A note from your child's teacher...

[southernbelle04]

Originally Posted by jbug_4 Yep. I can't think of a single "emergency" that would warrant calling a teacher at home after hours.

I did have one such emergency while I was teaching. The father of a girl in my class called to tell me her sibling had committed suicide the previous night. Obviously, I was fine with him calling me.

There was another situation in which a parent called me at home, on a weekend to complain about something I allegedly said to her child. I wasn't happy about that at all.

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[carriek38]

Originally Posted by Hope4More As a teacher of middle school, any serious confrontation between students that went unreported due to peer pressure, suicidal behavior, or any physical confrontation would be fair game for a parent to call me at home immediately. I don't post my number, but I don't block it when I call either. I have Emails come in immediately to my phone where there are responded to from 6 am to 9 pm. I think it's a courtesy not everyone can afford, but with just one child, I still can.

I suppose it makes me a B, but I still say not appropriate. It's great that a kid discloses to somebody, and the parent should be reaching out to school personnel...but you, as the teacher, aren't doing anything about it; at least in this state you wouldn't be, any action would be counseling, SW, or administrative. Likewise, you can't do anything about it from home. So great, you accepted a parent report at home, but you have to wait until tomorrow to do anything about it...ergo, in my mind, the report could have waited until tomorrow. And if it's a serious enough incident, say requiring a trip to the ER or something of the sort, the administrator should be notified; the teacher is not the appropriate point of first contact.

And please don't think I'm not sensitive to the issues you're coming across; DP is a MS teacher & I did my guidance internships at both the MS & HS levels, as well as working as a children's case manager (most of my kids happened to be MS age). I absolutely get the socioemotional & behavioral issues you deal with on a daily basis (in addition to, you know, actually teaching)--but this sort of overextension of "what teachers are responsible for" goes beyond your area of specialty & supports the continuing deterioration of teaching as a profession. I don't mean that to say that you're not a good teacher; I have no knowledge of that...I mean that when you say that "it's a courtesy you can afford" for there to be no distinction between your professional time & personal time, it undermines you and others as professionals. I wouldn't dream of expecting my accountant to be available to me after hours, regardless of the number of children she has. Likewise, I wouldn't dream of calling my human resources director at home "b/c I just have a quick question," regardless of her family constellation. Teaching is a profession...I bristle when teachers are treated as less than professionals in general, and I get all when teachers themselves allow themselves to be treated as less than professionals.

[IndoorKitty]

Originally Posted by carriek38 ...this sort of overextension of "what teachers are responsible for" goes beyond your area of specialty & supports the continuing deterioration of teaching as a profession. I don't mean that to say that you're not a good teacher; I have no knowledge of that...I mean that when you say that "it's a courtesy you can afford" for there to be no distinction between your professional time & personal time, it undermines you and others as professionals. I wouldn't dream of expecting my accountant to be available to me after hours, regardless of the number of children she has. Likewise, I wouldn't dream of calling my human resources director at home "b/c I just have a quick question," regardless of her family constellation. Teaching is a profession...I bristle when teachers are treated as less than professionals in general, and I get all when teachers themselves allow themselves to be treated as less than professionals.

This. Times one thousand.

We have all made exceptions at times of extremis. That's not the issue. The issue is that, even though family crisis and a child's education are going to affect each other, the habit of people treating teachers as case workers and schools as social service agencies is problematic. If a teacher happens to "go above and beyond" in a certain circumstance, that's a gift, not an obligation. Being extra super availible sets up unrealistic expectations and burns people out.

[*KaiMom*]

Originally Posted by luvsviola Would you call your doctor at home? Your vet? Your plumber? Your child's teacher is no different.

Doctor? Yes if I was sick or my kids were. Vet? Yes if my pet with injured. Plumber? Yes if I had a leak. It's their jobs to help me with my kids, my pet or my toilet.

[Mom2jandb]

I called my teacher at home as a high school sophomore. I was an A student, but she sent home a failing progress report because she (knowingly) gave me zeros for work that wasn't even due yet. I let her explain to my rageaholic mom what my real grade was so I could get my tv back.

[trying4more]

I would never call my kid's teacher at home, I don't even have their number. I once lived across the street from my daughter's K teacher!

[Only]

I wouldn't personally call a teacher at that hour for those reasons but I don't see how she qualifies for stalker or creeper status.

[AbbieJack]

My grandmother,grandfather and my mother are all teachers and I've never seen them get upset about a parent calling them at home. Honestly my mother was HAPPY when parents called to ask question or talk about issues as they are a lot easier to solve at the beginning. I would not have thought twice about calling a teacher at home at a reasonable hour.

[Alaga]

I think email would have been a much more appropriate route.

I know my sister (taught 6th grade math) would check her email at night to help students who were struggling with their homework. She was young and single though, and is no longer a teacher b/c of all the extras that came along with the job & the obsessed parents!!

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[jbug_4]

Originally Posted by carriek38 I suppose it makes me a B, but I still say not appropriate. It's great that a kid discloses to somebody, and the parent should be reaching out to school personnel...but you, as the teacher, aren't doing anything about it; at least in this state you wouldn't be, any action would be counseling, SW, or administrative. Likewise, you can't do anything about it from home. So great, you accepted a parent report at home, but you have to wait until tomorrow to do anything about it...ergo, in my mind, the report could have waited until tomorrow. And if it's a serious enough incident, say requiring a trip to the ER or something of the sort, the administrator should be notified; the teacher is not the appropriate point of first contact. And please don't think I'm not sensitive to the issues you're coming across; DP is a MS teacher & I did my guidance internships at both the MS & HS levels, as well as working as a children's case manager (most of my kids happened to be MS age). I absolutely get the socioemotional & behavioral issues you deal with on a daily basis (in addition to, you know, actually teaching)--but this sort of overextension of "what teachers are responsible for" goes beyond your area of specialty & supports the continuing deterioration of teaching as a profession. I don't mean that to say that you're not a good teacher; I have no knowledge of that...I mean that when you say that "it's a courtesy you can afford" for there to be no distinction between your professional time & personal time, it undermines you and others as professionals. I wouldn't dream of expecting my accountant to be available to me after hours, regardless of the number of children she has. Likewise, I wouldn't dream of calling my human resources director at home "b/c I just have a quick question," regardless of her family constellation. Teaching is a profession...I bristle when teachers are treated as less than professionals in general, and I get all when teachers themselves allow themselves to be treated as less than professionals.

I agree.