Please Help teacher guilts me into helping with class?

Question

I love karate and I have no problem with ocassionaly helping out with the young kids class but I am getting pissed. We have a new summer schedual and have class today at 8:00 AM. The problem my teacher called @ 6:00 AM wanting to know if I could Help. As I said I have no problem with helping but she has been doing this EVERY week. When I start to tell her no I can't, she starts begging me even offering to pay me for my time, but then I start to feel guilty and give in. THis makes me mad though I vind it very hard that the 4 other teachers all couldn't make it almost everyweek. I enjoy my beauty sleep! I mean I don't think I would mind quite so much if I got paid, but I don't and waking up every Thursday at 7:00 isn't my idea of fun. Please Help tired of being used. Though talking to this lady is kind of like talking to a stick. She doesn't really listen I remember once when I told her a boy was bullying me she thought I was talking about a boy raping me. She always does guit tips to.

Answer 1

If I was you I would write down the schedule you can help out on. Give it to her and say this is the ONLY time I can do this, please do not call at other times as I have other things I need to do and thing to get done outside of karate. She is using you and it is unfair to you regardless if they helped with a peanut allergy. You do not owe them volunteer classes for that, good grief any decent human being would help someone having an allergy attack.

If she calls at other times simply do not answer no matter how many times she calls, I bet within a week she will back off. If you do not stand your ground it will never stop. Or better yet just block her number on your phone.

And your s*x life is NONE of her business, I may even go to a supervisor with this. She is majorly over stepping her bounds here on the volunteering and the s*x issues.

Answer 2

Next time you are offered pay, accept it and explain that you value your time and cannot afford to just give it away every time like you have been. I bet after they realize they free help is not there they come down harder on the slack instructors.

I would probably have lost my patience by now and explained that when I didn't answer the phone, I wasn't sleeping with some boy. I was sleeping with some girl. It would be a total lie, but probably shocking enough to shut this lady up.

Kudos to you for keeping mature about this and not stooping to a lower level!!

Answer 3

don't answer the phone at 6 am.  

If you really want to help on a regular basis, call or approach the teacher in advance and tell her what day(s) you are available and form a schedule.  Also, if she is offering to pay you, take it!

Answer 4

Wow, she sounds crazy. You need to be completely honest with her. She is the kind of woman that isn't going to really listen to anyone bc she thinks everyone bullshi*s her like she does everyone else. Tell her you don't mind helping her for the rest of the summer but this is how much you need to get paid. You need to grow a backbone and speak up for youself because most likely, no one else will. Good Luck!

Answer 5

try talking to the other instructor and letting them know how you feel, ask them to help you talk to this other teacher and explain that you are there to learn not to teach, you really have to start to learn to say no.

Answer 6

My daughter had a similar experience with a horse riding teacher taking advantage of her.  She didn't mind volunteering and helping the younger children, but the more she did around the stable, the more she was expected to do, and the teacher seemed not to listen or understand that my daughter had other things to do with her time.  She tried limiting her hours by telling the teacher when she would be available to work; the teacher didn't get it.  It seemed there was no middle ground.  Finally she quit working at the stable, found another job, and used her employment and homework as reasons not to hang around the barn longer than she wanted to.  That did the trick.  

If you can't limit your time at the gym, you could try asking the teacher to write up a "contract" or work schedule and pay you for your time.  Keep track of your hours and present your time sheet to her every other week.