How available after school are we supposed to be?

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Forum -> Working Women -> Teachers' Room

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amother

Tue, Jan 18 2022, 7:12 pm

I have a very large, lively class with social/emotional issues that are under control
I am getting calls NON STOP after school hours DAILY, from parents that need to talk urgently or else their daughter doesn’t feel safe in school. Over mid winter vacation , when I finally had a small chance to spend time with my family once again I have had parents insisting on speaking to me.
I have always been available to speaking to parents when necessary, but this year it is excessive! It seems to be overly anxious parents that just want me to help support them, whatever it is, it is very very draining.

Professionally speaking, what are the appropriate Boundaries? I do believe teachers need to be available to parents out of school hours- as a parent occasionally I had to reach out but this year it is getting out of control!

amother

Valerian

Tue, Jan 18 2022, 7:16 pm

My kids teachers have always sent home notes at the beginning of the year with timings that they'll be available for phone calls. Please put down some boundaries and stick to it. It'll be better for everyone.
Good luck.

octopus

Tue, Jan 18 2022, 7:16 pm

It doesn't sound like the run of the mill situation for you this year. This class has a lot of issues. Time to bring this up with the principal. Is he/she supportive?

amother

Sienna

Tue, Jan 18 2022, 7:18 pm

I think you can set up specific hours you are available for calls. Encourage them to use email. That way you can respond at your leisure and if you feel it’s not major your can just say thanks for letting me know so they feel heard.

amother

Orchid

Tue, Jan 18 2022, 7:21 pm

We have a school policy that teachers have a 24 hour window to respond to emails. I don’t give out my number, and parents respect it if they do. My phone calls are always by ‘appointment’- if they want to talk I tell them when I’m available and we set up a time.
Definitely not during winter break!!

causemommysaid

Tue, Jan 18 2022, 7:21 pm

Hours? That's crazy.

Set aside a couple hours a week for parent communications and be firm about it.

amother

Iris

Tue, Jan 18 2022, 7:32 pm

As a parent I would never dream of contacting a teacher after working hours.

What a sense of entitlement to do that.

I would email the teacher and ask to set up a time to speak at her convenience and also state what I wanted to discuss so that she would be prepared to discuss intelligently and also it might be something that could be handled by email.

amother

Sand

Tue, Jan 18 2022, 7:42 pm

I do phone calls after 8:00 only and no phone calls Thursday night unless it's a real emergency. I prepare notes before any calls with a parent so that it's a focused call, not just a venting session and I'm very careful about staying on topic. I find that being prepared, assertive and focused makes it much smoother

causemommysaid

Tue, Jan 18 2022, 7:46 pm

amother [ Iris ] wrote:

I've called and left messages or emailed and assume they will call back when available. It doesn't have to be immediately.

The only time I am persistent is when my kid is being bullied. But that's a unique case.

amother

Latte

Tue, Jan 18 2022, 7:50 pm

I think you can tell parents to send in a note if they want to talk to you and you will call them when your available.

amother

Iris

Tue, Jan 18 2022, 8:44 pm

causemommysaid wrote:

Email is completely different than phoning someone after working hours.

No one cares when they get an email from work. However a phone call is very intrusive as most people would not want to be called by their boss after hours unless it was truly an emergency.

While many people don’t answer phone calls it is still quite invasive in my opinion to be called. I would never call a teacher as an email effectively lets the teacher know that I need two speak to her at her convenience. How can something be so critical that a response is needed that evening unkess it absolutely mist be handled before class starts the next day. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️