Does the teacher in mcps check his or her school emails at home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, there are a lot of teachers in MCPS that really don't like their jobs.

I absolutely love my job. I'm just trying to say this as gently as possible: without question, parent emails are the lowest priority item in my day 95% of the time. Add to that the amount of energy required to be truthful, concise and tactful, and it is sometimes a time-sucking task. I know this may sound offensive, and for that I am sorry. But if you child's teacher isn't getting back to you ASAP it might mean they are busy or they may have forgotten (they don't sit at a desktop and check email all day). Other possibilities could be that your request doesn't even make it onto the radar in grand scheme of things of his/her tasks, or that you are somehow off-putting and it's hard for the teacher to shift gears from working with kids to trying to placate an adult.

All these teachers are going way off topic. The OP asked if anyone would respond on this snow break. A few started off saying it is their family time. It is a work/life balance, they aren't required to reply. A few parents got annoyed. You will have been home the equivalent of another winter break, paid for and probably won't have to make up. If you can't respond to an email after you are off 10 days in a row, that is an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, there are a lot of teachers in MCPS that really don't like their jobs.

I love my job! My job is educating children. My job is not catering to emotionally unstable helicopter parents or disrespectful parents on power trips. I'll be honest, if you are easy to work with and I get an email from you between 3 and 8 pm, I probably email you back within 15 minutes. If you are difficult to work with, I wait until the next morning. If you are a complete douche or a raving maniac, I forward your email to the counselor first, wait for her decide what if any response is merited, and I'll reply to you at 3 pm: "Thanks for your email and appraising me of this concern. Unfortunately, I will need to consult _____ before I can address this matter. I will contact you ASAP."

PP is the one on a power trip. Yes indeed...reminds me a lot of other bureaucratic government employees such as the motor vehicle department for example. No different!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, there are a lot of teachers in MCPS that really don't like their jobs.

I absolutely love my job. I'm just trying to say this as gently as possible: without question, parent emails are the lowest priority item in my day 95% of the time. Add to that the amount of energy required to be truthful, concise and tactful, and it is sometimes a time-sucking task. I know this may sound offensive, and for that I am sorry. But if you child's teacher isn't getting back to you ASAP it might mean they are busy or they may have forgotten (they don't sit at a desktop and check email all day). Other possibilities could be that your request doesn't even make it onto the radar in grand scheme of things of his/her tasks, or that you are somehow off-putting and it's hard for the teacher to shift gears from working with kids to trying to placate an adult.

All these teachers are going way off topic. The OP asked if anyone would respond on this snow break. A few started off saying it is their family time. It is a work/life balance, they aren't required to reply. A few parents got annoyed. You will have been home the equivalent of another winter break, paid for and probably won't have to make up. If you can't respond to an email after you are off 10 days in a row, that is an issue.

Yeah, MCPS teachers haven't been off 10 days in a row yet. Even our principal isn't answering staff emails. Several of us have sent her group emails regarding a testing issue. Radio silence.

[Anonymous]

I'm the OP. Sorry for the late response. I was surprised the topic has been hot! I tried emails to the teacher, but I haven't received any reply yet. So sad....

[Anonymous]

Let's face it. Teachers in the public schools are government servants. For the most part (no all necessarily), their aim is to do as little as possible to get the job done. How can you expect anything more from a government servant? Just go to the department of motor vehicles or city hall. It's all about making life as cushy as possible.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, Massa, I be slo sum times. But Ise a good teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. Sorry for the late response. I was surprised the topic has been hot! I tried emails to the teacher, but I haven't received any reply yet. So sad....

I don't believe for a moment that you didn't think this would stir shit up between parents and teachers. You could have just sent the email and waited to see if you got a response. You wanted a big buildup to being able to bitch about no immediate response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, there are a lot of teachers in MCPS that really don't like their jobs.

I absolutely love my job. I'm just trying to say this as gently as possible: without question, parent emails are the lowest priority item in my day 95% of the time. Add to that the amount of energy required to be truthful, concise and tactful, and it is sometimes a time-sucking task. I know this may sound offensive, and for that I am sorry. But if you child's teacher isn't getting back to you ASAP it might mean they are busy or they may have forgotten (they don't sit at a desktop and check email all day). Other possibilities could be that your request doesn't even make it onto the radar in grand scheme of things of his/her tasks, or that you are somehow off-putting and it's hard for the teacher to shift gears from working with kids to trying to placate an adult.

All these teachers are going way off topic. The OP asked if anyone would respond on this snow break. A few started off saying it is their family time. It is a work/life balance, they aren't required to reply. A few parents got annoyed. You will have been home the equivalent of another winter break, paid for and probably won't have to make up. If you can't respond to an email after you are off 10 days in a row, that is an issue.

Yeah, MCPS teachers haven't been off 10 days in a row yet. Even our principal isn't answering staff emails. Several of us have sent her group emails regarding a testing issue. Radio silence.

Oh, so teachers AND principals deserve that life/work balance. Got it.
And it will be 10 days in a row Sunday. The life balance of working 31 total days out of the past 67? Must be nice. I totally understand why you don't have time to email.

[Anonymous]

Several teachers on this thread said they have been replying to emails during the snowstorm, so you are selectively choosing how to frame the issue. I have worked pretty consistently from home the entire time we have been off, and I have kids. I don't see how continuing this back and forth is productive. In any profession, you will have people who do and people who don't do their job as well as they should. I am confident that I work probably double the number of hours I am paid for, if not more. I am surrounded by teachers working extremely hard. I came to the profession after working in management consulting, so I can compare education and business. Trust me, you should be thanking your kids' teachers. In my entire school, I can only think of one teacher who fits the definition of someone who just wants the paycheck. My coworkers inspire me every day, and they devote their lives to educating your kids and preparing them for the world. They care deeply. These are the folks you want to criticize and antagonize?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. Sorry for the late response. I was surprised the topic has been hot! I tried emails to the teacher, but I haven't received any reply yet. So sad....

I don't believe for a moment that you didn't think this would stir shit up between parents and teachers. You could have just sent the email and waited to see if you got a response. You wanted a big buildup to being able to bitch about no immediate response.

OP here. Why are you so hostile? I came to USA last year and I just wanted to know ....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey, can this work both ways? If I promise to get back to you within 1 business day will you promise to return my phone calls and emails when I am trying to get ahold of you when there's something to discuss regarding your child?

Will you promise to update your phone numbers and email addresses with the office when they change so that when your child is sick or has missed the bus I can actually get in touch with you and not have to call every person listed on your emergency form to find someone who has a way to contact you?

Will you promise to send your child to school knowing how they'll get home each day so I don't have to make that phone call 5 minutes before dismissal numerous times per week?

Will you promise to follow protocol and send in a written note when your child is going home with someone else and not just send me an email at 2pm then get mad that I was teaching your child and not reading email at 2pm so I sent them home the usual way?

For the record--I check my email at home once before I leave in the morning and once in the evening. I will get back to you if I have the answer on hand and I'll at least respond to say I need to find out if that's the case.

But this relationship works both ways.

This.

-another elementary teacher who cannot get in touch with parents when I'm initiating contact but they expect me to respond to their question within the hour

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. Sorry for the late response. I was surprised the topic has been hot! I tried emails to the teacher, but I haven't received any reply yet. So sad....

I don't believe for a moment that you didn't think this would stir shit up between parents and teachers. You could have just sent the email and waited to see if you got a response. You wanted a big buildup to being able to bitch about no immediate response.

OP here. Why are you so hostile? I came to USA last year and I just wanted to know ....

You wanted to know if you could send an email during a snow emergency?

What bad thing did you think would happen if you sent it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. I was up at 8am checking, sending, and responding to emails. I have no problem with parents emailing me a question, in fact I love when they do! However, I also sometimes need to wait for a response from a supervisor or feel that a phone call would be better to answer their questions, and I don't call parents from my home number. In that case I generally let them know unless I can call them within the next few hours at work.

The parents I don't respond to at night are the ones that email me 3 times a day, or even 3 times an hour. Those are the ones I work hard to set boundaries with and will respond to once a day. Otherwise their family starts to take over my life and that's not fair to anyone.

'

Some parents emails you 3 times an hour? They send you 20 emails a day everyday? And you don't report this to your principal to handle? Sorry not buying it.

I'm a different poster, but below our principal's pay grade. However, our counselor knows which parents do this and asks that we cc her on our replies. Then the parents flip out and want to know why the counselor has to be involved. Because you emailed me ten times in two days!

I'm a teacher in DCPS and I totally believe this because I have a parent like this. It is not uncommon for her to email me several times a day. I reply once a day and always cc the principal and the school counselor. I do not reply on weekends per my principals instructions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's face it. Teachers in the public schools are government servants. For the most part (no all necessarily), their aim is to do as little as possible to get the job done. How can you expect anything more from a government servant? Just go to the department of motor vehicles or city hall. It's all about making life as cushy as possible.

Don't forget that we ARE daycare, have the lowest SAT scores numerically possible, reel around in public drunkenly freaking out kindergarteners, and if male, are certainly pedophiles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP. Sorry for the late response. I was surprised the topic has been hot! I tried emails to the teacher, but I haven't received any reply yet. So sad....

I don't believe for a moment that you didn't think this would stir shit up between parents and teachers. You could have just sent the email and waited to see if you got a response. You wanted a big buildup to being able to bitch about no immediate response.

OP here. Why are you so hostile? I came to USA last year and I just wanted to know ....

You wanted to know if you could send an email during a snow emergency?

What bad thing did you think would happen if you sent it?

As I wrote my opening question, I wanted to know whether teachers can check their email at home.