Parents, please don’t ask me to stay after school and tutor your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is odd to me. When I taught school all teachers were available for a little while before and after school for extra help. Many of us had specific days and hours. That’s just part of the job. I was actually thrilled when a student took the initiative and came to me for help. Maybe teaching isn’t the career fit you, OP.

Says who? Why should that just be part of the job? We don’t ask other people including doctors or nurses to stay after office hours to meet with patients.

Many doctor husband would disagree with you on this one—when they are on call they sometimes get 15 calls a day on the emergency line (Pediatrics) and very few of them are actual emergencies. His whole weekend can be ruined and he does not get paid for each call. And no, we are not super wealthy, we are drowning in loans.

I imagine his job "contract" if he has one includes time spent working on the emergency line. Health facilities provide an emergency line for patients. It's reasonable that they would call it and assume the person responding to it is working what is part of their established work hours It's not reasonable to assume that a teacher should stay after school hours to work with your child when there is no official "homework help" time established. A more accurate comparison would be if I contacted my OB on his own personal time outside of office hours when there is no office emergency or question line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is odd to me. When I taught school all teachers were available for a little while before and after school for extra help. Many of us had specific days and hours. That’s just part of the job. I was actually thrilled when a student took the initiative and came to me for help. Maybe teaching isn’t the career fit you, OP.

This is how it works for both of my children’s schools.

Yes, that's the issue. That's how it works at many if not most schools. And it sucks for the teachers.

[Anonymous]

Another teacher here.

My own pet peeve is the current student who refuses to come in at lunch or after school so that I can work with him and give him the extra support he needs. I've been offering/advising that he arrange to do this since the first week of school. Now that he is getting a B-, he told his parents and the school admin that I "won't help him" and "don't like him." I have had multiple meetings this week in response to these accusations.

In response to this, the principal informed his mother that I would be waiting in my classroom at lunchtime to help him. He didn't show up for that, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our teachers are always available after school to help kids in middle school and high school. Even an elementary teacher could find some time at the end of the day to help some students. Maybe you should ask for a mentor and see what’s up.

Of course I could “find time” and I do. It’s just that time is my unpaid for personal time and I’m resentful of people simply treating it like an expectation. I would bet a great many teachers at your school who do it aren’t happy about it as well.

Welcome to being a working adult.

At least you only have to deal with this 10 months out of the year while others deal with it year round.

Teachers are not more out upon than other professions. Most teachers simply don’t understand what being a working professional is actually like because they start out as teachers and don’t work in professional jobs prior to teaching.

I actually think no teacher should be hired straight out of school and all should be required to have a minimum of two years work experience in a professional setting first. This would improve the quality of teachers and teaching tremendously since it would allow recent grads the chance to learn some professional work skills prior to coming to the classroom and reducing the learning curve of just being a working adult. This impacts new teachers quite a bit as they have to suddenly be a full time working adult, deal with admin and teachers , and actually manage and teach.

[Anonymous]

This is why Kirwan Commission is such a boondoggle. The money should be kept with families to provide private tutoring for their kids using curricula that works... not like Curriculum 2.0 drivel in MCPS. We tripled the budgets in Maryland under the Thornton Commission in 2003 - for worse results.

To the OP - say no to ‘tutoring’ but then stop asking for more money for what is essentially glorified daycare. Leave the real teaching to the cram schools - like in South Korea. We should subsidize families - not teachers unions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is odd to me. When I taught school all teachers were available for a little while before and after school for extra help. Many of us had specific days and hours. That’s just part of the job. I was actually thrilled when a student took the initiative and came to me for help. Maybe teaching isn’t the career fit you, OP.

Says who? Why should that just be part of the job? We don’t ask other people including doctors or nurses to stay after office hours to meet with patients.

Many doctor husband would disagree with you on this one—when they are on call they sometimes get 15 calls a day on the emergency line (Pediatrics) and very few of them are actual emergencies. His whole weekend can be ruined and he does not get paid for each call. And no, we are not super wealthy, we are drowning in loans.

If he didn't owe money in loans, what is his income?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it really your personal time? I don’t think teachers workday is done at the ringing of the last bell.

Oh yes it is. My contract hours end at 4:15 and I am DONE. Teachers who work hours after that for free are why we get paid crap. Of course they won’t raise our pay when martyrs will do it for free. I love my job but I am not a 24/7 employee and your kid’s essay is not more important than me spending time with my own children. When the bell rings, I’m off just like anyone else.

Why can’t you have them from 3 to 4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is odd to me. When I taught school all teachers were available for a little while before and after school for extra help. Many of us had specific days and hours. That’s just part of the job. I was actually thrilled when a student took the initiative and came to me for help. Maybe teaching isn’t the career fit you, OP.

Says who? Why should that just be part of the job? We don’t ask other people including doctors or nurses to stay after office hours to meet with patients.

Many doctor husband would disagree with you on this one—when they are on call they sometimes get 15 calls a day on the emergency line (Pediatrics) and very few of them are actual emergencies. His whole weekend can be ruined and he does not get paid for each call. And no, we are not super wealthy, we are drowning in loans.

Cops also stop on the side of the road and help people when they’re off duty. And it’s expected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our teachers are always available after school to help kids in middle school and high school. Even an elementary teacher could find some time at the end of the day to help some students. Maybe you should ask for a mentor and see what’s up.

Of course I could “find time” and I do. It’s just that time is my unpaid for personal time and I’m resentful of people simply treating it like an expectation. I would bet a great many teachers at your school who do it aren’t happy about it as well.

Welcome to being a working adult.

At least you only have to deal with this 10 months out of the year while others deal with it year round.

Teachers are not more out upon than other professions. Most teachers simply don’t understand what being a working professional is actually like because they start out as teachers and don’t work in professional jobs prior to teaching.

I actually think no teacher should be hired straight out of school and all should be required to have a minimum of two years work experience in a professional setting first. This would improve the quality of teachers and teaching tremendously since it would allow recent grads the chance to learn some professional work skills prior to coming to the classroom and reducing the learning curve of just being a working adult. This impacts new teachers quite a bit as they have to suddenly be a full time working adult, deal with admin and teachers , and actually manage and teach.

So working in a school is not a professional setting? Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never would have gotten through math classes in high school if my saint of a teacher didn't make herself available nearly every day after school for an hour to help me and other students.

I took her for granted!

You really did. See if you can find her and write her a letter now.

[Anonymous]

Op, tell them no if that's what you want to do.

DH helps kids who actually want it. They are basically told that if they waste his time during class, he won't help after.

The kids who are trying and maybe just need extra help to nail down the concept (for example) can go see him at noon 2 days/week.

Ds's girlfriend had a math teacher who offered zero help outside of class. She went to another math teacher for help.

[Anonymous]

Huh? Teacher here. Staying til 4 was actually part of our contract for this reason. You're supposed to help the kids who are having trouble with the content material.

I also had to help kids who came during my lunch and free periods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Huh? Teacher here. Staying til 4 was actually part of our contract for this reason. You're supposed to help the kids who are having trouble with the content material.

I also had to help kids who came during my lunch and free periods.

+ 1

I've never heard of teachers being allowed to say no to students who are coming to them for extra help after school. That's part of their job!!!

They're not supposed to leave at 2:30 when the last bell rings and students leave.

[Anonymous]

I don't think people realize how many meetings teachers have to attend after school. Most of them are useless. Or how much extra paperwork teachers are required to do. I don't have time to tutor kids after school because I am completing useless paperwork detailing how I am going to help students improve instead of actually directly teaching them after school. My son has the flu so I had to spen yesterday afternoon leaving detailed sun plans that probably won't be followed because they can't find enough subs.

[Anonymous]

Well, OP, you are a sucker. NO TEACHER has ever stayed after school and taught children or sponsored clubs, unless they were being paid in some way. Through MCPS stipends or some grants etc.