It is just me?

[yoopermom]

What MrsPete said

When I was laidoff (through no fault of my own) all of us who were affected were called in at ten minute intervals after school was out, with union representation present. Wasn't fun, but at least it was professionally handled. (And even though I knew it was coming, I don't know if I could have taught immediately afterward, since I was shook up.)

Terri

 

[FireDancer]

Besides, I'd be shocked if you, and others with your personality, would be an elementary school teacher. Most teachers I know would be quite upset with this and most likely would be in tears.

The profession is irrelevant. It is a simple employee/employer situation, nothing more. There are a lot of people who have others depending on them to continue to do their job well in the face of bad news. Air traffic controllers, pilots, police officers, firemen, any manager of other people really.

Besides, if I am at the point of a formal write up or notice I am done massaging the ego of anyone, do your job or leave, no excuses. It is very rare I have to get to this point with anyone under me, bad behavior is usually nipped in the bud.

It just is what it is.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

i think that when you remove a teacher from a second grade classroom, in the middle of the day, it is not only disruptive at the time, but disrupts the rest of the day. Even if she is the best actress in the world, her focus isn't going to be on the children in her charge. It is distracting at best, although i am going for "cruel and poor timing". Just out of curiosity, i wonder if the administrator put himself on the 'shape up or ship out' list. His abilities in dealing with people and using good judgement seem lacking.

ita

 

[chloelovesdisney]

The profession is irrelevant. It is a simple employee/employer situation, nothing more. There are a lot of people who have other's depending on them to continue to do their job well in the face of bad news. Air traffic controllers, pilots, police officers, firemen, any manager of other people.

Besides, if I am at the point of a formal write up or notice I am done massaging the ego of anyone, do your job or leave, no excuses. It just is what it is.

The profession is not irrelevant. Certain personality types are drawn to different jobs.

 

[MM27]

At my school after we get our formal observations, we meet with the administrator during one of our preps after they do a write up. This is usually a few days after the observation. If the class was elsewhere, this is probably the case in the OP's school too. Our non-tenured teachers get 7 formal observations so they have plenty of time to show improvement. Improvement plans are usually given when they rate BASIC on the same section for two or more lessons in a row. The idea is that you should be using the observation comments to fix the problems that are noted.

Teachers being RIFed have nothing to do with performance. RIF is simply a reduction in force. A teacher can have excellent evaluations and still get RIFed.

In NJ we also have Rice notices. On or before May 15th of each year, each nontenured teaching staff member receives a written offer for employment for the following year or a written notice that a new contract will not be offered. Teachers that do not show improvement on their improvement plans would fall here. If they fail to notify a nontenured teacher of nonrenewal by May 15th there is an automatic offer of employment which the teacher must accept in writing by June 1st.

 

[RunningGirl]

Look, you obviously have incredible self-control and I'm sure wouldn't be in the situation of having an improvement plan placed upon you. Most people, however, would be upset with it and it's best these kind of meetings take place at the end of the day, when the person can have time to let it sink in and cool off a bit before they have to deal with children or the public.

Besides, I'd be shocked if you, and others with your personality, would be an elementary school teacher. Most teachers I know would be quite upset with this and most likely would be in tears.

Excellent response. No matter what the "correct" response to this type of meeting would be, people have emotional reactions to things. A good school administrator recognizes this and would have the discussion at a more appropriate time.

 

[Tinkermommy]

In my company if a person is put on a "Performance Improvement Plan" its really the first step in being fired, a more gentle way of saying "get your resume together." If they need training or to "shape up" then they will just get a bad review.

I don't think they should have pulled her from the classroom to tell her that. It should have been done after the kids left. It would have been a disruption/distraction for the class even if she wasn't crying.

 

[Minniemama350]

I think you have to keep in mind the current economic climate when wondering why she would be crying. Very few school systems are hiring. Almost no one is choosing to move to a new school, because there are almost no jobs. There is no way for us to know the history of this teacher's ability to teach. Not really worth debating that. In this climate some administrators are not being as sensitive as they could be. It is one thing to be told you won't be teaching here next year. Though still upsetting, it is not as upsetting as knowing you most likely won't be teaching anywhere next year. I wouldn't expect it to wait until Friday, but the end of the day would be kinder.

 

[Mary•Poppins]

I think this was really wrong. But even more, I think it was wrong for teacher to share this type of information with parents.

Being a teacher myself, the principal was way off. Our district never handles this type of issue in the middle of the day. What was the principal thinking of ??? Himself/herself .... did he/she want to go home on time?

I know in the business field, this could happen through out the day. However, would someone in business do this right before you were about to present at a conference ... because this is what it is like everyday of teaching.

I do think the teacher was out of line sharing this with parents. This ends up working against the teacher when the parents start calling and asking why the teacher is in an improvement plan ... parents talking after school ...etc....

 

[DawnCt1]

I think this was really wrong. But even more, I think it was wrong for teacher to share this type of information with parents.

Being a teacher myself, the principal was way off. Our district never handles this type of issue in the middle of the day. What was the principal thinking of ??? Himself/herself .... did he/she want to go home on time?

I know in the business field, this could happen through out the day. However, would someone in business do this right before you were about to present at a conference ... because this is what it is like everyday of teaching.

I do think the teacher was out of line sharing this with parents. This ends up working against the teacher when the parents start calling and asking why the teacher is in an improvement plan ... parents talking after school ...etc....

You are absolutely right. I didn't even consider how a parent would have found this out unless she was 'very best friends' with this particular teacher. For a parent of a student to know this? That is way inappropriate.

 

[emdav]

I think this was really wrong. But even more, I think it was wrong for teacher to share this type of information with parents.

Being a teacher myself, the principal was way off. Our district never handles this type of issue in the middle of the day. What was the principal thinking of ??? Himself/herself .... did he/she want to go home on time?

I know in the business field, this could happen through out the day. However, would someone in business do this right before you were about to present at a conference ... because this is what it is like everyday of teaching.

I do think the teacher was out of line sharing this with parents. This ends up working against the teacher when the parents start calling and asking why the teacher is in an improvement plan ... parents talking after school ...etc....

The reason I know is because I witnessed the aftermath and asked the teacher to call me. I was told after hours not at school.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I have worked for several teachers as a special ed preschool aide. Several years ago, the teacher I was working for was called into the office at 8:00 a.m. She was told that another aide had called Child Protective Services to report how the teacher handled a difficult child. The teacher was still in school and considered an intern and felt her entire career was ruined. School started at 8:30 a.m. and she came into the classroom crying. We all tried to comfort her but she was just too upset. She handed me her circletime plan and materials and said, "I need you to take over" and she left the room for about an hour. We were all wondering why the principal chose to tell her the news right before class started. It was obviously going to upset her and she needed to be in the frame of mind to teach 8 special needs kids. It was a tough few days for her until the situation was resolved.

By the way, I was in the classroom when the "incident" occurred and felt she did nothing wrong. The investigation turned up nothing besides a disgruntled aide who didn't like the teacher. The aide was reassigned to another class and life went on.