Dear We Are Teachers,
This year I got a job at a new school that I really like, apart from one thing: my principal keeps commenting that I left at the time of my contract! If I pass him on the way out, he’ll say, “You’re in a hurry!” or “Somewhere do you have to be?” When I finally clarified that my contract day ends at 3, he said, “Oh yeah, that’s true, but most of our teachers stay until 5:00 or later.” My eyes practically popped out of my head. I thought we all agreed to work our contract hours in 2024. Now I feel so sneaky leaving at 3. Help!
—Don’t you know you’re toxic?
Dear DYKTYT,
First of all, as a fellow millennial, thank you for the reference to B. Spears.
This is very irritating and would cause me great distress as a fellow rule follower.
I could understand if you skipped afternoon tasks, meetings, or other things that tend to show up in our general “Other Assigned Tasks” box. But on a normal day, you should have complete freedom to leave at the contract time, no questions asked!
Over time, your manager will stop making snide comments and realize that, incredibly, you can still do your job well without doing unpaid work. But if you don’t want to wait until it stops, you can say, “I give someone a ride home from my neighborhood every day, and I have to leave at my contract time to pick her up.”
Do you need to know that the person in your neighborhood is you? No, it doesn’t.
Dear We Are Teachers,
It is my fourth year teaching fifth grade math at our school. I realized early on that all of the students I had who had Mrs. A or Mr. B in fourth grade math were well prepared for my class. But any students who have had Mr. C? Large gaps in knowledge. Whole units missing. For the past three years, I have had to meet with Mr. C’s former students in small groups until December to fill in those gaps.
I asked my team last May about Mr. C and they said they had noticed the same thing with his students. They said they had talked to him before but with no improvement. Now, they seem resigned to this reality of providing additional tutoring to their students every year!
I refuse to accept this. My question is, should I go to Mr. C first, even though my team has already spoken to him? Or should I go to my director at this time?
—“C” Your departure, sir
Dear Customer,
Yes. You still have to talk to Mr. C first.
This is what you do.
Gather data.
Give your students a diagnostic test on some of the topics they were supposed to have learned in 4th grade, then filter those results by students of each teacher. “Normal” results after a summer off would mean hits and misses here and there, especially with more difficult concepts. But when students of a single teacher are missing questions focused on certain concepts, you are right: those concepts were not taught to mastery.
Talk to Mr. C.
Say this: “Hey, I recently ran a diagnosis and wanted to show you the results. Do you have a few minutes?
Then, listen without judging. Maybe he’ll admit that he’s really struggling with teaching those concepts, and you’ll have the opportunity to step in and offer support. Alternatively, you can become defensive and say that there is nothing wrong with your teaching. Or maybe it offers you a perspective you haven’t considered, like the fact that you and the other teacher have Pre-AP classes. I don’t know. But be prepared to respond with kindness and empathy, offering all the support they need.
If you’re willing to try harder, great. Let him prove himself. If you’re not willing to change, go to your department head first (if you have one) and then to your AP. You will already have the data you need.
Dear We Are Teachers,
It’s my first year teaching high school and I love it! There’s a problem: I now have a team of about 10 students who eat lunch in my room and I never get anything done. I’ve tried noise-cancelling headphones, I’ve tried telling them to pretend I’m not there (in other words, don’t talk to me!), but they persist in being very distracting. I feel bad because they are great kids and I know they feel a sense of community in my room. But I NEED my time alone. How do I cancel the group lunch without hurting their feelings?
—Tired of being the lunch lady
Dear TOBTLL,
First let me tell you, there’s nothing wrong with (desperately) needing that little 20-minute block in the middle of the day to quietly recharge.
I could be wrong, but I feel some mixed feelings inside you. In light of this, I will divide my recommendations into two categories:
If you really don’t want to organize student lunch anymore:
Just tell him. Say: “Listen, I love you and our lunches together. But as a teacher, I need this time not only to recharge, but also to get things done, and there are some things I can only do without students here. Sometimes I need to make phone calls to parents or leave them unattended to make copies or go to meetings. I could get into big trouble if I do that while the students are eating lunch here. I know you are disappointed and it is a difficult decision for me too. But I hope you understand.”
If you want to organize the students’ lunch but, for example, you short shape back:
If you’re afraid that a total cut will seem too drastic, set limits!
- Instead, host students once a week (or once a month).
- Create a rotating schedule with other teachers who are willing to host.
- Find other ways to build community that don’t involve giving up lunchtime. (Two favorites that come to mind: attendance questions and this class calendar.)
Have a burning question? Email us at [email protected].
Dear We Are Teachers,
I moved to Florida from New England this year and, at an off-campus job fair, accepted a position at what seemed like a great high school. But from the first day the school was open this summer for teachers to work in the building, I realized that this school is infested with cockroaches. Dead people in the hallway, live people running out of the boxes, cockroach droppings all over the surfaces. Not the baby German cockroaches, but the large tree cockroaches. I’m fine with most mistakes, but these scare me! I asked my director what could be done and he told me that, other than the quarterly visit from the exterminator, his hands were tied. I don’t want to cause problems at my new school, but this seems like a health hazard!
—This bothers me
