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[query] Is it a good idea to say a firm No due to medical reasons to a new night shift project I'm hired in?Accenture
I recently got a night shift project (2 days ago) that requires me to work from 10:30pm till 7:30am
I'm not comfortable with these timings and I'm thinking to ask my manager to put me on Bench (Due to medical reasons that involve mental health)
Is it a nice idea to say a firm No to a new project I'm hardlocked into, due to night shifts?
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The students were putting all incidences from their class in one document and having all students from the class who were willing to sign the document to confirm. I advised them not to do this because it may seem like they are attacking him. Based on similar incidences I have seen from students this year, their approach did not work.
I told them to purchase journals & log everything they have witnessed thus far with ONLY factual information: date, time, and what happened.
After that, they will continue documenting until they have a solid amount of evidence and repeated patterns to take to administration. They will log the experiences as they happen or right after class. They are not to share their journal with anyone else or speak about what they have written down.
I have no idea if this plan will work, but everything else they have tried has not. I cannot keep telling them to keep doing the same things and expecting a different result.
Just be cautious, I have seen students jump on the bandwagon of their friends who are perhaps just sensitive and don’t want to revise an essay, etc. Sarcasm is another one that teachers need to be extra careful with. Kids will complain about anything, because they’ve been over empowered to do so. And if someone is having a hard time making friends, they will jump to the aid of the others. Let the counselor/admin sort it out if you have concerns.
I'd be very careful. You don't know if the students are telling the truth or just complaining about a strict teacher. Have you seen the incidents their talking about? If not, I recommend turning to over to the administration, in writing. If what the kids say is not true, you could lose the support of teachers and staff as someone who made complaints without proof. Again, turn it over to the administration that's what they get paid for. Also, the students should tell their parents and get them involved. Just my opinion.
Your advice to them is spot on. I would consult with the administration as their advocate and inform students to have their parents get involved if they really want to institute change. At this point, as a teacher, I would not go any further, though than informing the administration of what you are being told.
If you do more, the teacher may feel as though you are targetting them and pursue you for defamation or something petty.
To each their own, but I have always had the mindset that either we trust kids until they prove otherwise, or we just assume they are all lying. When I taught middle school, I found it paid to be more circumspect, but to not totally blow off what kids reported. Most of my career has been teaching high school and when kids have come to tell me concerns about a teacher, they have always born out to be true.
At my previous school, there were two teachers -- one borderline incompetent and the other emotionally abusive -- that kids came and told me about. My policy is that I will not discuss other teachers in class, but if they take the time to come back and talk after school (or before school) it tends to be kids who have something they are seriously concerned about. That was the case with these two teachers. I reported it up the chain. One was transferred and the other wasn't offered a contract for the next year.
In my current job, two teachers again. I reported what kids were saying for five years and got the blow off from admin. I stepped down as department chair and the new chair told them the same thing for two years. For whatever reason, admin decided to take action and got rid of one teacher and the other is in the process of being transitioned out.
In all of these situations, the students were telling the truth. Maybe I have been lucky. Maybe one day I will get burned by some super devious kid, but it hasn't happened yet and I find kids to be generally deserving of my willingness to listen. Others' milage may vary...
The documenting and self-advocating is great, but have the kids get their parents involved. Formal complaints from parents and warnings from them that if nothing happens, they will go to the school board/superintendent, and THE MEDIA will usually get the attention and some action from the administration.
Sometimes administrators (poor ones) will think it is just one teacher, or one class, and decide they don't want to deal with the union grievances or whatever will result from them acting against a teacher. Getting them to document things FACTUALLY and the getting the attention and voice of the parents in the matter will often be the fire lit under them that gets them to move or act on the behalf of the children.