"I appreciate all the effort you have put in during these last few weeks but we have gotten many more parent complaints about no real communications with them during pick ups and drop offs. With trying to address this with you prior and with more complaints, I am left with no choice but to let you go. You are great with the children, truly you are but with too many parent complaints from the same classroom about you, I have no choice. Please, if you need a reference for the future I would be happy to write one for you. Again, I am truly sorry and tried to please the families in the [Two year old] Room but was unable to do so. Please let me know if I can be of any help besides a reference."
To say I'm pissed is somewhat of an understatement. First off, the fact that I was fired on a Saturday via email is absolutely unacceptable. I still have to go in on Monday to retrieve belongings I left in the classroom (library books I got for the kids in my class).
I'm still not sure what she's talking about in regards to no communication during pick-ups and drop-offs. First off, I'm usually not in the room during drop-offs for most of the children in that class. By the time I come in at 8, that class is already in their classroom. For the first 60-90+ minutes of my shift, I am in different classroom. Occasionally, one or two children will come after I arrive in the classroom, but it's rare. When it does happen, I'm often paying more attention to the other children while the lead teacher in the classroom deals with the drop-off as the children and parents know her better. One of the students in the class has a major biting problem, so letting the kids run around while both adults talk to the parent is a bad idea.
When it comes to pick-ups, several parents come when the lead teacher is still there. She is usually wrapping up her lesson plans for the following day as she leaves 30 minutes before me while I am in charge of the children. When she leaves, I do speak to the parents, but it's hard to hold a conversation while also keeping two year olds from killing each other. There are a few parents who I haven't met because the children arrive before I do and leave after I leave. When there is information that needs to be relayed, I do pass the information on to the closing teachers, but they are generally dismissive, so I doubt parents get the information. I have been considering asking about ways to change my schedule so, between the lead teacher and myself, at least one of us will be there for every child's pick-up or drop-off (even if it means I take an extra long lunch break and get out of work at 6 instead of 5. There are things that I feel should be communicated with the parent(s) that are not being said because nobody at pick-up and drop-off has first-hand knowledge of the child's day).
That being said, I did what was said to me and introduced myself to parents. Now, have I missed some parents? Possibly. After all, I'm dealing with dozens of children during the day, and between moms, dads, grandparents, etc it's hard to keep track of which guardian goes with which kid. I may have skipped a parent or two thinking I had already introduced myself to him/her (not wanting to reintroduce myself to someone I already met). The first time she told me there was a complaint about me not introducing myself, I asked for clarification. The lead teacher in the room was also confused. Most of my introductions were incredibly awkward. Kids were crazy, parents were in a rush, and I couldn't even say "I'm the new assistant teacher in this classroom" because I wasn't officially in any one classroom. I had to say "I'm primarily working in these few rooms, but I'm not officially anywhere yet." I think that made parents more uncomfortable because I couldn't even tell them what classroom I worked in or if I was officially a "floater."
Meanwhile, there are teachers there who don't care about ratios and left me alone with 14 two-year-olds (illegal in NJ). I have been debating calling to report this school for a few things, but decided against it because it wasn't anything super bad and I didn't want to jeopardize a new job. The backwards logic of firing me and not teachers who are violating state law VIA email is pretty annoying.
Now, I'm back to searching for work. I'm hoping to get a reference letter from this employer (she offered), but I'm still unsure of how I should proceed with looking for work. How do I explain why my 3 week employment at this daycare didn't work out?
To say I'm pissed is somewhat of an understatement. First off, the fact that I was fired on a Saturday via email is absolutely unacceptable. I still have to go in on Monday to retrieve belongings I left in the classroom (library books I got for the kids in my class).
I'm still not sure what she's talking about in regards to no communication during pick-ups and drop-offs. First off, I'm usually not in the room during drop-offs for most of the children in that class. By the time I come in at 8, that class is already in their classroom. For the first 60-90+ minutes of my shift, I am in different classroom. Occasionally, one or two children will come after I arrive in the classroom, but it's rare. When it does happen, I'm often paying more attention to the other children while the lead teacher in the classroom deals with the drop-off as the children and parents know her better. One of the students in the class has a major biting problem, so letting the kids run around while both adults talk to the parent is a bad idea.
When it comes to pick-ups, several parents come when the lead teacher is still there. She is usually wrapping up her lesson plans for the following day as she leaves 30 minutes before me while I am in charge of the children. When she leaves, I do speak to the parents, but it's hard to hold a conversation while also keeping two year olds from killing each other. There are a few parents who I haven't met because the children arrive before I do and leave after I leave. When there is information that needs to be relayed, I do pass the information on to the closing teachers, but they are generally dismissive, so I doubt parents get the information. I have been considering asking about ways to change my schedule so, between the lead teacher and myself, at least one of us will be there for every child's pick-up or drop-off (even if it means I take an extra long lunch break and get out of work at 6 instead of 5. There are things that I feel should be communicated with the parent(s) that are not being said because nobody at pick-up and drop-off has first-hand knowledge of the child's day).
That being said, I did what was said to me and introduced myself to parents. Now, have I missed some parents? Possibly. After all, I'm dealing with dozens of children during the day, and between moms, dads, grandparents, etc it's hard to keep track of which guardian goes with which kid. I may have skipped a parent or two thinking I had already introduced myself to him/her (not wanting to reintroduce myself to someone I already met). The first time she told me there was a complaint about me not introducing myself, I asked for clarification. The lead teacher in the room was also confused. Most of my introductions were incredibly awkward. Kids were crazy, parents were in a rush, and I couldn't even say "I'm the new assistant teacher in this classroom" because I wasn't officially in any one classroom. I had to say "I'm primarily working in these few rooms, but I'm not officially anywhere yet." I think that made parents more uncomfortable because I couldn't even tell them what classroom I worked in or if I was officially a "floater."
Meanwhile, there are teachers there who don't care about ratios and left me alone with 14 two-year-olds (illegal in NJ). I have been debating calling to report this school for a few things, but decided against it because it wasn't anything super bad and I didn't want to jeopardize a new job. The backwards logic of firing me and not teachers who are violating state law VIA email is pretty annoying.
Now, I'm back to searching for work. I'm hoping to get a reference letter from this employer (she offered), but I'm still unsure of how I should proceed with looking for work. How do I explain why my 3 week employment at this daycare didn't work out?
Comment