Teacher's odd behavior

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the earlier poster who wondered if our kids have the same teacher. To be fair, she does have a medical issue that I have heard can be helped a bit by caffeine.

No, different grade and different name.

My kid has a teacher like this too, but DC is old enough to know what's good to eat and what is not. She is not setting an example my DC will follow -- in fact DC has remarked that it is obvious that the teacher is harming herself with this food in the quantity DC observes her consuming it. If a lesson is being learned here, it appears to be the correct one, although it does hurt to see DC so confused by the teacher's behavior. I would not step in or say anything. We just set a better example at home and reinforce good habits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think there is anything odd about someone snacking at work.

Snacking at work and eating candy and drinking soda all day are different. Plus we are not talking about someone sitting at their desk all day. We are talking about someone who is leading a class and likely front and center, teaching all day.

Actually I think that eating candy and drinking soda all day at work exactly is snacking at work. What else would it be?

really, you don't see a difference, snacking on a granola bar, handful of nuts, trail mix, or even a candy bar is snacking. eating a bag of candy over the course of the day (which I think OP mentioned) is beyond snacking.

If it isn't snacking, what is it?

I would call that pigging out. What else do you call eating a bag of candy daily?

I don't typically trust a child's accuracy regarding size and frequency of other people's snacks.

[Anonymous]

what if it was water? no big deal right? so the drink is irrelevant.

what if it was a cheeseburger and fries? a much bigger deal, right/

so what the teacher eats seems like no big deal to me. it's not as if teachers stand in front of the class and lecture like in psych 101 or freshman english. teachers walk around and do other things. most of the time her eating shouldn't even be noticable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think there is anything odd about someone snacking at work.

Snacking at work and eating candy and drinking soda all day are different. Plus we are not talking about someone sitting at their desk all day. We are talking about someone who is leading a class and likely front and center, teaching all day.

Actually I think that eating candy and drinking soda all day at work exactly is snacking at work. What else would it be?

really, you don't see a difference, snacking on a granola bar, handful of nuts, trail mix, or even a candy bar is snacking. eating a bag of candy over the course of the day (which I think OP mentioned) is beyond snacking.

If it isn't snacking, what is it?

I would call that pigging out. What else do you call eating a bag of candy daily?

I don't typically trust a child's accuracy regarding size and frequency of other people's snacks.

Exactly! I'm offended OP even saw this as a big enough issue to create a post.

OP needs to teach her child to mind his own business and focus on making sure he's doing what he needs to and making the grade.

What a petty family.

[Anonymous]

Couldn't a "bag of candy" be a small sized bag of M&Ms? Spread over the entire day? Along with a few handfuls of nuts or a granola bar that looks like a candy bar?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Couldn't a "bag of candy" be a small sized bag of M&Ms? Spread over the entire day? Along with a few handfuls of nuts or a granola bar that looks like a candy bar?

No, it is large packages or large jars. My kid is in higher ES classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's something you can't control, OP. But, unless the kids are allowed to eat in class then it's rude and unprofessional. This would not fly in a lot of offices.

Having said that, maybe she has a medical condition that requires frequent snacks?

Adults have different privlages than children. Teachers often need a drink, it's hard to project your voice all day. I used to drink seltzer, which could have been mistaken for soda.

For just that reason it is not considered rude for a speaker to drink water in front of an audience that may not have immediate access to water. That is an exception to the general rule about not eating and drinking in front of others who are part of your group but do not have food or drink available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn't a "bag of candy" be a small sized bag of M&Ms? Spread over the entire day? Along with a few handfuls of nuts or a granola bar that looks like a candy bar?

No, it is large packages or large jars. My kid is in higher ES classes.

So she's walking around with a large jar of candy, eating while teaching?

[Anonymous]

Maybe you can drop in one day and peek at the candy jars or big bags for yourself. I've known teachers who keep bags of candy, bit it gets shared with coworkers and maybe students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn't a "bag of candy" be a small sized bag of M&Ms? Spread over the entire day? Along with a few handfuls of nuts or a granola bar that looks like a candy bar?

No, it is large packages or large jars. My kid is in higher ES classes.

None of your child's business.

Although you might want to kindly email the teacher and let her know that your child appears to be very distracted by her snacking, since you have so much information on it. You did say your child mentions it daily, right?

Is he that involved in the lessons as well.. can he re-iterate what he has learned that day in great detail too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, what a terrible example you are setting for your child.

The only proper response to your child's comments on her teacher's eating habits is something like, "Sidney, a grown up has every right to eat what she wants whenever she wants, and it is none of our business what she eats."

If something else comes up about what she is eating, you could say something like, "I hope you would choose not to eat so many sweets, but it is none of our business what Mrs. Miller chooses to eat."

It is NONE of your business. You have no place auditing a teacher's diet. You are way out of line.

OP here: everything concerning my child is my business. If you read carefully, my concern was not about teacher's diet, I specifically said that I don't care if she eats candies or carrots.

I respect your response to your child, but I can't tell my children that grown up has every right to eat what she wants whenever she wants. We teach our kids some manners, and manners includes some limitation on what you eat and where you eat. For me it is like a dress code -- when you are in professional environment, you don't wear what you want, you dress up professionally. You behave professionally. It all involves some limitations, right?

Again, I respect your point of view, but it is not consistent with our values.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am surprised a bit by the responses. It seems very unprofessional for a teacher to snack during class. If she misses lunch and has to eat it discreetly at her desk as the teacher PP mentioned, that's okay. It's better if the teacher could ask the class to excuse her because she was unable to eat lunch on time. If the snacking is needed for a medical condition, she should tell the class that, again asking for their indulgence.

I attend plenty of bag lunch meetings at work. But they are all internal and the assumption is that those not eating lunch have already eaten. Snacking with external parties present would never happen unless coffee and cookies, say, were made available for all. I almost always have a mid-afternoon snack; I have people coming into my office all day long and if I really need my snack I ask permission of whomever is there. I usually have extras on hand that I offer them should they wish to join.

I once went to a meeting with one of the top people in our organization in his office. At one point in the meeting, he got up, grabbed a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies from a closet and proceeded to eat about five of them without offering any to the four or so staff people present. Everyone thought it was inexcusably rude. We all decided he was odd and had no social graces. He did not last long.

That said, all I would have said to my child is that is very odd, I wonder if she has a medical condition that requires her to snack all day. Inwardly, I would wince at the poor example of manners the teacher was modeling. If I had a good relationship with the principal, I might something to her in a vague, nonjudgmental way.

The fact is it is rude to snack in front of people without offering them something.

What? No! No adult should be forced to explain themselves to a child, nor have to ask permission or "indulgence" from a child for anything that doesn't involve that child's safety and personal space. My child does not get to decide whether she will allow her teacher to eat something, or to do anything that doesn't involve teacher touching my child or having my child break a safety rule.

That part of your post seems so entitled on the children's part, I cannot believe you would find it reasonable. That would be an appropriate interaction between peers, or colleagues at the same professional level, not between an adult and a child or between a superior and a subordinate, as are both the case in a teacher-student relationship.

Wow! Guess I am pretty old-fashioned on this one. In the mileu I was raised in, including in school, children would treated with the same respect and manners one would treat an adult. If the children were not allowed to snack in class, neither was the teacher. If it was unavoidable, children would be offered the courtesy of an explanation just as an adult would be. Maybe views on this are a generational thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Couldn't a "bag of candy" be a small sized bag of M&Ms? Spread over the entire day? Along with a few handfuls of nuts or a granola bar that looks like a candy bar?

No, it is large packages or large jars. My kid is in higher ES classes.

None of your child's business.

Although you might want to kindly email the teacher and let her know that your child appears to be very distracted by her snacking, since you have so much information on it. You did say your child mentions it daily, right?

Is he that involved in the lessons as well.. can he re-iterate what he has learned that day in great detail too?

The child simply telling me about what happening in school, including teachers snacking. No, it is not daily most of the time (I din't keep a track), some weeks i hear about it every day, some weeks every other day, some weeks twice a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am surprised a bit by the responses. It seems very unprofessional for a teacher to snack during class. If she misses lunch and has to eat it discreetly at her desk as the teacher PP mentioned, that's okay. It's better if the teacher could ask the class to excuse her because she was unable to eat lunch on time. If the snacking is needed for a medical condition, she should tell the class that, again asking for their indulgence.

I attend plenty of bag lunch meetings at work. But they are all internal and the assumption is that those not eating lunch have already eaten. Snacking with external parties present would never happen unless coffee and cookies, say, were made available for all. I almost always have a mid-afternoon snack; I have people coming into my office all day long and if I really need my snack I ask permission of whomever is there. I usually have extras on hand that I offer them should they wish to join.

I once went to a meeting with one of the top people in our organization in his office. At one point in the meeting, he got up, grabbed a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies from a closet and proceeded to eat about five of them without offering any to the four or so staff people present. Everyone thought it was inexcusably rude. We all decided he was odd and had no social graces. He did not last long.

That said, all I would have said to my child is that is very odd, I wonder if she has a medical condition that requires her to snack all day. Inwardly, I would wince at the poor example of manners the teacher was modeling. If I had a good relationship with the principal, I might something to her in a vague, nonjudgmental way.

The fact is it is rude to snack in front of people without offering them something.

What? No! No adult should be forced to explain themselves to a child, nor have to ask permission or "indulgence" from a child for anything that doesn't involve that child's safety and personal space. My child does not get to decide whether she will allow her teacher to eat something, or to do anything that doesn't involve teacher touching my child or having my child break a safety rule.

That part of your post seems so entitled on the children's part, I cannot believe you would find it reasonable. That would be an appropriate interaction between peers, or colleagues at the same professional level, not between an adult and a child or between a superior and a subordinate, as are both the case in a teacher-student relationship.

Wow! Guess I am pretty old-fashioned on this one. In the mileu I was raised in, including in school, children would treated with the same respect and manners one would treat an adult. If the children were not allowed to snack in class, neither was the teacher. If it was unavoidable, children would be offered the courtesy of an explanation just as an adult would be. Maybe views on this are a generational thing.

What generation are you? When I was in school, children were not treated the same as adults, and certainly weren't expected to explain themselves to children. Wasn't the case when my mother was in school either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am surprised a bit by the responses. It seems very unprofessional for a teacher to snack during class. If she misses lunch and has to eat it discreetly at her desk as the teacher PP mentioned, that's okay. It's better if the teacher could ask the class to excuse her because she was unable to eat lunch on time. If the snacking is needed for a medical condition, she should tell the class that, again asking for their indulgence.

I attend plenty of bag lunch meetings at work. But they are all internal and the assumption is that those not eating lunch have already eaten. Snacking with external parties present would never happen unless coffee and cookies, say, were made available for all. I almost always have a mid-afternoon snack; I have people coming into my office all day long and if I really need my snack I ask permission of whomever is there. I usually have extras on hand that I offer them should they wish to join.

I once went to a meeting with one of the top people in our organization in his office. At one point in the meeting, he got up, grabbed a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies from a closet and proceeded to eat about five of them without offering any to the four or so staff people present. Everyone thought it was inexcusably rude. We all decided he was odd and had no social graces. He did not last long.

That said, all I would have said to my child is that is very odd, I wonder if she has a medical condition that requires her to snack all day. Inwardly, I would wince at the poor example of manners the teacher was modeling. If I had a good relationship with the principal, I might something to her in a vague, nonjudgmental way.

The fact is it is rude to snack in front of people without offering them something.

What? No! No adult should be forced to explain themselves to a child, nor have to ask permission or "indulgence" from a child for anything that doesn't involve that child's safety and personal space. My child does not get to decide whether she will allow her teacher to eat something, or to do anything that doesn't involve teacher touching my child or having my child break a safety rule.

That part of your post seems so entitled on the children's part, I cannot believe you would find it reasonable. That would be an appropriate interaction between peers, or colleagues at the same professional level, not between an adult and a child or between a superior and a subordinate, as are both the case in a teacher-student relationship.

Wow! Guess I am pretty old-fashioned on this one. In the mileu I was raised in, including in school, children would treated with the same respect and manners one would treat an adult. If the children were not allowed to snack in class, neither was the teacher. If it was unavoidable, children would be offered the courtesy of an explanation just as an adult would be. Maybe views on this are a generational thing.

What generation are you? When I was in school, children were not treated the same as adults, and certainly weren't expected to explain themselves to children. Wasn't the case when my mother was in school either.

Seriously. Kids today are in more equal footing with adults than ever before but teachers need to maintain control of the classroom and giving kids the same privlages as teachers doesn't help that. Students get more freedom in bathroom breaks, that evens it up