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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]This may be one reason parents are fed up— in the past, teachers weren’t all over social media sharing their Disney vacations in February. It may be that the actual instances of teachers taking midyear vacations hasn’t changed much, just the awareness of the phenomenon has.[/quote]

Like the posts sitting on the beach during COVID and talking about how much they missed the kids?

Had a neighbor who did that.  
[/quote]

I don’t even think it has to be something egregious. Family photo of kids with Mickey gets posted to Facebook, even if settings are private, a friend shows it in their mom’s group has “this is what the teachers are doing” and now the credibility is gone.

I think there’s a message about minimizing absences that also respects the need for time with family, economic conditions, and working with parents to minimize academic impact . It just certainly wasn’t this.[/quote]

Teachers are allowed vacations.[/quote]

Absolutely! So is every other parent. If policy supports one it must support the other.[/quote]

Take your kid on a vacation but don't ask for work packets and make ups when you come back. Your vacation should not mean extra work for the teacher. And don't complain if your kids grade drops or they are struggling with the material. The teacher shouldn't 
have to tutor your kid because you chose a vacation.

I saw a post on the FCPS facebook page where a parent was worried that the teacher wouldn't sign off on the form saying the kid was going to miss extended time for a vacation. The teacher wrote on the form that the child was struggling with the class and missing extra time was going to make it harder for the kid. The parents concern wasn't the struggling kid but the fact that the teacher didn't sign the form. The advice from posters was that the form was a courtesy and to go ahead and enjoy the vacation, no concerns about the kid struggling with the class and then missing more class. [/quote]

Here is the unsupportable double standard. When the teacher goes on vacation for a week, it makes additional work for all 28 families in their class. That’s OK! The same policy which supports a February Disney trip for a teacher supports an extra week at Spring Break for a student.

If that bothers you, you’ll have to fix it at the administration level which allows teachers to travel midyear. Because if you push back at providing work and make ups, parents will simply get the absences excused and it will no longer be at your discretion. [/quote]

I would love to see some data on this. Who are all these teachers going to Disney for a week? If we were to take this thread as fact, then Disney is filled with American educators all winter long!!! The place must be packed. Yet I know of only one teacher who has gone to Disney during the winter, and I’ve been teaching for over 20 years. She missed two days of school and felt guilty about it.

And inconveniencing families with our absences? I missed two days this year. (Sorry, DCUM. I caught the flu. I apologize for my absence, but my 102 fever and aching muscles made it a bit hard to get out of bed. I’ll do better.) I left meticulous plans and had the work graded with comments by the end of the evening. I’m sorry that was such an inconvenience. [/quote]

[b]Did you profusely thank every parent who may have been inconvenienced? Did you recognize the time they spent finding tutoring and getting their? The resources they lost paying those tutors? The hours they could have been spending in quality time with their children instead of teaching?

Doesn’t that say something about you if you didn’t?

Because thats how ridiculous your idea that a teacher is going above and beyond by providing material upon a students return is.

Teachers who go above and beyond absolutely deserve thanks and recognition and appreciation from parents (who should also send the praise to administrators). What you’re describing is not above and beyond[/b]. [/quote]

💯 % this. Well said.[/quote]

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