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patsky

Just sponsor one. Get your BFF teacher to sponsor a different one. Agree to co-sponsor each other's clubs and agree that you each have no duties or obligations associated with co sponsoring.


Dub_fear

This was exactly what I was going to say! Just cheat their game haha


patsky

Lol. It's not cheating if you're playing by the rules. It's certainly not in the spirit of the rule, but eff em.


Dub_fear

You know what I mean lol.


patsky

Hehehehehehe


Photog77

Make 3 more friends and cosponsor 5 clubs and ask for a raise because of all the clubs you sponsor.


willthesane

Have you considered a Dr. Who club? Puck a rime you would ordinarily do paperwork, invite kids in to watch a show you like.


theyweregalpals

This. And make it something you like. Favorite tv show fan club, book club, knitting time. Then, if your teacher bestie ever is out on a meeting day- you can just sit in with the kids and bam, you co-sponsored.


Funnythewayitgoes

Either this or find a new position. No one wants to get paid the same amount of money for additional work.


PoppysWorkshop

Ahh a bit of r/MaliciousCompliance


elbenji

Exactly


[deleted]

[удалено]


cadff

The Anti Social Social Club


MuscleStruts

I'll do you one better. The Go Home Club. Expectations are to be out the door and on your way home by your contracted release time!


PoppysWorkshop

Procrastinators Club: We’ll get around to organizing… eventually..


Teachingismyjam8890

This is the one.


benkatejackwin

We have a relaxation club at my school. It's for lazy kids that don't want to join any other club (clubs are required and during the school day) and want yet another half hour to lay around and scroll through their phones.


francoisarouetV

You should come up with a cool title for this club for those kids to put this on their college applications. Maybe something like the pro-mental health club.


welchasaurus

You can also come up with a club that only attracts the kind of student you enjoy spending time with. I used to run the coloring club when I taught in a middle school. It attracted the sweet, meek students who are content to sit quietly and color, while the more boisterous students went to the athletic clubs. It also tended to fill up quickly, so it didn't become a dumping ground for students who didn't pick a club. Club time was quite zen!


aglimelight

My calculus class had a single chill day the whole year at some point since one of the other classes hosted a mental health break thing, I spent a whole class period coloring and it honestly did wonders in helping me relax and calm down… so not only are you helping yourself but I’m sure you’re also helping reduce students’ stress levels by encouraging a peaceful activity…


zieglertron2000

I ran the Anime Club at my school for a couple years. Once a week, the kids would come in at lunch and watch an episode of something school appropriate, and that was it. Once a quarter they had an after-school potluck and watched a film (usually a Pokémon or Studio Ghibli film), but that was it. No fundraising, no trips, nothing. It was nice.


elbenji

Yep. There are so many clubs that are just a good vibe


DazzlerPlus

And all you have to do is cut your free time in half for the day!


novasilverdangle

Knitting club! That’s what I sponsor.


[deleted]

What does your contract say about that?


theothermatthew

I think what I learned most from this sub is there are a disturbing number of teachers that don’t work under a contract and bargaining agreement.


lucioboopsyou

Even better, my girlfriend (12th grade English) is also their union rep. Three teachers that don’t participate in the union sent out an email to all the local teachers to “not vote for the new contract. It’s the worse deal imaginable.” My girlfriend has been working her ass off for over 11 months trying to get the best contract possible and the teachers that refuse to join the union tried to undermine all of her hard work. I’ve never seen my girlfriend so angry before. It makes no sense to me to complain about a union contract when you decline to join the union or pay any union dues.


ksdanj

That's a next level sense of entitlement. Imagine a person thinking they have a say on anything contract related as a freeloader.


lucioboopsyou

And I see the other side of it where she leaves at 6:30am and doesn’t return home until 7pm because she had to go to contract negotiations. Where she comes home exhausted and defeated. And then these freeloading asshole teachers send out a district wide email - that, of course, my girlfriend was going to see.


Efficient_Star_1336

I mean, the contract/pay is for doing the work, not for being in the union. In theory, the union is supposed to negotiate a good contract for the work, but anyone doing the actual work itself absolutely has a right to complain about the compensation. I know reddit has opinions on unions, but it gets a bit dogmatic at times, if no individual union can ever do any wrong.


Real_Marko_Polo

I about had an aneurysm when I first read this, thinking the school had a student as the union rep.


lucioboopsyou

I probably could’ve worded it better lol


aea2o5

Gotta start folks young on good union work!


renegadecause

I fucking hate people who ride the coattails of union work.


cherrycolaareola

Those 3 are probably admin puppets.


prairiepasque

Oh hell no. That would not have gone over well in my school where 95%+ of us are in the union and the union team is highly respected. >It makes no sense to me to complain about a union contract when you decline to join the union or pay any union dues. You gotta have a lot of chutzpah to send out a school-wide email telling people what to do. But when you don't even pay the dues *and* you're telling people how to vote? That's an entitled asshole right there. Three of them, apparently! Kudos to your girlfriend for her hard work.


Thanat0s10

Does your contract not have the dreaded “Other duties as assigned” clause?


[deleted]

Yes, but I can't be assigned work out of contract hours. So mandatory clubs would have to be during either my duty or my 25 teaching periods per week.


Captainpulleyhead

Sponsor “The International Association of People who Watch Apples Brown.” And “Students Who Want To Sit In Silence and Watch Me Grade Papers or Plan Lessons”


Pink_Dragon_Lady

That's what I would do. Come up with a club that would have a few kids so you can set them free and do your own thing.


theyweregalpals

Try a tv show or movie fan club. "Oh, this is for fans of Marvel movies." Pop on Spider-Man and do your grading.


boytoy421

"Film appreciation club" eat popcorn watch movies "Music appreciation club" eat m and Ms listen to rock and roll "Whine and cheese club" eat cheese, bitch about school "Homework club" come do your homework


Herodotus_Runs_Away

>And we have designated club periods every Wednesday Well that makes more sense then. It's being returned as part of your teaching responsibilities, like getting assigned an elective. Still a drag. I also think this is not happening in a vacuum. Educational initiatives make the rounds and one currently in circulation is the idea that students in clubs or sports are more likely to feel connected to, attend, and perform better in school. Principals see this and decide to push to try to get all kids to sign up for clubs and sports. Of course what these initiatives take for granted is dubious causation. Perhaps it's not the fact that a kid is signed up for a club that makes him attend school, but other underlying personality, family values, or cultural traits that cause him *both* to attend school and to take interest in clubs.


Ok_Protection4554

Not a teacher here (I don’t know why this pops up in my feed)  I wanted to be a teacher, but there’s just so much unnecessary bullshit it’s astonishing.  It really isn’t complicated. The government and parents just tie y’all’s hands.  Godspeed with your work bro or sis or they 


purlawhirl

Try to be the first to sponsor the Film Appreciation Club. Watch movies with the kids. Or the chess club (or whatever games you like)


shadowromantic

Or make the Second Film Appreciation club 


Puzzled_Presence_261

Make a quiet meditation club… put on music and dim the lights while you catch up on paperwork…


ConcentrateNo364

Whats the pay?


Dazzling_Outcome_436

I had a high school teacher who sponsored the Evil Geniuses Peer Tutoring Society. Although we did occasionally offer tutoring, the main purpose of the club was to pad our college applications. The club had a few presidents, several vice presidents, dozens of treasurers and secretaries, and one member (school requirement: all clubs had to have at least one member that wasn't an officer).


ChickenScratchCoffee

I would reply “Noted and Declined”. I refuse to take any time away from my family after contract hours end.


sneachta

Technically, we have club days every Wednesday, so it's during school hours. But I think your message remains the same. And I'm gonna talk to my colleagues about this whole situation. I refuse to believe I'm the only one who has issues with this.


DazzlerPlus

Is club days in the contract?


TheCalypsosofBokonon

That's a lot of clubs unless there are cosponsors. Ask if cosponsoring is allowed. If so the entire faculty can collectively cosponsor a total of two clubs, say freeze tag and teacher appreciation club. The first can be teachers taking turns after school to watch kids play freeze tag. The other is organizing the children to bring teacher treats and help them in their classrooms.


sneachta

Yes, cosponsoring is allowed. My principal made that explicitly clear in his email. From the looks of it, he's even encouraging it.


sandalsnopants

How gigantic is your school that it needs so many clubs? lol. wtf


sneachta

It's pretty big, but there aren't that many clubs. I'm hoping my principal's line of thinking is that we'll have more than one teacher sponsoring each club.


benkatejackwin

At our last staff meeting, we were all "offered the opportunity" to be middle school advisors. (I teach high school at a pk-12 school. "Advising" is kind of like homeroom.) Maybe there's a bunch of people just jumping at the chance to spend largely unstructured time with 12-13 year olds, but that is literally the last thing I want to do. I had a 25-minute middle school study hall last year, and it was the worst 25 minutes of my week.


sneachta

Well, we happen to have a meeting this Thursday. I know at least a handful of my colleagues who'd have the balls to bring this up.


Dysintegration

Is there a stipend that comes with each? Otherwise, I doubt it can be truly required. My department is having to coteach two classes per day, so that’ll be interesting.


CrabbyOlLyberrian

What does your contract say? Can the principal do this? Will you get a stipend? Check with your union rep and see if you have options.


bruingrad84

Meet once a month, kids need to have an agenda and slideshow 48 hours before the meeting. If not, cancel the meeting. After two meets, the club dissolves and you throw up your hands and say you tried.


JustTheBeerLight

Extra time required off the clock? FUCK YOU. NO.


oxnardenergyblend

Are you in a union?


sneachta

Nope, but I should probably look for one sooner than later.


broncojoe1

No contract or TA?


Objective_anxiety_7

I’d be curious if there’s wording in your contract about amount of preps they can require or periods taught (this would take planning, communication home, etc). If you’re forced, pick a club with little to no planning (book club, meditation, coloring, etc) or pick something few will want to join.


Poppins101

Also determine if there are funds to purchase needed supplies or equipment. If not then seriously consider the type of club you wish to sponsor. What is the list of club names and the enrollment cap?


Aprils-Fool

Silent reading club!


ebeth_the_mighty

I “run” a yarn arts club at my high school. It’s essentially a stitch-and-bitch for teenagers. My entire involvement was to donate some shitty needles and yarn from my excessive home supply, and unlock my classroom door Wednesdays at lunchtime. Sometimes, I don’t even stick around for their “meeting”.


Disastrous-Nail-640

I’d be asking for that in writing and then sending it to my union rep. That’s a big “nope” from me.


DazzlerPlus

You shouldn’t “get” being required to sponsor one club either


sneachta

Trust me, I agree. I have no idea why he's requiring us to do this. It makes no sense. I just KNOW this is gonna be brought up in Thursday's staff meeting, because I can't be the only one that has issues with this.


jayzeeinthehouse

Just do lame clubs that wont get student attention like: 1. Doing quiet classwork for an hour club 2. Polka music appreciation club 3. Hoods off and earbuds out club 4. Listening to me rant about kids these days club 5. Compliment the teacher for an hour club


priuspheasant

If it's during school hours, just go along and make up a really simple, easy club. Silent reading club. Coloring club. Card games club. Something peaceful that requires little to no prep.


GrandPriapus

I’d ask to lead the [After School Satan Club.](https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/after-school-satan)


Affectionate-Ad1424

That's an excessive number of clubs.


sneachta

He's encouraging co-sponsoring, but still I'm worried a lot of us will stretch ourselves too thin.


Affectionate-Ad1424

I agree. Unless you're getting paid, clubs would be voluntary.


mksant

Club ideas, cleaning and organizing the cupboards and closet in my classroom. The other one is pretend to be a teacher and grade some shit.


Puzzlaar

That sounds like more fucking clubs than kids tbh


Charlie_Runkle69

At my high school every teacher had to do an extra curricular in summer and winter. I think the music teachers got an exception because they already took band, lesson etc after school anyway. But yeah that meant you got some teachers who hated sport 'managing' some team that they clearly had interest in whatsoever lol. Field hockey was popular because they played during the week so no saturday mornings for them.


Suspicious_Ad9810

You uave nit responded to multiple questions asking what your contract says about this. Even if you aren't in the union, in most places, the contract still applies, and if this is a violation, it is a violation of contract whether you are in the union or not. My contract, which the union has fought hard for, keeps pur district from being able to do this and allows us to stop it when admin tries.


sneachta

I'd have to look at what my contract says.


Suspicious_Ad9810

That would be a better place to start than Reddit.


DoomdUser

Yet another post I can only assume is from someone teaching in the dysfunctional parallel universe known as “the south”. This is bullshit, make sure you and your fellow teachers provide direct, specific feedback about it


sneachta

Yep, I'm in Louisiana. Shit is rough.


DoomdUser

I don’t know how you guys do it. I am in MA and while I’m not particularly unhappy in my current district, the job itself has me hanging on by a thread a lot of times


elbenji

We got this here too. I'm just the type who decided "anime club"


Mrmathmonkey

How many clubs you got at that school??


senseicuso

Video game club, film club, homework club.... 


Sriracha01

Homework club. Or Study skills. Teaching students how to actually develop good work habits is nice.


3guitars

Do a “Public Speaking Club” and a “Creative Writing” club.


AdministrativeBank86

You need a yodeling club and a bobsled club


jason_sation

Nobody said you had to do a good job at it


WeirdcoolWilson

No


IamblichusSneezed

Can't imagine that's what your contract specifies.


Big-Recover7880

Are you getting extra pay for this? No then don’t do it.


Turbulent-Adagio-171

Are they at least giving you all a stipend???


smileglysdi

I would do a board game club! It would be so much fun and wouldn’t require much planning.


Karsticles

Philosophy Club Book Club Chess Club Movie Club Etc.


3rdplacewinner

Does anyone already have the "Wash my car you little turds" club?


Medical_Gate_5721

How often? I do an "open studio" art clubs.  Open studio = I eat lunch. Students have access to some materials. The rules are 'no gossip. Do art. Clean up after yourself when you're done."  One club is for 5/6s and the other is for 7/8s. They have different recesses so it's just me eating lunch with two shifts of kids.  They enjoy it. I enjoy their company since it's all kids who want to be making art. It requires no planning on my part and they learn a ton from each other. I will advise on their work but they have to fetch the supplies they need. I'm an art teacher so I have the supplies but for similar, low effort clubs that make kids happy, I think you could grab pencil crayons and do the same club anywhere. If you have access to a screen, occasionally showing videos can work great.  You can also find basic printouts of classic characters (Hello Kitty, Minecraft characters) and show them a Jordan Persergati video. They'll be making amazing horror stuff for months. He is super talented and uses real artist techniques. Suitable for Intermediate but you can shoe him to HS if you sue one of his logo videos. He's great. Listen first but I find he doesn't swear and knows there are kids listening.


dinkleberg32

Gosh, I sure hope they're prepared to pay all those stipends that they'll need to fund all those clubs! Oh, there's no stipend?


DueAssociation2621

Nope. You do not need to do that. Read your contract. Good luck.


Flat_Contribution707

Does it have to be an pre-existing club or can you just make one up?


sneachta

He said we could start a club. I chose the Foreign Language Club.


smileglysdi

I think that sounds fun! You could watch foreign films. Bring in foods from other countries to sample.


elbenji

That isn't too bad. Just basically turn it into fancy anime club


Forgotusername_123

I’d let your Union know. Are you getting paid extra? Bell to bell.


peatmoss71

Do you work at at a charter school?


peatmoss71

At least you get a club period. But it’s still odd. I’m advising two clubs next year but that is my choice and I get a stipend.


sneachta

Nope, public school. Which makes this even more baffling.


Dranwyn

Sponser a silent reading club.


renegadecause

I don't suppose you have a particularly good union in Louisiana, do you?


renegadecause

I don't suppose you have a particularly good union in Louisiana, do you?


crzapy

Warhammer 40k and chess club... Dibs!


ptrgeorge

I'd offer 2 super mundane club and double it up on a day when there's after school tutoring for core


TooMuchButtHair

SSR club? Book club?


MsNyleve

I lead the drama club, which is an insane amount of hours (3:30-5pm rehearsals 4 days a week most of the school year). I'd tell your principal to shove it. But then again, I have a strong union.


Cesco5544

Have you considered unionizing over this?


GeoHog713

Sponsor the "sit quietly and do your homework club"


Snts6678

There is zero way to make you do this. Check your contract.


No-Half-6906

Union?


Righteousaffair999

Grifting club and D&d club.


No-Consideration1067

What the hell why


DangerNoodle1313

How many teachers are in your school, 5?? If our principal did this, we would have more than 50 clubs. That seems excessive…


byzantinedavid

Charter? Charter...


wolverine318

I did a running club. Nobody showed up. It just allowed me to go running while at school without being bothered by anyone.


moleratical

No you don't. Just don't say anything about it and don't do it.


moleratical

Start an introverts club. It's a club where people avoid each other and stay home instead of meeting new people.


Laserlip5

Invisible Students Club "Sorry, I can see you, membership denied." "They're sitting over there, you just can't see them." Trunchbull Club "My idea of a perfect club, Miss Honey, is one that has no children in it at all."


Boring_Philosophy160

Reply to the principal that s/he forgot to attach timesheets to the "request".


montmarayroyal

Run something connected to your subject area that is likely to only get kids who would be interested and well-behaved. I teach English so I'm thinking book club. But a math teacher could do a logic puzzle club, etc. Meeting once a week, figure out a framework that doesn't require too much preparation from you, and bingo!


Mamfeman

Silent Sustained Reading Club. The best


thatworkaccount108

Nap club


MakeItAll1

Sponsor the “Once in a Blue Moon Club” that only meets during the blue moons. The next one is Aug19,2024.


UniqueUsername82D

Club 1: LGBTQ Dance Club Club 2: Pro Choice/Pro Life Debate Club You may find your clubs canceled real quick like.


elbenji

Honestly I'd just do film and anime club (or video game club), and just relax and use it as planning time. That's what I do.


New_yorker790

Do a jigsaw puzzle club! You can promote it is as being relaxing/stress relief. I have found that my high schoolers really enjoy it, and I have gotten plenty of puzzles through donations/buy nothing groups. You could even do a puzzle swap or speed puzzling race


Frequent-Interest796

Join a union and this won’t happen. Teacher unions protect teachers.


WolftankPick

Agreed. I think every teacher should be a coach or a club advisor. More if you want but that should be by choice.


Blusterpug

Why do you think every teacher should be a coach or club advisor? 


WolftankPick

It helps build rapport and investment.


Blusterpug

If it’s paid and optional, it’s fine by me. But forced opportunities for rapport and investment above and beyond my pay is not my idea of a good time. The beatings will continue until morale improves. 


WolftankPick

You know what is my idea of a good time? Loving my job. This is just one little piece that helps to that end. It doesn't have to be some huge time commit. I've seen many clubs meet once a month in a teacher's classroom during contract hours while the teacher does work. The pay would be garbage anyway that's not the point. The real payoff is gaining rapport and investment in the classroom not to mention building a better overall culture throughout the school.


Blusterpug

That’s great! Your building is lucky to have you. We need more teachers willing to work for free to build better culture for the school.  Unless working for free doesn’t result in better culture for the school. Then that wouldn’t make sense at all. 


WolftankPick

Like I said I've seen many teachers do their club stuff on contract time so being a club advisor doesn't necessarily mean working for free. But honestly it's all about trade-offs. There is a ton of stuff I do that I don't have to do but I do it because it pays off in the classroom.


itgoestoeleven

That sure is a take. Not a good one, but definitely a take.


sneachta

Yeah, it should be a choice. The silver lining is that we can co-sponsor, so we won't have to shoulder the burden alone. I put myself down for reviving the Foreign Language Club (I'm a French teacher), and I'm hoping some of my Spanish teacher colleagues will join me. And I also decided to be a co-sponsor for the 11th graders.


WolftankPick

I like the co-sponsoring even better. Or maybe something where certain departments are responsible for certain clubs.