Thursday, 8 September 2011

First Meeting in the New Session

Today was our first meeting of the new session. Not that I expected anything new.

The biggest news is Mz is getting married to her Nepalese boyfriend this October. I wish her good luck.

As usual there was nothing of substance to discuss in the meeting except plain gossip" My mom believes strongly in Astrology.","I have got a lovely tan.","Where did you get your haircut from?" You begin to wonder if you are in an official meeting or in a housewives monthly get -together.

 My timings in the school are from 9 to 2 pm. I arrive 15-20 minutes early everyday and start working with children immediately while several times I go home late due to discussing children's issues with their parents when they come to pick up their children at 2 pm. I asked Mz if I needed to include this extra time in the extra time log sheet. She replied that since my timings were from 9 to 2 pm I need not start working before 9 am and I need not talk to parents at all; if there is any issue to be discussed they should make an appointment to talk to the teachers.

This just won't work for me. Everyday I strive to reach my classroom as early as I can because that's the time most of the children arrive; the new ones are mostly wailing; while there are plenty of other teachers also in the room who look after all the children irrespective of their group, still small children tend to be more attached to their group teachers and respond to them rather than other teachers. In fact the new ones when they enter the class and do not see their group teachers often take serious fright and want to run away. Of course Cl is also there but I feel bad to imagine her managing all the new children all alone.

And then there is the task of talking to the parents. Nobody in the school likes to talk to parents except I and Cl. There are so many important communications to be done with them and informing them of how their child is doing. It seems easier and right to me to keep giving regular reports of the children to the parents whenever I chance upon them rather than mechanically waiting for an interview to tell the same thing which will in all certainty lose their impact and importance due to lapse of time. I agree it is not very important but it is good.

And also because that's the only time I ever get to even see the parents. I have just realized that if I don't talk to parents they may just never know who the hell I am in the school...

For the first time Mz is right. It would have seemed like blatant exploitation if she had said I needed to come earlier and go later without adding it all up as extra time. I am glad it is completely up to me to devote my extra time according to my convenience. 

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