Tired of teacher friends complaining

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question - WHY don't people who go into teaching know all of this? It's one of the only professions I know where spending a semester in the profession (aka student teaching) is required. You have an entire semester or more working in a school. Are you not talking to the full-time teachers, the administrators, learning about what it takes?

I'm the child of a teacher and yes it is a highly stressful job, but for goodness sakes I see no reason why in this day and age anyone should be surprised by this. Big law associates may complain but they know what they're signing up for. Same with teachers, complain all you want but this shouldn't be a shock. You did your student teaching. Hopefully you engaged in thorough and in-depth interviews to get the job.

I agree we should compensate teachers more than we do, but I don't get the rest of it.

I have been teaching for over 20 years and the job is dramatically different from when I started in the 90s. DRAMATICALLY different. In fact, I just had the "I can't do this any more" conversation with my husband last night. I always thought I would retire from this job but I don't know how I can do this one more year, much less 20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get the “you can’t pee” thing. I mean, how often are you peeing?

I work as an aide, and class starts at 9am. If you pee right before, you can’t make it until noon? I’ve seen many teachers peek into the classroom next door and give a familiar head nod to indicate “keep an eye, running to pee.” And sometimes, you have a special in between! Pee then! Kids are back from lunch before 1, and they have a recess and sometimes a special between 1 and 4 when school’s over.

If you can’t hold it for 3 hours at a time, you should see a doctor.

You're going to love perimenopause.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question - WHY don't people who go into teaching know all of this? It's one of the only professions I know where spending a semester in the profession (aka student teaching) is required. You have an entire semester or more working in a school. Are you not talking to the full-time teachers, the administrators, learning about what it takes?

I'm the child of a teacher and yes it is a highly stressful job, but for goodness sakes I see no reason why in this day and age anyone should be surprised by this. Big law associates may complain but they know what they're signing up for. Same with teachers, complain all you want but this shouldn't be a shock. You did your student teaching. Hopefully you engaged in thorough and in-depth interviews to get the job.

I agree we should compensate teachers more than we do, but I don't get the rest of it.

I have been teaching for over 20 years and the job is dramatically different from when I started in the 90s. DRAMATICALLY different. In fact, I just had the "I can't do this any more" conversation with my husband last night. I always thought I would retire from this job but I don't know how I can do this one more year, much less 20.

Just curious, what is making you feel this way? The kids? The parents? The paperwork? I volunteer at my child's school, and I notice more kids who are not well-behaved and disrespectful these days. I admire your dedication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normal for teachers.

I absolutely support paying teachers more. But teaching has been a low-paid profession for generations so I get frustrated when my teacher friends act surprised. Especially the ones who are children of teachers. You can complain all you want, and I'll agree that it stinks, but don't act like it's a shock!

I think what’s actually a shock is not the salary itself, but the sheer amount of work that needs to be done to earn that salary, and how physically, emotionally and mentally draining it is. Not to mention you spend some of that salary just to be able to do your job. I truly think that people don’t realize what they’re in for when they start a teaching career. I know I didn’t. When I first started in my 20s I thought it was fun and put my all in it. I couldn’t keep up with that pace and it’s very easy to burn out quickly.

I came from an office job where if I wasn’t feeling great I could lay low that day, or I could call out and not have to do much prep for that and could catch up the next day. It was kind of a surprise to realize I’d need to be on ALL THE TIME. You think, oh there are specials and lunch so you get a chance to catch your breath. Then you realize you have meetings during specials that you have to fill out all kinds of paperwork for, and you have kids in for lunch bunch and need to return parent phone calls during recess. So, no, the salary itself isn’t a surprise, but the sheer amount of work and energy needed to do that work is a surprise. Everyone considers themselves an expert on teaching because they’ve been to school, but they really have no idea what teaching entails until they actually do it.

Just wanted to say I could have written this word-for-word, PP. Except I went from teaching TO an office job and just marveled at all the downtime. (THere is SO. Much. of the typical workday that is just not actual working! It's blissful!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normal for teachers.

I absolutely support paying teachers more. But teaching has been a low-paid profession for generations so I get frustrated when my teacher friends act surprised. Especially the ones who are children of teachers. You can complain all you want, and I'll agree that it stinks, but don't act like it's a shock!

I think what’s actually a shock is not the salary itself, but the sheer amount of work that needs to be done to earn that salary, and how physically, emotionally and mentally draining it is. Not to mention you spend some of that salary just to be able to do your job. I truly think that people don’t realize what they’re in for when they start a teaching career. I know I didn’t. When I first started in my 20s I thought it was fun and put my all in it. I couldn’t keep up with that pace and it’s very easy to burn out quickly.

I came from an office job where if I wasn’t feeling great I could lay low that day, or I could call out and not have to do much prep for that and could catch up the next day. It was kind of a surprise to realize I’d need to be on ALL THE TIME. You think, oh there are specials and lunch so you get a chance to catch your breath. Then you realize you have meetings during specials that you have to fill out all kinds of paperwork for, and you have kids in for lunch bunch and need to return parent phone calls during recess. So, no, the salary itself isn’t a surprise, but the sheer amount of work and energy needed to do that work is a surprise. Everyone considers themselves an expert on teaching because they’ve been to school, but they really have no idea what teaching entails until they actually do it.

Just wanted to say I could have written this word-for-word, PP. Except I went from teaching TO an office job and just marveled at all the downtime. (THere is SO. Much. of the typical workday that is just not actual working! It's blissful!)

Teaching is a PART TIME JOB. you just stupidly chose to front load all the hours. It’s like eating two days with of meals for breakfast. You are going to be both stuffed and hungry. And yes, it’s unpleasant and you feel like crap, but you did it to yourself. So. Stop. Complaining. And make better choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In literally every other job, if you need to go to the bathroom, you get up and go. Have you ever considered that? If a teacher has to go to the restroom, they have to wait a few hours for lunch, or somehow magically find an extra adult that is certified to be alone with the children in the classroom, without leaving the room or using a phone.

Someone pointed that out to me, and that is tortuous.

Wait a few hours for lunch... what about recess. That's an opportunity twice/day to go to the bathroom.

So nurses just leave the room to pee whenever they need to?

I had a desk job for awhile in an office where we could only leave our desk for breaks.

That one doesn't fly.

If you happen to teach elementary school, you might get a 20 minute recess break at lunch time, where you can try to pee, get to the copy machine etc . . . but it won't be twice. Twice a day recess is a rare thing these days, and when it happens teachers will generally be assigned to cover one of the two slots.

When I've been in hospitals, nurses come in, they spend a few minutes, and then they go out to chart, or see the next patient, or talk to a doctor. Same thing with the pediatrician, the nurse is never in the room for hours on end. I assume that if they desperately need to pee or change a tampon there's a chance they could fit it in there somewhere. Surgical nurses and maybe ICU nurses are obviously different.

I now teach high school, in part because my body could no longer handle not peeing the way it needs to to teach elementary school. We get a break every 90 minutes when the kids change classes and in an emergency I can run to the bathroom then.

Yeah. I spent quite a few years in an elementary school. Teachers found time to pee. Issues happened with pregnancy, or UTI's. On a daily basis though, there was time to pee.

I agree with a lot of the issues with teaching, but from what I've seen this isn't a huge issue. I'm not saying it is never a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normal for teachers.

I absolutely support paying teachers more. But teaching has been a low-paid profession for generations so I get frustrated when my teacher friends act surprised. Especially the ones who are children of teachers. You can complain all you want, and I'll agree that it stinks, but don't act like it's a shock!

I think what’s actually a shock is not the salary itself, but the sheer amount of work that needs to be done to earn that salary, and how physically, emotionally and mentally draining it is. Not to mention you spend some of that salary just to be able to do your job. I truly think that people don’t realize what they’re in for when they start a teaching career. I know I didn’t. When I first started in my 20s I thought it was fun and put my all in it. I couldn’t keep up with that pace and it’s very easy to burn out quickly.

I came from an office job where if I wasn’t feeling great I could lay low that day, or I could call out and not have to do much prep for that and could catch up the next day. It was kind of a surprise to realize I’d need to be on ALL THE TIME. You think, oh there are specials and lunch so you get a chance to catch your breath. Then you realize you have meetings during specials that you have to fill out all kinds of paperwork for, and you have kids in for lunch bunch and need to return parent phone calls during recess. So, no, the salary itself isn’t a surprise, but the sheer amount of work and energy needed to do that work is a surprise. Everyone considers themselves an expert on teaching because they’ve been to school, but they really have no idea what teaching entails until they actually do it.

Just wanted to say I could have written this word-for-word, PP. Except I went from teaching TO an office job and just marveled at all the downtime. (THere is SO. Much. of the typical workday that is just not actual working! It's blissful!)

Teaching is a PART TIME JOB. you just stupidly chose to front load all the hours. It’s like eating two days with of meals for breakfast. You are going to be both stuffed and hungry. And yes, it’s unpleasant and you feel like crap, but you did it to yourself. So. Stop. Complaining. And make better choices.

Im not a teacher who complains (usually) but I’m baffled at this statement. I’m at my school from 8am-5pm. I teach from 8:45-12:15 and 12:45-4. I have 1/2 hour for lunch, and an hour for prep on either end. I also teach an after school class on Thursdays.

That’s a full-time job.

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher and I'm tired of non teacher friends complaining about this. If I had any non teacher friends who had the balls to complain about me in person (none do), I'd drop them. Every single one of my other friends complain ALL the time about their husband or their job or their house or politics. Get over yourselves people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normal for teachers.

I absolutely support paying teachers more. But teaching has been a low-paid profession for generations so I get frustrated when my teacher friends act surprised. Especially the ones who are children of teachers. You can complain all you want, and I'll agree that it stinks, but don't act like it's a shock!

I think what’s actually a shock is not the salary itself, but the sheer amount of work that needs to be done to earn that salary, and how physically, emotionally and mentally draining it is. Not to mention you spend some of that salary just to be able to do your job. I truly think that people don’t realize what they’re in for when they start a teaching career. I know I didn’t. When I first started in my 20s I thought it was fun and put my all in it. I couldn’t keep up with that pace and it’s very easy to burn out quickly.

I came from an office job where if I wasn’t feeling great I could lay low that day, or I could call out and not have to do much prep for that and could catch up the next day. It was kind of a surprise to realize I’d need to be on ALL THE TIME. You think, oh there are specials and lunch so you get a chance to catch your breath. Then you realize you have meetings during specials that you have to fill out all kinds of paperwork for, and you have kids in for lunch bunch and need to return parent phone calls during recess. So, no, the salary itself isn’t a surprise, but the sheer amount of work and energy needed to do that work is a surprise. Everyone considers themselves an expert on teaching because they’ve been to school, but they really have no idea what teaching entails until they actually do it.

Just wanted to say I could have written this word-for-word, PP. Except I went from teaching TO an office job and just marveled at all the downtime. (THere is SO. Much. of the typical workday that is just not actual working! It's blissful!)

Teaching is a PART TIME JOB. you just stupidly chose to front load all the hours. It’s like eating two days with of meals for breakfast. You are going to be both stuffed and hungry. And yes, it’s unpleasant and you feel like crap, but you did it to yourself. So. Stop. Complaining. And make better choices.

Im not a teacher who complains (usually) but I’m baffled at this statement. I’m at my school from 8am-5pm. I teach from 8:45-12:15 and 12:45-4. I have 1/2 hour for lunch, and an hour for prep on either end. I also teach an after school class on Thursdays.

That’s a full-time job.

And late June through August?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like other professions, teacher are free to look for another job, but they don't due to summers off, snow days and similiar schedules to their own kids. So, the benefits outweigh the job fulfillment. Accept it.

Yes. My friends who are teachers complain or vent but at end they always say “ but I don’t want to give up my summers with Larlo and Larla. “

I just feel like all jobs there are trade offs. I get paid extremely well, can flex my clients, and can go for a coffee whenever I want. I do not get summers off, if I take a snow day I do not get paid, I have no employer retirement - only what I personally save. Ironically, I started out in elementary Ed years ago but changed my mind. I wonder if I had pursued the career if I would have enjoyed and stayed the course. I do think it’s a hard profession in today’s parenting climate though— I’ll agree to that!!

Agree with all of this, especially the bolded.
I really think it's harder for teachers now; parents have access to every grade and assignment and hover more now and contact the teachers constantly. Teaching driven by standardized tests has got to be maddening. Plus all of the criticism from people who don't have teaching degrees or experience thinking they are experts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normal for teachers.

I absolutely support paying teachers more. But teaching has been a low-paid profession for generations so I get frustrated when my teacher friends act surprised. Especially the ones who are children of teachers. You can complain all you want, and I'll agree that it stinks, but don't act like it's a shock!

I think what’s actually a shock is not the salary itself, but the sheer amount of work that needs to be done to earn that salary, and how physically, emotionally and mentally draining it is. Not to mention you spend some of that salary just to be able to do your job. I truly think that people don’t realize what they’re in for when they start a teaching career. I know I didn’t. When I first started in my 20s I thought it was fun and put my all in it. I couldn’t keep up with that pace and it’s very easy to burn out quickly.

I came from an office job where if I wasn’t feeling great I could lay low that day, or I could call out and not have to do much prep for that and could catch up the next day. It was kind of a surprise to realize I’d need to be on ALL THE TIME. You think, oh there are specials and lunch so you get a chance to catch your breath. Then you realize you have meetings during specials that you have to fill out all kinds of paperwork for, and you have kids in for lunch bunch and need to return parent phone calls during recess. So, no, the salary itself isn’t a surprise, but the sheer amount of work and energy needed to do that work is a surprise. Everyone considers themselves an expert on teaching because they’ve been to school, but they really have no idea what teaching entails until they actually do it.

Just wanted to say I could have written this word-for-word, PP. Except I went from teaching TO an office job and just marveled at all the downtime. (THere is SO. Much. of the typical workday that is just not actual working! It's blissful!)

Teaching is a PART TIME JOB. you just stupidly chose to front load all the hours. It’s like eating two days with of meals for breakfast. You are going to be both stuffed and hungry. And yes, it’s unpleasant and you feel like crap, but you did it to yourself. So. Stop. Complaining. And make better choices.

Im not a teacher who complains (usually) but I’m baffled at this statement. I’m at my school from 8am-5pm. I teach from 8:45-12:15 and 12:45-4. I have 1/2 hour for lunch, and an hour for prep on either end. I also teach an after school class on Thursdays.

That’s a full-time job.

And late June through August?

I'm a teacher. I work a full time and a half job (40 hours is full time, the other 20 hours a week I work is a half time job) from the middle of August til the end of May. I have 9 weeks of summer vacation. Teaching is a full time (and a half) job during the school year with excellent vacation time. The vacation time part of teaching is awesome. The pension is ever better. The kids? Even better. But a ton of teaching sucks balls. My opinion is that it evens out for the most part. Mostly. If I had it to do over, I would not have chosen teaching, but I don't have it to do over. So, I make the most of it and enjoy the heck out of the good parts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a professional culture thing. They share memes and posts endlessly.

I agree with this! I think teachers have to complain loudly and often in order to get basic services for their classrooms. So complaining is the norm. If they are silent or, even worse, celebrate the positive aspects of the profession, then I think voters and politicians would ignore their concerns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine you had to run a meeting 6-7 hours a day. You had to lead the meeting--agenda, content, presentations, discussions, work output, materials, everything. During that meeting, you can't check email or make a phone call. And in between the 6-7 hour meeting, you have smaller 20-1 hour meetings.

Imagine 25 of the 30 participants do not want to be there and don't have the ability to pay attention or follow directions. And you have to keep them on track.

Imagine you had to give immediate feedback/evaluations from today's meeting to every participant.

Imagine after running that meeting, you have to plan and prepare for tomorrow's 6-7 hour meeting.

Imagine if your participants fail to perform or have substandard work product, you are blamed.

Imagine never having an off day. Never spending a day just dealing with the little things.

Imagine it keeps going, day after day. It's exhausting to have to plan and manage every minute of every day for 30-150 participants.

I used to be a teacher. I miss it every day. But I'd never go back. The daily grind with no support staff to handle things was just too much. If I got a secretary, Id totally go back.

Until you've done it, you just don't understand.

Amen Amen Amen -former teacher

I love teachers, but this is just so dramatic. I understand that talking in such extremes might be effective with your students, but it's less successful when you're talking to fellow adults who also have to pay mortgages and show up every single day to their jobs, etc. etc.

I'm not diminishing your work, I just think y'all need to rework your talking points because these make you look really out of touch with the rest of the workforce. A lot of what you list is comparable to other jobs, especially being held accountable when others drop the ball. It's one of the consequences of leadership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine you had to run a meeting 6-7 hours a day. You had to lead the meeting--agenda, content, presentations, discussions, work output, materials, everything. During that meeting, you can't check email or make a phone call. And in between the 6-7 hour meeting, you have smaller 20-1 hour meetings.

Imagine 25 of the 30 participants do not want to be there and don't have the ability to pay attention or follow directions. And you have to keep them on track.

Imagine you had to give immediate feedback/evaluations from today's meeting to every participant.

Imagine after running that meeting, you have to plan and prepare for tomorrow's 6-7 hour meeting.

Imagine if your participants fail to perform or have substandard work product, you are blamed.

Imagine never having an off day. Never spending a day just dealing with the little things.

Imagine it keeps going, day after day. It's exhausting to have to plan and manage every minute of every day for 30-150 participants.

I used to be a teacher. I miss it every day. But I'd never go back. The daily grind with no support staff to handle things was just too much. If I got a secretary, Id totally go back.

Until you've done it, you just don't understand.

Amen Amen Amen -former teacher

I love teachers, but this is just so dramatic. I understand that talking in such extremes might be effective with your students, but it's less successful when you're talking to fellow adults who also have to pay mortgages and show up every single day to their jobs, etc. etc.

I'm not diminishing your work, I just think y'all need to rework your talking points because these make you look really out of touch with the rest of the workforce. A lot of what you list is comparable to other jobs, especially being held accountable when others drop the ball. It's one of the consequences of leadership.

Former teacher now biglaw attorney. Yeah you are so, so wrong about all of this. I agree with the original PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normal for teachers.

I absolutely support paying teachers more. But teaching has been a low-paid profession for generations so I get frustrated when my teacher friends act surprised. Especially the ones who are children of teachers. You can complain all you want, and I'll agree that it stinks, but don't act like it's a shock!

I think what’s actually a shock is not the salary itself, but the sheer amount of work that needs to be done to earn that salary, and how physically, emotionally and mentally draining it is. Not to mention you spend some of that salary just to be able to do your job. I truly think that people don’t realize what they’re in for when they start a teaching career. I know I didn’t. When I first started in my 20s I thought it was fun and put my all in it. I couldn’t keep up with that pace and it’s very easy to burn out quickly.

I came from an office job where if I wasn’t feeling great I could lay low that day, or I could call out and not have to do much prep for that and could catch up the next day. It was kind of a surprise to realize I’d need to be on ALL THE TIME. You think, oh there are specials and lunch so you get a chance to catch your breath. Then you realize you have meetings during specials that you have to fill out all kinds of paperwork for, and you have kids in for lunch bunch and need to return parent phone calls during recess. So, no, the salary itself isn’t a surprise, but the sheer amount of work and energy needed to do that work is a surprise. Everyone considers themselves an expert on teaching because they’ve been to school, but they really have no idea what teaching entails until they actually do it.

Just wanted to say I could have written this word-for-word, PP. Except I went from teaching TO an office job and just marveled at all the downtime. (THere is SO. Much. of the typical workday that is just not actual working! It's blissful!)

Teaching is a PART TIME JOB. you just stupidly chose to front load all the hours. It’s like eating two days with of meals for breakfast. You are going to be both stuffed and hungry. And yes, it’s unpleasant and you feel like crap, but you did it to yourself. So. Stop. Complaining. And make better choices.

Im not a teacher who complains (usually) but I’m baffled at this statement. I’m at my school from 8am-5pm. I teach from 8:45-12:15 and 12:45-4. I have 1/2 hour for lunch, and an hour for prep on either end. I also teach an after school class on Thursdays.

That’s a full-time job.

And late June through August?

PP you’re responding to. My school is year-round.