How many people use their paid time off to help out in the classroom?

[Anonymous]

I often hear people use the reasoning that they work full time so they can't help out or volunteer at the school. At my place of employment, I get paid time off as a benefit. I initially got 3 weeks, and now I get 4 weeks, but is it crazy that I use some of my vacation time to help out at the school? I enjoy helping out, and the kids love to see parents coming in and showing interest. It is enjoyable, but it is also sad for those kids who really wish their mom or dad would come in and participate. Even if you come in for 2 hours every month or couple months, it makes all the difference to the teacher, students and even more so, your child. I hear people at work bragging about how they are going to carry over 40 or 80 hours and I just wonder what it all means if you drop dead tomorrow. If you have kids, those are precious hours that you could've spent time with them. What is the point of hoarding? Are one week vacations to Disney the only reason to use the precious vacations hours? Anyways, I figured I would throw this out because I really don't get it when people say they wish they could help but they work full-time. Unless you are solving world peace or are solving national affairs, then I don't understand why you couldn't take a couple hours off here and there to help out. Also, if every parent took turns helping out, then it wouldn't be so much on the one to two parents who are the regular volunteers in the classroom that also work full-time. I don't want to start an all out ugly thread here, but I just wanted to give some perspective on how we could collectively make a difference if we work as a team. That is all.

[Anonymous]

Teachers don't want you there. They bitch and moan about no parental involvement but when offered, they hem and haw then turn the offer down. No teacher wants you to see what's really going on in that classroom.

I was a SAHM of 5 kids. I volunteered regularly for years, no one ever took me up on my offer. They want your money, your supplies but never want you there.

Go find out for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers don't want you there. They bitch and moan about no parental involvement but when offered, they hem and haw then turn the offer down. No teacher wants you to see what's really going on in that classroom.

I was a SAHM of 5 kids. I volunteered regularly for years, no one ever took me up on my offer. They want your money, your supplies but never want you there.

Go find out for yourself.

Wow. That is not my experience. I have a 1st and 2nd grader. They are itching for volunteers starting from Open House before school starts. Sign up sheets are out and ready.

[Anonymous]

Okay OP, we get it. You are the perfect mother and the rest of us are greedy and selfish.

If you didn't want this to go ugly maaaaaaaaybe you shouldn't have started by assuming everyone's motivations and denigrating their choices.

I do go from time to time, but I really burn up my vacations on all the days that the schools AREN'T in session at random times. Like tomorrow. Some fun "vacation" that is. Wonder if I can get that day pass to Disney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers don't want you there. They bitch and moan about no parental involvement but when offered, they hem and haw then turn the offer down. No teacher wants you to see what's really going on in that classroom.

I was a SAHM of 5 kids. I volunteered regularly for years, no one ever took me up on my offer. They want your money, your supplies but never want you there.

Go find out for yourself.

I think I can guess why no teacher would want you in his/her classroom.



I know you're not welcome in mine. . . And I have some dedicated parent volunteers who come on a regular basis.

[Anonymous]

When I help at school, it comes out of my vacation days. I have precious few, and most get devoted to health care, since sick leave isn't quite enough to cover my situation.

[Anonymous]

Poster 18:55 I could not agree more! I have had the same experience with a teacher bemoaning the fact that she has to teach a class of 20+ students alone and how hard it is to teach science to so many elementary students by yourself. I offered on several occasions to help and assist in whatever way she needed and she kept saying she would let me know a date but never did so I figured she was complaining just for the sake of it. I know others experienced the same response - she was/is a terrible teacher too.

[Anonymous]

Its not this simple OP. I work full-time and here is a full break down of my PTO hours (notice not ONE carried over and none of them toward a disney vacation)- i get 160 hours

* 30 hours annually for my ds who is in therapy, the last therapy time slot is still 20 minutes before I get off of work so I need about an hour of PTO to get him there.
* 20 hours go towards taking my elderly mil to doctors appointments and dialysis, this is split between 3 other siblings who also use their own PTO
* 40 hours towards our family trip to my home town
* 30 hours towards days where school is closed but my work is not
* 40 hours for summer camp lapses

IS THIS OK WITH YOU?

[Anonymous]

I love how people get so defensive on these forums. Do you really not get OP's message? It is about teamwork...simple as that. No one can go this alone, and that is a fact.

[Anonymous]

Don't criticize teachers so ignorantly.

Teachers can rarely teach effectively such large classrooms, especially if they accelerate certain students and offer remediation to others.

Unfortunately, this does not mean that parents should be in the classroom, despite their urge to see their child.
The constant coming and going of unfamiliar faces can be very distracting to students, and poses a huge confidentiality issue when graded work is distributed or students are discussed by teachers (some parents even grade the students' work themselves!!!).
The most efficient help is done by trained paraeducators who are made aware of confidential information relating to some or all students and can hone in to bolster their weaknesses.

There is a lot parents CAN do to help in a school. There is artwork to arrange and put up in the corridors, library books to organize, children to shepherd to and fro, fliers to stuff in folders, booths to man, food to cook, recess to observe, money to give, the list goes on and on!

But parents do not belong in a classroom.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I have used leave to volunteer and do things in my child's classroom.

I found that by the 2nd grade, parents were no longer really welcomed to actually come in during the day and volunteer and to me this makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Don't criticize teachers so ignorantly.

Teachers can rarely teach effectively such large classrooms, especially if they accelerate certain students and offer remediation to others.

Unfortunately, this does not mean that parents should be in the classroom, despite their urge to see their child.
The constant coming and going of unfamiliar faces can be very distracting to students, and poses a huge confidentiality issue when graded work is distributed or students are discussed by teachers (some parents even grade the students' work themselves!!!).
The most efficient help is done by trained paraeducators who are made aware of confidential information relating to some or all students and can hone in to bolster their weaknesses.

There is a lot parents CAN do to help in a school. There is artwork to arrange and put up in the corridors, library books to organize, children to shepherd to and fro, fliers to stuff in folders, booths to man, food to cook, recess to observe, money to give, the list goes on and on!

But parents do not belong in a classroom.

Correction. You do not belong in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

I take a day or two each year to chaperone field trips. That's about all I can spare and even then it's hard to get a spot when all the regular room parents get first dibs. Half the time chaperoning isn't even offered to everyone--you have to know to ask.

[Anonymous]

How depressing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How depressing

Exactly. And this is why effecting change is so hard.