wrong with being on phone other than the poor example? This is particularly true of a substitute.

3) If a student comments on it, nothing at all is obvious. I'm surprised at you. Do you understand the outlandish things children report about what happens in their classroom? Things get exaggerated, misunderstood, flat-out invented. A child's comment should be heard, but treated with some skepticism. Nothing is *OBVIOUS* about something reported by a child about what happens in a classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am quite frankly astonished that everyone responded so quickly and with such intensity and deference to the teacher. My son has commented on a particular substitute teacher who is always playing games on her phone while the students are supposed to be working on some assignment. I imagine how boring that must be, especially for a substitute teacher; but that's what she's being paid for. She is not being paid to play games on her phone.

While there may be temporary extreme occasions when a teacher, with their administrator's blessing, keeps her phone handy in case of an emergency text, this certainly should not be the norm. As some previous posters indicated, there are other ways to receive emergency messages -- and without the distraction of a cell phone by the teacher's side, which is a distraction to the teacher as well as the students.

If the student is commenting on it, then it is an obvious behavior that very well may be inappropriate at worst and a distraction at best. If this were a complaint about a student always being on their phone, I suspect there would not have been the immediate overwhelming benefit of the doubt given that perhaps the student has a parent or grandparent or even a sibling in medical crisis or awaiting an urgent message from a parent.

As parents are struggling to limit their kids' time on phones and screens, as students need to learn acceptable polite social manners and use of phones, and as even teachers struggle with students staying on task on digital devices, I find it hypocritical and inappropriate to excuse and dismiss this so readily.

My response to the OP is to absolutely, politely and innocently, relay your child's observation and express your concern. If there is a perfectly legitimate and acceptable reason, then it's not an issue and no harm done. But if it is indeed a problem, it can be addressed.

1) Teacher is owed deference. I find your suggestion that this is not the case to be absurd and disrespectful.

2) If the students are working on an assignment, who are you to say how the teacher should spend the time? Are you going to tell him to read a book instead? Is that better behavior modeling? Absolutely. But, really, this notion of the teacher walking up and down aisles while students do work isn't real life. Real life is teacher sits at front of room while students do work. What's wrong with being on phone other than the poor example? This is particularly true of a substitute.

3) If a student comments on it, nothing at all is obvious. I'm surprised at you. Do you understand the outlandish things children report about what happens in their classroom? Things get exaggerated, misunderstood, flat-out invented. A child's comment should be heard, but treated with some skepticism. Nothing is *OBVIOUS* about something reported by a child about what happens in a classroom.

With such mentality, you should resign and let a better teacher pay attention to the young students.