<p>And of course the BIGGEST message here…do NOT wait until the last day to submit important applications. Plan to get all of this done a week early, including checking to see if supporting documentation has been sent.</p>
<p>The OP already wrote that she realizes this was done at the last minute. I’m just reiterating this to others who have deadlines in the future. Get stuff done EARLY so that any errors can be corrected in time.</p>
<p>Also…you never know when there will be computer or server issues at the last minute. Why take the chance? Get them done EARLY.</p>
<p>You’re not a teacher, and yet you’ve read teacher contracts? Interesting.</p>
<p>As a professional, I go above and beyond whatever my “strict” job description says. </p>
<p>CTScoutmom - no one has said, at all, that 24/7 is expected of teachers here. And I totally agree that the student should have ensured the letter went out well before the deadline (which is why I’d always counsel my kids to set an arbitrary deadline a week before, because you just can’t count on people, computer systems crash, and so forth). But it would be hard for me to understand the mentality of having email access and not wanting to check it for 5 minutes over the weekend, so that you can better be prepared to plan out the things you have to do on Monday. And I have to tell you, it bugs the heck out of me when my junior employees who don’t have this mentality show up on Monday morning and spend the first hour sorting through things that have gone on over the weekend, whereas if they’d checked their emails once or twice they would know where they needed to be pointed or point themselves. I find it unimpressive and I do note it in performance reviews. It’s just part of the core competency of doing-what-needs-to-be-done and showing initiative that I rate employees on. `</p>
<p>Most of my kids’ teachers told us upfront at Meet the Teacher Night that they checked e-mails infrequently, and at least one not at all - although the school gives them all e-mail addresses. He only wanted phone messages left at the department office. Luckily my kids just dealt with teacher issues in person. I was always a bit surprised at how unplugged in so many teachers are.</p>
<p>That said, I actually really try to make one day a week work-free and rarely check e-mails on Sunday. It’s one of the best lessons I learned in Germany - make your weekend a real weekend, by truly having a day of rest.</p>
<p>Yes, but could you imagine if a student refused to do homework on the weekends??? :p</p>
<p>And had a day of rest? I think around here the teachers simply respect that if they are going to ask the kids to work on the weekends, the least they can do is to answer a lousy email from them.</p>
<p>Well, D talked to her teacher who immediately submitted the LOR to the scholarship app. D hasn’t had a chance to call the school yet to confirm, as she is in finals week and also had to work tonight.</p>
<p>I do appreciate the input from everyone on this thread!</p>
<p>And yes, the main moral here is not to get caught in this situation! I know that D fully understands now the stress she has caused herself by not starting the process sooner.</p>
<p>What I’ve learned from being on the other side:
The strict deadline is usually for the application only. There is wiggle room for supplements, most specifically LORs, since writers are variable in their reliability
ALWAYS call the app receiving place (college or scholarship) 1-2 weeks before deadline to verify that they have received the LORs (unless there is a website SHOWING that these have been received)
If place has not received it, always re-request LOR writer (by email or in person), and give all contact info again for them plus other info (stamped envelope, essays, resumes, etc even if done previously). Don’t flame or blame; it’s easy to forget and there are so many moving components that mistakes can be made.</p>
<p>Again, “your” junior employees knew what they signed up for when they agreed to be employed in your industry…including its norms. In their case, they have clearly decided to not abide by the field’s norms and thus, are in the wrong. </p>
<p>On the flipside, if you’ve moved into an office/industry where the professional norms is not to expect employees to answer work emails in their off-hours on evenings/weekends and decided to impose that norm unilaterally and evaluate employees on that basis, you’re the one who’s probably going to be receiving some pushback from your employees and stern meeting with your supervisor underscoring that the norms you had at your previous employer/field DOES NOT APPLY here.</p>
<p>I’ve worked in offices with the 24/7 on-call expectations as you have and lived with roommates who had it as bad/worse(medical residents). </p>
<p>I’ve also worked in offices where the expectation was that barring extreme once in a blue moon emergencies, if you put in 100% during your scheduled work hours…it’s considered perfectly fine to leave your work behind once the workday/workweek ends and pick up where you left off on Monday. </p>
<p>With some friends’ workplaces, leaving your work behind at the end of the workday/workweek was mandated by the employer due to security factors peculiar to their company/occupation. </p>
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<p>Teachers on equal/near-equal footing with students…especially minors in K-12?</p>
<p>Sounds like something the Maoists of the Cultural Revolution tried from 1966-76…with disastrous results. Allowing party hacks and schoolchildren be “equal” or “more than equal” to their teachers as was the case in that period was one major factor why all educational/research institutions were effectively shut down for a decade. </p>
<p>While I’m not for students being tyrannized by authoritarian-type teachers/admins, I’m also wary of granting K-12 students a presumption that they’re just as equal as their teachers considering the latter usually have much more education, life experience, and are more mature adults which should be given some respect.</p>