Reply to MCPS teachers - what would you tell parents in your class(es) if you could?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Don’t expect much. I literally only get 18 seconds per school day to think and plan for YOUR kid. 0.8 part time teacher = 36 minutes/day planning time with over 100 students[/quote]

This would be my message, too. We are overwhelmed and we get very little time during the work day to actually get work done. I’m lucky if I get 30 minutes a day to respond to emails, look at data for all 140 students, plan lessons, grade papers, call parents, eat lunch, and go to the bathroom.

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I’m not arguing but can you explain what happens to your time?  You are supposed to get an hour planning/grading time per day plus a 45 minute lunch.  And then some time after school.  Are they making you cover other classes during your break?  Or attend meetings?  This seems like the kind of thing that could be grieved.[/quote]

Do you understand that a 30 minute duty free lunch means that we should not be using that time to email/plan?  We are using that time to eat.  All of the planning time is not individual planning, some is sitting in meetings, analyzing data. Admin wants us to work on some new initiative, so we need to revamp our lessons to fit this new initiative. Think about all of the things that go into a lesson.  It isn't just planning the lesson, it is making copies (we are lucky if we have a working copier, then add in waiting in line, fixing the jam), setting up the room, etc. This is day after day. Each lesson requires this set up. All of this takes time.  And the sub shortage hasn't gone away, so we are covering classes.  And for every student with an IEP we are completing teacher reports, quarterly reports and gathering data.  If I have 30 students with IEPs, that takes up a significant amount of time.  I have to contact parents of students who are failing. All of this comes out of my planning time.  Throw in some student issue, now I have to contact the counselor and the parent. That quick phone call ends up taking 30 minutes, there goes my planning time. [/quote]

We are promised a "30 minute duty free- and UNPAID lunch"
I have worked elementary and secondary. At elementary level, you lose a guaranteed 5 minutes at minimum to dropping off and/or picking up your class from lunch/recess. In secondary, you typically lose a few due monitoring the increasingly monstrous hallway behaviors.  In BOTH levels, you lose 10 to the copy machine that was jammed during your planning time, or the other 3 times you tried so far that week.

Please just be kind. There are so many things out of our control and so many people to please. You want less screen time, but our copiers are "refurbished" from 1985. You want us to be tech-savvy, but we're forced to use 3 different platforms in hopes you (the parents) might interact with one.

WE ARE TRYING!

Also, understand that because YOU have attended school before does not make you an expert on "SCHOOL." I have found that many adults simplify what school should be based on their own experiences. I have never been a surgeon, so I wouldn't tell one what to do differently when they are working on my child. But since everyone has had a school experience, many seem emboldened to tell the teacher what they are doing wrong without seeing the broad picture of what we are tasked with everyday to make 30+ children progress (and hopefully LEARN) day to day. School is not the same as when you attended. You are not an expert.

***Most importantly, never send your kids to school with RoseArt crayons. They are legit trash.
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