So do most schools have staff room duty rotation for the staff to tidy the staff room??
We've never had a problem with this, but one teacher today said that if cleaning isn't in her contract then she wasn't going to do it..... really?
For basic cleaning, the custodians clean the staffroom, but not teachers' messes. We've had some pretty heated discussions at our school about the idea of creating a cleaning schedule for the staff. Many teachers don't even use the staff room, so I can understand them not wanting to have to clean up after someone else. Among those that do use the staffroom (myself included) only a few are responsible for the mess. We have a couple of teachers who constantly put their dirty dishes in the sink, or leave coffee cups on the counter. Every couple of years someone proposes a duty schedule. It is promptly shot-down with the argument that we are all adults and should be able to cleanup after ourselves. This usually solves the problem for a while, and then people get lazy again.
I would hate a staff room duty rotation! I have seen the messes some teachers leave (most are really good though), and I do not want to clean up someone else's mess. I don't even use the staff room.
I agree that, as adults, we should be responsible for our own messes. I know, in reality, it doesn't work that way.
Someone has to unload the dishwasher....I understand if you never use the staff room, then you shouldn't have to clean it. I get that. I also am all for cleaning up after yourself as an adult. I also get that if there is someone who is "responsible" then some people will use that as an excuse not to clean up after themselves. But...and it's only a little but there are things we all have to do to make a school run smoothly---load paper in the copier, un jam the copier, change the laminate...none of that is in our contract, but if something needs to be done, you do it.
What????Dishwasher????Sink??? With water???OMG...cant imagine...we have NO place to eat...teachers gather together in a teachers room for lunch and they do clean up after themselves...guess it is respect knowing the teacher must use the table for teaching immediately afterward.
staff room is a converted office--the sink is in the bathroom! We did have a rotation schedule....people did complain....but all in all the feeling was-if everyone cleans up after themselves then is should be a problem to have a schedule . As far as people leaving stuff for others to clean--I solved that-when it was my week I posted that they had until a specific time to empty the fridge and clean out cups etc.--after that I was dumping it! It was a clean week!
In our staff room, anything left in the sink at the end of the day will be thrown away. Most of the time we don't even have hot water. I always bring my dishes from home, and then I take them home to my husband (he does all of our dishes at home....I am very lucky!! ).
We do have a list usually at the beginning of the year to bring in basic supplies (plates, napkins, forks, spoons, dish soap, etc.)
4 micowaves, 2 fridges, a stove/oven, dishwasher and sink with disposal.....lucky I know.....truly....I know. We all donate 20$ to our Sunshine fund. We use some of that money to purchase napkins, paper plates, and utensils.....
We've had one the last two years without complaints. It's nice and I've even heard people say, "I don't use it, but it's not a big deal to wipe down the table every day for a week."
And that's the sort of thing we do. Often someone will bring in flowers or chocolates, too.
We have a rotation by grade levels and specials teachers. They also bring the breakfast for the staff on Fridays. Even with the rotations, there are grade levels that don't clean and it becomes a real mess!
I would hate it if I had to go in there and clean. I never never use it. I don't even store anything in the refrigerator. I don't eat in there. I eat in my room with my co-workers who all clean up after themselves. But from some of the announcements I've heard, I would think it would be a good idea if the ones who used it did have that.
Why can't people clean up after themselves and those who won't be dealt with directly? I am so tired of admin dancing around problems instead of callling out the troublemakers. I would not be cleaning either-I clean up after myself. I do love the school that has a dishwasher-must be nice.
Every school I've taught at has a dishwasher, a sink, a stove, and one or two microwaves in the staff lunch room. I guess I didn't realize how good we've got it!
We always have a rotation. It turns out to usually be that a pair of teachers will be on duty for a week at a time, usually two or three times during the year. It's no big deal at all. All that we do is make sure that the dishwasher is unloaded, and maybe wipe the tables down. We all put our dishes away ourselves, but if there are a few things in the sink that need to be loaded, the teachers on duty take care of it. It takes just a few seconds, and it's no big deal.
Each staff member has morning hallway duty and work room clean-up duty for 1 week during the year. There is a schedule posted and the P posts the people responsible for the next 2 weeks at the bottom of our weekly staff bulletins. I don't ENJOY having to clean up after people, but it's become a necessity. For some reason, there are people who just leave things laying around in the room - dirty dishes, half-eaten food, lunch trays - and who don't clean up the inside of the microwave when their food splatters everywhere inside. (Ever heard of covering the food with a paper towel???)
We all clean up after ourselves after lunch. The custodians wipe off the tables. The custodians tidy up in the workroom too. I would not want to do that, but we're a pretty neat bunch. I would not wash someone's dirty dishes!
I keep reading custodians clean up-ours will vacumn the floor but that is it.
We have a couple of fridges, a stove/oven, a dishwasher/garbage disposal and 5 microwaves. Our staff room duties are to wipe down the tables and run and empty the dishwasher daily (everyone is supposed to put their own dishes in the dishwasher or hand wash them and put in the strainer). Wipe down the microwaves (again if something major spills you are supposed to clean it) and tables. We used to bring in snacks every couple of days, but now it is very rare. At the end of your turn, you clean out the fridges. We usually have 2-3 teachers/staff people on it for 3 weeks. It is never done fairly.
I would hate a rotation for that! I've never heard of taking care of it that way. (I've also never heard of a staff lounge with a dishwasher and multiple microwaves.) We operate under the idea that if you make the mess, you clean it up. Our custodian wipes the table and cleans the floor and sink.
We have always had a staff lounge but it has always been occupied by an outside program that provides services in our school. This year we finally got our room back but no one uses it. We all have to eat lunch with out students so it is pointless to have a staff lounge for eating. It must be nice to be able to sit down with your co-workers and eat, whether it be in the staff room or a classroom. I wouldn't want to have to clean up after anyone else but if it could get me duty-free lunch, heck yea I would clean up for a week!!! I teach K and at this point in our 30 minutes lunch period I have 7 minutes to eat. I HAVE to go through line with them and then open all their stuff they can't open and then I get to sit down to eat but then I HAVE to help them empty and then I HAVE to clean the tables for the next group. So I just realized I already clean up after kids everyday so a 1 week rotation would be HEAVEN!!!!!!
If the staff room is that bad, I would vote to make it off limits, before I am put into a rotation to clean something I don't use. I have lunch in my room or one of my colleague's room. With all that I am required to do, I certainly don't want to clean after a grown person, unless of course that is my job. Why are people being allowed to leave their dishes if they are not cleaning them? When it comes to something like this, people are doing what they are allowed to do. How many times do you think a person would leave their dishes if they knew that at the end of the day it was going to be trashed? That solves the problem of dishes for me, because I most certainly would not be put on a rotation to clean up after adults and not be compensated, my time is too valuable. Now I know I will be staying with my district. I have my children and students clean up after themselves, I certainly hold an adult to that same standard. Even cleaning up the room is done by kids that want to and volunteer, not because Johnny is messy and I make everyone clean up after him.
our custodian cleans the workroom (no staff lounge), but he only mops my floor 2 x a year - no kidding! I might get him put on a rotation to clean the rooms on his hallway !
Just goes to show that common sense isn't so common... we don't have a staff room. We eat with the kids, but that's another thing... We *do* have a microwave. We were told that if we didn't clean up the mess we make, we'd loose it. We're inclined to believe our principal... she took away our refrigerator last year because people were leaving things in there; it WAS gross and do one could fit anything else in it. we still haven't gotten that back.
We have a rule in our staff room that if you use the microwave, you cover your food. If you have anything in the fridge, you have to take it home on Friday, or it will be thrown away on Friday afternoon. We have containers for recyclables and trash, and certain people take care of those things. That pretty much takes care of it.
we didn't have a teacher's bathroom!!!!!! We had to use the kids. The next year they installed a toilet in the BROOM CLOSET!!!!! It was great, we had to pee with the mops and dirty water! The sink was in the hallway to the back door! Glad times have changed. Usually once a month or so I go to our staff room and just give it a good cleaning with antibacterial cleaner. I never use the fridge and once in a while the microwave. I don't mind at all.
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09-01-2010, 06:28 PM
there are things we all have to do to make a school run smoothly---load paper in the copier, un jam the copier, change the laminate...none of that is in our contract, but if something needs to be done, you do it.
...teachers gather together in a teachers room for lunch and they do clean up after themselves...guess it is respect knowing the teacher must use the table for teaching immediately afterward.
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