Monday, January 14, 2008

Baby It's Cold Outside

Today was really cold but not cold, enough to keep the phys ed teachers from bringing their classes outside. This was not the first time I have seen them out in this weather. I have even seen them out in the rain.

Most of the kids did not have sweatshirts or sweat pants so they went out in shorts and tees.

I met one of my students on her way out. This girl is prone to asthma and looked like she was freezing inside the building. I took off the sweater I was wearing and made her wear it. Her PE teacher got mad at her for this! Let me add, the teacher was wearing a hoodie and sweat pants.

I don't claim to know anything about teaching PE, but I do know when it is too cold to go out in summer attire. Today was one of those days. I don't understand why the parents aren't screaming about this lack of consideration for their children.

12 comments:

17 (really 15) more years said...

I'm getting increasingly weary of the way some teachers treat the kids. I have complained on more than one occasion, but I'm never given any satisfaction (meaning administration blows me off). I always tell them, how would you like it if a teacher treated your child that way?

mathmom said...

Aren't they allowed to bring sweatshirts and sweat pants for outdoor PE? As a parent, I would be raising heck if they required my child to go outdoors in shorts and a T-shirt in this kind of weather, but if they are supposed to bring appropriate clothing and they don't, the parents should make their kids wear appropriate clothing, and not complain about the teacher. Perhaps parents are not screaming about the teacher because they realize that they have some responsibility to get their kids to bring appropriate clothing?

A somewhat different but related issue: the teachers at our K-8 school say they will not monitor what the children go outside in (after lunch recess) unless parents explicitly request that they do so. Typically it is only the youngest children for whom this oversight is needed.

Bottom line: IMO high school students should be expected to be able to dress appropriately for the weather. If they do not bring appropriate clothing, that is not the PE teacher's fault.

I don't know why the PE teacher got mad about the sweater you gave to this girl, but I suspect that it was because it was not appropriate athletic wear for PE class.

Anonymous said...

I've reached my personal tipping point and have had it with the way kids are treated in general by the "system", particularly since Klein and Bloomberg and their faux "caring" about children. I just had to deal with my son's school and principal in a situation where my son's class won't have lunch at the usual time or in the cafeteria, but in the auditorium. The damn charter school housed in the same building needs to eat at a particular time and due to the ELA test my son's class schedule was changed. So my son, a student in the public school, will not be able to, for both days he takes the ELA, eat in the cafeteria of the very school he attends. I have already contacted a somewhat effective local politician about this matter and nothing will change immediately, but there is a lot of forgetting about the health safety and welfare of children. It was cold and nasty out, and this is not basic training, just PE. This teacher is a complete idiot for doing this. Since I'd never tell on a teacher, I might have felt compelled to ask the teacher if they knew the girl and her health situation. This is an outrage!

17 (really 15) more years said...

mathmom- I work in a K-8, and if one of my 8th graders is too cold to go out(it's not uncommon for them to be sent outside when it's 20 degrees) I allow the child to eat lunch with me in my classroom.
As far as high school kids being "old enough" to know what weather appropriate dress is, it wouldn't occur to me that I'd be forced to have PE outdoors on a miserable cold day.

Mrs. T said...

At my own children's school, they have a policy that they do not go outdoors for recess if it is below 20 degrees. They also don't go out in the rain.
I am baffled by this PE teacher- do they not have a gym? And, spot on! It is not basic training. Sounds like a bit of a sadist to me.

Pissedoffteacher said...

Too many kids did not have appropriate clothing. I'm sure they never expected to go out on a day like today.

I've seen gym classes outside in the rain.

Maybe the kids should have to have warmer clothing but the teacher has to use common sense when 90% of the class in unprepared.

And, the teacher did not care that it was a sweater--she cared that it was MY SWEATER and not the kid's sweater.

NYC Educator said...

Man. You'd think knowing when it's too cold would be basic common sense. In Spanish, they say common sense is the least common of all the senses.

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable. Did you talk to the PE teacher about this?

JUSTICE not "just us" said...

In some schools the "descipline" is suffocating in others like mine it is non-existent. It does not make sense for the kids to freeze their tushes off. What is the purpose of that?

Again if you are in good with the Principal and you do bone headed things like you described you are an innovative teacher but if you are on the Principal's sh*t list--watch out for pulling a stunt like this you could be brought up on child endangerment charges.

Little makes sense in the system we work for.

Pissedoffteacher said...

Not my place to talk to the PE teachers. It was more than one teacher who brought the classes outside

Dawn said...

I honestly think a lot of parents don't know where their responsibility lies towards their kids. Granted, I've always homeschooler mine so I'm right out of the loop (and my sense of my duty to my kids has been labeled skewed by some) but I've been shocked by what some parents seem to think is fine for schools and teachers to do to their kids. It's like they think that the school is somehow their equal in the parenting department.

Anonymous said...

Ok i'm fuckin pissed because we still have to go to school when its 20 degrees outside and there up to 3 inches of snow out there. We still have to fuckin go. Its not fair i'm really pissed off and i'm wondering if they are aloud to send us students out there in the cold. I don't think so so please tell me are they?