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This whole thread makes me deeply grateful this is my last year teaching.
I have never asked for any supplies beyond a lab notebook and something to write with.
My school does not nor would I participate in fund raising (tho I suspect it is not fund raising for the school but rather for extra curricular activities or clubs).
I have spent on average $400 a year on my classroom and students despite the fact that I am lucky enough to work in a well funded district. I have bought everything from food to school supplies to a pair of sneakers last year for my students.
I also work through out the summer with no additional pay and my benefits are not "great" compared to what I used to make in private industry. Despite all of that I loved teaching and I was damn good at it. So why am I leaving? Because it's one thing to take lower pay for something you love but it's entirely something else to take lower pay and the disrespect so typical of parents these days as exemplified by this thread. I have already signed my contract for returning to my old job. More money, more respect, less hours and I will miss my students everyday.
Thanks for helping others and I am sorry you have to come across some ignorant resentment and hate by people who view a teacher and guider of children as a parasite.
I think there is obviously a difference depending on the school district you are in. I'm not opposed to sending in gift for holidays/teacher appreciation, but I do agree that it gets a bit outrageous in some schools. We are asked consistently to contribute, and with 3 kids, it is frustrating. We get asked every year:
birthdays
christmas
teacher appreciation day
end of year gift
each time marriage/pregnancy/death happens that year
in addition to asking of donations for classroom supplies beyond supplies
classroom books
not to mention having to sell those coupon books, festival tickets, sponsors for "laps" in their "only" fundraiser, contributions for charities for cancer, march of dimes, children's hospitals, underprivileged children, cross eyed people, and any other charities they can think of
Oh, and lets not forget having to send in food for:
holloween
thanksgiving
christmas
100 days of school
valentines day
field day
end of year party
I'm sure there are those schools that do none of these things, and parents don't come to anything. It is not my situation, but I can still sympathize for those complaining about the lack of parental involvement, without jumping in saying multiple parents in every classroom volunteer at least once a month in the classroom, if not every week, since those are obviously not everyone's circumstances.
Wow! I can't even believe that. I never asked for anything when I taught school, nor would I be a party to soliciting gifts for another teacher. I felt like I made more money than most of my students parents.
Wow! I can't even believe that. I never asked for anything when I taught school, nor would I be a party to soliciting gifts for another teacher. I felt like I made more money than most of my students parents.
It is merely a symptom of the new "entitlement" mentality that has been sweeping the nation for some time now. During the 1980s they were referred to as the "Me" Generation.
The Boomers may be a lot of things, but one thing they never were was self-centered spoiled brats. Unfortunately, that was the generation the Boomers produced.
Wow! I can't even believe that. I never asked for anything when I taught school, nor would I be a party to soliciting gifts for another teacher. I felt like I made more money than most of my students parents.
My point exactly!
In this economy, many parents are struggling just to make their own ends meet, let alone supply a school for which they are already paying outrageous taxes!
Although we live in a fairly upscale area, don't judge by that. Many, including ourselves, hav experienced job loss, paycuts, etc. And hey, we do have other priorities, like funding our own retirement, kids college education, etc. Its not play money!
Marylee, there is no shame in choosing not to participate. It's okay. Really!
I doubt anybody is going to ask you about whether or not you have donated, and, if they do, you can simply answer that it's not possible for you to participate. No need to explain.
Wrapping yourself around the axle about this simply feeds your anger. Take it from someone who has experience expending energy on the wrong things: focus your time and attention on that which is important, your children and their learning. Let everything else go. Your life will be much better for it!
. . . the room mothers were always asking for a handout . . .
Quote:
Originally Posted by lemonlime22
. . . I hate when these 'room moms' get my kids to nag me for the gifts/cash.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady
I've been called by room mothers taking up a collection for a gift for a teacher . . .
Now, some room mothers do, indeed, go over the top - they really need guidelines for what they're expected/allowed to do, I think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by G Grasshopper
I was a room mom . . .
Quote:
Originally Posted by capcat
Room moms make possible the things that your child looks forward to in the elementary school years, and have for decades.
Decades? I am 51. I started Kindergarten in 1965 and finished high school in 1977. Wow, until I found this thread, I had never heard of "room mothers" in elementary schools. What the heck is a room mother? A mother who actually sits there in the room all day? Blecch. I would have hated having a mother in the classroom. Our days at school gave us time away from parents!
Decades? I am 51. I started Kindergarten in 1965 and finished high school in 1977. Wow, until I found this thread, I had never heard of "room mothers" in elementary schools. What the heck is a room mother? A mother who actually sits there in the room all day? Blecch. I would have hated having a mother in the classroom. Our days at school gave us time away from parents!
You seriously don't know what a room mother is?
Hint: Not a mother who sits there in the room all day.
They are typically volunteer parents (there can be room dads, too, but they're not as common, given that stay-at-home fathers aren't as common as stay-at-home mothers). They tend to help organize classroom holiday parties (which are generally declining in practice, anyway), may chaperone field trips (also something that is increasingly absent from many school programs in the current economic climate). In schools with which I have been affiliated, they typically AREN'T teacher aides/paraprofessionals who help with instruction, but in some schools, they may take that role, especially at schools that are too broke to fund aide positions. But in my experience, most room mothers represent a once-in-a-while presence...not ordinarily people who are around all the time, but volunteering on an as-needed basis. They're basically PTA moms.
Decades? I am 51. I started Kindergarten in 1965 and finished high school in 1977. Wow, until I found this thread, I had never heard of "room mothers" in elementary schools. What the heck is a room mother? A mother who actually sits there in the room all day? Blecch. I would have hated having a mother in the classroom. Our days at school gave us time away from parents!
Room Mothers are generally not *in* the classroom unless they happen to be volunteering and helping on a given day.
Room Mothers organize parties (Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc.) if the teacher has them. They also usually organize teacher appreciation gifts. They may be the ones who organize parent lists so that parents can learn the names and addresses of other kids in the class before the children are old enough to find these things out for themselves. That helps parents to be able to get kids together when they may not live in the same neighborhood. This was very important when my granddaughter was in a magnet school and none of the kids was in our neighborhood, but even in the neighborhood school she goes to many of her friends are from different areas.
But wow. Just wow. They need someone in the role of "Room Mother" to bring in cookies and punch for a class party?
When I was a kid, we decorated for parties ourselves, and if a class trip was coming up, the school asked parents to volunteer as chaperones on an as-needed basis. And, I would think it's up to the school to distribute contact lists (if doing so does not violate state privacy laws). I know we had a PTA but I don't recall anything they did.
I know my sister and I never once gave a teacher a gift. And I never saw any other kids do that, either.
The world has certainly changed, with Room Mothers doing what teachers should do, teachers spending their own money for things the school should be providing, and parents feeling obligated to give teachers gifts. Something's definitely twisted there.
Last edited by citychik; 09-05-2011 at 06:02 PM..
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