Teacher, at your service
By Angela Watson
Some parent requests are SO above and beyond the call of duty. Here’s a (partial) list of outlandish things I’ve been asked to do over the years. Let me know which ones YOU would honor and which you wouldn’t by adding a comment to this post (just number from 1-5 and put yes or no for each). After the weekend, I’ll share which requests I allowed and which ones got the hand.
Scenario 1:
Parent calls me. “Can you not mark my child tardy anymore? We live out of boundaries and I always get stuck in traffic on the way here. That’s why she’s twenty to thirty minutes late everyday. If we have any more tardies, they’re going to make me switch back to our home school.”
Scenario 2:
Child raises hand. “My mom wants you to call her. She wants to know what’s for lunch today.”
Scenario 3:
Child approaches me. “Can I pass out birthday party invitations? Except I didn’t have enough invitations for everyone in the class, so I made my own.” Pulls out piece of loose-leaf paper with party details on it. “My dad says can you make photocopies for everyone in class?”
Scenario 4:
Parent sends in note. “Our family leave tomorrow October 4 to go to Mexico. She come back January 19. Please you can send work she will miss.”
Scenario 5:
This happened when I taught HeadStart, and the student in question was three and a half years old. “My child doesn’t know how to wipe himself. I need you to take care of that, especially when she goes #2.”
I’m looking forward to reading your responses, and hearing your own outrageous parent demands.
And by the way, I did say yes to two of those requests. Can you guess which ones?
Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
Discussion
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SmWonder00, you are right, if teachers say no to certain requests in order to teach a parent a lesson, the child will get hurt. It’s not worth it in order to prove a point.
Saii, thanks for your responses! Interesting that you’ve done #4 before.
Marlene, I’ve been asked SEVERAL times by third grader’s parents to write down the HW. My response was the same as yours–absolutely not.
Peace in the Classroom, keeping those tardy slips is a lifesaver. It amazes some parents just how often their kids have been late.