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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The reasons why the teacher is not responding is because you as the parent shouldn't be emailing the teacher about this issue. No way your parent ever sent in a note to the teacher saying,

"I want to make sure my daughter turned in the right assignment. Can you write me a note back telling me she turned in the correct assignment? I know you already spoke to her and she submitted it but I just really wanted to make sure."

Please call your parents and ask them. They are going to be completely puzzled why you would contact the teacher.

You wrote, "My student has emailed teacher twice about a missing assignment (2 weeks ago). Teacher didn't reply. Student talked to her in class and then submitted the work." 
Your student sees her teacher all the time. The teacher should not have to go out of his or her way to email a student back who is missing an assignment. The student should be staying after class, going before school, at lunch, etc. to inquire.

So your student finally understood this and went to speak to the teacher in person AND then submitted the work.

So the issue has been solved. Why do you think the teacher needs to use her valuable time to send you a special email?

Under the no good deed goes unpunished category is teachers responding to nonsense emails. Instead of quickly responding and then never hearing from the parent, teachers who respond to ridiculous emails like this are then bombarded with MORE emails from the parent.

The best tactic is now not to respond to emails that are just pestering teachers over something your child should be doing. So go ahead and CC the principal and superintendent. Do you really think there are qualified teachers lined up waiting to teach middle school? 
[/quote]

Exactly.  Catering to this parent email would literally just result in dozens and dozens more similar emails over the year.  That's hours of work for just one kid, and it would literally have no benefit to the kid at all.  It's not unprofessional to refuse to teach a parent that this kind of email can be a good investment of time...and of course teacher can't be frank about this because they'd be called unprofessional.

I really wish principals would take the lead in proactively communicating with parents about what a time and morale suck email is in the modern classroom.  I've been in the classroom, then the corporate world, and then the classroom again, and it's clear that most people don't "get it" in the slightest.  They think, "I answer emails like this at work all the time?  Why can't the teacher just do this one small thing?"

But the teacher is not at her desk looking at email all day.  If she's busy working with kids all day and checks emails after dismissal, and 65 emails are waiting for her, half of which are "little things" like this, when is there time to plan tomorrow's lessons?  Grade papers?  Finish those spreadsheets for the team meeting tomorrow?  Do the paperwork for the IEP meeting?  Finish the online training that was due two weeks ago?  Write her self evaluation for her meeting with her supervisor next week?

The contract day is already over.  Her one planning block today was taken up with IEP meetings.  How many hours do you really expect her to work tonight in order to be "professional" and answer every single email in 24 hours?  Honestly?  What would satisfy your expectations?

Because I've been that teacher and I spent 4-6 hours after contract every single day and still was in therapy because I felt like a failure.  I was a great teacher but it was impossible.  And then I left teaching and made a LOT more money and had WAY, way less stress.  So as a parent now, I've got a whole different perspective.  [/quote]

Thank you for sharing your experience and perspective.

I’m an English teacher. I just got home from a 10 hour day at work. I brought home about 3 hours of work, and I also have highlighted the tasks I will do on Saturday, which will probably take me 6-8 hours. This is normal. And no, I’m not complaining. I’m simply amplifying the PP’s message: this is a teacher’s day.

I have received 14 emails from students just since 12pm today. While I haven’t received any from parents in these four hours, I did receive 4 from admin. All 18 require responses, and some will be extensive. I have 24 hours to get this done, so I’ll add these responses to the 3 hours of planning and grading I have tonight.

This is why emails occasionally get overlooked. They are competing with so many other obligations.

(PP, I’m also looking for my way out. I have watched plenty of other teachers quit. Most report what you do: they make more and work far less. I do worry about the future of education, but I don’t know how much longer I can stay.)[/quote]

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