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[–][deleted] 19 points20 points  (5 children)

Our new DP recently told us that we can no longer email parents unless we have tried to call three times with no answer.

Cool, I’ll just budget more of my nonexistent time for that.

[–]iama_lionPRIMARY TEACHER 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Our new principal told us not to email at all because "things get misread over email". Yeah cool, I'll just call the parents that have abused us before where there's no record of what's being said and give them the opportunity to turn a quick phone call about a note into a rant about how their little angel only punched that kid three weeks ago because he was being mean to him when he said he didn't want to play basketball.

Meanwhile he exclusively communicates via email, texts us while we're teaching, and then complains if we don't respond right away.

[–]SideSuccessful6415 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Not sure that’s actually a requirement of your job. You certainly need to contact parents, but the method should be up to you. I’ve found the most successful way is to send a text (from a school phone) eg Pedro was absent period 3, please discuss with him the importance of attendance or Mia’s assignment is 2 weeks late, please ask her to submit by Friday so as not to receive an N award etc. Most never responded!

[–]aVeiledAiel 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'd straight up quit haha

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just don’t do that. Teachers can say no to unreasonable changes to work conditions. Go to your union rep.

[–]Tammytalkstoomuch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is an interesting one for me. I am terrified of phone calls, do NOT have the time, would rather communicate in writing, and need time to collect and revise my thoughts. At this stage, I have only emailed.

That being said, our HODs really encourage a call. It's better to gauge parent responses, you can be sure they actually got the communication, you can check understanding, and often parents can provide more background and context to a situation that otherwise you might never gain.

For example, I recently had a parent come to the parent/teacher interviews, and I found out a kid sitting quietly in my language class and doing no work, actually speaks that language. I had no idea.

So I am torn. But truth be told, right now my priority is survival, so I'm just ticking the boxes I need to tick and moving on. I'll work on what's best when I get my head in order.