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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Part of the frustration of parents stems from the fact that when teachers feel they have too much to do, they refuse to do the tasks that benefit students directly. Why not take a stand against admin and refuse to do their time-gobbling tasks?

Yes, that would be more difficult and uncomfortable for you, but then you’d be advocating for our kids. Right now, actual education of our children appears to be the first thing you are willing to compromise to keep the jobs you tell us you hate. That’s very upsetting. [/quote]

I'm not refusing to do tasks that benefit the students directly. I'm simply balancing the tasks you as a parent actually see with the 1,000 equally important tasks that I perform behind the scenes. You want timely feedback. I understand that, and as a parent myself, I would like that from my own children's teachers. Here's what I understand, however, that you may not: that timely feedback is in competition with so many other required parts of the job that are all equally important to our mission of educating students.

Should I refuse to plan engaging and meaningful lessons? That takes up a TON of time at night and on weekends. Should I replace those lessons students and parents love with some canned, quickly-produced busywork? If I refuse to plan, your child suffers.

Should I refuse to cover my colleagues' classes during my planning time, even though we have absolutely no subs? We can always divide those kids up and warehouse them in the back of classrooms. If I refuse to cover classes, the children in those classes suffer. That may be your child.

Should I refuse to participate in IEP and 504 meetings? (Doing this one would actually put my job at risk.) Should I refuse to take the time to meet accommodations for my students? If I refuse to differentiate my lessons to meet various students' needs, those children suffer. That may be your child.

Should I refuse to track student data on various benchmark assignments? This takes a TON of my time. I wouldn't really know how my students are progressing, so I wouldn't be able to help students individually move through the goals and standards that we have in place for them. Your child would definitely suffer if I do this.

Should I refuse to attend mandated trainings? They are very boring and time consuming, but I actually feel I need the yearly reminders about bloodborne pathogens, Epipens, etc. If I get rusty in all of these peripheral parts of my job, somebody's child is going to suffer. I'd feel pretty bad about this one.

If I tell admin they can take something like their cafeteria duty and shove it, I am actually breaking my contract that says I will perform other duties as assigned. Your child wouldn't suffer, but I would.

There is a solution to this problem. Make teachers responsible for LESS. I shouldn't have to spend 85% of my day directly in front of students, leaving 15% of my day for ALL of the background work, which is a very significant part of the job. Other countries have more of a 30% - 70% balance, with more time during the day allotted to administrative tasks. Teachers should teach LESS and plan / grade MORE. It would require more teachers, of course, to spread the load, but the job would then become more achievable, less stressful, and more appealing to job seekers. [b]I desire this more than I do more pay. [/b]

You can count me among the teachers looking for another job. This is likely my last year for the reasons listed above. Parents don't see what we do. Parents have NO IDEA what it takes to run an effective classroom.
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WELL SAID! 
+1[/quote]

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