Why does no one acknowledge how overworked teachers are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of the “overworked” is more just frustration at handling behavioral issues (either directly or indirectly through not getting enough subs to agree to teach at the school due to behaviors), so why don’t teachers try to do something about the behavior? Most parents want much higher behavioral expectations in the schools too. We talk so much on DCUM about wanting to change different laws, so why is nobody talking about changing whatever laws allow behaviorally disruptive kids to stay in classrooms and drive out all the good teachers? Have the teachers (either through unions or not) actually tried to change this? Or everyone just assumes it’s too hard?

Let me tell you what it looks like when teachers try to address behavior: First, a lot of parents are in denial, especially in elementary school. Covid didn't help the situation but it was happening for years before that. NCLB was the start. A parent who won't agree to an evaluation or stonewalls a conversation or is otherwise uncooperative means the issue drags for months while the teacher and other students attempt to cope. Second, admin really do not want a bunch of discipline referrals because it looks bad for the school. This is especially true if the student already has an IEP. Teachers are supposed to try a million different interventions first before involving admin unless it's something very serious where imminent danger is likely and even then the student might get ISS for half a day and then be right back in the classroom the next day. Be suspicious if you see an article where an admin is lauded for reducing suspensions or discipline referrals by 95%. Ask almost any teacher and they'll tell you a bunch of stories about being gaslit and berated for trying to refer a student. The expectation is that behavior issues are handled in class and anyone who can't do it is a crappy teacher who is trying to get rid of a student who just needs a little extra help. Ironically, most of the people pushing this narrative the hardest haven't been in a classroom in years and also grew up in a time when kids who were causing regular disruptions, cussing out teachers, and damaging school property were quickly removed from a gen ed setting. Third, it is almost impossible to get a placement in an ED center anymore, mostly because of reasons 1 and 2 but also because working at one of those places is physically and mentally draining and staffing is a problem.

TLDR version: Yes, teachers have tried to change it and it's not happening. Admin and school districts would rather keep 5-10 highly disruptive students in a school, than retain 5-10 highly competent teachers who will inevitably quit over this nonsense.

So stop trying to work with admin. Go above them, go around them. Go to the news.

You’re either disingenuous or delusional. Which is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Why does no one acknowledge how overworked teachers are ?"

Two reasons:

1) Because teachers constantly tell us how overworked and underpaid they are;

2) Because everyone else is also overworked and underpaid.

I disagree with #2. Everyone I know easily makes double what I do as a teacher.

+1, and many of them are still WFH and routinely dip out for exercise, laundry, pickup and drop off of kids, meal prep, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both my husband and I feel overworked but don’t receive any gift cards on our birthdays, holidays, and /or PW (Profession Week). We are not allowed to take gifts.

Oh, you want a $25 Amazon card or a $10 Starbucks card? Good news! Public schools are hiring. Welcome!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both my husband and I feel overworked but don’t receive any gift cards on our birthdays, holidays, and /or PW (Profession Week). We are not allowed to take gifts.

I’m more than happy to send you my usual $80 in gift cards/year if that would make a significant difference for you. The parental appreciation is the part that matters, whether through gifts or just a note. Everyone working hard deserves acknowledgment and respect. But the “caring” professions, in particular, have been extra slammed these past few years. It’s one thing to have a very difficult year at work. It’s another thing altogether to have a very difficult year and have to fill in for other colleagues, have your caseload doubled, have to support struggling students, AND get belittled for it all.

[Anonymous]

I’m generally sympathetic to the cause here but let’s not pretend that teaching degrees are the same difficulty or rigor as many other degrees.

Ah, there's the real issue: lack of respect.

I have two master's degrees. The one in education was just as much work as the one in biology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of the “overworked” is more just frustration at handling behavioral issues (either directly or indirectly through not getting enough subs to agree to teach at the school due to behaviors), so why don’t teachers try to do something about the behavior? Most parents want much higher behavioral expectations in the schools too. We talk so much on DCUM about wanting to change different laws, so why is nobody talking about changing whatever laws allow behaviorally disruptive kids to stay in classrooms and drive out all the good teachers? Have the teachers (either through unions or not) actually tried to change this? Or everyone just assumes it’s too hard?

WTF? Can we all live in your fantasy land?

PP needs to try out substitute teaching for a day.

But I do wonder if we can offer parenting classes or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of the “overworked” is more just frustration at handling behavioral issues (either directly or indirectly through not getting enough subs to agree to teach at the school due to behaviors), so why don’t teachers try to do something about the behavior? Most parents want much higher behavioral expectations in the schools too. We talk so much on DCUM about wanting to change different laws, so why is nobody talking about changing whatever laws allow behaviorally disruptive kids to stay in classrooms and drive out all the good teachers? Have the teachers (either through unions or not) actually tried to change this? Or everyone just assumes it’s too hard?

WTF? Can we all live in your fantasy land?

PP needs to try out substitute teaching for a day.

But I do wonder if we can offer parenting classes or something.

She should absolutely try out substitute teaching for a day. When parents think of their children in school, they imagine their child and 25 other students sitting in rapt attention with smiles on their faces listening to the teacher or enthusiastically collaborating with peers on a science experiment. I know this because I was a parent long before I became a teacher and that's what I thought classrooms were like.

They would be shell shocked if they realized what many children are actually often doing: sleeping, checking their phone under the desk, staring in space, checking their phone, yakking away, checking their phone, trying to get out of the classroom and staying out as long as possible, copying other people's assignments, checking their phone, finishing homework for the next class instead of working on the assignment in the class they're in--and that's when they're not outright disruptive.

So many of them plan on becoming influencers or football players--what is the point of school exactly?

[Anonymous]

Don't forget the kids vaping. My son says whenever the teachers turn their backs, kids suck on their vape pens. He said that a sub once tried to wake some sleeping kids and it was not a pretty sight. They were belligerent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't forget the kids vaping. My son says whenever the teachers turn their backs, kids suck on their vape pens. He said that a sub once tried to wake some sleeping kids and it was not a pretty sight. They were belligerent.

I worked with teachers who would only wake kids by tapping them with a yardstick. It was to avoid kids who immediately start swinging and hitting at being woken up. These were HS kids but I can’t even imagine their home lives if that’s how you react.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of the “overworked” is more just frustration at handling behavioral issues (either directly or indirectly through not getting enough subs to agree to teach at the school due to behaviors), so why don’t teachers try to do something about the behavior? Most parents want much higher behavioral expectations in the schools too. We talk so much on DCUM about wanting to change different laws, so why is nobody talking about changing whatever laws allow behaviorally disruptive kids to stay in classrooms and drive out all the good teachers? Have the teachers (either through unions or not) actually tried to change this? Or everyone just assumes it’s too hard?

WTF? Can we all live in your fantasy land?

PP needs to try out substitute teaching for a day.

But I do wonder if we can offer parenting classes or something.

She should absolutely try out substitute teaching for a day. When parents think of their children in school, they imagine their child and 25 other students sitting in rapt attention with smiles on their faces listening to the teacher or enthusiastically collaborating with peers on a science experiment. I know this because I was a parent long before I became a teacher and that's what I thought classrooms were like.

They would be shell shocked if they realized what many children are actually often doing: sleeping, checking their phone under the desk, staring in space, checking their phone, yakking away, checking their phone, trying to get out of the classroom and staying out as long as possible, copying other people's assignments, checking their phone, finishing homework for the next class instead of working on the assignment in the class they're in--and that's when they're not outright disruptive.

So many of them plan on becoming influencers or football players--what is the point of school exactly?

Totally right. Just abolish public school. Let’s go back to having kids work.

[Anonymous]

Don't forget how the admin make teachers fraud and inflate the numbers then when they get rid of you they fraud your unemployment paper work. Not sure if it was my school or my union but I had to fight for my benefits after the false statements in paperwork came in after nonrenewal.

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah. They also force you to fill out you paperwork wrong in mcps for 40 hours per week and cover sub classes for free with no planning time. Then mcps admin blame you for not planning or grading enough in your review. Then you are pulled and pulled again with no planning. Then you get a review again and it is sub par saying that you need to script your lesson plans. Then you realize maybe taking my planning periods has something to do with my performance.

[Anonymous]

This was on my FaceBook feed a couple of weeks ago:

“I think teaching is the only job in which you have to work before you get to work so you have work to do at work. Then you have no time to do work at work, so you have to work after work to catch up on all the work you didn’t do while at work.”

Sums it up quite well for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Why does no one acknowledge how overworked teachers are ?"

Two reasons:

1) Because teachers constantly tell us how overworked and underpaid they are;

2) Because everyone else is also overworked and underpaid.

I disagree with #2. Everyone I know easily makes double what I do as a teacher.

Really? What do you make? If it's over 40k I can introduce you to a lot of my family and friends who don't make double. If it's over 50k...hi!

Do they have multiple degrees? Most teachers have Master's degrees and more.

Yes. A graduate degree does not guarantee everyone else a six figure job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was on my FaceBook feed a couple of weeks ago:

“I think teaching is the only job in which you have to work before you get to work so you have work to do at work. Then you have no time to do work at work, so you have to work after work to catch up on all the work you didn’t do while at work.”

Sums it up quite well for me.

It's not the only job where that is true. I am a Fed at that is true.