Teachers who have been DL for a year - tell us what you haven't had to put up with

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm dreading going back to public school after this year in private. Distance learning sounds terrible. In school sounds terrible. Why can't we do better?

Are you a teacher? Why are you going back to public after this year in private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the discipline issues that eat away at instructional time. The kids with behavioral issues don't show up to class (or rarely). Their parents don't want to deal with them so they don't make them do anything they don't want to do. We still have meetings about them but it usually boils down to poor parenting or lack of parenting and the parents tell us they don't want to deal with them.

I no longer have to wait with students whose parents don't pick them up after school. That was an almost daily occurrence.

I really wonder why some people are teachers.

I really wonder why some people are parents. #Swallow

💯

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A distant, fond memory - 'accidents' or pee problems

Let’s be honest here. You don’t let some students use the bathroom.

NP. You would be surprised. Some kids had pee problems so y the time they asked it was too late. Some didn’t ask, I’d spot the pee spot.

NP. When I taught 1st grade, I learned quickly to have a "use the bathroom whenever you want policy" (we had a single stall in the classroom so I could monitor easily). One boy had diarrhea in his seat and sat in it until lunch. Some kids are just afraid to ask or shy.

[Anonymous]

Here’s what I don’t miss:
My admin
Dismissal (lower elementary with too many buses)
Lockdown drills
Standing in the hallway trying to flag down a passerby so I can pee
Staff/committee meetings

Of course, I’d take it all back to resume our pre 3/13/20 lives. I will probably cry tears of joy the first day that things are normal (no hybrid, no distancing, no masks) again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last year, I lost my second job because there were 3-4 parents who would pick their kids up late every day. I had to wait with the students until their parents showed up. My after-school job fired me because I was late too often. I've been able to tutor online for the last few months and it has helped with my bills.

Was this a private school? If it was a public school I would have walked those kids up to the office and left them there with the Principal. This was not acceptable that you had to stay. As soon as your contract hours were over you should have left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A distant, fond memory - 'accidents' or pee problems

Let’s be honest here. You don’t let some students use the bathroom.

NP. You would be surprised. Some kids had pee problems so y the time they asked it was too late. Some didn’t ask, I’d spot the pee spot.

NP. When I taught 1st grade, I learned quickly to have a "use the bathroom whenever you want policy" (we had a single stall in the classroom so I could monitor easily). One boy had diarrhea in his seat and sat in it until lunch. Some kids are just afraid to ask or shy.

Or, last years teacher may have been really strict and limited bathroom visits. We had that issue and the next year my child was scared of the new teacher even though she was very flexible on that stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year, I lost my second job because there were 3-4 parents who would pick their kids up late every day. I had to wait with the students until their parents showed up. My after-school job fired me because I was late too often. I've been able to tutor online for the last few months and it has helped with my bills.

Was this a private school? If it was a public school I would have walked those kids up to the office and left them there with the Principal. This was not acceptable that you had to stay. As soon as your contract hours were over you should have left.

No. It was public school. By the time we come back inside from waiting for parents outside, admin is usually gone. Sometimes a counselor or social worker was in the office and would offer to wait with the kids but that was rare. They knew they could be there for a while. But if I left the kids alone, I probably would've lost my job (and I wouldn't do that to them). I was quite tempted to load them in my car and take them to work with me. I would've left a message telling their parents to come pick them up where I worked.

[Anonymous]

This is awesome. I think that parents of well-behaved kids tend to agree with the teachers on this. School time can now be spent on educating rather than spending a disproportionate amount of time addressing the poor behavior of a few students. My kids are thrilled that they don't have to spend their days bored out of their minds while the teachers spend half their time reprimanding the kids whose parents can't be bothered to parent them.

[Anonymous]

Having to go four hours between bathroom breaks. I’m pregnant now and I would not be able to do that. I’d have to call the office every time (honestly every two hours at least, so 3x a day) which is embarrassing, inconvenient and sometimes there’s no one there. Ridiculous to have to ask to use the bathroom as an adult.

[Anonymous]

When I do after school clubs I let parents know my policy. Late means 5 minutes or more. If they are more than 15 minutes late ever, for any reason even once, their kid can't come to the club. If they are more than 30 minutes late, I call the police to come pick the child up. It is not my job to babysit. Those are the rules. Don't like it? Don't sign your child up for this optional and FREE club.

[Anonymous]

For those teachers saying it’s great that there are no shooter drills, I think you’re going to be in for a sad shock when schools are back. School shootings were a sign of a frustrated and forgotten child raging at the society and school system that didn’t care about them. Only teachers could be so clueless to not understand that no school for a year has made this a thousand times worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those teachers saying it’s great that there are no shooter drills, I think you’re going to be in for a sad shock when schools are back. School shootings were a sign of a frustrated and forgotten child raging at the society and school system that didn’t care about them. Only teachers could be so clueless to not understand that no school for a year has made this a thousand times worse.

Typically school shooters were social outcasts so not having fellow students think they are freaks is a good thing. Lots of kids like DL because a lot of the negative social pressures no longer exist. My kid loves it because the kids who cause all of the behavior issues don't come to class. Now school is actual instruction instead of constant behavioral disruptions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those teachers saying it’s great that there are no shooter drills, I think you’re going to be in for a sad shock when schools are back. School shootings were a sign of a frustrated and forgotten child raging at the society and school system that didn’t care about them. Only teachers could be so clueless to not understand that no school for a year has made this a thousand times worse.

Typically school shooters were social outcasts so not having fellow students think they are freaks is a good thing. Lots of kids like DL because a lot of the negative social pressures no longer exist. My kid loves it because the kids who cause all of the behavior issues don't come to class. Now school is actual instruction instead of constant behavioral disruptions.

This is false. The mental health crises in children due to school closures have been significant. We can't just wish that away.

[Anonymous]

People put way too much on schools. Schools cannot be parents. If your child is depressed for whatever reason, it is your responsibility to get them help. If they miss their friends, it is your job to find safe ways to socialize. Schools are for academics. That is their role. If your kid is sad, bored, misses her friends, that's your job to help her. It's not her school's job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People put way too much on schools. Schools cannot be parents. If your child is depressed for whatever reason, it is your responsibility to get them help. If they miss their friends, it is your job to find safe ways to socialize. Schools are for academics. That is their role. If your kid is sad, bored, misses her friends, that's your job to help her. It's not her school's job.

Whew so either you're not a teacher or you didn't pay attention in any of our classes where they went over the multiple social roles of public education.