Dear We Are Teachers,
I moved to Florida from New England this year and, at an off-campus job fair, accepted a position with what seemed like a great middle school. But from the first day the school was open this summer for teachers to work in the building, I realized this school is infested with cockroaches. Dead ones in the hall, live ones scurrying out of boxes, roach poop all over surfaces. Not the baby German roaches but the big tree roaches. I’m OK with most bugs, but these are terrifying to me! I asked my principal what could be done, and he said apart from the quarterly exterminator visit, his hands are tied. I don’t want to make waves at my new school, but this seems like a health hazard!
—This Bugs Me
Dear T.B.M.,
I’m shuddering right along with you. Even having grown up on the Texas coast where tree roaches are super common, they’re still distracting, gross, and move like jerky little antennaed goblins.
They could be a health hazard, but it’s hard to know for sure whether your school is infested with roaches just from your description. The one line that sets this apart from normal roach conditions to me is that you see roach poop on surfaces you and students would ostensibly be touching. I’ve never seen that happen even from entering a classroom that was empty for a whole summer.
My advice: Ask a fellow teacher how normal these conditions are. Maybe even ask an exterminator what size infestation that amount of roach poop would indicate. You can always file an anonymous OSHA complaint if it’s related to health and safety, but know that your principal can probably deduce it was you since you asked about the roaches. (They’re not allowed to retaliate because of an OSHA complaint, but just FYI.)
In the meantime, get some Combat bait stations. They’re the best. #notanad #justthetruth.
Dear We Are Teachers,
I have a 7th grade student who is the tough combination of disruptive and reading at a 1st grade level. I’ve left voicemails with his parents and emailed 10+ times and never once heard back. I’ve told my principal and counselor, both of whom have given me the equivalent of a shrug when I’ve told them what I’m dealing with. Here’s what blows my mind: This student has been in our district since kindergarten and has never once failed a class or been held back. I have no idea how he has been promoted beyond 3rd grade with his level of reading comprehension! I’m frustrated but also very sad and don’t know what to do since it seems I’m the only one who cares that a practically illiterate child is being passed through the system. Do you have any advice?
—Defeated and Deflated
Dear D.A.D.,
I feel your frustration in my bones. I saw this so many times as a teacher, and it never stopped making me want to scream into the void. This kind of situation requires a delicate balance.
On one side of the issue, you do not want to continue to pass him through the system. Give accurate grades. Document misbehavior. Keep sending those emails home—especially notifications of failing grades—and start cc’ing your counselor and principal. Specify in each email that you’ve also tried to call home, and list the numbers provided.
On the other side of the issue, don’t let the system eat him up either. Simply failing him will not meet his very serious needs. He’ll be assigned summer school, not go, and be passed on to the next grade anyway.
First, give your school one last opportunity to support you. Email your principal and counselor and ask for their recommendations for who to contact from the district who can help you reach this student’s parents and connect him with the help he needs—especially since it’s dangerous for your school to not have a reliable way to contact this student’s caretakers. Hopefully that will put a fire under them. And if it doesn’t, you will have done your due diligence in moving up the chain of command.
If that doesn’t work, go to your central administration—whoever is in charge of literacy, ideally elementary literacy, and send this email. You can also send it to the head of counseling for your district and any community support role positions.
“I have a 7th grader in my class who is reading at a 1st grade level and who has been in our school district since kindergarten. So far, [x] weeks into school, I have not been able to reach his parents by phone or email. His behavior is disruptive, which I attribute to being so far behind his peers.
This student is in desperate need of intervention that goes beyond my content expertise as a 4th-to-8th-grade Generalist and beyond what my school has been able to provide. Please advise as soon as possible on how I can get this student the help he needs, including family support.”
I’m sorry we don’t have a better system. But I’m glad that you’re advocating for a student who’s stuck.
Dear We Are Teachers,
I got a job at my dream high school but was put in a position to be the sort of “catch-all” teacher this year to reduce the course loads of other teachers. As a result, I have five completely different preps: Pre-AP Spanish I, Spanish II, Pre-AP Spanish II, Speech & Debate, and AP Spanish IV.
Needless to say, I’m drowning. I’m barely sleeping because I’m up so late grading and prepping. I was told by my principal that all these teachers would share their curriculum with me, but only three of them have—and they’re bare-bones roadmaps at best, definitely not daily lesson plans.
My principal told me this role would be a lot of work in the interview, so I feel silly coming to him and complaining about how much work it is. But I can’t make it to December like this. What would you do?
—Drowning in Preps
Dear D.I.P.,
Uh … no offense, but what was your principal thinking? (Please do not actually ask your principal what he was thinking). That’s a wild course load for an experienced teacher. For a first-year teacher, that’s basically a recipe for burnout.
Remember: You accepted this position under the condition that you’d receive the resources you need … and you haven’t. It’s less about you not being able to hack it and more about you not having the support you were told you’d have.
Step 1: Ask the teachers one more time if they have more detailed lesson plans they’d be willing to share with you. I doubt they do, because my guess is that the principal never told them, “Hey, make sure you have lesson plans ready to go for this teacher.” But on the off chance he did, you need to give them one last chance before going to your principal.
Step 2: Talk to your principal. Say, “I love my job, and I want to be the best teacher I can. I remember in my interview you mentioned that these teachers would share their lesson plans and resources, but I think I need more detail than what’s been provided. Would you be willing to let me take a day or two to meet with district curriculum specialists in Spanish—or maybe other Spanish teachers in the district—so I can get my plans in place at least until the end of the semester?”
You’re not complaining. You’re showing initiative. And you’ve proposed a solution. Hopefully, this will show your principal you’re worth keeping around next year—provided he significantly cuts down on your workload.
Do you have a burning question? Email us at [email protected].
Dear We Are Teachers,
This will be my fifth year teaching middle school. After five very rough and stressful years, I’m trying to create a better work-life balance. Knowing that I tend to melt down around mid-October, I decided to schedule a trip to Mexico for me and my husband and asked for three days (a Wednesday through Friday) off work. When I asked permission from my principal to use my personal days, she said yes, but warned to not let parents or students know that I was going on vacation and to not post pictures on social media. When I asked why, she said, “Some parents don’t think teachers should take vacations mid-year.” Do you think she was trying to discourage me? Is it OK to plan a mid-semester vacation? I’m so annoyed!
—Un Poco Desanimada
