how many hours a week do you put in as a teacher?
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Anonymous
| I am putting in at least 60 hours a week, sometimes more. I'm a veteran teacher, so this is not cause I'm new. I have taken on a bunch of new responsibilities, and teach some extra curricular activities (unpaid), so that's part of it. But I'm exhausted. I'd much rather teach from August 1 to June 30th and have a week off every 2 months than a long summer and this kind of workload. I'm even working in my building on the weekend. I get that other professions work long hours, though I'm curious how many other professions making 65K a year are working 60 hour work weeks. |
Anonymous
| That was my starting pay in a law firm, so I'd have to guess a ton of people work for that amount and put in long hours. |
Anonymous
| OP-65K is my pay with a graduate degree and 25 years experience. But it isn't really a money issue for me. It is the time. I love my children (the ones at home, though I do love the ones at school too) and it isn't right for me to be gone so many hours a week. My children are teens and they need me. And I love my spouse and I don't like being busy and not able to engage with him often. I also want to have a life outside of work. Exercise, fun, friends, you know? |
Anonymous
Have you considered a year-round school since you prefer that schedule. But yes, the hours spent both in the building and at home working are excessive and the more they pay you the more they are expecting you do. Also, I wouldn't take on extra responsibilities unless there was admin pay or a stipend involved. I know you might want to gain skills or brownie points but time is money and there are opportunities to earn money while gaining experience in other areas. |
Anonymous
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Including all the out of classroom stuff-lesson planning, grading, professional development, preparing classroom resources, developing a website for my students to check their assignments, responding to student/parent/admin/other teacher emails, extracurriculars (I sponsored a club and coached a team at different times) , tutoring, etc--I worked 60-70 hours a week as a high school teacher. But this was in FL and my salary was way less than yours! Around 40,000 starting pay. I know a lot of people put in long hours for low pay but I still think it's way too much to expect someone to work so much for so little. I agree I'd love to work more weeks out of the year and put in fewer hours. People talk about how nice it is that teachers get the summers off (and it is!) but a) I did not receive a paycheck during the summer and b) I would much rather not have such a long break and also not work quite as hard during the school year if that was an option.
I think this is a big reason so many people leave the profession after a short time. Teaching is an emotionally draining job and it's so easy to take on too much (and/or be required to do too much) and get burned out. |
Anonymous
| I'm not a teacher, but have seen my son's kindergarten teacher at school at 8 am for an iep meeting and later past 6 pm when I was there for a PTA meeting. Im guessing she puts in at least 60 hours per week. |
Anonymous
| I put in these hours as well. I work all weekend long, and stay at school (usually) until at least 6. Luckily, this is a second career for me and my own kids are both out of the nest. I love what I do, but yes, it's all-consuming. It's sad to hear that you're spending just as much time now after 25 years. This is only my second year as a classroom teacher, so I was hoping it would get a bit easier every year. However, I have found that I need to change my curriculum (significantly) this year based on the needs of the students. |
Anonymous
And do you make that much as a veteran lawyer? If not, it's not a fair comparison. |
Anonymous
| Retired 2 years ago. 60+ hours. That is why I left 4 years ahead of schedule. |
Anonymous
60 hours a week is pretty standard in teaching. Some disciplines and specialties will be longer. I know English teachers working 70-80. When I taught AP courses, 75 was my average. DH teaches HS physics and engineering. He only cut back from 80 hours when we got engaged two years ago. When I worked in the private sector, I made more per hour than teaching and I never took work home. Yes, there were some 60+ hour weeks, but they were for my convenience since I had a flexible schedule. If I worked more than 40 hours one week, the next I worked less. I also had the option of taking off one hour (instead of four) to handle personal business. MCPS is pushing four hours to get a sub. As someone who has to have monthly blood work, my leave is eaten up fast. And good planning for a sub often takes me more effort than if I'd just come in myself. |
Anonymous
| I am sad to hear how the teachers are over worked. I would not mind so much about increase on my real estate tax, if I knew that teachers' pay will increase in proportion. |
Anonymous
| It's 3 weeks into the school year and I'm already having a flare of my autoimmune disease due to stress. I don't think I'm cut out for this gig for many more years. Unfortunately I'm only 13 years in. I've cut things out like running after school clubs (stipend was removed years ago) but that only gives me back a few hours a week. I feel guilty because I use up all of my patience during the day and have none left when I get home for my own kids and husband. For me it still wouldn't be worth it even if I was paid more. |
Anonymous
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This is why I left the classroom. It's a grueling job and doing it right is not sustainable long-term if you have a family/children at home. I hate it when people say teaching is such a great mommy job. Really? A great mommy job would be one that allows some flexibility to zip to a doc appt, leave and come back during lunch to see my kids school play, and that doesn't require HOURS of additional work (grading and reporting) in the evening.
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Anonymous
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Do you all have MDs or PhDs? My husband and I work as research scientists and some of our colleagues work 60-80+ hours in their lab. Salaries range from 40K as post-docs to 100K for senior scientists, sometimes a little more for specialties. Considering the years needed to get their diplomas, the rigors of their study and profession, I think they are truly underpaid for what they do: research on cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and all the rest of it. |
Anonymous
| This thread will not end well. DCUM as a whole thinks that teachers are whiners and complainers and that they understand exactly what teaching entails because they spent time as a student in a classroom and that a teacher only works the hours they're with students. I empathize with everyone who has posted but be prepared to start hearing it from the people who have no clue. Then there will be the poster who chimes in that she's in by 8 and out by 3 and loves the flexibility and time with her kids that a career in teaching provides her. She will not answer questions about where she works. |