buy your teacher a nice end of the school year gift please!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many parents are not getting ANY raise at all, and will also effectively be making less money due to inflation.
It's not the parents' job to subsidize your salary.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many parents are not getting ANY raise at all, and will also effectively be making less money due to inflation.
It's not the parents' job to subsidize your salary.

+1

Please don’t. If you read this thread or the many others like it, you’ll see that most teachers simply want you to send prepared kids to school.

We don’t need gifts. We need to be able to do our jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a summer job and it won’t be a problem. I’d agree to make 30% less money if I had summers off.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a summer job and it won’t be a problem. I’d agree to make 30% less money if I had summers off.

+1

You have that option. Come teach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a summer job and it won’t be a problem. I’d agree to make 30% less money if I had summers off.

Oh yes, the “summers off” statement. When you work 60+ hours a week at a job that provides absolutely no down time and no flexibility, those UNPAID summers become the only break you get.

And many of us end up working job #2. It’s not like we are lazing around the pool.

And on topic: please don’t get me anything. I’m a professional and I’m simply doing my job.

Sorry, this still doesn't fly. You have multiple long weekends, 1-2 week winter break, federal holidays, 1 week spring break -- all during your PAID months of the year. And while you will likely say you are still working during all of those days off, don't expect us to believe all or even most teachers are. For "no flexibility" and "no down time," there are an awful lot of teachers MIA the last weeks of the school year.

Teachers don't seem to realize or acknowledge that there are a lot of other professions in which people work 60+ hours a week YEAR ROUND and don't get every Federal and religious holiday and two weeks around Christmas/New Year's. Paid leave benefits vary widely. Fed Gov't is very generous. Some private companies, extremely stingy - literally 5 vacation days and 5 personal days (which includes sick leave) even with 20+ years work experience.

PP is talking about a different kind of down time and flexibility. During the school day, teachers often don’t have breaks for several hours at a time. Getting a three minute break to take some deep breaths or go to the bathroom just isn’t possible during those hours. And spring break doesn’t = flexibility. My husband can sort of shuffle responsibilities around to leave work early if needed; I cannot. It’s easy to say “hey just get a substitute” if you want a day off, but imagine trying to get your projects done if it was a random person off the street covering for you. The detailed instructions you gave to leave take hours of preparation. It is very much not a flexible job.

Also, very little work is being done right now. I am a teacher and desperately trying to get the kids focused and on task but it’s like herding cats. I wish academic expectations were higher (I cannot believe school goes beyond the deadline to input grades) but no teacher can make these days as academically valuable as other days. It’s much better for a teacher to use their leave at the end of the year, i promise!

I am grateful for summer breaks and spring breaks, for sure. I’ll never downplay how great it is that I can be home with my kids during the summer. But that doesn’t mean that teaching is a flexible job with plenty of down time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a summer job and it won’t be a problem. I’d agree to make 30% less money if I had summers off.

+1

You have that option. Come teach.

I know I have that option, and I might someday. But not at this stage in my career. In the meantime, I carry on with my job and I don’t expect anything other than my salary. I don’t ask my clients or my audience for gifts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a summer job and it won’t be a problem. I’d agree to make 30% less money if I had summers off.

+1

You have that option. Come teach.

I know I have that option, and I might someday. But not at this stage in my career. In the meantime, I carry on with my job and I don’t expect anything other than my salary. I don’t ask my clients or my audience for gifts.

Uh, teachers aren’t asking. Also, you must not be a secretary. Gifts are customary in many situations and it’s reasonable to expect a gift or bonus at certain times of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a summer job and it won’t be a problem. I’d agree to make 30% less money if I had summers off.

+1

You have that option. Come teach.

I know I have that option, and I might someday. But not at this stage in my career. In the meantime, I carry on with my job and I don’t expect anything other than my salary. I don’t ask my clients or my audience for gifts.

Teachers aren’t, either. I haven’t asked for anything in 20 years. Why would I?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a summer job and it won’t be a problem. I’d agree to make 30% less money if I had summers off.

+1

You have that option. Come teach.

I know I have that option, and I might someday. But not at this stage in my career. In the meantime, I carry on with my job and I don’t expect anything other than my salary. I don’t ask my clients or my audience for gifts.

Uh, teachers aren’t asking. Also, you must not be a secretary. Gifts are customary in many situations and it’s reasonable to expect a gift or bonus at certain times of the year.

Of course I’m not a secretary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a summer job and it won’t be a problem. I’d agree to make 30% less money if I had summers off.

+1

You have that option. Come teach.

I know I have that option, and I might someday. But not at this stage in my career. In the meantime, I carry on with my job and I don’t expect anything other than my salary. I don’t ask my clients or my audience for gifts.

Uh, teachers aren’t asking. Also, you must not be a secretary. Gifts are customary in many situations and it’s reasonable to expect a gift or bonus at certain times of the year.

Of course I’m not a secretary.

why “of course?”

[Anonymous]

Wait, we’re supposed to buy “a nice gift” when teachers on here have already told us that money and even gift cards aren’t allowed, or make them uncomfortable; we’ve been told that candles, mugs, chocolates, etc., are unwanted “crap” (totally understandable); we’ve been told that homemade food gets thrown in the trash because apparently you can’t trust home cooks these days to follow basic food safety rules.

So that leaves us with…what, exactly, for a “nice gift”?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait, we’re supposed to buy “a nice gift” when teachers on here have already told us that money and even gift cards aren’t allowed, or make them uncomfortable; we’ve been told that candles, mugs, chocolates, etc., are unwanted “crap” (totally understandable); we’ve been told that homemade food gets thrown in the trash because apparently you can’t trust home cooks these days to follow basic food safety rules.

So that leaves us with…what, exactly, for a “nice gift”?!

If you want to do something, how about a card? I’ve written cards to other professionals as a sign of appreciation.

Or you can do nothing at all. It isn’t expected.

[Anonymous]

What is the limit you are allowed to gift Fairfax county teachers please?

[Anonymous]

I sent in gift cards to 3 of my kids MS teachers for teacher appreciation week. Only one said thank you. No email , note,nothing from the other 2.
Not sending in anything at the end of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a summer job and it won’t be a problem. I’d agree to make 30% less money if I had summers off.

Oh yes, the “summers off” statement. When you work 60+ hours a week at a job that provides absolutely no down time and no flexibility, those UNPAID summers become the only break you get.

And many of us end up working job #2. It’s not like we are lazing around the pool.

And on topic: please don’t get me anything. I’m a professional and I’m simply doing my job.

Sorry, this still doesn't fly. You have multiple long weekends, 1-2 week winter break, federal holidays, 1 week spring break -- all during your PAID months of the year. And while you will likely say you are still working during all of those days off, don't expect us to believe all or even most teachers are. For "no flexibility" and "no down time," there are an awful lot of teachers MIA the last weeks of the school year.

Teachers don't seem to realize or acknowledge that there are a lot of other professions in which people work 60+ hours a week YEAR ROUND and don't get every Federal and religious holiday and two weeks around Christmas/New Year's. Paid leave benefits vary widely. Fed Gov't is very generous. Some private companies, extremely stingy - literally 5 vacation days and 5 personal days (which includes sick leave) even with 20+ years work experience.

If teachers have such generous benefits, then why aren’t all the DCUM complainers applying to teach? That would easily take care of the teacher shortage in the region.

I’m guessing that’s because complainers have most or all of the following: better pay, more flexibility, a better work/life balance, calmer working environments, and more professional respect.

For as good as you want it to sound, I simply don’t see people jumping at the chance to teach. It’s almost like people know it’s not a good deal?

There are various reasons a lot of people aren't interested in teaching. For me, the primary reason is because I would suck at being a teacher. Good teaching is HARD and not all that many people are really great at it. I don't want teachers for the sake of filling positions. I want people who want to teach and who are good at their job - just like every employer wants employees who want to be there and are good at what they're expected to do.