Work question

So, I teach, and also teach an afterschool program. Some of the teachers for the afterschool program come from different schools. One teacher is always 20-30 minutes late and it’s a 45 minutes class. So, the kids have nowhere to go cuz the teacher isn’t there.

I let my boss know that the kids weren’t sure where to go. She said she was aware and that the teacher would be about 20 minutes late everyday and for me to keep an eye on the kids or take them in my room.

I teach an entirely different subject. I can’t teach two classss at once. I wanted to say no, but didn’t want to be rude to my boss. I said that they could stay in their class next door and I’d check on them if I had an opportunity.

I am just floored. Why is it okay to be 20 minutes late for any reason? Why do I have to pick up the slack? I’m already overwhelmed to begin with.

Am I wrong for feeling like this? I more than do my job and sometimes go without my full union required break.

Why do I have to put so much work in if someone else barely does?

Contact your union rep, this is why we pay them union dues in order to represent us.

I don’t want to cause an issue between me and my boss. It’s not her fault, but I should t be burdened with it either. It would definitely happen. My union isn’t the greatest.

What else could I say? How else can I approach this?

I was a teacher for six years and saw a lot of hypocritical things. You can't buck the system. You might want to take the kids into your class and give them some puzzles or other activities they can do while they wait for their teacher. Maybe you could even include them in the class for the first 20 minutes, depending on what subject you're teaching. But apparently the other teacher is in transit during those 20 minutes and your boss may actually be using those kids to show how this after-school program was ill-planned by the school committee. The kids become bargaining chips for the future. Do whatever you can do to help.

Yeah. We are an underperforming high school with a behavioral component. That’s why I’m saying it’s too much for just me, one teacher in the room. Even if I have only a few students, I can’t teach two subjects at one and the other kids will, I’m assuming, become frustrated.

Just makes me angry. I do my job and get paid, this late teacher gets paid the same for half the work. They wouldn’t bad mouth the program, it’s getting kids to not stay back.

You don’t know the reasons the teacher is late. For all you know she’s going to doctor’s appts, taking care of a sick family member, etc.

I wouldn’t worry about that, I would focus on speaking with your boss about your concerns. Not flat out saying no, not being “rude” or “mean” and not mentioning how you think it’s unfair. I would basically ask to speak with your boss about the fact that you don’t think you could adequately watch two classrooms at once and you’re concerned for their well-being.

I know the reason. It’s because they have to commute across town from one school to get to our school. It shouldn’t be okay that this person is late.

Ok. I get that it’s frustrating but it’s been approved (it’s not as though the person is trying to “get away” with something)

I would still focus on expressing your concerns to your boss to see if she can come up with a better solution if she sees your points.

I used to work in two similar after school programs that had lousy management. When disciplining children who were acting inappropriately (one kid physically shoved me in malice while another was caught stealing), the program did nothing to support me. It was written in their contracts to parents that depending on behavioral issues, kids could be removed from the program... never happened. I guess it’s ok to assault and rob a school teacher just because they are kids!!

It also pissed me off to NO END when the assistants with no classroom teaching experience were undermining me when I was maintaining order with little support. No, little Jose gets a time out for hitting Malik with a stick. Don’t tell him to join the other kids after I just sat him out, and especially without talking to me. Just because you’re a mom of one or two kids doesn’t magically make you an expert of managing 30 children. I had 7 years of teaching experience compared to your 4 years of child raising.

Management was after the money more so than taking care of their staff. I quit within the first month or two at both due to lack of leadership.

I don’t have any words of encouragement. Personally, I wouldn’t stay because this is a management issue and they refuse to do anything about it. They are taking advantage of you, which is typical of any after school program job. After school programs tend to be the worst jobs because you are treated as an overworked, glorified babysitter collecting money from the parents. It’s worse when parents don’t show up on time to pick up theirs kid and causing you to stay at work later than scheduled. You are better off coaching for a sports team or private tutoring

I’ve been there too teaching younger kids. This is a high school. It’s a tutoring after school program. I just feel like... why do I have to pick up slack? My boss and I get along, she has helped me out by getting me the job and as far as backing me up. I feel like they couldn’t find anyone else who wanted he job so they took the person who is going to be late because they didn’t have a choice.

I still feel frustrated that I’m being used because they don’t have coverage. Why do I have to work so hard and others don’t?

I used to work in two similar after school programs that had lousy management. When disciplining children who were acting inappropriately (one kid physically shoved me in malice while another was caught stealing), the program did nothing to support me. It was written in their contracts to parents that depending on behavioral issues, kids could be removed from the program... never happened. I guess it’s ok to assault and rob a school teacher just because they are kids!!

 

It also pissed me off to NO END when the assistants with no classroom teaching experience were undermining me when I was maintaining order with little support. No, little Jose gets a time out for hitting Malik with a stick. Don’t tell him to join the other kids after I just sat him out, and especially without talking to me. Just because you’re a mom of one or two kids doesn’t magically make you an expert of managing 30 children. I had 7 years of teaching experience compared to your 4 years of child raising.

 

Management was after the money more so than taking care of their staff. I quit within the first month or two at both due to lack of leadership.

 

I don’t have any words of encouragement. Personally, I wouldn’t stay because this is a management issue and they refuse to do anything about it. They are taking advantage of you, which is typical of any after school program job. After school programs tend to be the worst jobs because you are treated as an overworked, glorified babysitter collecting money from the parents. It’s worse when parents don’t show up on time to pick up theirs kid and causing you to stay at work later than scheduled. You are better off coaching for a sports team or private tutoring

Poor and corrupt management is the same no matter the line of work, it seems. If you follow the money, you'll find out why this is being allowed. Someone's personal interests are served, someone's pockets are being lined. It's always good to know who is pulling the strings and who are the minions along the way. As far as I'm personally concerned, if someone isn't part of the solution, I consider them part of the problem. We always have choice.

As far as options go, I'd listen to snny. You could fight this fight , which would mean playing politics, or you could shift your resources to something in which you have a better chance of helping kids. It's obvious the program isn't there for those kids.

instruct the kids to come to your room and invites them to read or bring drawing materials with them until their teacher arrives.

If its one on one tutoring and you tutor each kid one on one, then why is it a big deal for them to sit quietly with the rest of your kids that are sitting quietly because its not their turn yet?

maybe they could not get another teacher and the other one was their only option and they are getting paid accordingly.

I’ve been there too teaching younger kids. This is a high school. It’s a tutoring after school program. I just feel like... why do I have to pick up slack? My boss and I get along, she has helped me out by getting me the job and as far as backing me up. I feel like they couldn’t find anyone else who wanted he job so they took the person who is going to be late because they didn’t have a choice.

 

I still feel frustrated that I’m being used because they don’t have coverage. Why do I have to work so hard and others don’t?

Because life isn't fair/work isn't always fair. If you do this with a smile, your boss who's already shown she's on your side may help you more especially in the future. At my son's after school religious school there's a teacher who is often running late especially lately (It is a temporary situation). The director usually takes over for that 15-20 minutes even though she has many responsibilities. In a school setting there's often required flexibility like that. when I taught and subbed I never needed that kind of flexibility but i saw that it was typical.

I feel like they couldn’t find anyone else who wanted he job so they took the person who is going to be late because they didn’t have a choice.

I know many teachers who would jump at the opportunity to tutor for extra $$ on the side. LOL we are broke! The fact this business can’t fill positions and has incompetent employees are major red flags.

I still feel frustrated that I’m being used because they don’t have coverage. Why do I have to work so hard and others don’t?

Welcome to the world of teaching! It’s one of the reasons why I left the field... overwork, little pay, lack of support. At least with nursing and mental health there’s better job security than teaching. From a business stand point, how your company operates is how they lose their best employees and give the unreliable fools easy passes. Why should you have to work harder if a business can’t properly manage their own staff? That teacher never should of been hired in the first place if she can’t consistently arrive to work on time.

I know it’s important to support the children. Educators are the most compassionate people around because we have to deal with the children (sweet or unruly), the helicopter/uncooperative parents, and administrators who either have our backs or turn against us for frivolous reasons. Teachers put up with so much bull** and have enough on their plates that over 50% of them burn out and quit after 5 years of being in the field due to lack of support. The bottom line is you realistically cannot take care of children or be an effective educator if YOU are not supported. This is why so many underperforming schools are having a problem and have such a high teacher turnover. I used to teach in an inner city school system with a high turnover, and it was the most stressful work environment for both teachers and the students.

And I was a high/middle school teacher for several years to know that districts jerked the teachers around.

Sorry you are going through this... I would leave this job before it burns you out of teaching, like it did with me. And to those kids who DO need the tutoring, I’d tell the parents that you’d do private 1-1 tutoring on the side and build your own tutoring business. Set your own pay, hours, and clients.

instruct the kids to come to your room and invites them to read or bring drawing materials with them until their teacher arrives.

 

If its one on one tutoring and you tutor each kid one on one, then why is it a big deal for them to sit quietly with the rest of your kids that are sitting quietly because its not their turn yet?

Being a high school teacher once, these students aren't going to want to sit around and read/draw. They could be asked to start on their homework while waiting or play on their phones. But some students, even high school kids, may not be self-disciplined enough to do HW independently. Many in after school tutoring programs are typically the “learned helpless” student who will complain they can’t finish or start their work because “I don’t know how to do this.” Looking at it from a classroom management perspective, if they aren’t getting the assistance they need and have to wait around, they will act out. Then it becomes a serious distraction issue for the OP and her students, and she will have to stop tutoring her kids and address any behavioral issues, which takes her time away.

In fact, it’s the other teacher’s job to have pre-planned activities set in place in case he/she is arriving late. It should not be the OP’s responsibility to additionally plan for the other group. Either the teacher or the OP’s supervisor are accountable of pre-arranging the materials for late arrival emergencies. Seriously. One of my after school jobs required me to have a bucket with arts and craft/puzzles for kids in case I couldn’t make it in. Teachers already know to have emergency sub plans ready, so there is no excuse why that other teacher can’t do it. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to create a word search or brain teaser, or make xerox copies of adult coloring pages either. If she can’t do that then she is downright lazy.

Keep in mind that after school programs typically last up to 2 hours. If she’s got 15 kids to tutor, she may not get around to the other group. Again, they are NOT her responsibility.

"Teachers already know to have emergency sub plans ready, so there is no excuse why that other teacher can’t do it. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to create a word search or brain teaser, or make xerox copies of adult coloring pages either. If she can’t do that then she is downright lazy."

Snny what you wrote is so insightful and informative - (former teacher here). I quoted this because when I subbed in the late 80s/early 90s -pre-internet/computer etc I often was left with no plans and sometimes a locked drawer, etc. I mostly subbed elementary and always brought my own bag of "tricks" and plans. And yes all you said -underpaid/overworked/paid for my own supplies. I loved teaching and I loved teaching children. I miss that part and am glad I moved on as far as my day job (I did many years of volunteer work with kids and probably will return to that regularly some day!)

OP I think I gave input and like all of Snny's advice.

It’s a behavioral school. Kids aren’t going to sit there and wait for me to be done with my students. It’s frustrating. They come in and start chatting while I’m doing a small group and distract me and the students I’m working with.

Exactly. I’m overwhelmed.its supposed to be me working with a small group of my students for English. The kids that have the late teacher is for an entire different subject. They don’t want to just sit there, then they start becoming restless, swear, walk out..... it is frustrating.

Being a high school teacher once, these students aren't going to want to sit around and read/draw. They could be asked to start on their homework while waiting or play on their phones. But some students, even high school kids, may not be self-disciplined enough to do HW independently. Many in after school tutoring programs are typically the “learned helpless” student who will complain they can’t finish or start their work because “I don’t know how to do this.” Looking at it from a classroom management perspective, if they aren’t getting the assistance they need and have to wait around, they will act out. Then it becomes a serious distraction issue for the OP and her students, and she will have to stop tutoring her kids and address any behavioral issues, which takes her time away.

 

In fact, it’s the other teacher’s job to have pre-planned activities set in place in case he/she is arriving late. It should not be the OP’s responsibility to additionally plan for the other group. Either the teacher or the OP’s supervisor are accountable of pre-arranging the materials for late arrival emergencies. Seriously. One of my after school jobs required me to have a bucket with arts and craft/puzzles for kids in case I couldn’t make it in. Teachers already know to have emergency sub plans ready, so there is no excuse why that other teacher can’t do it. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to create a word search or brain teaser, or make xerox copies of adult coloring pages either. If she can’t do that then she is downright lazy.

 

Keep in mind that after school programs typically last up to 2 hours. If she’s got 15 kids to tutor, she may not get around to the other group. Again, they are NOT her responsibility.

It is great advice, but these are high school kids in a behavioral setting who were expelled from other schools. It’s not easy to begin with never mind having additional students.

"Teachers already know to have emergency sub plans ready, so there is no excuse why that other teacher can’t do it. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to create a word search or brain teaser, or make xerox copies of adult coloring pages either. If she can’t do that then she is downright lazy."

 

Snny what you wrote is so insightful and informative - (former teacher here). I quoted this because when I subbed in the late 80s/early 90s -pre-internet/computer etc I often was left with no plans and sometimes a locked drawer, etc. I mostly subbed elementary and always brought my own bag of "tricks" and plans. And yes all you said -underpaid/overworked/paid for my own supplies. I loved teaching and I loved teaching children. I miss that part and am glad I moved on as far as my day job (I did many years of volunteer work with kids and probably will return to that regularly some day!)

 

OP I think I gave input and like all of Snny's advice.

Are there rules about teacher student ratio given that this is a behavioral school?

It is great advice, but these are high school kids in a behavioral setting who were expelled from other schools. It’s not easy to begin with never mind having additional students.

Have you ever thought about starting the group off with good study skills?

Starting them off with reviewing notes could be helpful. They could then ask questions to you. You could also set them up in groups based on what subjects make the most sense to them. So maybe one science kid, one math kid, one English kid, whatever, all in a group, and they can help each other with questions.

They are high school students. They are somewhat self sufficient if given the right tools.

This doesn’t minimize your struggles at all - it sounds rough and I understand your frustration.

If she has to do that I think she should be paid as if she’s teaching another class for 1-2 hours a week plus prep time if that’s included in her arrangement. I’d feel differently if it was true babysitting especially if she got the same courtesy if she needed someone to back her up.

If she has to do that I think she should be paid as if she’s teaching another class for 1-2 hours a week plus prep time if that’s included in her arrangement. I’d feel differently if it was true babysitting especially if she got the same courtesy if she needed someone to back her up.

She only has 3 options really.

1 - quit and not put up with it

2 - complain and do nothing in the meantime

3 - voice her opinion and do something to make it better in the meantime

All I’m suggesting is give the high school students opportunity for autonomy and try to work within the bounds of a less than great situation

She only has 3 options really.

1 - quit and not put up with it

2 - complain and do nothing in the meantime

3 - voice her opinion and do something to make it better in the meantime

 

All I’m suggesting is give the high school students opportunity for autonomy and try to work within the bounds of a less than great situation

I would agree with you if this was a typical school setting as far as autonomy. But it’s not. I often was left with many extra students as a sub - once had 52 6 year olds in one room with just me - this is somewhat analogous because she wrote that jtesecteenagers have behavioral challenges. Yes I survived nicely that one day with the 52 kids and I would not have found it a safe situation or fair in an ongoing way.

Advocating for your students: having extra students in your room interrupting your lessons is cheating your students out of the focus and attention they deserve.

Can a different faculty member spend time with those other students until their teacher shows up?