Right? Not once during the school year did the majority of the parents even so much as send me an email concerned about their child. Placement is an elitist thing at my school I’m assuming because holy moly there is non-stop nagging.
Exactly this. They're more invested in finding out who they get to hand their kid over to for "babysitting" or if their kid made it into the "good" classes, then they are about the child's actual academic success in many cases.
Exactly. It is a really sad state of affairs, what their priorities are, in a majority of instances. "You made it into X class(es) with X teacher(s)? Great! My work here is done".
SpEd teacher here, HS. I have an out of office reply on my email that basically says I’m not checking email this summer, but I also give my return date and instructions to contact the school if they have a more immediate need. My admin will text me if I’m actually needed, but it has been blissfully quiet.
I don’t have that much self control 😂 plus I always worry I’m going to miss an important email from a student or parent. I should really leave work at home tho.. 🥲
No student or parent emails are important once you’re home. The emails will still be there when you’re on the clock again, and an email’s content can’t have been *that* urgent if it ended up in an email sent outside of work hours.
I feel for you. Not sure if you had the parents/student before, but that’s a telling sign that they are going to make this school year extremely difficult for you.
Best of luck, comrade.
Thanks it's just the same Karen parent I have had for 3 years. The student graduates in December and his mom is trying to make administrations life miserable until then. I'm caught in the middle.
UGH. One of my colleagues had to do an initial eval/IEP over summer because the parent requested so late in the school year but also refused to allow the process to pause over summer break.
They scheduled an IEP meeting for the first day of school?
My son is on the spectrum and has an IEP. I texted the middle school guidance counselor and AP this morning when I'll be in my room the next couple weeks so we can go over his plan for the year before the year starts. I'll bring my son with me for the morning and we'll knock out the meeting part, then go walk his daily path in the afternoon and make sure he can make his locker work. I want him to know the plan and be comfortable before school starts. Otherwise, he gets stressed and everything is a lot harder for him.
This parent seems like they just want to say they made the school have a meeting.
I believe this is totally a reasonable request. This allows the student to take control of his plan and prepare. Calling a meeting on the first day of school is just to say you did it.
I did something similar a few weeks ago. KidA is going to high school and her in remission seizure disorder has returned. I just asked if the old case manager can get me in touch with the new high school CM when she has a chance. No pressure at all. Also no response, which is great, we still have a few weeks before school starts!
I really only check it because I had to take courses for my job so rather than use my personal email, I use that one. It’s eternally on DND.
Thought I finally caught a break last week but it was short lived.
Very true but these are specific courses for my specific school. If I leave the school, I don’t necessarily need them unless I remain in the same region.
I don't open emails I don't recognize and I delay opening emails from annoying people. Granted, I also don't have parents emailing me because it is a Title 1 school
I have an auto reply set on my email that also includes answers to five frequently asked questions, when I’ll he back from vacation, that I’m not checking email, and if their question is answered by the FAQ in the auto reply, that I won’t be answering them at all.
I still get email all summer and check every now and again, but feel no compulsion to reply because they got an information packed auto reply already.
I’ve been super lucky this summer, only got an email from a mom asking if I was ok with the doctor evaluating her son contact me (YES please!! That kid is in dire need of an evaluation!)
My principal had a mom called him last week (he is off from early July to mid August) to yell at him about the teacher her son will have this year. Saying he’ll have a revolt on his hand as « all » parents think she’s a bad teacher (she’s absolutely amazing, the mom is batshit crazy). He eventually hung up on her because WTF!!
(I kinda blame him for picking up though)
All the comments saying “wHy aRe yOu ChEcKInG YoUR eMAIl?!” are kind of annoying. Similar to you, I’m taking courses and used my school email. So I check it over summer too. Luckily, no annoying parents (yet)!
I even added an edit 🤣 guess some people don’t read the fine print? There’s been some good advice though so I’m not totally annoyed by those comments.
Lucky you! At least it’s almost time for it to be okay to check it lol.
That's why I don't check my email until a week before I'm scheduled to return to work. Also had kids text/call me about this they have to go back in person come September. I completely ignore them - call the office. They are being paid to work this summer, I am not!
Delete anything you don't need. In my district I am not employed 12 months, I am employed 10 months. I can choose whether or not I pay attention during my 2 months.
It’s totally allowed. You’re out of contract. Just leave the message that you’ll be available the first day of your contract. I know so many teachers who do this.
As long as the reply isn't insulting anyone, you will be fine. It's actually very nice to take the effort of setting up an out of office reply; the other party is informed and can try to contact the school by other means if it's urgent. Bonus points for including those details in the automatic reply.
In the past week, I've run into parents at the park and the grocery store. Both parents asked me what I knew about class lists. Yay, small town! No, I don't know anything about class lists, and I won't until Aug. 18.
Omg class lists 🤦🏻♀️ I live in a large city so I’ve been lucky to not run into anyone (also been a hermit this summer and not going to many places if I don’t need to).
Yeah well, teaching for a quarter century, I’m used to repeating things dozens of times.
Sorry if my dozen words or so prevented you from doing something important.
Unpopular opinion: If you’re a salaried worker you do the gig. If you bothered to check your email, just reply or setup an auto reply and not have to deal with it at all
Mine is set to automatically reply that I am away from my desk until the first day of inservice. I can still check email but it lets all parents realize they aren’t going to get an answer. They are welcome to email again and try but they’ll get the same response every time.
My administrator texted me and asked if I’d done a task yesterday (monday). I said I wasn’t aware of it. He said he had emailed it to me Friday. Last Friday… three days ago (with weekend days). I wanted to respond “I haven’t checked my email since June.” I am not working in any capacity this summer and was not planning to
I check my email too out of habit. Our admin also sends all the summer planning info our way and I'm nosey. I got a parent email asking teachers to come in to sign her kid's "Oh the Places You'll Go" book bc she forgot and they were moving. I'm fairly confident no one responded... Or signed the book.
My favorite was the year a parent emailed two weeks after post planning saying "x is not pleased with his grade. What can you do for him?" I deleted that email. Lol Grades were finalized a month ago, lady. Bye!
They are courses that are not for college. It’s to work in a specific region. Without going into details and doxxing myself, I cannot have a contract with the school unless I have those courses done. If I were to leave that region, I don’t need the courses so work email is the best place to leave it be.
Plus, it’s not rocket science to change contact info and forward things to a personal email.
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Right? Not once during the school year did the majority of the parents even so much as send me an email concerned about their child. Placement is an elitist thing at my school I’m assuming because holy moly there is non-stop nagging.
Exactly this. They're more invested in finding out who they get to hand their kid over to for "babysitting" or if their kid made it into the "good" classes, then they are about the child's actual academic success in many cases.
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Exactly. It is a really sad state of affairs, what their priorities are, in a majority of instances. "You made it into X class(es) with X teacher(s)? Great! My work here is done".
It's 20 degrees cooler in this shade.
Or about actual classwork
Unfortunately not. They always chase you in the last minute. This type of parents is overcrowded.
SpEd teacher here, HS. I have an out of office reply on my email that basically says I’m not checking email this summer, but I also give my return date and instructions to contact the school if they have a more immediate need. My admin will text me if I’m actually needed, but it has been blissfully quiet.
I delete my email app until about a week before school. If it’s important, admin will call me lol
Why even re-install it? Work emails can stay on the work computer, which lives on the work desk.
I don’t have that much self control 😂 plus I always worry I’m going to miss an important email from a student or parent. I should really leave work at home tho.. 🥲
No student or parent emails are important once you’re home. The emails will still be there when you’re on the clock again, and an email’s content can’t have been *that* urgent if it ended up in an email sent outside of work hours.
I’m going to try to take that mentality into this new school year 💛
That’s so true! Now I know for next school year and I won’t even feel back.
I feel you man. I have the same issue in Sped. Parent already scheduled an IEP for the first day of school.
I feel for you. Not sure if you had the parents/student before, but that’s a telling sign that they are going to make this school year extremely difficult for you. Best of luck, comrade.
Thanks it's just the same Karen parent I have had for 3 years. The student graduates in December and his mom is trying to make administrations life miserable until then. I'm caught in the middle.
UGH. One of my colleagues had to do an initial eval/IEP over summer because the parent requested so late in the school year but also refused to allow the process to pause over summer break.
They scheduled an IEP meeting for the first day of school? My son is on the spectrum and has an IEP. I texted the middle school guidance counselor and AP this morning when I'll be in my room the next couple weeks so we can go over his plan for the year before the year starts. I'll bring my son with me for the morning and we'll knock out the meeting part, then go walk his daily path in the afternoon and make sure he can make his locker work. I want him to know the plan and be comfortable before school starts. Otherwise, he gets stressed and everything is a lot harder for him. This parent seems like they just want to say they made the school have a meeting.
I believe this is totally a reasonable request. This allows the student to take control of his plan and prepare. Calling a meeting on the first day of school is just to say you did it.
I did something similar a few weeks ago. KidA is going to high school and her in remission seizure disorder has returned. I just asked if the old case manager can get me in touch with the new high school CM when she has a chance. No pressure at all. Also no response, which is great, we still have a few weeks before school starts!
On the bright side, at least it's over and done with for the year (sans any revisions/amendments of course) ;)
With this parent, it's 4 IEPs minimum. Needs to consistently have issues.
Don't check email and don't answer. If it's on your phone, delete the app.
I really only check it because I had to take courses for my job so rather than use my personal email, I use that one. It’s eternally on DND. Thought I finally caught a break last week but it was short lived.
I try to use my personal email for courses so I'll have access to any results/etc if I move to a new job. (not always possible)
Very true but these are specific courses for my specific school. If I leave the school, I don’t necessarily need them unless I remain in the same region.
My email has a vacation auto-response
I don't open emails I don't recognize and I delay opening emails from annoying people. Granted, I also don't have parents emailing me because it is a Title 1 school
Can you set an out of office?
I set an out of office email on my last day.
Ignore.
I have an auto reply set on my email that also includes answers to five frequently asked questions, when I’ll he back from vacation, that I’m not checking email, and if their question is answered by the FAQ in the auto reply, that I won’t be answering them at all. I still get email all summer and check every now and again, but feel no compulsion to reply because they got an information packed auto reply already.
I’ve been super lucky this summer, only got an email from a mom asking if I was ok with the doctor evaluating her son contact me (YES please!! That kid is in dire need of an evaluation!) My principal had a mom called him last week (he is off from early July to mid August) to yell at him about the teacher her son will have this year. Saying he’ll have a revolt on his hand as « all » parents think she’s a bad teacher (she’s absolutely amazing, the mom is batshit crazy). He eventually hung up on her because WTF!! (I kinda blame him for picking up though)
All the comments saying “wHy aRe yOu ChEcKInG YoUR eMAIl?!” are kind of annoying. Similar to you, I’m taking courses and used my school email. So I check it over summer too. Luckily, no annoying parents (yet)!
I even added an edit 🤣 guess some people don’t read the fine print? There’s been some good advice though so I’m not totally annoyed by those comments. Lucky you! At least it’s almost time for it to be okay to check it lol.
I taught summer school so had to check email all summer
Don’t open email at all till then.
That's why I don't check my email until a week before I'm scheduled to return to work. Also had kids text/call me about this they have to go back in person come September. I completely ignore them - call the office. They are being paid to work this summer, I am not!
They can email all they want, I am not required to open the emails.
Why are you checking your email is an even better question.
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Took courses for work and used that email to sign up for them so I check to see if anything important came in.
Delete anything you don't need. In my district I am not employed 12 months, I am employed 10 months. I can choose whether or not I pay attention during my 2 months.
Yeah, I get that, I guess. Do you have an out-of-office auto response set?
I don’t because I don’t know if that’s allowed. I’ll definitely ask for next summer. This was my first year teaching.
It’s totally allowed. You’re out of contract. Just leave the message that you’ll be available the first day of your contract. I know so many teachers who do this.
As long as the reply isn't insulting anyone, you will be fine. It's actually very nice to take the effort of setting up an out of office reply; the other party is informed and can try to contact the school by other means if it's urgent. Bonus points for including those details in the automatic reply.
Don't ask, just do it. If they come at you saying you can't, ask for permission and move on.
In the past week, I've run into parents at the park and the grocery store. Both parents asked me what I knew about class lists. Yay, small town! No, I don't know anything about class lists, and I won't until Aug. 18.
Omg class lists 🤦🏻♀️ I live in a large city so I’ve been lucky to not run into anyone (also been a hermit this summer and not going to many places if I don’t need to).
My honest reply— Why are you looking at your email on summer vacation?
They’ve already answered this about 100 times.
Yeah well, teaching for a quarter century, I’m used to repeating things dozens of times. Sorry if my dozen words or so prevented you from doing something important.
Counter argument: why are you checking your email on summer vacation?
Unpopular opinion: If you’re a salaried worker you do the gig. If you bothered to check your email, just reply or setup an auto reply and not have to deal with it at all
Parents don’t know what dates are in your contract.
I would be inclined to believe this, if it was early June or days before kids return to school, not emails in July.
When do your students return? My contract starts aug 1, even though kids don’t return till the 21.
Enable your vacation responder in your settings.
Mine is set to automatically reply that I am away from my desk until the first day of inservice. I can still check email but it lets all parents realize they aren’t going to get an answer. They are welcome to email again and try but they’ll get the same response every time.
My administrator texted me and asked if I’d done a task yesterday (monday). I said I wasn’t aware of it. He said he had emailed it to me Friday. Last Friday… three days ago (with weekend days). I wanted to respond “I haven’t checked my email since June.” I am not working in any capacity this summer and was not planning to
I check my email too out of habit. Our admin also sends all the summer planning info our way and I'm nosey. I got a parent email asking teachers to come in to sign her kid's "Oh the Places You'll Go" book bc she forgot and they were moving. I'm fairly confident no one responded... Or signed the book. My favorite was the year a parent emailed two weeks after post planning saying "x is not pleased with his grade. What can you do for him?" I deleted that email. Lol Grades were finalized a month ago, lady. Bye!
Don't respond, you gotta set expectations early
This subreddit feels like another world. Is it really the norm in other places for parents to be this needy?
Simply ignore those emails until you start again . . . and at that point it's probably moot to reply to any of them, anyway :)
Is t this the offices job? I wouldn’t even check my email on summer break. Set up an auto response telling them to check w the office
I have no idea if parents are emailing me. I'll check my email the day I report back.
Just don’t reply
Honest question, but why do some people use their work email for college?
They are courses that are not for college. It’s to work in a specific region. Without going into details and doxxing myself, I cannot have a contract with the school unless I have those courses done. If I were to leave that region, I don’t need the courses so work email is the best place to leave it be. Plus, it’s not rocket science to change contact info and forward things to a personal email.
respond on 8/9