Let’s update gradebook

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happy to beat that with one class that hasn’t had a grade since 11/10.

Jesus, I just don’t understand why they just don’t update the gradebook

Because I don't work after my day ends. The bell rings at 4:30 pm and I'm on campus until around 5:30. If it doesn't get done during that time, it waits until the next day. And what needs to get done during that time is the returning of parent emails and the endless stupid-ass gd training the county assigns us.

If I can't get grades done while at school during my free period - and honestly, I usually can't because I'm being asked to cover other classes - then that's what happens.

I'd rather cram all grades in one Sunday afternoon before the semester ends than spend an hour of my personal time each evening doing them. My husband isn't asked to continue his workday once he arrives home. Teaching is a job and is no different than other jobs.

Which schools dismiss at 4:30?

DP. I work at an ES that dismisses at 4:05. The last bus is called at 4:25-4:30, which is after my contract hours officially end.

I understand. I am also at an ES. We dismiss at 3:30 and thankfully the last bus is called about 5 minutes later. That does give me an extra ~20 minutes at the end of the day.
The pp wrote "the bell rings at 4:30 pm" and I am wondering if there is a school that dismisses that late. I thought the latest bell is 4:05.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s less about not putting the grades into SIS than not grading the work at all. When teachers don’t grade and return assignments, how are kids supposed to learn and do better the next time?

Sounds like the district needs to give them more planning time to do it.

YES, please! I don’t even have after school planning time twice a week as one day is school meetings (department, faculty, etc) and one day is required free tutoring. Even just saying no commitments after the last bell rings would be a major improvement.

How much time do you get during the school day? Not challenging you, just curious. I’m an ES teacher and I can completely understand prioritizing and how entering grades into a grade book gets pushed down the list behind more immediate needs. There are only so many hours.

ES teachers get 3 planning periods each week (45 minutes each).

I'm the PP and as I mentioned I'm an ES teacher. Actually, we get 5 planning periods each week for an hour each (minimum of 300 minutes), but at many schools at least 2 of those are filled by CT meetings. I know of some who have one CT meeting a week.

My question was about the HS planning time.

[Anonymous]

Do ES teachers use gradebook? My child is in 5th and there's never been anything posted there on SIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s less about not putting the grades into SIS than not grading the work at all. When teachers don’t grade and return assignments, how are kids supposed to learn and do better the next time?

+1 This is the struggle for us.

[Anonymous]

High school teacher here.

I regularly go through two phases:
- Sometimes I put my job first. I grade every night and all weekend. These are always 65+ hour weeks. I get all my essays graded, but I don’t see my family and I really resent my job.
- Every now and then I rebel. I decide I’m going to work no more than 45 hours a week. What doesn’t get done in that time doesn’t get done. Since planning always has to come first, my grading suffers.

When I’m super-teacher, I want to quit. When I respect my work/life balance, I think I can stay another year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do ES teachers use gradebook? My child is in 5th and there's never been anything posted there on SIS.

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:High school teacher here.

I regularly go through two phases:
- Sometimes I put my job first. I grade every night and all weekend. These are always 65+ hour weeks. I get all my essays graded, but I don’t see my family and I really resent my job.
- Every now and then I rebel. I decide I’m going to work no more than 45 hours a week. What doesn’t get done in that time doesn’t get done. Since planning always has to come first, my grading suffers.

When I’m super-teacher, I want to quit. When I respect my work/life balance, I think I can stay another year.

+1

[Anonymous]

DP high school teacher. I teach 3 periods a day and have one period off as a planning period. This is 90 minutes planning per day.

[Anonymous]

To the PP who said her husband doesn’t work at home - I hope you realize that most white collar employees work from home “after hours.” We work until the job is done, not when the clock says a certain time. Teachers who assign work but don’t give kids timely feedback aren’t doing their job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PP who said her husband doesn’t work at home - I hope you realize that most white collar employees work from home “after hours.” We work until the job is done, not when the clock says a certain time. Teachers who assign work but don’t give kids timely feedback aren’t doing their job.

I’m the teacher who posted above regarding 65+ hour weeks.

Do you get time during your day to get work done? I don’t. Do you have to give 30 hours of presentations a week? I do. Are you directly responsible for the actions and progress of 150 others? I am. Do you get a chance to eat lunch / go to the bathroom / take a breather when you need it? I have 12 minutes a day allotted to those activities, in 2 6-minute increments. Do you need to cover regularly for your colleagues, doing their presentations for them when they are sick? I do. Is your job this physically and mentally taxing? (Honestly?)

I get 3.5 hours a week to get all of my planning and grading done. One essay represents 30 hours of grading.

You’re correct. Timely feedback should be part of my job. Then GIVE ME TIME during the day to get it done. Blood from stone and all that.

And we wonder why teachers are quitting in droves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PP who said her husband doesn’t work at home - I hope you realize that most white collar employees work from home “after hours.” We work until the job is done, not when the clock says a certain time. Teachers who assign work but don’t give kids timely feedback aren’t doing their job.

No worries, they’re more than happy to quit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PP who said her husband doesn’t work at home - I hope you realize that most white collar employees work from home “after hours.” We work until the job is done, not when the clock says a certain time. Teachers who assign work but don’t give kids timely feedback aren’t doing their job.

Oh please. You’re really only talking about a few hours here and there a month. Maybe I stay at work until 6:30 a couple night a week (or come in early) to get some tasks done because of an upcoming deadline. But it’s not every night and every weekend for 10 months. It’s not, and you know it. And, I make 40,000 more than the average teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP who said her husband doesn’t work at home - I hope you realize that most white collar employees work from home “after hours.” We work until the job is done, not when the clock says a certain time. Teachers who assign work but don’t give kids timely feedback aren’t doing their job.

Oh please. You’re really only talking about a few hours here and there a month. Maybe I stay at work until 6:30 a couple night a week (or come in early) to get some tasks done because of an upcoming deadline. But it’s not every night and every weekend for 10 months. It’s not, and you know it. And, I make 40,000 more than the average teacher.

DP
This past Saturday an acquaintance of ours said something like, "Whew. After a 45 hour work week I get to...". My DW who is a teacher had to ask if they were saying 45 hours was a lot. I know 45 hours isn't a lot of hours, but it goes to show how some people really don't work much more than 40. Honestly, for many people, think about how much of the work week contains down time.

[Anonymous]

Yep, some haven't updated since November. One has only 1 friggin entry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s less about not putting the grades into SIS than not grading the work at all. When teachers don’t grade and return assignments, how are kids supposed to learn and do better the next time?

Sounds like the district needs to give them more planning time to do it.

YES, please! I don’t even have after school planning time twice a week as one day is school meetings (department, faculty, etc) and one day is required free tutoring. Even just saying no commitments after the last bell rings would be a major improvement.

How much time do you get during the school day? Not challenging you, just curious. I’m an ES teacher and I can completely understand prioritizing and how entering grades into a grade book gets pushed down the list behind more immediate needs. There are only so many hours.

90 minutes a day without students. 2 of those blocks per week are CT meetings, so 3-90 minute blocks per week. It’s enough time to get the planning done for my daily lessons most days, but all grading and extra planning (writing retakes, creating work packets for absent kids), emailing families, writing letters of recommendation, IEP narratives, etc are done after hours/on weekends.