What do teachers want?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I am so incredibly embarrassed for my profession right now. We have spent years trying to be seen as important, essential, professional, up to tackling challenges, etc. Now most of my colleagues are ranting dramatically and nonsensically all over social media while going on beach vacations and taking their kids to sports practices. I will be exiting this profession as soon as I possibly can. The whole show has been disgraceful.

Agreed. It just seems like no one was willing to make the sacrifices needed to return to in person learning this fall- or just didn't make the connection until it was too late.

However, IME those who were advocating against in-person learning are not necessarily the same ones complaining about DL now. Many teachers with younger school-aged kids simply wanted to return to the classroom and now are really scrambling to figure out the logistics. And there should have been more training this summer to help some of the non-technology savvy teachers navigate remote teaching.

"The sacrifices needed"-you are literally talking about people dying. Let's be clear here.

Not that tired old body bag line again. For example, "sacrifice" could have meant admininstrators and teachers training/prepping this summer so they're ready for fall. But instead they're hiding behind their union contracts to say they're prohibited from doing any prep whatsoever this summer. (And yes, I'd gladly pay them to prep this summer.)

A couple notes here. "You" would "gladly pay" us, but we aren't actually being paid, so that's a useless promise. We aren't "hiding" behind contracts-we are literally off for the summer, without pay. I'm not sure you understand what a contract is. I can't plan even if I want to, because my district has absolutely ZERO information for how they are programming in the fall. I don't know if I'm teaching online, in person, or both. I don't know what subjects I'm teaching. You are embarrassing yourself-you have no idea what our jobs are like. Do you know that sometimes teachers find out they are teaching a different grade the day before school starts? We can't just "make plans", no matter how angry that makes you.

School districts and teachers should have come together earlier this summer to hammer out additional pay so everyone can be trained over the summer. Instead admins and teachers just retreated into their corners and said they're "off the clock." Also, I constantly have to do professional development outside my working hours, and I don't get paid for any of that. So some of this is also just about the kind of attitude you bring to work.

What would you like me to plan? I don’t know what grade/s I’m teaching, I don’t know who my students will be, what exactly do you want me to do? If you paid me over the summer I don’t have anything to plan yet. Even if I’m assigned a grade level in June for the next year I don’t plan, because I’ve had that rug pulled out from under me the day before school starts. You don’t understand how schools work.

You don't know what grade you're teaching until the day before school starts? Where do you teach- I want to know so I can avoid it!

Not PP, but a friend just learned that her courses (3 electives) were all cancelled because of parents pulling out. She will be reassigned but she has no idea what she will teach right now. We start teaching in a month so she’s considering resigning and trying her luck in Howard Co after the pandemic is over. She is K-12 certified and has a lot to offer any school system.

NP. I have taught at the same school for 15 years. I have no idea what grade/s I will be teaching this year. I have multiple certifications in high need categories. The only thing I -do- know is that I will be assigned to the same school. I don't expect to know what I will be teaching until the first day we go back to work.

Same. Parents have been so delayed in registering their kids that our school has no idea how many we will have. And some teachers are dropping out. Even though it's all remote they still need to balance the class sizes. My specialty is reading but I may end up teaching math, but won't know for a while yet.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I am so incredibly embarrassed for my profession right now. We have spent years trying to be seen as important, essential, professional, up to tackling challenges, etc. Now most of my colleagues are ranting dramatically and nonsensically all over social media while going on beach vacations and taking their kids to sports practices. I will be exiting this profession as soon as I possibly can. The whole show has been disgraceful.

Agreed. It just seems like no one was willing to make the sacrifices needed to return to in person learning this fall- or just didn't make the connection until it was too late.

However, IME those who were advocating against in-person learning are not necessarily the same ones complaining about DL now. Many teachers with younger school-aged kids simply wanted to return to the classroom and now are really scrambling to figure out the logistics. And there should have been more training this summer to help some of the non-technology savvy teachers navigate remote teaching.

"The sacrifices needed"-you are literally talking about people dying. Let's be clear here.

By sacrifices needed, I meant no parties, no vacations, minimal store trips, no play dates. It’s not just teachers, it’s people across the board. Because so many have been doing all of these things, infection rates are now out of control again. But it rings a bit hollow when a teacher posts on social media that they are scared to go back to school after a week at Disney, you know?

This x a billion

It is such a joke that people keep referencing things like the opening of Disney world, as if it has anything at all to do with schools. Where is your data that teachers are flooding Disney? Oh right, you don't have any. Anyone going to Disney World right now is a fool who deserves to get sick. It flies in the face of all common sense that they would open up during Florida's out of control outbreak. It's a totally made up conspiracy that all teachers are running around, not social distancing and trying to avoid going back to school. What's with all the posts on here saying you see a teacher posting pictures on facebook of x activity? You think one person is indicative of the entire educational community? Guess you never took stat.

My family has been quarantining since March and now that is all going to be for absolutely nothing. I work in NYC. We've had 30,000 deaths. We are going back to school in a hybrid model. More of us will die. I don't know if it will be me, or my high risk family members. Teachers here can't opt out of teaching in person unless they qualify for a medical accommodation. I know teachers with newborns, family members who have cancer (spouses and children), family members who have Cystic Fibrosis-and they don't qualify to teach remotely under the guidance released by the Department of Education. These teachers can't just quit-they will lose their health insurance and income during a pandemic. People are angry and afraid. People are tired of being jerked around and used as political pawns. We have no interest in propping up an economy that cares so little for us, and has failed to provide for us.

I do see plenty of parents on here saying things like, "Why do people think we are still in quarantine? I've been going to Orange Theory and loving it. We are going on vacation next week. We need to get back to our lives, we can't hide from COVID forever." But wait, is that not all parents? That can't be true, if your logic applies here.

I mean, if you teach in NYC, which is doing well with case numbers, and you’re doing a hybrid model, which means reduced class sizes, why shouldn’t you go back to work likes thousands of other professions? Why are teachers the only super protected class?

In what way have we been "super protected"? In March, our schools stayed open until there were almost 500 known positive cases. Most districts around the country closed as soon as they found a single positive in their community. The governor put capacity limits on gatherings, first 500 people, then 100, and so on-and schools were exempted from following them. The mayor said we needed to stay open so parents could go to work, so we could distribute meals, and to keep teens off the streets. Absolutely not a word about educating the kids. The chancellor made promises of twice weekly deep cleanings, hand sanitizer deliveries, etc. and NONE of it ever happened. Forgive us if we're a little skeptical about more of the same empty promises about supplies and sanitizing. 78 Department of Education employees died, along with thousands of members of our community.
We still have hundreds of active cases in NYC, it isn't like the virus is gone here. Moreover, there are thousands of people coming to New York from states with increasing case numbers. We have a mandatory quarantine, but no way to enforce it. If state borders were shut down, then sure, we could maybe maintain. But they aren't, and they won't be, so it's irrelevant. Our country had over 1,000 deaths yesterday. We are not isolated from the rest of the country. We WERE Florida, Arizona, Texas, and California a few months ago. We know how bad this can get.

DP. As a teacher who grew up in NY state and moved to the DMV after college, there are times I’ve been envious of my teacher friend in NY. Not now- districts here are taking teacher concerns seriously and I really doubt we will return to the classroom before a vaccine is available, unless the virus just dies out and goes away on its own. It probably helps that a lot of parents are just skittish to send their kids back in the first place. Any idea how many kids you’ll have yet?

No. Initial estimates are very low for the number of students that would be able to be accommodated in our rooms-our building is over 100 years old, no AC, one staff bathroom for the whole school, no full time custodian...the list of issues goes on. No final word yet on if and how those recommendations will change, and we still don't know how many families are opting for full remote instruction, or how many teachers will need medical accommodations. Basically, it's a huge disaster.

They are anticipating kids coming in to school once or twice a week. The benefits of that are really low-in some schools, the day(s) of the week they attend aren't even consistent. They want us to teach the kids WHILE they eat lunch in the classrooms to "maximize instructional time". This makes literally zero sense-no child is going to pay attention to a lecture while they are eating lunch. I teach elementary special education-the idea that they will sit in a chair for seven hours straight, wearing a mask is insane. This plan doesn't help anyone get back to work, so that argument is null and void. It really feels like the plan is just designed to inflict as much pain as possible.

[Anonymous]

Didn't want to quote the above post but IMO the hybrid model is the worst of all worlds- as PP points out the kids will only be back 1-2 days per week, in some places it's even just half days (?!) so it doesn't really help parents and then teachers need to worry about where all of these kids are going the rest of the week. I'm just not sure who came up with this idea and why so many have latched on to it. NYC is going to be a disaster on so many levels. It's where I think *some* of the districts in southern states have a leg up- they're keeping it simple. Full F2F or full DL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I am so incredibly embarrassed for my profession right now. We have spent years trying to be seen as important, essential, professional, up to tackling challenges, etc. Now most of my colleagues are ranting dramatically and nonsensically all over social media while going on beach vacations and taking their kids to sports practices. I will be exiting this profession as soon as I possibly can. The whole show has been disgraceful.

I call BS. You are not a teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I am so incredibly embarrassed for my profession right now. We have spent years trying to be seen as important, essential, professional, up to tackling challenges, etc. Now most of my colleagues are ranting dramatically and nonsensically all over social media while going on beach vacations and taking their kids to sports practices. I will be exiting this profession as soon as I possibly can. The whole show has been disgraceful.

I call BS. You are not a teacher

This teachers still cares, unlike you. I call BS on you. You must not be a very good teacher since you're all burned out and cynical.

[Anonymous]

^yes, you say you care so much that you’re leaving the profession. Such devotion to the kids! You’re a hero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^yes, you say you care so much that you’re leaving the profession. Such devotion to the kids! You’re a hero.

Better to bow out and give your slot to a new energetic teacher instead of just being surly and draining taxpayer money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I am so incredibly embarrassed for my profession right now. We have spent years trying to be seen as important, essential, professional, up to tackling challenges, etc. Now most of my colleagues are ranting dramatically and nonsensically all over social media while going on beach vacations and taking their kids to sports practices. I will be exiting this profession as soon as I possibly can. The whole show has been disgraceful.

I call BS. You are not a teacher

This teachers still cares, unlike you. I call BS on you. You must not be a very good teacher since you're all burned out and cynical.

Now you’re name calling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I am so incredibly embarrassed for my profession right now. We have spent years trying to be seen as important, essential, professional, up to tackling challenges, etc. Now most of my colleagues are ranting dramatically and nonsensically all over social media while going on beach vacations and taking their kids to sports practices. I will be exiting this profession as soon as I possibly can. The whole show has been disgraceful.

I call BS. You are not a teacher

This teachers still cares, unlike you. I call BS on you. You must not be a very good teacher since you're all burned out and cynical.

Now you’re name calling?

NP, but how is “burned out and cynical” name calling? And I am a teacher as well and don’t think the initial PP’s thoughts are so crazy or out there. Lots of people in lots of professions phone it in. Teachers are no different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I am so incredibly embarrassed for my profession right now. We have spent years trying to be seen as important, essential, professional, up to tackling challenges, etc. Now most of my colleagues are ranting dramatically and nonsensically all over social media while going on beach vacations and taking their kids to sports practices. I will be exiting this profession as soon as I possibly can. The whole show has been disgraceful.

I call BS. You are not a teacher

This teachers still cares, unlike you. I call BS on you. You must not be a very good teacher since you're all burned out and cynical.

Now you’re name calling?

NP, but how is “burned out and cynical” name calling? And I am a teacher as well and don’t think the initial PP’s thoughts are so crazy or out there. Lots of people in lots of professions phone it in. Teachers are no different.

In fact, studies suggest that teachers tend to burn out more than other professions: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1999-02578-017

Burnout among teachers was the focal topic of the study reported here, in which a sample of about one thousand teachers is compared with members of other social professions on burnout symptoms and, in an attempt to explain the obtained differences in burnout, on work stressors and social support. Our original sample consisted of 13,555 individuals who were gainfully employed and were between the ages of 18 and 64 yrs. Other social professions included mental health professions, physical health professions, nursing professions, domestic and personal care professions, and managers. Taken together, our results for burnout and other measures of strain support the idea that the teaching job carries more psychological and, to a lesser extent, more physical symptoms than other social professions. The main question receives an affirmative answer: Teachers do burn out more easily than members of other social professions.

[Anonymous]

I can only speak for myself, but as an ES teacher, I would like to see a number of things this Fall. I’d like teachers to be assigned their grades, subjects taught, and classes as soon as possible to enable to being planning for specifics now. We are gathering resources, but until we are assigned we cannot go into great detail with our plans. We are ready to hit the ground running. We know how much work is ahead and how important it is so we’d like to start preparing now. Second, I’d like to know our schedules. These schedules should be consistent so we can begin to create a routine for all. Since I teach younger children, I’d like a plan that does not include children sitting in front of a Zoom meeting all day. We know that whole group instruction at this age (think mini lesson with all children on the carpet) is not effective after about twenty minutes. Children need to be in small groups and working on some assignments independently. They need movement and variety. They need intersection and homogeneous small group instruction as well. Finally, I’d like us all to realize that we are on the same team. No one is happy with our current circumstances, but we all want children to be safe, feel loved, and have access to an excellent education. I am stressed. I am nervous. I feel overwhelmed. We all do. But it’s our job as adults to not spread that negativity to our kids.

[Anonymous]

PS - Please forgive my errors. (Typing on a small device)