Work Question

DonaldnDaisy5

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 22, 2012
I am an upper elementary teacher with 3 of my own kids at home. For the last 3 years I've used Remind (an app that allows me to send reminders to parents and will allow parents to message me - without giving either of us one another's actual phone numbers).

This year I've been messaged at all hours as early as 6:30 am and as late as 10:02 - with pretty trival questions "x is missing answer 4 on the study guide" and "what time is the Halloween parade?" for example. One easily answered on google, with the online text book, or actual book, the other listed in multile emails, reminds, newsletters, and in student planners.

I went into the app and set "office hours" thinking that would help, but it appears it just let's parents know they are sending messages outside of my office hours and they continue to send the messages/questions.

Clearly I won't be using this again. It is taking time away from my own kids and I just feel like its rude. Am I out of line? I totally get if its an emergency or an actual question that requires an immediate answer but at this point I feel like it is going too far especially since these kiddos are going to middle school next year and most of these questions are ones they should know.
 
Can you change the settings so that you can send but not receive messages? I may be mistaken but I don't think I can send my messages to my kids teachers through the app. I email them when I have a question.
 
Can you change your settings on your phone (not in the app, but your actual phone settings) so you only receive notifications during certain times?
 
Last edited:


Well for me the beauty of a text message and the Remind app (our sons drama department uses it and we love it) is I can send a message whenever I think of a question, but I don’t expect an immediate response.

All my son’s teachers have always provided a policy at the beginning of the year that says something like “all texts, emails, and voicemails received between 8 am and 3 pm will be returned by 4:30; all messages sent after 4:30 will be returned by 7:30 am the following morning.”

I don’t expect any teacher to answer questions after their workday, but I do expect that all of them have a way for me to contact them with questions/concerns. Regardless of the method of communication some parents will always ask dumb questions.
 
I am an upper elementary teacher with 3 of my own kids at home. For the last 3 years I've used Remind (an app that allows me to send reminders to parents and will allow parents to message me - without giving either of us one another's actual phone numbers).

This year I've been messaged at all hours as early as 6:30 am and as late as 10:02 - with pretty trival questions "x is missing answer 4 on the study guide" and "what time is the Halloween parade?" for example. One easily answered on google, with the online text book, or actual book, the other listed in multile emails, reminds, newsletters, and in student planners.

I went into the app and set "office hours" thinking that would help, but it appears it just let's parents know they are sending messages outside of my office hours and they continue to send the messages/questions.

Clearly I won't be using this again. It is taking time away from my own kids and I just feel like its rude. Am I out of line? I totally get if its an emergency or an actual question that requires an immediate answer but at this point I feel like it is going too far especially since these kiddos are going to middle school next year and most of these questions are ones they should know.

I haven't used this particular app, so I'm not sure how clear it is, but my assumption as a parent would probably be that it was sending you an email or private message, not that it was sending you the equivalent of a text message that you were receiving instantly, does that make sense? I guess I'm just saying they may not realize they're bothering you, especially if it's saying that it's outside of your office hours (I would assume that means it's going into an inbox somewhere).
 


Why do you feel you have to answer them right away. I would send a question when I thought of something but would never expect an answer until it was convenient for the teacher to do so. I don't see it as a demand to answer them right at that time if it is outside of "office hours".
 
I agree with the previous posters. I usually email teachers late at night or early in the morning when I think of something. I don't expect an answer right away.
 
I thought when I set office hours it would prevent msgs from coming through outside of them.

With this app it is very clear you are sending texts not emails. I am hoping/hopeful that sending then outside of office hours, parents would assume they don't come through til later. I also agree MOST parents wouldn't expect an answer right away, but some do and are quick to call and complain when they don't get an answer quick enough.

As far as answering them right away, that is my own fault/type A personality - I can't handle unread msgs...for this exact reason I dont have my work email set up to go to my phone and will only check it from work.
 
To me the office hours notification would mean it is fine to send a message but it won't be addressed until your office hours. That kind of seems like the point of the app-for families to be able to send a message when they have the opportunity and for the teacher to respond when they have the opportunity.

I don't think it is rude. I think it is what the tool is to be used for.

As far as the appropriateness of the questions, I can't say.
 
To me the office hours notification would mean it is fine to send a message but it won't be addressed until your office hours. That kind of seems like the point of the app-for families to be able to send a message when they have the opportunity and for the teacher to respond when they have the opportunity.

I don't think it is rude. I think it is what the tool is to be used for.

As far as the appropriateness of the questions, I can't say.

This helps, because I needed a different perspective. I assume because its a text everyone expects a quick answer.
 
This helps, because I needed a different perspective. I assume because its a text everyone expects a quick answer.

I work across a few time zones with a large chunk of the people that I work with six hours behind me. They will send me texts/WhatsApp in the middle of my night because the information is easiest for them to send that way. They do not expect a quick response (I have my phone on "Do not disturb" in the evening/night, so these don't wake me up).
 
This helps, because I needed a different perspective. I assume because its a text everyone expects a quick answer.

I know it is hard not to answer. I would have the same problem. But, I think setting up the office hours is really a good tool to let people know not to expect an answer right away.
 
You can set this app to not allow people to send you texts. My DD’s have a couple of teachers that use this and have it set up this way.

Side comment - As a teacher I thank all of you who do not expect teachers to answer emails after hours. There are many parents who do expect an immediate response no matter the time of day. So again - I thank you for realizing that we do have other things going on outside of our working hours.
 
I think in our culture, everyone relies on electronics. It's so easy to e-mail, text, face time etc. You mentioned that you put stuff in a newsletter and parents can easily look it up. That is so true, but I know from experience that does not always happen. Parents are overwhelmed. I get constant stuff form the school via e-mail and stuff that comes home in backpacks. Two different kids in two grades, work, life and, well, it gets confusing. I tend to glance through the newsletters and/or pile up the papers. Personally I would not bother the teacher with stuff like "what time is the Halloween parade" but I guess they do. I would try to set more limits on the app, or just make it clear that questions will not be answered immediately.
 
I thought when I set office hours it would prevent msgs from coming through outside of them.
With this app it is very clear you are sending texts not emails. I am hoping/hopeful that sending then outside of office hours, parents would assume they don't come through til later. I also agree MOST parents wouldn't expect an answer right away, but some do and are quick to call and complain when they don't get an answer quick enough.
As far as answering them right away, that is my own fault/type A personality - I can't handle unread msgs...for this exact reason I dont have my work email set up to go to my phone and will only check it from work.
I think you've drilled down into the actual heart of the issue yourself here. If you can't regulate your own response, I guess you are right to decide this method of communication isn't suitable and stop using the app. You probably managed for many years without it and you can manage again, unless your school administration mandates that you must use it. And as for the parents that are "quick to call and complain"' well, they've always existed and always will too, right?
This helps, because I needed a different perspective. I assume because its a text everyone expects a quick answer.
You set people's expectations to that if you do it - again it's a "you" thing. The vast majority of us here probably work jobs with regular hours, although we also probably have voice-mail and e-mail and receive texts. Most of us don't monitor them 24/7 nor do we feel compelled to. I deal with work communications promptly during work hours - my clients don't (and shouldn't) expect anything beyond that.
 
I would never expect a teacher to get right back to me, I just appreciate it if I get an answer within 24 hours. I rarely email teachers, but when I do, I do it when I think about it, a minute later I’ve forgotten (5 kids). Then I can mentally check it off of my list.
 

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