Alternatives to the admin breakfast at the start of pre-service?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't stand it. Ours is a dog and pony show because our principal invites central office bigwigs to attend and they all stand up and give corny speeches and profusely thank our principal for inviting them. There is a lot of food, but I can't eat any of it due to having food allergies (nor would I want to--everything is prepared by the principal and their family and the prep is questionable). Then our principal taps out after the "show" because they're exhausted from cooking all weekend and getting to school extra early to set it all up, and we have to hear about it all week. We're also expected to thank the principal profusely for their generosity. We have to sit for hours on the backless cafeteria table benches and twist our necks to see the person who is speaking up front. We can't talk to each other because we have to listen to endless speeches from central office wonks about the excitement of a new school year.

All we want is to be left alone in our rooms to start setting up. The last thing I want to do is sit in the hot cafeteria for hours watching the time go by.

Where is your PTA in all of this?! I'm a member of the PTA, and last week we pulled off the breakfast. Of course the principal shouldn't be making/buying/bringing this herself! I am shocked that this isn't a PTA affair.

We have a very small PTA with a very small budget. I work at a high FARMS school. Not all schools have involved PTAs with big budgets.

It doesn't take a big budget. It takes a Sign-Up Genius. Everything, from the Chick-fil-A breakfast trays to the fruit to the cookies to the bagels, were provided by individual families via the Sign-Up Genius. It takes organization and delegation, not money. Even the coffee carts were brought in as donations.

Yes but at a high FARMS families may not be able to afford coffee for all the teachers or donuts for all the teachers. Or they might not have enough parents willing to get involved.

Well then, to be honest...what do you expect? You expect one principal with maybe 2-3 other volunteers are going to be able to pull this off really well? A very few people are making a big effort for a huge group of people. So it's not perfect; it's a gesture.

It's a gesture, not a guarantee that each and every belly will be perfectly full of perfect food at a perfect time.

Smart people can read a room and make the best of it; the next year, with lived experience under they belt, they make a plan. Eat a little something at home, bring your own coffee in a travel mug, and have a granola bar and a cheese stick in your purse. That way, you get to participate and appreciate the gesture, but you'll be caffenated and don't run the risk of going hungry.

I'm saying that I don't appreciate the gesture. Mostly because it's completely self-serving of the principal because her number one priority is to impress central office staff, not to show appreciation to the staff. The staff are just the pawns in the game. Sure, some people actually like the food but most just give polite compliments. As someone with food allergies, I'm used to not being able to eat the food provided, and of course I plan ahead and do that every year. I also don't appreciate having hours of precious set up/planning time taken up by this self-serving event. I'd be a lot happier if it was optional, or if it was strictly for catching up with co workers. But sitting in silence on cafeteria benches listening to endless speeches doesn't start the year off on a good note for me.

What suggestions have you offered to the admin team, and how were those suggestions received? (Or is this thread your first step toward garnering ideas and making some suggestions?)

I'm sure this PP will have great luck with offering suggestions to the admin team. Something tells me this principal doesn't take anything perceived as criticism well. PP would honestly have to be dumb to approach the principal with suggestions. I've worked at schools like this and things don't turn out well for staff members who suggest doing things in a different way than they've always been done. I remember I once suggested to not have the end of year party be a potluck and for it to be at a restaurant/happy hour instead and the reaction was like I had suggested that we all come to school naked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't stand it. Ours is a dog and pony show because our principal invites central office bigwigs to attend and they all stand up and give corny speeches and profusely thank our principal for inviting them. There is a lot of food, but I can't eat any of it due to having food allergies (nor would I want to--everything is prepared by the principal and their family and the prep is questionable). Then our principal taps out after the "show" because they're exhausted from cooking all weekend and getting to school extra early to set it all up, and we have to hear about it all week. We're also expected to thank the principal profusely for their generosity. We have to sit for hours on the backless cafeteria table benches and twist our necks to see the person who is speaking up front. We can't talk to each other because we have to listen to endless speeches from central office wonks about the excitement of a new school year.

All we want is to be left alone in our rooms to start setting up. The last thing I want to do is sit in the hot cafeteria for hours watching the time go by.

Where is your PTA in all of this?! I'm a member of the PTA, and last week we pulled off the breakfast. Of course the principal shouldn't be making/buying/bringing this herself! I am shocked that this isn't a PTA affair.

We have a very small PTA with a very small budget. I work at a high FARMS school. Not all schools have involved PTAs with big budgets.

It doesn't take a big budget. It takes a Sign-Up Genius. Everything, from the Chick-fil-A breakfast trays to the fruit to the cookies to the bagels, were provided by individual families via the Sign-Up Genius. It takes organization and delegation, not money. Even the coffee carts were brought in as donations.

Yes but at a high FARMS families may not be able to afford coffee for all the teachers or donuts for all the teachers. Or they might not have enough parents willing to get involved.

Well then, to be honest...what do you expect? You expect one principal with maybe 2-3 other volunteers are going to be able to pull this off really well? A very few people are making a big effort for a huge group of people. So it's not perfect; it's a gesture.

It's a gesture, not a guarantee that each and every belly will be perfectly full of perfect food at a perfect time.

Smart people can read a room and make the best of it; the next year, with lived experience under they belt, they make a plan. Eat a little something at home, bring your own coffee in a travel mug, and have a granola bar and a cheese stick in your purse. That way, you get to participate and appreciate the gesture, but you'll be caffenated and don't run the risk of going hungry.

I'm saying that I don't appreciate the gesture. Mostly because it's completely self-serving of the principal because her number one priority is to impress central office staff, not to show appreciation to the staff. The staff are just the pawns in the game. Sure, some people actually like the food but most just give polite compliments. As someone with food allergies, I'm used to not being able to eat the food provided, and of course I plan ahead and do that every year. I also don't appreciate having hours of precious set up/planning time taken up by this self-serving event. I'd be a lot happier if it was optional, or if it was strictly for catching up with co workers. But sitting in silence on cafeteria benches listening to endless speeches doesn't start the year off on a good note for me.

What suggestions have you offered to the admin team, and how were those suggestions received? (Or is this thread your first step toward garnering ideas and making some suggestions?)

I'm sure this PP will have great luck with offering suggestions to the admin team. Something tells me this principal doesn't take anything perceived as criticism well. PP would honestly have to be dumb to approach the principal with suggestions. I've worked at schools like this and things don't turn out well for staff members who suggest doing things in a different way than they've always been done. I remember I once suggested to not have the end of year party be a potluck and for it to be at a restaurant/happy hour instead and the reaction was like I had suggested that we all come to school naked.

Yeah, that...sounds like the vast majority of workplaces, in some ways, at some times. I have a boss who is pretty much like that. We do our best to enjoy what we can, work to change what must change, and make the best of every situation.

As an old colleague of mine used to say, "That's why they call it 'work,' and you get paid to be here."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't stand it. Ours is a dog and pony show because our principal invites central office bigwigs to attend and they all stand up and give corny speeches and profusely thank our principal for inviting them. There is a lot of food, but I can't eat any of it due to having food allergies (nor would I want to--everything is prepared by the principal and their family and the prep is questionable). Then our principal taps out after the "show" because they're exhausted from cooking all weekend and getting to school extra early to set it all up, and we have to hear about it all week. We're also expected to thank the principal profusely for their generosity. We have to sit for hours on the backless cafeteria table benches and twist our necks to see the person who is speaking up front. We can't talk to each other because we have to listen to endless speeches from central office wonks about the excitement of a new school year.

All we want is to be left alone in our rooms to start setting up. The last thing I want to do is sit in the hot cafeteria for hours watching the time go by.

Where is your PTA in all of this?! I'm a member of the PTA, and last week we pulled off the breakfast. Of course the principal shouldn't be making/buying/bringing this herself! I am shocked that this isn't a PTA affair.

I’m OP. The PTA does lunch on Thursday after orientation. Then ILT does cookies on Friday afternoon.

The admin breakfast is by the principal and APs. As a PP mentioned, they cook all weekend.

The two lines hasn’t helped. We have a huge staff. 30 min is not enough. It would be fine if meetings could start at 8:45.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" apply here? Some of us work at places where no one ever makes us breakfast.

[Anonymous]

I teach in a high SES school but our PTA doesn’t provide a meal during pre-service. A parent once told me out of the blue that our parent community specifically advocates to the PTSA to provide as little to the entire staff as possible due to a few teachers that are generally disliked by parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't stand it. Ours is a dog and pony show because our principal invites central office bigwigs to attend and they all stand up and give corny speeches and profusely thank our principal for inviting them. There is a lot of food, but I can't eat any of it due to having food allergies (nor would I want to--everything is prepared by the principal and their family and the prep is questionable). Then our principal taps out after the "show" because they're exhausted from cooking all weekend and getting to school extra early to set it all up, and we have to hear about it all week. We're also expected to thank the principal profusely for their generosity. We have to sit for hours on the backless cafeteria table benches and twist our necks to see the person who is speaking up front. We can't talk to each other because we have to listen to endless speeches from central office wonks about the excitement of a new school year.

All we want is to be left alone in our rooms to start setting up. The last thing I want to do is sit in the hot cafeteria for hours watching the time go by.

Where is your PTA in all of this?! I'm a member of the PTA, and last week we pulled off the breakfast. Of course the principal shouldn't be making/buying/bringing this herself! I am shocked that this isn't a PTA affair.

I’m OP. The PTA does lunch on Thursday after orientation. Then ILT does cookies on Friday afternoon.

The admin breakfast is by the principal and APs. As a PP mentioned, they cook all weekend.

The two lines hasn’t helped. We have a huge staff. 30 min is not enough. It would be fine if meetings could start at 8:45.

I mean...isn't this a fairly petty thing to complain about? It's a GESTURE. You get a PTA breakfast, you get cookies, and you have an admin staff of a few people trying to something nice for a big group of people.

If you are so concerned about it, you can get 1-2 of your colleagues or PTA members to volunteer to set up the coffee station a bit earlier, yes? Maybe even see if one of the teachers or a PTA parent has one or two of those coffee warmer carafe things or electric kettles for more hot water for the tea?

In my workplace, there are a few nice-gesture events here or there throughout the year, usually provided in some way by the leadership. It's a nice gesture. I don't turn up my nose because the bagel selection is sub-par and I had to wait in a bit of a line for the cheese and crackers. I never "count on" those types of events as a filling meal, even when it's meant to be a meal. Lines are long, dietary preferences and restrictions can't always fully be met every time, this is life.

Eat a little something beforehand, grab a muffin, and say thank you. OR figure out some way that you personally can help make it better!

[Anonymous]

If the call time for the breakfast/meeting was even earlier, trust and believe there would be cries of "now they want MORE of my time" and "but I have to get my kids off to X" and "we can't even enjoy a few more weeks of having our mornings?"

Plus, the admin/volunteers would have to get there even earlier. Already putting more on the people who may not be working super-smart, but are certainly working to try to do a nice thing for a lot of people.

[Anonymous]

Instead of complaining, offer to help. Could a few teachers get together and offer to be servers or do set up, or as someone suggested, bring in the coffee and get that station going? In my experience, teachers are dismissed as complainers if they don't offer a viable solution or aren't willing to be part of that solution. But you'll enjoy work a lot more if you assume positive intent. Ok, maybe she wants to make a good impression on central, but that's not incompatible with wanting her or his staff to feel cared for and welcomed. I do agree that preservice shouldn't be endless meetings. The greatest gift admin can give staff is allowing them time to feel ready for the kids to arrive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Instead of complaining, offer to help. Could a few teachers get together and offer to be servers or do set up, or as someone suggested, bring in the coffee and get that station going? In my experience, teachers are dismissed as complainers if they don't offer a viable solution or aren't willing to be part of that solution. But you'll enjoy work a lot more if you assume positive intent. Ok, maybe she wants to make a good impression on central, but that's not incompatible with wanting her or his staff to feel cared for and welcomed. I do agree that preservice shouldn't be endless meetings. The greatest gift admin can give staff is allowing them time to feel ready for the kids to arrive.

+1. Any suggestions would go over better WITH an offer to help. Don't just complain about petty stuff like coffee not being set up; VOLUNTEER to go in a bit earlier and help set it up! FFS!


Once you've shown with actions, not just words, that you have good ideas and are willing to help, anything you suggest in the future will be better-received.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't stand it. Ours is a dog and pony show because our principal invites central office bigwigs to attend and they all stand up and give corny speeches and profusely thank our principal for inviting them. There is a lot of food, but I can't eat any of it due to having food allergies (nor would I want to--everything is prepared by the principal and their family and the prep is questionable). Then our principal taps out after the "show" because they're exhausted from cooking all weekend and getting to school extra early to set it all up, and we have to hear about it all week. We're also expected to thank the principal profusely for their generosity. We have to sit for hours on the backless cafeteria table benches and twist our necks to see the person who is speaking up front. We can't talk to each other because we have to listen to endless speeches from central office wonks about the excitement of a new school year.

All we want is to be left alone in our rooms to start setting up. The last thing I want to do is sit in the hot cafeteria for hours watching the time go by.

Where is your PTA in all of this?! I'm a member of the PTA, and last week we pulled off the breakfast. Of course the principal shouldn't be making/buying/bringing this herself! I am shocked that this isn't a PTA affair.

We have a very small PTA with a very small budget. I work at a high FARMS school. Not all schools have involved PTAs with big budgets.

It doesn't take a big budget. It takes a Sign-Up Genius. Everything, from the Chick-fil-A breakfast trays to the fruit to the cookies to the bagels, were provided by individual families via the Sign-Up Genius. It takes organization and delegation, not money. Even the coffee carts were brought in as donations.

Yes but at a high FARMS families may not be able to afford coffee for all the teachers or donuts for all the teachers. Or they might not have enough parents willing to get involved.

Well then, to be honest...what do you expect? You expect one principal with maybe 2-3 other volunteers are going to be able to pull this off really well? A very few people are making a big effort for a huge group of people. So it's not perfect; it's a gesture.

It's a gesture, not a guarantee that each and every belly will be perfectly full of perfect food at a perfect time.

Smart people can read a room and make the best of it; the next year, with lived experience under they belt, they make a plan. Eat a little something at home, bring your own coffee in a travel mug, and have a granola bar and a cheese stick in your purse. That way, you get to participate and appreciate the gesture, but you'll be caffenated and don't run the risk of going hungry.

I'm saying that I don't appreciate the gesture. Mostly because it's completely self-serving of the principal because her number one priority is to impress central office staff, not to show appreciation to the staff. The staff are just the pawns in the game. Sure, some people actually like the food but most just give polite compliments. As someone with food allergies, I'm used to not being able to eat the food provided, and of course I plan ahead and do that every year. I also don't appreciate having hours of precious set up/planning time taken up by this self-serving event. I'd be a lot happier if it was optional, or if it was strictly for catching up with co workers. But sitting in silence on cafeteria benches listening to endless speeches doesn't start the year off on a good note for me.

What suggestions have you offered to the admin team, and how were those suggestions received? (Or is this thread your first step toward garnering ideas and making some suggestions?)

I’m OP. The person you are replying to isn’t me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't stand it. Ours is a dog and pony show because our principal invites central office bigwigs to attend and they all stand up and give corny speeches and profusely thank our principal for inviting them. There is a lot of food, but I can't eat any of it due to having food allergies (nor would I want to--everything is prepared by the principal and their family and the prep is questionable). Then our principal taps out after the "show" because they're exhausted from cooking all weekend and getting to school extra early to set it all up, and we have to hear about it all week. We're also expected to thank the principal profusely for their generosity. We have to sit for hours on the backless cafeteria table benches and twist our necks to see the person who is speaking up front. We can't talk to each other because we have to listen to endless speeches from central office wonks about the excitement of a new school year.

All we want is to be left alone in our rooms to start setting up. The last thing I want to do is sit in the hot cafeteria for hours watching the time go by.

Where is your PTA in all of this?! I'm a member of the PTA, and last week we pulled off the breakfast. Of course the principal shouldn't be making/buying/bringing this herself! I am shocked that this isn't a PTA affair.

I’m OP. The PTA does lunch on Thursday after orientation. Then ILT does cookies on Friday afternoon.

The admin breakfast is by the principal and APs. As a PP mentioned, they cook all weekend.

The two lines hasn’t helped. We have a huge staff. 30 min is not enough. It would be fine if meetings could start at 8:45.

I mean...isn't this a fairly petty thing to complain about? It's a GESTURE. You get a PTA breakfast, you get cookies, and you have an admin staff of a few people trying to something nice for a big group of people.

If you are so concerned about it, you can get 1-2 of your colleagues or PTA members to volunteer to set up the coffee station a bit earlier, yes? Maybe even see if one of the teachers or a PTA parent has one or two of those coffee warmer carafe things or electric kettles for more hot water for the tea?

In my workplace, there are a few nice-gesture events here or there throughout the year, usually provided in some way by the leadership. It's a nice gesture. I don't turn up my nose because the bagel selection is sub-par and I had to wait in a bit of a line for the cheese and crackers. I never "count on" those types of events as a filling meal, even when it's meant to be a meal. Lines are long, dietary preferences and restrictions can't always fully be met every time, this is life.

Eat a little something beforehand, grab a muffin, and say thank you. OR figure out some way that you personally can help make it better!

I’m OP and not the dog and pony show poster. I don’t want to make more work for anyone. I’d like to explore replacing the breakfast with something else. It doesn’t have to be a meal. A friend teaches in a private school. They play board games at lunch during their version of pre-service. It sounds very convivial and relaxing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of complaining, offer to help. Could a few teachers get together and offer to be servers or do set up, or as someone suggested, bring in the coffee and get that station going? In my experience, teachers are dismissed as complainers if they don't offer a viable solution or aren't willing to be part of that solution. But you'll enjoy work a lot more if you assume positive intent. Ok, maybe she wants to make a good impression on central, but that's not incompatible with wanting her or his staff to feel cared for and welcomed. I do agree that preservice shouldn't be endless meetings. The greatest gift admin can give staff is allowing them time to feel ready for the kids to arrive.

+1. Any suggestions would go over better WITH an offer to help. Don't just complain about petty stuff like coffee not being set up; VOLUNTEER to go in a bit earlier and help set it up! FFS!


Once you've shown with actions, not just words, that you have good ideas and are willing to help, anything you suggest in the future will be better-received.

It seems like the 7:45-8:15 is a time to chat with staff before a quick orientation. To the person who does not appreciate the gesture, it sounds like you only want to set up your room and meet your needs. And maybe the principal wants to find a way to connect staff to some extent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of complaining, offer to help. Could a few teachers get together and offer to be servers or do set up, or as someone suggested, bring in the coffee and get that station going? In my experience, teachers are dismissed as complainers if they don't offer a viable solution or aren't willing to be part of that solution. But you'll enjoy work a lot more if you assume positive intent. Ok, maybe she wants to make a good impression on central, but that's not incompatible with wanting her or his staff to feel cared for and welcomed. I do agree that preservice shouldn't be endless meetings. The greatest gift admin can give staff is allowing them time to feel ready for the kids to arrive.

+1. Any suggestions would go over better WITH an offer to help. Don't just complain about petty stuff like coffee not being set up; VOLUNTEER to go in a bit earlier and help set it up! FFS!


Once you've shown with actions, not just words, that you have good ideas and are willing to help, anything you suggest in the future will be better-received.

It seems like the 7:45-8:15 is a time to chat with staff before a quick orientation. To the person who does not appreciate the gesture, it sounds like you only want to set up your room and meet your needs. And maybe the principal wants to find a way to connect staff to some extent?

I’m the dog and pony show PP. Sorry if I made it confusing that I’m not OP. Yes, I do want to set up my room and meet my own needs on the first day of preservice. We have so many meetings and trainings and the time available to be in our rooms is very choppy. If the principal is trying to find a way to connect staff, then how is sitting in silence while listening to random central office staff make speeches going to achieve that?

Everyone is sitting there itching for it to be over and making mental lists of what they will do when they get in their rooms. It’s the same way when we have to start each staff meeting with a “fun” icebreaker, and everyone there is thinking that if we just got straight to the meat of it then we could get out of there 15 minutes earlier and that’s 15 minutes we can spend getting ready for the following day since our planning time is eaten up by endless meetings.

The people who make these decisions about how our time should be used are far removed from actually teaching. They don’t have a deadline to have their room ready by Thursday afternoon when open house is taking place. So lengthy breakfasts with central office speeches and “fun” icebreakers sound like a great way to spend time but in reality they’re not and just get people feeling aggravated and stressed.

[Anonymous]

We don't have a breakfast on the first pre-service day. Or meetings, or anything structured. The whole day is allocated for classroom setup on your own. The PTA arranges a breakfast for Thursday morning when the SEIU employees are also reporting. I think it works fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't stand it. Ours is a dog and pony show because our principal invites central office bigwigs to attend and they all stand up and give corny speeches and profusely thank our principal for inviting them. There is a lot of food, but I can't eat any of it due to having food allergies (nor would I want to--everything is prepared by the principal and their family and the prep is questionable). Then our principal taps out after the "show" because they're exhausted from cooking all weekend and getting to school extra early to set it all up, and we have to hear about it all week. We're also expected to thank the principal profusely for their generosity. We have to sit for hours on the backless cafeteria table benches and twist our necks to see the person who is speaking up front. We can't talk to each other because we have to listen to endless speeches from central office wonks about the excitement of a new school year.

All we want is to be left alone in our rooms to start setting up. The last thing I want to do is sit in the hot cafeteria for hours watching the time go by.

Where is your PTA in all of this?! I'm a member of the PTA, and last week we pulled off the breakfast. Of course the principal shouldn't be making/buying/bringing this herself! I am shocked that this isn't a PTA affair.

We have a very small PTA with a very small budget. I work at a high FARMS school. Not all schools have involved PTAs with big budgets.

I wish there was more institutional support in MCPS for sharing and cooperation between/among PTAs. Our school would like to help support a “sister” PTA but other than personal connections between someone at our school and someone at another school, it’s not so easy to find these opportunities. The PTA of course does include teachers, so if teachers on the PTA at high-needs schools think they could use reinforcements of this type, there are people in the community who would be interested in helping out. But it’s not so easy to find each other.