Help! Advice needed re: cell phone use while in class...

In My Humble Opinion
1

By the teacher, that is.

Today on the way home from school, my son (6yo/first grade) told me that he got in trouble today for not focusing hard enough during his reading comprehesion test. I asked why he wan’t focused and he said he had problems understanding a question on the test. I asked him if he asked the teacher to explain it and her told me…“We’re not allowed to interrupt her when she’s on the phone.”

He was so matter-of-fact about it, like it was one of the basic rules like don’t run with scissors. I was totally stunned. I asked, “She makes calls on her cell phone during class?” He said no, other people call her and she answers. When I asked if it’s ever happened before he said, Sure. Like it was no big deal. He did note that she doesn’t answer the phone if she’s in the middle of telling them something, she just lets it ring.

I called another mom that I know really well and she’s going to ask her daughter about it to confirm. How should I proceed with this? We only have 3 weeks left of school and the principal is leaving at the end of the school year. Should I write a letter? Should I talk to her directly? What you you guys do?

2

Find out the teacher’s number, then call her during class and ask her why she’s talking to you instead of doing her job . . .

I’m not a parent, but if I were in this situation, I would definitely let the higher-ups know. This is just wrong.

3

Well, I’m happy to hear she won’t actually interrupt hearing herself speak to take a call. :rolleyes: But someone should remind her that it’s also her job to be available to the students during testing time.

I would address the teacher, principal and superintendent all at once with a nice cc-ed letter. That way the superintendent can notify the incoming principal of the matter and have him/her keep an eye on things.

Seeing as talking on the phone is an automatic suspension for many students, I can’t imagine that it’s considered OK for the teachers.

4

Some kids are much more distractible that others, I find it horrid that a teacher would take any call unless it’s a dire emergence during a test. I think any student that can’t focus during the test should get up and go to the principal and make a complaint and demand that their parents be called right away.

I would make it a point to that teacher that if this EVER happens again you have instructed your child to leave that class and contact you and you will deal with that teacher.

5

Even if she doesn’t answer, the phone’s ringing could be distracting for students. And her entire focus should be on the students during class. Unless the phone calls are coming from within the school and are official business, she shouldn’t be taking them.

It may be too late to do much about it this year, but I would still let her know how it affected your child’s concentration.

(Retired teacher)

6

I would first just confirm what’s going on with the teacher. I mean, kids are not reliable wittnesses–if nothing else, the unusual becomes the usual very quickly to a kid, and something that’s been the “rule” for a week can seem like it’s always been that way.

There could be some situation going on right now the compels the teacher to answer the phone when certain poeple call–a family member on life support and not expected to make it through the week, a horribly sick child who is home with a babysitter–who knows? Hell, she may well have the full consent of the principal to take calls if there is something that urgent going on.

I’m not saying that any of this is terribly LIKELY, but it’s worth talking to the teacher first to find out. Then, if the situation needs to be escalated, you still have the option to escalate it all you want. You haven’t lost anything, and you’ve extended a professional courtesy. I mean, if someone has a problem with how you do your job, don’t you expect someone to actually ask you for clarification before they write an angry leter to your boss’s boss?

7

Don’t wait for it to happen again, especially if your friend’s daughter confirms it. I wouldn’t even bother talking to the teacher; I would go straight to the principal. She may not be able to do anything about it (since she’s on her way out), but she can at least fiel the complaint in the teacher’s file. In fact, I would insist on this.

Another option would be to request a meeting with you, the teacher and the principal. At least you would know that they are both aware of the problem. The more I think about it, I like this option best.

8

Although I agree that teachers should not be on the phone during class, teachers’ and students’ responsibilities and privileges can hardly be compared. Teachers are government employees and subject to a different set of regulations and requirements.

9

As for what, exactly, you should do, that’s up to you. But here are some tools:

Verify with some other parents, too. Then, if you act collectively, the administration will take you more seriously.

Also find out the frequency and duration of calls (whether answered or not, because a phone ringing all the time is bad too), and whether this has been going on all year (it might just some temporary family emergency). Verify all that, too. Don’t delay.

Call up the principal and find out what the school policy is on cell phone use by teachers. Find out why it’s not in writing.

If you want fast action, be prepared, collectively, to go to the school board, the newspaper, TV, etc., if the prinicipal delays, ignores you, etc.

If you want to be less confrontational, send an anonymous letter around asking the teachers not to use their cell phones in class, to set a good example for the kids.

Get the principal to promise to do something immediately (i.e., TODAY; they should be able to), and then follow up on it, check to see if they really did it.

See if there are parents that can sit in on class; in shifts maybe, all day long.

10

If it were such a call the teacher should leave the classroom and talk in the hall, looking in the room if needed to spot cheaters.

11

Hi, Principal, you’re a fantastic principal, we love the school, the kids love the school, we love what you’ve done with it – but we’d love it even more if …

12

Other systems may be different, but placing something in a teacher’s file is not as simple as it sounds. Each principal may have a file on a teacher, but that file goes with the principal or gets tossed out. Usually the teacher’s permanent file is kept at the Board of Education. Teachers are usually notified if anything negative goes into the file and are given an opportunity to defend themselves.

I see no reason not to talk to the teacher first. You still have the option of talking to the principal also. Why not start where the problem is? Going over her head as a first step just sounds a little huffy.

13

They are not government employess here or in the OP’s listed location. Yes, some rules are different, but most policy books I’ve seen make a blanket statement that no cell phone use within the school is tolerated during school hours.

I just happened to get a phone call from my mother, a sixth-grade teacher in Illinois, and she confirmed she’d get in a heap of trouble for doing this. Cell phones must remain in backpacks (for the kids) or purses (for the teachers) and are not to be turned on between 7:55 and 2:55. Any student or teacher caught using their cell-phone is subject to disciplinary action.

If a teacher is faced with a family emergency, they must have their potential caller call the office, who will notify the teacher at once if a call is recieved.

She also recommended notifying the principal and superintendent, though her reasoning was a bit more cynical than mine. “A teacher behaving like this is probably on the district’s watch list for stupid behavior anyway, and they [the district] need to be made aware of what’s going on in their classroom before some parent decides a lawsuit is in order.”

14

I just got home from speaking with the principal. Apparently it’s not against the rules for teachers to make or receive calls as long as there is a very good reason. Without coming right out and actually saying so, he made it clear that someone in my son’s teacher’s family is having health issues and he’s aware of the situation. What I got from talking with my son and 2 other kids is that it doesn’t happen everyday, but often enough that they were told not to interrupt her. So, the teacher is not breaking the rules. That being said, I’m not happy about the rule.

I’m pretty sure the principal will speak with the teacher. He’s the type of guy who would try to smooth things over with the parent, but then talk to the teacher anyway.

At the moment, I’m not going to continue to pursue it. Reasons for letting it go right now: My son goes to a very small Catholic K-8th (about 300 kids). I am trying to get a job there for next year as the librarian. The current principal is not returning next year. There are only 2½ weeks of school left.

I really like the school, but this year has been difficult. We’ve had issues with this particular teacher all year long. She and my son really didn’t mesh. The second grade teacher has a completely different teaching style. She’s known for being much more structured (strict is the word used by people who don’t really liker her), but I know that is the kind of teacher my son learns best from.

<Sigh> I can’t wait for school to be out.