I had a conflict with a parent today. Sort of. She was a nice woman over the phone, but beneath each nice remark, there was a cutting critical remark. Her daughter clearly does not like me. I'm not looking forward to the meeting next week with her. I found myself getting angry with her over the phone, even asking her once not to interrupt me, with a "please," of course. Her daughter has done next to nothing this year, and I'm hearing from her for the first time in March, despite requesting conferences on her last two report cards.
At school this year, parental contact is nearly impossible. I have no phone in my room. Today, there was a fight in the hallways, and the only way for me to get any security guards to help was to sprint down to the office and get them. I shudder to think about whether it was a real emergency.
To call parents at home, we must use the English department phone. However, the line out was inadvertently cut a few weeks ago by custodial services, and now there is no way to call out from that office. Therefore, I had to go to the main office, and speak in the very public area there while I had a 25-minute, intermittedly angry phone call with a parent.
A few times this year, I've used my cell phone to call parents, but my cell phone gets poor service at school, and I got tired of the dropped calls. Therefore, I've made very little parental contact this year. It sucks, because in past year, I've prided myself on this. I've been known to call a parent of a problem student in front of the whole class, and make the kid talk to the parent right there.
When the new contract this year is negotiated, I wish this would be written in - that the school should provide a convenient line out for teachers to administer parent contact. It's just not fair to expect parental contact and then not give teachers the access to do it.
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8 comments:
Don't use your cell phone if you don't want angry calls even when you're not at work. Besides that, even the calls "just to chat" nicely about their child's progress or whatever, can be extremely intrusive when you can be reached by cell phone.
I'm sure the meeting will go OK.
I know a few teachers who program the parents' contact information into the cell phones as soon as school starts. Then they whip out the phones and pull the "Talk to your Child" routine.
Before I had a cell phone, when I was working in New York City I was working in a very small private school and the main office had a cordless phone. I picked that phone up and carried it back to the class as I consulted with Dad, then handed over the phone. That had an interesting impact.
Sacrificial lambs, what would we do without 'em?
On the other hand, my kid's teachers all but refuse to talk on the phone. Unless they intiate it (which has been never in the two years my son has been in school), they want all contact through e-mail because it's "more convenient" for them.
Granted, I'm talking about different school systems and elementary vs. high schools, but how sure are you that the majority of teachers across the system actually want vocal contact with parents?
Well, we're required to keep in contact with parents, and the system is still pretty non-technical. I don't have a school e-mail address, for example. About half of my students' parents have e-mail addresses. It's just not enough at this point, although it would help.
Without proper access to a phone, I do encourage parents to e-mail me, though, if they can, to my personal address.
We have one phone for 30 math teachers--also no privacy. And, on top of this we are given no free time during the day to make the calls. I don't want to call from home anymore. work hard enough! Besides, most parents won't accept a blocked number and I refuse to put in my private one.
If the schools insist on parent contact, like mine does, they ahve to make it easier.
It is no easier from the parent end. I have one or two email addresses for teachers. Some check regularly, some seem never to. The district is still stuck in phone home mode (even though the district is set up to provide email to all teachers, many elect not to use it, preferring their own home or a hotmail type address, or no email contact at all--as proudly announced by one teacher). As far as I can tell there are no phones in classrooms. To reach a teacher a parent has to call (usually from work), several times as the lines are always tied up, leave a message with a student, hope the teacher gets it, hope that they call back, hope to be available when they call back. Don't bother calling a minute after the last bell--no one will answer.
Are you a Baltimore parent?
If so, don't believe that all teachers have been given e-mail addresses. The system *may* be set up for them, but that doesn't mean we've been given them. I've been wanting one for six years. Apparently there is one, but it's inaccessible to me, and I'm no internet idiot.
And why are you leaving messages with students? Do they really have students answering the phones?
Not Baltimore, but another urban. Yes, all teachers have the ability to get district email, but there is some weird trust issue (they had to be internally identified by a SS#, like the district didn't already have it). Their naming conventions also are inconsistent. Many personnel have a first initial last name--however many others have an additional cryptic number attached, to keep anyone from the possibility of figuring out their email. No emails are posted on the website (except for communications).
Yes, students answer the phones and take messages. I remember one day when the issue was really important asking for the nearest adult and being told there were no adults in site (they were all in a meeting).
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