teachers email

[Deetee]

The only thing that annoy me is the fact that the teacher took away free play. Assuming free play is outdoor unstructured run around type play, I would be really annoyed that took away the one thing that works best to calm down an unruly class. My friends grade one class even does laps at the end of recess to help maintain order.

The rest of email makes it sound like this was a whole class problem. I don't think a kid needs to misbehave to  cause trouble. Laughing and egging on other kids can help this sort of ruckus. It sounds like a good time to talk about good classroom behaviour in a non-accusatory manner with your kid. Help out the teacher and encourage all kids to be helpful in maintaining an appropriate classroom tone.

Actually the OP should clarify that. When my kids were in Kindergarten "free play" was Separate and on top of recess and lunch (outdoor play times). It was like free time, where the kids could play at whatever centre they wanted to. I can absolutely see how a teacher could decide to use that time to have a class discussion about appropriate behaviour if they had been acting up.
Missing recess (outdoor play) is a rather different thing, as it implies something serious enough to convince the teacher to give up her own break to punish them. That, I would definitely be wanting to know more about.

True. I have a bee in my bonnet about the importance of recess and free running around time and how children learn better when they have been physically active.  So that is an important distinction.

[NyaChan]

I don't see anything wrong with that letter other than the lack of examples - though I'm wondering if that is because she didn't want to give specific examples to avoid singling out people when really the class as a whole was misbehaving.

[jedikaiti]

There's just not enough information... it could be anything from a couple of troublemakers acting up and other kids getting caught in the chaos, to the whole class having ants in their pants, to a teacher who wants a bunch of small children to sit still and be quiet all day. There is just no information about what happened, or even what was actually said. We know what she said she talked about, but nothing of the actual content. It's like she wants the parents to read her mind and talk to their kids about the same things she discussed, without giving them anything more than the vaguest of themes.

[YummyMummy66]

Having worked in schools as a special education adie, but worked with all students, it sounds like the kids are already having, "winter break itis".  Another words, they are crazy!  Personally, I would not have kept them in from recess to have the talk.  I would have had them doing specific activities to burst off some energy. 

Simon says, "Jumping Jacks", Simon says, run around the playground one time" Simon says, "hop on one foot", etc. 

There are ways to use up the kid's energy so that when they are in class, they are more ready to behave and concentrate.

I would have a talk with my child and let them know the consequences at home if they did not do what they were supposed to do in school.

[m2kbug]

I see a teacher who is at her wits end.  Just after Thanksgiving and a 4 day break, winter break on it's way, I imagine the kids are getting antsy and ready for a break.  It would be nice if she stated specifically what the problem was, but I'm sure you can address this with your child today and have a little talk. 

My guess is that if your child was one of the bigger instigators, you will receive an additional note or phone call with the specifics; otherwise, you can expect that yours was a perfect angel or somewhat disruptive, but not so much it warranted any major discipline. 

[*inviteseller]

I would have no problem with this...the kids, as a class, are acting up and she has tried all the usual tricks without success so she had to take away the ultimate thing (recess) and talk to them about why they lost it.  She know is asking the parents for that reinforcement at home.  The only thing about the note is she didn't really say what the issues have been and asking young kids doesn't always guarantee a straight answer so maybe you can send her an email, thanking her for her note letting you know what is going on but can she clarify what your child specifically is doing so you can address it at home.

I have received those notes about the behavior on the school bus and I called the principal and asked what my DD was doing so I could talk to her about it further and take corrective action.  He actually thanked me for calling because he said out of 40 notes, I was the only parent who called and asked what my child did..the others called and said "not my child!" 

[kherbert05]

I'm wondering if free play is an in class reward time. The way my school day is structured we are NOT allowed to take away recess, except for bad weather. We are required to have so many minutes of exercise time a week - we make the amount by having 45 min of PE a week, and 30 min of recess a day.


My kids had 7 oh no points and 3 Oh YEA points today. So the whole class had 4 laps around the blacktop - but the kids on superstar* only had to do one. The kids on yellow had to do 3 more after the class was done. The kids on red had to do 5 more after the class was done, and the kid on note home had to do 10 more after the class was done (I let him go early because he accepted his consequences). The afternoon was much more in line. (Most of the Oh No points were from Yesterday afternoon they go from recess to recess)


My color/behavior chart goes


Superstar (Trying above and beyond)

Green (Everyone starts the day)
Yellow
Red
note home

[Julsie]

She sounds a lot nicer than I might be feeling in that situation!   

Now, if she had said, "I have had it up to here with your kids!  Could you please talk to your special snowflakes about behaving like civilized children and not a bunch of monkeys??", I could see you being upset.  That would be unprofessional.

But my goodness, it sounds like the class got ants in their pants (it's understandable... it happens often this time of year) and the teacher wrote a nice note home asking for help reinforcing classroom behavior.  I'm not seeing the concern and I'm the sort of parent who normally would.

[MrsJWine]

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Teachers are most effective when they can work with parents. And I would want to know if my kid's class was misbehaving. From what I remember of elementary school, otherwise well-behaved kids can get caught up in the rowdy behavior on a particularly off day. I'm sure she's not expecting you to severely reprimand your child; she just knows that behavior is best when it's reinforced at home.

[Tea Drinker]

I think I would either take Hmmmmm's suggestion of asking my child how the day went, or email the teacher to ask what sort of behavior she wants reinforced, since there are a whole pile of things that add up to good classroom behavior. If the problem is the children are interrupting each other or the teacher, "remember to stay in your seat during lessons" would be a wasted reminder and at best would get "I do," and "It's important to listen when your teacher is talking" might not be taken as "and don't interrupt the other students."

[Hmmmmm]

I agree with those who say this email is lacking information.   The teacher is basically venting that she had to punish the kids, but not explaining what they were doing or giving anything specific to address.   It sounds as though the teacher is very stressed and overwhelmed.      Ending with "we will see how it goes".... well yeah, you're the teacher.   You will have good days and bad days and you need to deal with that.   

I don't think it's a very professional email at all, it seems to be more of a cry for help.   I'd be making a point of going in to speak with teacher to see what the issues are and if there is anything specific my kid was doing that I need to address.

I don't see it as venting. She needed to inform the parents about free play being taken away and why. Otherwise the kids would go home and vent and she would be responding to 20 notes tomorrow.

[johelenc1]

I think the email makes perfect sense.  She wanted to preemptively let the parents know the kids missed free play before they all went home and whined about it.

It sounds like it was a pretty bad day all the way around - probably even for the usually "good" kids.  I would suspect the parents knew exactly what the teacher meant by "warning sticks" and "gumballs" so the vagueness there wouldn't bother me.   I also think there was probably so much going on that trying to identify every behavior would have been too much. 
 
I think the email was appropriate and if I got an email like that I would certainly be asking some questions of my child to find out what went on that day and if she had any part in it.  And, I would definitely have the conversation about listening to the teacher and behavior, etc.

[sammycat]

I think the email makes perfect sense.  She wanted to preemptively let the parents know the kids missed free play before they all went home and whined about it.

It sounds like it was a pretty bad day all the way around - probably even for the usually "good" kids.  I would suspect the parents knew exactly what the teacher meant by "warning sticks" and "gumballs" so the vagueness there wouldn't bother me.   I also think there was probably so much going on that trying to identify every behavior would have been too much. 
 
I think the email was appropriate and if I got an email like that I would certainly be asking some questions of my child to find out what went on that day and if she had any part in it.  And, I would definitely have the conversation about listening to the teacher and behavior, etc.

I agree with all johelenec said, particularly the bolded.

That said, I wasn't terribly impressed with the way the teacher, of all people, actually wrote the email. It doesn't seem structured properly.

[sweetonsno]

I think the email makes perfect sense.  She wanted to preemptively let the parents know the kids missed free play before they all went home and whined about it.

It sounds like it was a pretty bad day all the way around - probably even for the usually "good" kids.  I would suspect the parents knew exactly what the teacher meant by "warning sticks" and "gumballs" so the vagueness there wouldn't bother me.   I also think there was probably so much going on that trying to identify every behavior would have been too much. 
 
I think the email was appropriate and if I got an email like that I would certainly be asking some questions of my child to find out what went on that day and if she had any part in it.  And, I would definitely have the conversation about listening to the teacher and behavior, etc.

I agree with all johelenec said, particularly the bolded.

That said, I wasn't terribly impressed with the way the teacher, of all people, actually wrote the email. It doesn't seem structured properly.

It is indeed most likely that she sent the email because she knew that kids would be talking/complaining to their parents. I agree that it wasn't structured very well, but I get the sense that she wanted to get the email out quickly. Either she anticipated that she'd get complaints and had to write it immediately after she dismissed the kids or she got several emails in quick succession and wanted to head off others. Either way, she wouldn't have had much time to compose.

I can see why the OP is a bit irked. The email is rather vague and it does deal with a blanket statement. I do think it's best to ask the kids what happened in this case. A vague, "So you didn't have free play today? What happened?" should prevent the automatic fear. Even good kids have bad days, and having a bad day (or ten) doesn't make them bad kids.

Even if it turns out that a child wasn't participating in the hijinks, this conversation can be a good opportunity to discuss being a positive influence. For instance, if kids near your son or daughter are passing notes or whispering, your child can ask them to wait until after class. Yeah, it can be tough for kids to do it, but there are ways.

[CakeEater]

Sounds fine to me. I don't think she sounds out of her depth. She's after the support of the parents.

I remember one day actually tallying all the times I had to stop and correct a child's behaviour and who they were, with a particularly difficult class. The kids were bit shocked at the end of the day when I showed them how much time we'd wasted all day. And there were maybe 2 or 3 kids who didn't appear on my list at all.

I could have sent that email that day - didn't mean I was out of my depth - just that the kids were getting a bit ratty, and needed to be reined in again. Having parents reinforce that is a good thing.