Teacher Tardiness

[english grammar man]

Interesting articles on teacher tardiness at http://www.aacircle.com.au/blog/arch...Tardiness.html

I wonder how many teachers actually arrive late to their classes. It certainly is a growing problem amongst schools.

[Margy]

For me, always on time to classes. I always arrive at least 15 minutes prior to do class prep.

[Gspot]

Teaching English is not one of those professions that can afford having a teacher be late to work. Like an airline pilot, lateness is just not tolerated.

Always plan to arrive 10~20 minutes earlier just in case there are train delays etc.

[Hypiereon]

Tardiness, my own or someone else's, is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. I hate being late for anything, and I absolutely hate standing around waiting for someone else who is late.

Every minute someone is late is a minute of my time they are wasting. If I had known they were going to be 5, 10, or 15 minutes late, that's 5, 10, or 15 minutes I could have been doing something else. Realizing this, I don't want to be the one to waste other people's time. It's rude.

A guy once said, and it is very nicely worded, that you only have 1 minute to be on time. Everything else is either early or late, so never be on time, and always be early. I usually run a minimum of 5 minutes ahead, and never more than 10. I know how long it takes to get from point A to point Z in the frayed morning, in the lazy afternoon, and in the crush of evening rush-hour. I'm constantly timing how long it takes me to walk from a class to somewhere else on campus, and from the front gate to a destination on school grounds.

The biggest problem in China is not the teachers being late - it's the students.

In all, if I ever say "I'm 10 minutes away" from arrival, I know what I'm talking about. Call it an obsession, but for the life of me it's been one of the toughest things to get used to in this culture. No one is on time here. Classes start at 2:00, but that's about the time the students start thinking about coming to class. When 2:00 rolls around, I'm lucky to have 3 students present in the room. The rest trickle in over the next 15 minutes. It's aggravating.

[Gspot]

I totally agree with you Hypiereon.

If my friends are late, I do get quite annoyed. I have now found a way to better utilise my time. Whenever I meet friends, I always tell them to meet me in the book shop. That way I can easily spend half an hour just kiling time and having a great time.

If my students were late to class, I wouldn't be too upset. Afterall, you are getting paid for this time anyhow. Gives you a chance to daydream a bit or look over a few things.

I actually love it when my students turn up late, or in some instances, my privates don't turn up at all. Of course, I still get paid for this time as the company still pays my salary.

[Teaching Supply]

I definitely agree tardiness is a personal dislike of mine, however sometimes the situation is out of our hands and we just can't do anything about it. I try and have patience, meeting in a book store is a good idea!

[studynz2008]

Always arrived on time. Students are very much attentive when it comes to their teacher's attendance. If the teacher keeps on arriving late, they'll do the same.

[lorocreative]

very interesting topic. I am always on time to take my class.

[waixingren]

I've only had a few problems. I take the staff school bus every morning to the university and there have been a few times that it's arrived late. Any time I think I may be late I call ahead so that there won't be any problems.

When I had to walk to class or take public transportation, I was never late. I was usually early every time.

[studynz2008]

Just take the public transportation to avoid coming late in school