Teachers are giving me a hard time pulling kids out of school

[Withacy]

HOW RUDE!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, I guess you have never been in a college class where the professor has not used a book either but has used other areas of the information to teach the subject?? Just curious but what is your child going to do when he/she attends college and chooses to skip out for a vacation or party?? Will they then need you to write a note to get their notes?? One of my professors from the Spring stated straight up that if you miss his class it is your responsibility to get what he taught and he does NOT teach the way the book does. He only used it as a supplement to his teaching. I did have to miss his class and reading another person's notes did not help really help me with what I missed. There are teachers who choose to supplement with a book that have knowledge from other areas and if they test from their lectures than your child is the one who has missed out. NOT THE TEACHER'S FAULT IF YOUR CHILD MISSES OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had classes in college & graduate school where professors didn't use text books at all. Heck, most of my graduate school classes were that way. But they were more than just lectures - I had seminars that were 3 hours once a week, and where we wrote a 10-20 page paper for each class. Standard stuff for a graduate education in the social sciences.

But here's the thing. I took a 9 year old to Disney World, not a college student. Do you actually expect me to believe that there is something they teach in the 3rd grade that I can't explain to a 9 year old? Whether or not it's in a standard text book? And are you seriously suggesting that by taking a 9 year old out of school for a week, I'm suggesting that she skip out on her college courses - or that she'd expect her parents to make everything better when she's 19 or 22 or 30 because they were so HORRIBLE as to allow her to go to Disney World instead of school when she was 9?

I'm taking her brother to Disney World in December, and he's going to miss at least 6 days of 1st grade. And if they raise Einstein from the grave to give a lecture in a class he misses, it isn't going to honestly make a difference as to whether he goes to Harvard or works at McDonalds 11 years from now.

the poster you replied to mentioned that they do a lot of question/answer discussion in class. What parents can't recreate at home is what is called the teachable moments. When a student asks a question that leads into a whole new lesson. Or when the class gets into a debate on the solution to a problem. Or when the students finally solve the problem as a class, without the teacher. That can't be recreated just by saying I taught so and so today. Contrary to what you may think, the way a teacher teaches a lesson is done for a reason. And saying "read pages x-x" doesn't do the lesson justice.

I'm sorry, but that's hardly a reason to NOT EVER take your child out of school. Your child can miss a "teachable moment" when they're out of school with a cold - or in the restroom. That's life - you miss some things when you do other things. Your child might miss a birthday party or a dance lesson or Publisher's Clearinghouse while you're at Disney World, regardless of when you go. You miss some teachable moments, you hit others. They'll encounter teachable moments at Disney World too!

You make memories for a life time in a trip to Disney World. When I took my DGD for her 9th Birthday, it wasn't an annual thing - it was quite possibly the only time during her childhood that she'll go. And those moments will stay with her for the rest of her life. And I guarantee you, whatever "teachable moments" she missed while she was out a year & a half ago would already be gone from her memory by now. I'm sorry if I burst your bubble, but few teachers are that good, and few moments are that important.

 

[nickieblu]

Wow I just checked back on this and did not realize this would turn into such a large thread. First of all thanks for all the comments. A few things made me think- Your right that expecting teachers to send me an update may be unrealistic. Instead I have talked individually with my children's teachers today. My third grader/ and Kindegarden teacher- told us to have a good time and work can be made up. My 7th grader will need to complete a project by next thursday ( that will be fine) that he will miss the following week. The other teachers post homework assignments on our on-line school board, so obtaining assignemnets - will be easier. Anything else will be made up when they return. The school does have a strict 5 day absence policy per semester and a truancy letter will be mailed to our house, there will be no exceptions to that.


Again, I wanted to say that I never wanted to disrespect teaching- and I appreciate the job you do for our children.


WDW here we come...

 

[BarleyJack]

We chart several hours past our 12 hour day without pay at times. If a patient has an emergency seconds before we are due to go home should I not save that life because it is too much paperwork? If I am able to jot down something on 106 patients, then a teacher should be able to write a small summary of an assignment or lesson on a homework message board for each class.

I too am a Nurse, and I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out:

1) Where do you work that you are assigned 106 pts q shift? The closest thing I can even think of would be a DON at LTC, in which case the charge nurses and floor nurses would be doing the majority of pt charting (at least that's how it was when I worked LTC)

and 2) If you are charting for several hours past your assigned shift (which leads me to believe you are not a DON LOL), there is something terribly lacking in your documentation skills. Additionally, it is a labor code violation to work off the clock.

Sorry for the highjack, but that post has me baffled.

 

[si-am]

I don't think 3.5 hours is unreasonable in a year's time. You are saying as a teacher you are too lazy to send a 60 second email? What if the child was failing due to failure to submit homework? Wouldn't you send off a note to the parent? All the OP's email would have to say is we covered pages 2-4 or whatever. Did the OP say her child was in AP classes? Did OP say her child was Special ED? No one is asking for a teacher to copy & paste your lecture. Parents realize that their child is missing something valuable, but a family vacation is also valuable.
We chart several hours past our 12 hour day without pay at times. If a patient has an emergency seconds before we are due to go home should I not save that life because it is too much paperwork? If I am able to jot down something on 106 patients, then a teacher should be able to write a small summary of an assignment or lesson on a homework message board for each class. How many classes can a teacher have 8-10? At 3-5 minutes an email you could do it before the bell rings after each class.
I am glad you aren't teaching my child. I do appreciate my child's teachers for putting forth the added effort & so far providing me with enough information to keep my children from getting too far behind. (Even if we did have to learn the Civil War in 4 days.)

That is a seriously "old skool" way of thinking. Who covers pages 2-5 in a textbook these days? No.

These days classes are full of collaborative groupwork, hands-on activities, interactive lessons. Many courses don't even really USE textbooks anymore. To simply say "we covered page 2" just doesn't cut it, sorry.

And what do you mean "do it before the bell rings after each class"? Instead of going to the bathroom? Instead of getting a drink of water? Instead of getting papers ready to hand back to the next class? Instead of saying hello to the students walking into the room?

Clearly, you are clueless as to what actually goes on during a typical school day. If you are so jealous of the teaching profession because yours is so much more difficult, perhaps you should change careers and see what it's really like.

 

[Scurvy]

Wow I just checked back on this and did not realize this would turn into such a large thread. First of all thanks for all the comments. A few things made me think- Your right that expecting teachers to send me an update may be unrealistic. Instead I have talked individually with my children's teachers today. My third grader/ and Kindegarden teacher- told us to have a good time and work can be made up. My 7th grader will need to complete a project by next thursday ( that will be fine) that he will miss the following week. The other teachers post homework assignments on our on-line school board, so obtaining assignemnets - will be easier. Anything else will be made up when they return. The school does have a strict 5 day absence policy per semester and a truancy letter will be mailed to our house, there will be no exceptions to that.


Again, I wanted to say that I never wanted to disrespect teaching- and I appreciate the job you do for our children.


WDW here we come...

It sounds like things really worked out well! I'm glad you and the teachers were able to work things out.

Have a great trip!

 

[Colleen27]

I read your post as suggesting that teachers should send out one email per student per day to update parents. That would make my day 14 hours every day.

1 e-mail per student WHO IS ABSENT. The 3.5 hour number was based on the total number of students, which was entirely irrelevant because there'd be no reason to e-mail assignments to the kids who were in class. Further, it was based on the premise of composing an e-mail to each student, which would be wholly unnecessary. Realistically, the teacher would have to take a few minutes to write a single summary of the course content and BCC the e-mail to each student that was absent that day. Assuming a teacher has 6 classes per day with no repeats (a worst-case scenario; here, most teachers have several sections of the same course and a planning period), that's an hour at most, assuming there are kids absent from every class, every day.

(And ironically, the original post from the calculus-based-physics teacher calculated 5 minutes spent on each e-mail times 100 students would take 3.5 hours... My math puts that at 8 1/3 hours, but what do I know? I'm just a parent who can't help my kids catch up if they miss a week of school for vacation. )

 

[pooch]

I too am a Nurse, and I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out:

1) Where do you work that you are assigned 106 pts q shift? The closest thing I can even think of would be a DON at LTC, in which case the charge nurses and floor nurses would be doing the majority of pt charting (at least that's how it was when I worked LTC)

and 2) If you are charting for several hours past your assigned shift (which leads me to believe you are not a DON LOL), there is something terribly lacking in your documentation skills. Additionally, it is a labor code violation to work off the clock.

Sorry for the highjack, but that post has me baffled.

I'm pretty expert at WDW acronyms but these have me stumped - English please?

 

[si-am]

1 e-mail per student WHO IS ABSENT. The 3.5 hour number was based on the total number of students, which was entirely irrelevant because there'd be no reason to e-mail assignments to the kids who were in class. Further, it was based on the premise of composing an e-mail to each student, which would be wholly unnecessary. Realistically, the teacher would have to take a few minutes to write a single summary of the course content and BCC the e-mail to each student that was absent that day. Assuming a teacher has 6 classes per day with no repeats (a worst-case scenario; here, most teachers have several sections of the same course and a planning period), that's an hour at most, assuming there are kids absent from every class, every day.

(And ironically, the original post from the calculus-based-physics teacher calculated 5 minutes spent on each e-mail times 100 students would take 3.5 hours... My math puts that at 8 1/3 hours, but what do I know? I'm just a parent who can't help my kids catch up if they miss a week of school for vacation. )

Are you suggesting that teachers spend an extra HOUR each day emailing lessons to students at Disney World?

Really?

 

[Scurvy]

Assuming a teacher has 6 classes per day with no repeats (a worst-case scenario; here, most teachers have several sections of the same course and a planning period), that's an hour at most, assuming there are kids absent from every class, every day.

Even if you are correct that it would be "an hour at most", where is that hour supposed to come from? Class time? Personal time?

 

[CMedley78]

No disrespect to teachers out there but I don't understand why they can not email me daily to let me know what pages in the text book they went over and what homework they assigned. I can not even get excited about our trip because this has become such an ordeal... Anyone else experience this with their trips?

As a high school teacher, I have over 100 students on my roster. It is not my responsibility to give parents daily updates on work missed, especially if it is for a vacation that truly should occur during a school vacation or the summer. It is up to the parents to e-mail teachers daily for the missed work, or better yet rethink when they take vacation. Some students are stronger and can make a week without instruction, but for others a week of missed instruction can greatly set them back. I don't sympathize with you at all.

 

[BarleyJack]

I'm pretty expert at WDW acronyms but these have me stumped - English please?

Sorry, medical terms; I'll translate:

106 pts q shift= 106 patients every shift (q means every)

LTC=long term care (ie, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, that sort of thing)

DON=Director of Nursing (the chief/head/big boss nurse in the facility)

pt=patient

LOL=Laugh out Loud

 

[catne]

Wow I just checked back on this and did not realize this would turn into such a large thread. First of all thanks for all the comments. A few things made me think- Your right that expecting teachers to send me an update may be unrealistic. Instead I have talked individually with my children's teachers today. My third grader/ and Kindegarden teacher- told us to have a good time and work can be made up. My 7th grader will need to complete a project by next thursday ( that will be fine) that he will miss the following week. The other teachers post homework assignments on our on-line school board, so obtaining assignemnets - will be easier. Anything else will be made up when they return. The school does have a strict 5 day absence policy per semester and a truancy letter will be mailed to our house, there will be no exceptions to that.


Again, I wanted to say that I never wanted to disrespect teaching- and I appreciate the job you do for our children.


WDW here we come...

Original Poster came back & posted this...in case some of you missed it. Looks like she found a way to get it handled.

 

[Colleen27]

Are you suggesting that teachers spend an extra HOUR each day emailing lessons to students at Disney World?

Really?

No, I'm just pointing out that the dramatic "adding 3.5 hours to every workday" is, well, overly dramatic. What teacher has kids at Disney every day? Heck, what are the odds of having children absent in every one of 6 periods every single day?

Our teachers are expected to post basic lesson summaries and homework checklists on the parent-student website every day, whether kids are absent or not (it is intended primarily as an accountability tool, for parents to be able to verify what their students are telling them about homework), and I haven't heard any crying about 14 hour workdays. In fact, all I hear is how much time it saves, because now parents can check on how their student is doing and collect some missed assignments (the ones that don't involve handouts) without having to touch base with the teacher personally.

 

[princessmom29]

No, I'm just pointing out that the dramatic "adding 3.5 hours to every workday" is, well, overly dramatic. What teacher has kids at Disney every day? Heck, what are the odds of having children absent in every one of 6 periods every single day?

Our teachers are expected to post basic lesson summaries and homework checklists on the parent-student website every day, whether kids are absent or not (it is intended primarily as an accountability tool, for parents to be able to verify what their students are telling them about homework), and I haven't heard any crying about 14 hour workdays. In fact, all I hear is how much time it saves, because now parents can check on how their student is doing and collect some missed assignments (the ones that don't involve handouts) without having to touch base with the teacher personally.

I was only trying to show the absurdity of trying to do what the PP was suggesting!

 

[pooch]

Sorry, medical terms; I'll translate:

106 pts q shift= 106 patients every shift (q means every)

LTC=long term care (ie, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, that sort of thing)

DON=Director of Nursing (the chief/head/big boss nurse in the facility)

pt=patient

LOL=Laugh out Loud

You'd think, w/2 sisters-in-law being nurses, I could have figured those out myself.

 

[princessmom29]

1 e-mail per student WHO IS ABSENT. The 3.5 hour number was based on the total number of students, which was entirely irrelevant because there'd be no reason to e-mail assignments to the kids who were in class. Further, it was based on the premise of composing an e-mail to each student, which would be wholly unnecessary. Realistically, the teacher would have to take a few minutes to write a single summary of the course content and BCC the e-mail to each student that was absent that day. Assuming a teacher has 6 classes per day with no repeats (a worst-case scenario; here, most teachers have several sections of the same course and a planning period), that's an hour at most, assuming there are kids absent from every class, every day.

(And ironically, the original post from the calculus-based-physics teacher calculated 5 minutes spent on each e-mail times 100 students would take 3.5 hours... My math puts that at 8 1/3 hours, but what do I know? I'm just a parent who can't help my kids catch up if they miss a week of school for vacation. )

No need to be rude. So I am guilty of not taking the calc. out of radian mode before calculating. the point was not that i would do this, or that it was a good idea, it was to point out that it was not an efficient way of doing things. A PP suggested that it be done for every student every day, and I think that is absurd and a waste of time!

 

[hookedonears]

And tell me again why you even told your teachers? That's what your friendly Pediatrician is for. Medical excuse. Surely you know one.

 

[LauraAnn630]

Our children's teachers post all classwork, homework, class scores and test scores and any missing assignments on the web every day. They email us and encourage us to email them with any concerns we might have. They also have a homework hotline.

Don't teachers have their curriculum planned out a week in advanced?

Our teachers gave us all the work before we left. We had it finished the day our son returned to school. He didn't miss a beat!

I think the teachers are over reacting a bit.

Glad it all worked out.

 

[littlestix]

I love our year round schedule. I live in an area where I can choose traditional school calendar or year round. My DS starts mid July with 3 weeks off in the fall, 2 weeks at Christmas and another 3 in the spring. Summer break begins early June, he is out for 6 weeks.

 

[Stacerita]

And tell me again why you even told your teachers? That's what your friendly Pediatrician is for. Medical excuse. Surely you know one.

I agree with the why telling the teacher, but surely you aren't saying that it is fine to have a medical professional lie and write a medical excuse.

Glad to see the OP was able to get the situation taken care of.