RANT: Teachers, why are you so whiny?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I too think teachers are paid well for 2/3 work.

I'm 100% willing to pay teachers more, but I would want 8 hour days of school and more school days in the summer. I think it's insane that DD goes from 8-2pm...

It's school, not daycare. How many hours does your child really need to be in school? A longer day is really unnecessary and developmentally inappropriate.

Pp here. I would like more recess, longer lunches and more free time. School actually is daycare. After education, its purpose is to allow parents to work and be productive members of society. If dd could go until 3:30 or 4pm even I could arrange my schedule to meet her and walk home together. Instead I have to cobble together before and after care.

This is such an incredibly entitled point of view. Sure, let's use teachers as babysitters so that you can avoid paying for before and after care. Newsflash--that's what working parents do, including teachers.

+1

[Anonymous]

Exhaustive lists of all we do? Take a look at this and you might understand why we do it.


https://www.facebook.com/FolsomCordovaEA/videos/1583680668539292/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I too think teachers are paid well for 2/3 work.

I'm 100% willing to pay teachers more, but I would want 8 hour days of school and more school days in the summer. I think it's insane that DD goes from 8-2pm...

It's school, not daycare. How many hours does your child really need to be in school? A longer day is really unnecessary and developmentally inappropriate.

Pp here. I would like more recess, longer lunches and more free time. School actually is daycare. After education, its purpose is to allow parents to work and be productive members of society. If dd could go until 3:30 or 4pm even I could arrange my schedule to meet her and walk home together. Instead I have to cobble together before and after care.

School is daycare?

So you pay your child's teacher directly every month?

Parents like you are the ones who make teaching kind of suck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I too think teachers are paid well for 2/3 work.

I'm 100% willing to pay teachers more, but I would want 8 hour days of school and more school days in the summer. I think it's insane that DD goes from 8-2pm...

It's school, not daycare. How many hours does your child really need to be in school? A longer day is really unnecessary and developmentally inappropriate.

Pp here. I would like more recess, longer lunches and more free time. School actually is daycare. After education, its purpose is to allow parents to work and be productive members of society. If dd could go until 3:30 or 4pm even I could arrange my schedule to meet her and walk home together. Instead I have to cobble together before and after care.

Dumb is forever dumb.

Peace out, you entitled ass.

[Anonymous]

We are whiny because we have fake automony. From the outside , it looks like we can decide what happens in our classroom. On the inside, we are allowed to make very few decisions ourselves, but are always held accountable for our children. Decisions like which groups to pull, which lessons to teach when, how much time we can spend with a child, whether we can discipline a child look like they would be ours to make, but they frequently are decided by administration in our building and at the district level. We are the ones who must shoulder the consequences of these decisions even though we are not free to make them. Also, when we try to engage in problem solving about the issues we are presented with, we are usually told to just do whatever the administration says and be quiet. So from a paraeducators point of view, it probably looks like teachers have all sorts of control over the classrooms, but that is a false presumption.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exhaustive lists of all we do? Take a look at this and you might understand why we do it.


https://www.facebook.com/FolsomCordovaEA/videos/1583680668539292/

Sounds about right. And that's so, so wrong.

I'm glad PG county teachers are working to the rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exhaustive lists of all we do? Take a look at this and you might understand why we do it.


https://www.facebook.com/FolsomCordovaEA/videos/1583680668539292/

Sounds about right. And that's so, so wrong.

I'm glad PG county teachers are working to the rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are whiny because we have fake automony. From the outside , it looks like we can decide what happens in our classroom. On the inside, we are allowed to make very few decisions ourselves, but are always held accountable for our children. Decisions like which groups to pull, which lessons to teach when, how much time we can spend with a child, whether we can discipline a child look like they would be ours to make, but they frequently are decided by administration in our building and at the district level. We are the ones who must shoulder the consequences of these decisions even though we are not free to make them. Also, when we try to engage in problem solving about the issues we are presented with, we are usually told to just do whatever the administration says and be quiet. So from a paraeducators point of view, it probably looks like teachers have all sorts of control over the classrooms, but that is a false presumption.

This is so on point. It's a perception issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers, it's not that I dislike you. I don't. I have 3 school-aged kids and I work as a para in an elementary school, so I am around teachers and work closely with them all day. Most of my friends are teachers. I just get so tired of the whining. I am speaking from my own experiences with elementary teachers in a good school district. I realize other teachers' situations can be much different

The pay thing. I'm gonna say it. Someone has to. Teachers, I think your pay is fair. I'm sorry, but I do. First of all, your degree was not that hard. It's not rocket science. And you only work about 180 days a year. You get summers, spring break, winter break, as well as many other days off. I know you all claim to work all summer on lesson planning. I'm sure that's true for the most dedicated teachers, as it's true that most dedicated employees do some work off the clock. But the teachers I know walk out of school at the end of the year vowing to not even think about their job until the last two weeks of summer. I heard one teacher suggest to her team that they meet once over the summer to plan. They all said forget it, and that it's above their pay grade to waste a summer day thinking about work. For my job, I have to time in/out and leave at exactly 4:15 every day. ALL of the teachers are already gone by then! They usually arrive after us as well. And no, they are not taking papers home to grade. Those days are gone. Kids self grade most of their work. Often it is actually just a completion grade and nobody even grades it. Teachers have parent and HS volunteers who come in to help with copies, project prep, grading, etc. They also get an hour of plan time each day and other times when kids are at recess, reading quietly, or working independently at stations. I spend my entire day in classrooms and I can tell you that these teachers spend about two hours per day actually teaching. Again, just my personal experience and all of this will vary from one school to the next.

Side note: The other paras that I work with complain about our pay as well. I actually think our pay is pretty fair. I get about $15/hour. It seems about right for the amount of work I do and the hours I work. Before kids, I had a job in my field utilizing my degree. It didn't actually pay much more than I'm making now and was MUCH harder work. Much more intense, tons of travel, stressful. Granted, I would be making good money by now if I hadn't left to raise my kids. But still.

Teachers, I get soooo tired of hearing you complain about parents. One minute you are whining that you get so many parent emails and the next minute you are claiming parents are just not involved and don't care. I wonder if you could survive one day in the corporate world, dealing with emails from clients instead of parents. Maybe we need to have a Take A Teacher To Work day so that you can see what your students' parents do all day instead of fretting about whether or not they should email you regarding their kid's 4th grade math test.

When a student has an issue, you automatically blame the parents. you say he must get away with that at home. That's not usually the case. Whatever issue you are having is likely the same issue the parents are having at home. Let's work together instead of pointing fingers. We can't program our kids any better than you can. If we do say that we have not seen that behavior at home, we are not lying or claiming that you are lying. We are saying that we really had no idea and we are grateful that you brought it to our attention. A sudden change in behavior is cause for concern. Now let's work together to figure out why it's happening at school.

You also complain about parent teacher conferences and having to talk with each parent for 20 whole minutes twice a year! Did you not realize this would be a part of your job when you chose this career? In the corporate world, you would be spending a lot more time than that meeting with clients. Or how about being in the med field, talking with patients and families about serious health concerns? Please do us a favor and make the most of those 20 minutes. We made arrangements to be there. Parents take time off work and find babysitters so that they can speak with you. Don't just tell us the info we can get online and then try to push us out after 5 minutes.

And finally, it really makes me cringe every year around the holidays when teachers start the Just Buy Us Gift Cards campaign. you complain about all the candles, lotions, stationery, etc and you just want gift cards. Well, here's the thing. Most of us let our child pick out your gift. The point is for them to do something nice for you and show their appreciation. They get excited about this. Kids think it's boring to give gift cards and they think you will find it boring as well. It makes them feel good to see you unwrap a pretty candle. If you don't like it, donate or re-gift it. No other profession leaves work with a carload of gifts for a 2-3 week holiday break so just BE GRATEFUL for what you get. I realize you don't know what to do with all those candles, but guess what. I also have no idea what to do with the pipe cleaner cat a student made me for Christmas. But I love it anyway because it's thoughtful. I won't request that he give me a gift card instead next year.

One last thing, I get so tired of you guys gushing about how awesome you are. My fb feed is full of teachers posting about how amazing and hard-working teachers are. Please stop embarrassing yourselves by posting these self-congratulatory memes. I know you want to tell everyone how grueling and difficult your job is. Think about the people who read your posts - doctors, nurses, military. Lots of people do good and important work without pointing it out every day.

Rant over. I really do love you, teachers. I just wish you could spend more time focusing on all the positive aspects of your job. Thanks for all you do for our kids. Just stop complaining about it.

The problem is that you are a PARA and you think you know what the teacher is going through. Trust me, being a para or a student teacher is NOTHING (emotionally, physically, mentally)like being a teacher and having your own classroom. I understand you witness and think you understand since you are an assistant in the class but you don't. I can't even continue writing because I'm mad....Just know that you don't get it until you walk in a teacher's shoes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exhaustive lists of all we do? Take a look at this and you might understand why we do it.


https://www.facebook.com/FolsomCordovaEA/videos/1583680668539292/

Omg you seriously responded to that question by...giving us a link to a teacher doing EXACTLY that?? Baffling. Guess it needs to be said again: people with pretty much ANY job could sit there and ramble a long boring list of every single mundane task they completed for work that week. We just DON'T because WE KNOW it sounds boring and whiny as hell and no one else cares. This lady lost credibility the minute she started updating us on literally every time she checked her email / reporting when she had after school snacks

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher and a career changer (I'm on Spring Break right now). I used to work in an office setting and was able to use the bathroom, get coffee, chat with a coworker whenever I want. Now, if I want to use the bathroom, I have to flag down another teacher in the hallway to watch my class or call the office. My 30 minute lunch is more like 15 minutes after dropping off and picking up the students. I have 3 planning periods per week and one of them is used for a weekly meeting that is a waste of time. I teach in a Title 1 school and it is exhausting beyond belief. Nobody told me how much I would worry about my students. I think I am emotionally and physically drained most of the time. Last week, one of my students was taken by her dad (her grandmother has custody b/c her mom is a drug addict) and never returned. Nobody knows where she is. Another student's parent was deported and now she is living with neighbors until they decide what to do with her. Another student has serious behavior issues because he was born addicted to heroin. He also has learning problems. He was absent for a few weeks because he was suspended for beating up another student. His parent never came in for the meeting that is required for him to come back to school. I have 28 students and maybe 5-7 of them have what DCUM would consider typical lives. I whine occasionally but mostly I shoulder a lot of the burden of these kids' lives. Some of them have nobody except the teachers at school. I have slept most of this week. I don't have the energy for much else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher and a career changer (I'm on Spring Break right now). I used to work in an office setting and was able to use the bathroom, get coffee, chat with a coworker whenever I want. Now, if I want to use the bathroom, I have to flag down another teacher in the hallway to watch my class or call the office. My 30 minute lunch is more like 15 minutes after dropping off and picking up the students. I have 3 planning periods per week and one of them is used for a weekly meeting that is a waste of time. I teach in a Title 1 school and it is exhausting beyond belief. Nobody told me how much I would worry about my students. I think I am emotionally and physically drained most of the time. Last week, one of my students was taken by her dad (her grandmother has custody b/c her mom is a drug addict) and never returned. Nobody knows where she is. Another student's parent was deported and now she is living with neighbors until they decide what to do with her. Another student has serious behavior issues because he was born addicted to heroin. He also has learning problems. He was absent for a few weeks because he was suspended for beating up another student. His parent never came in for the meeting that is required for him to come back to school. I have 28 students and maybe 5-7 of them have what DCUM would consider typical lives. I whine occasionally but mostly I shoulder a lot of the burden of these kids' lives. Some of them have nobody except the teachers at school. I have slept most of this week. I don't have the energy for much else.

It's a shame you have so little planning time. Other districts provide more of it.

[Anonymous]

i'm a teacher who has five paraprofessionals working in my room. out of the five, one is helpful. most of them spend their time trying to text, use the computer for personal reasons, do their school work, surf the internet, or wander around the building walking into other classrooms or the office to chat. although i'm in school as well, only paraprofessionals get early release to go to class, so i work a full day while they get to leave at 1:30-i work a full day and then go to class all evening. the paras have no responsibilities at the end of the work day-no paperwork, no planning. i had to write seven IEPs this month, in my own time. today my class lost both of their scheduled "specials" with cluster teachers (yesterday they lost their only special) so i had them for the entire day. they're not going outside at lunch because of the snow and ice, so they're cooped up and bothering one another. i have to differentiate all my materials three ways to provide access to the material for all my students of different levels, so planning for each lesson is like planning for three lessons.

then, i have parents writing me notes that say "have my son make me a birthday card at school today" or "my daughter came home with ketchup on her shirt, THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE"-please. or they send their kid to school throwing up with a fever because they don't want to take a day off. sorry, but they aren't coming into my classroom like that. or i don't send enough homework, but what i do send never comes back. this is why we complain about parents.

[Anonymous]

then, i have parents writing me notes that say "have my son make me a birthday card at school today" or "my daughter came home with ketchup on her shirt, THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE"-please. or they send their kid to school throwing up with a fever because they don't want to take a day off. sorry, but they aren't coming into my classroom like that. or i don't send enough homework, but what i do send never comes back. this is why we complain about parents.

Here's one from my experience -I'm long retired. One child brought her visiting cousin to school with her--why? Her mom and cousin's mom were going shopping that day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

then, i have parents writing me notes that say "have my son make me a birthday card at school today" or "my daughter came home with ketchup on her shirt, THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE"-please. or they send their kid to school throwing up with a fever because they don't want to take a day off. sorry, but they aren't coming into my classroom like that. or i don't send enough homework, but what i do send never comes back. this is why we complain about parents.

Here's one from my experience -I'm long retired. One child brought her visiting cousin to school with her--why? Her mom and cousin's mom were going shopping that day!

I've seen this happen. It's mind boggling.

More than the one poster here think school is daycare.