Teachers - How Hard is Your Job, Really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I worked with someone who used to be an Asst Dist Attorney for a fairly large county. He said teaching was way more difficult and hard. The reason he said was, there were no ebbs and flows in your work load. Most non-teachers have busy times where things ramp up, you work longer hours, then once that is over, you have periods where it is slower and you have time to answer emails, file papers, take a longer lunch. Not so in teaching. Every day is like you are on 10 for work load, and it never stops--not at 4:30. not weekends, not breaks.

Really, "it never stops"? How about those 10-11 weeks from mid-June to late-August?

Oh! You mean that time when there is professional development in order to remain certified to teach? Or maybe that time when summer school is in session? Or maybe the only time focused exclusively on the family. Yeah, it's great!

[Anonymous]

I was a special Ed teacher and I loved what I did but the school year was brutal. Long hours to prep and write IEPs. Tough kids. Tough parents. Tough home situations. Encredibly rewarding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I worked with someone who used to be an Asst Dist Attorney for a fairly large county. He said teaching was way more difficult and hard. The reason he said was, there were no ebbs and flows in your work load. Most non-teachers have busy times where things ramp up, you work longer hours, then once that is over, you have periods where it is slower and you have time to answer emails, file papers, take a longer lunch. Not so in teaching. Every day is like you are on 10 for work load, and it never stops--not at 4:30. not weekends, not breaks.

Really, "it never stops"? How about those 10-11 weeks from mid-June to late-August?

Not pp here.
Some of those weeks are used as a break, for me anyway. Family vacations, cleaning house, yard work, etc.
Much of that time is spent either in training (summer workshops - some mandatory, some not), planning with teammates (we do this a couple days each summer), planning for the year, or taking classes. Teachers have to attend professional development or do other things in order to renew their certification (in VA, this is every 5 years).
Some teachers teach summer school. Others have a summer job to supplement their pay.

In DC it is only 3 years!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll be the voice of dissent here.
A boyfriend that I lived with for 2 years was a teacher.
He never ever brought work home unless he "goofed off" during a planning period, he had 2, in addition to lunch.
He did all his grading during those times, he said lunch hour was more for socializating and he wasn't interested.
It was his 5th year teaching the same grade, and he had perfected his curriculum the first couple years and continues to follow that with some tweaking.
He was home by 4 pm every day.
It was eye opening to say the least!

Pp here. I forgot to add he was awarded "teacher of the year" 2 years in a row. He did go to the library once a month on Saturday morning for kids that needed extra help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll be the voice of dissent here.
A boyfriend that I lived with for 2 years was a teacher.
He never ever brought work home unless he "goofed off" during a planning period, he had 2, in addition to lunch.
He did all his grading during those times, he said lunch hour was more for socializating and he wasn't interested.
It was his 5th year teaching the same grade, and he had perfected his curriculum the first couple years and continues to follow that with some tweaking.
He was home by 4 pm every day.
It was eye opening to say the least!

Pp here. I forgot to add he was awarded "teacher of the year" 2 years in a row. He did go to the library once a month on Saturday morning for kids that needed extra help.

Great! He's an exception. There are always exceptions. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll be the voice of dissent here.
A boyfriend that I lived with for 2 years was a teacher.
He never ever brought work home unless he "goofed off" during a planning period, he had 2, in addition to lunch.
He did all his grading during those times, he said lunch hour was more for socializating and he wasn't interested.
It was his 5th year teaching the same grade, and he had perfected his curriculum the first couple years and continues to follow that with some tweaking.
He was home by 4 pm every day.
It was eye opening to say the least!

Pp here. I forgot to add he was awarded "teacher of the year" 2 years in a row. He did go to the library once a month on Saturday morning for kids that needed extra help.

Great! He's an exception. There are always exceptions. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Or are those teachers just not showing up on this thread to defend themselves?

He taught next to an older female teacher who took every other Friday off for the entire year and wore sweatpants to work. We used to make bets if she would show up and we figured out the pattern. It's like the floodgates have opened and I am remembering all this stuff.

He also had paid continuing Ed that he would take the day off and have a sub to go to a conference or something. It didn't count against his actual sick or vacation days.

[Anonymous]

Summer School and Tutoring is all optional and is not part of the teaching contract. If your job is hard, I want to hear about your actual teaching job, not how hard it is to fit in some side job. You picked a job with retirement benefits over current pay. That's a trade off that means less pay each year, but coverage over more years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll be the voice of dissent here.
A boyfriend that I lived with for 2 years was a teacher.
He never ever brought work home unless he "goofed off" during a planning period, he had 2, in addition to lunch.
He did all his grading during those times, he said lunch hour was more for socializating and he wasn't interested.
It was his 5th year teaching the same grade, and he had perfected his curriculum the first couple years and continues to follow that with some tweaking.
He was home by 4 pm every day.
It was eye opening to say the least!

Pp here. I forgot to add he was awarded "teacher of the year" 2 years in a row. He did go to the library once a month on Saturday morning for kids that needed extra help.

Great! He's an exception. There are always exceptions. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Or are those teachers just not showing up on this thread to defend themselves?

He taught next to an older female teacher who took every other Friday off for the entire year and wore sweatpants to work. We used to make bets if she would show up and we figured out the pattern. It's like the floodgates have opened and I am remembering all this stuff.

He also had paid continuing Ed that he would take the day off and have a sub to go to a conference or something. It didn't count against his actual sick or vacation days.

As I posted earlier, it is easy to be a lazy teacher.

Whether you will be continued to be employed by the school district depends on whether they care about you being a lazy teacher. Frankly, male teachers often get more of a pass because people assume they are a good influence on the children.

I have been called in to IEP meeting where the classroom teacher was completely unprepared for the meeting and didn't even know the child had an IEP, had been making no accommodations, had little data on the child. No consequences for the teacher! If you are in a school like that, it is easy to be a teacher, no doubt.

I have also worked in schools where principals require lesson plans be turned in weekly and scrutinize them to be sure you are on the right topic and are planning 3 separate instructional groups for your above, on and below grade level math and reading groups. (The three ring circus). That's a harder job for sure.

To the comments about 11 weeks off in summer-- this year it was 9 weeks -- it was UNPAID. That is a break. But it is UNPAID.

If teaching is such a great and easy job why aren't more people clamoring for the position?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hope teachers respond, but as a non-teacher I'll offer a couple of thoughts...

1. Just because the parking lot is empty doesn't mean they are off playing golf. Most teachers I know do a ton of work at home. I enjoy my telework days, so I don't begrudge a teacher getting work done outside the classroom when they don't have to be there.

2. I don't know about you, but I spend most of my day sitting in a cube. Yes, I talk on the phone, go to meetings, sometimes I lead meetings or larger gatherings, but basically it just me quietly at my desk, doing my thing.
In contrast a teacher is "on" in a way that is far more intense than most other white-collar jobs I can think of. So many kids! So many needs! Multi-tasking out the wah-zoo!

Thanks, teachers. I appreciate what you do.

Totally agree!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Summer School and Tutoring is all optional and is not part of the teaching contract. If your job is hard, I want to hear about your actual teaching job, not how hard it is to fit in some side job. You picked a job with retirement benefits over current pay. That's a trade off that means less pay each year, but coverage over more years.

And, I would say there are plenty of teachers who have chimed in about their actual teaching job.
And, judging from most of the posts, teaching is demanding - as one poster said it is hard and difficult. Physically and mentally.
Plenty of details given to support that.
Do ALL teachers work hard and show such dedication? No. Just like the poster whose boyfriend seemed to skate by.
Seems to me that most of the teachers who have posted here are not complaining... they are just laying out the demands of the job.
And, most of them have said they love what they do.

These are the kinds of teachers I want for my kids.

[Anonymous]

It's only unpaid because you choose not to receive a paycheck during that time.
My mother chooses the option to be paid throughout the year and her paycheck is spread out accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Summer School and Tutoring is all optional and is not part of the teaching contract. If your job is hard, I want to hear about your actual teaching job, not how hard it is to fit in some side job. You picked a job with retirement benefits over current pay. That's a trade off that means less pay each year, but coverage over more years.

Right! Because you have done the job before so you know this from experience. Yes! That's it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll be the voice of dissent here.
A boyfriend that I lived with for 2 years was a teacher.
He never ever brought work home unless he "goofed off" during a planning period, he had 2, in addition to lunch.
He did all his grading during those times, he said lunch hour was more for socializating and he wasn't interested.
It was his 5th year teaching the same grade, and he had perfected his curriculum the first couple years and continues to follow that with some tweaking.
He was home by 4 pm every day.
It was eye opening to say the least!

Pp here. I forgot to add he was awarded "teacher of the year" 2 years in a row. He did go to the library once a month on Saturday morning for kids that needed extra help.

Great! He's an exception. There are always exceptions. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Or are those teachers just not showing up on this thread to defend themselves?

He taught next to an older female teacher who took every other Friday off for the entire year and wore sweatpants to work. We used to make bets if she would show up and we figured out the pattern. It's like the floodgates have opened and I am remembering all this stuff.

He also had paid continuing Ed that he would take the day off and have a sub to go to a conference or something. It didn't count against his actual sick or vacation days.

Yeah so, A. When was this? and B. What district? Or was it a private school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Summer School and Tutoring is all optional and is not part of the teaching contract. If your job is hard, I want to hear about your actual teaching job, not how hard it is to fit in some side job. You picked a job with retirement benefits over current pay. That's a trade off that means less pay each year, but coverage over more years.

And, I would say there are plenty of teachers who have chimed in about their actual teaching job.
And, judging from most of the posts, teaching is demanding - as one poster said it is hard and difficult. Physically and mentally.
Plenty of details given to support that.
Do ALL teachers work hard and show such dedication? No. Just like the poster whose boyfriend seemed to skate by.
Seems to me that most of the teachers who have posted here are not complaining... they are just laying out the demands of the job.
And, most of them have said they love what they do.

These are the kinds of teachers I want for my kids.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's only unpaid because you choose not to receive a paycheck during that time.
My mother chooses the option to be paid throughout the year and her paycheck is spread out accordingly.

Oh, dear Lord.
Teachers are paid according to the length of their contracts.
Most teachers in FCPS are paid for 194 days. That means they work 194 days and are paid for that.
In the summers, when they don’t work, they don’t get paid.
If a teacher opts to have the pay spread out in order to receive a paycheck during the summer months, that means that the other months’ paychecks are LESS in order to pay for the months off. The pay is spread out. They are not being “paid” for the summer.
It is still unpaid time.