Reply to I'm so tired of the "think of the teachers and administrators" rhetoric on every thread.

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Reply to "I'm so tired of the "think of the teachers and administrators" rhetoric on every thread."

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think a big part of the complaints is that teaching attracts a certain personality type--someone who loves human interaction and thrives on relationships but is comfortable doing essentially the same thing for their entire career.  Teachers inherently aren't risk takers and haven't sought out a career where they are expected to make big leaps in their skills, but more of a slow evolution as they acquire new methods via continuing learning.

Those of us in corporate America are routinely told to adapt or make way for the next generation.  We're expected to take on new positions and learn on the job.  We have significant career risk, not job security with a union and a pension.  Those in many essential fields, e.g., healthcare or law enforcement, proactively sought out fast paced fields where they would have to adapt on the fly and take on risk.

The best example I have is that our corporation rolled out Microsoft Teams the day we shut down--Friday, March 13--with zero advanced warning.  By Monday, every single person was using Teams with very few snags.  It was seamless.  By contrast, APS also rolled out Microsoft Teams in March.  In mid-April I was still getting messages from teachers about needing training courses and how hard it is to use.  They still had issues signing on and finding the mute button.  My first grader was giving her teacher instruction on  how to share her screen well into May.  (No comment on teaching--purely her ability to use basic software.)

Teacher's complaints are largely that they are unreasonably being asked to do something they haven't been trained to do and to take on risk that they fundamentally aren't used to taking.  Those of us in other fields find it ridiculous as we are asked to do these types of things every day, including during this pandemic.[/quote]

To this poster, it is beyond obvious that you have little to no knowledge about the teaching profession beyond your individual experiences with your child's teachers and assumptions about teachers as a whole. Yes, most teachers enter teaching because they enjoy human interaction and building relationships. Yes, teachers do have a union and job security. However, to imply that people in the teaching profession are not used to fast changes and just want to do the same thing the entirety of their career is wildly ignorant.

In corporate America, you are routinely told to adapt and make way for the new generation. The exact same thing happens in education, at a national level, state level, district level, school level, and for individual teachers. There are so many of examples of this, but I will just name a few:

-New laws being rolled out for the documentation of special education accommodations at the last minute, calling for special education teachers to learn a whole new process within days and update paperwork for their huge caseload of students quickly.

-Being told one week before school starts that your schedule has changed, and you will be teaching a course you've never taught before this year, on top of your 3 other subjects. Many teachers spend the summer making updates and modifications to their previous lessons to make them better. Sure, some don't, but many do. Then, they are given a brand new class to teach and a week to prepare. Parents on DCUM are so eager to bash teachers' lessons, with very little understanding of the time that goes into creating even a lesson for one day that is differentiated, engaging, and purposeful. Many teachers who are given a new class last minute act swiftly and work hours into the night to make sure that they are providing strong lessons each day, despite having to make this change last minute.

-New curriculum being rolled out throughout the school year. Again, teachers have to quickly adapt as they are sent new topics and lessons (oftentimes poorly written by the source and requiring lots of upgrades--which teachers WANT to make for their students). They are not just able to "do what they've done their entire career."

-New students added to your classroom without notice, and some have accommodations that require an enormous amount of time to meet. These might include enlarging the text on every document, then reformatting so that all of the graphs, word boxes, etc. look the same as they do on the original document, modifying the level of literacy present in the document for individual students, creating extra supports to help the student complete the work. All of this takes quick thinking and working on the fly, and many teachers do this without a complaint.

-Having new students each year brings in the challenge of being responsible for students with new health conditions, new learning needs, and new behavioral challenges. This requires learning a new set skills if a student, for example, starts having a seizure in the middle of your class. What is the behavioral plan for a specific student who becomes violent without being provoked? These expectations change every year, and sometimes multiple times throughout the year.

-Finally--introduction of new technology almost yearly. In the last few years, MCPS has used EdLine, Google Classroom, MyMCPS, and is now introducing a new platform, Synergy. Most teachers are able to adapt to this quickly, and do. Some teachers have less experience with technology and this is challenging and frustrating for them. Perhaps when they entered the profession 30 years ago they weren't thinking how they were excited to do the same thing every day for their whole career, but they just couldn't predict the huge increase in technology that they would be expected to use in the future, with minimal training, and lots of pressure from people mocking them for not understanding a technology that a child, who has grown up ONLY knowing this technology, can use with ease.

There are MANY more examples of this, and these are not meant to say teachers deserve an applause or pat on the back for doing this work. This is standard for the job and not considered going above and beyond. While people on this board like to say that teachers whine and demand special treatment, my experience has been the opposite. Of course, as in any profession, there are some individuals who are not well-suited for the job, some that are adequate, and some that are amazing. MOST teachers love their job, voice the challenges they face (just like people in any other profession), and just don't appreciate being taken advantage of and criticized for things that are perhaps out of their control. Most of the comments critizing teachers, like yours, show a lack of knowledge about the profession itself and what it entails. Teaching is not a slow evolution in the least and requires more quick adaptation than I think many people realize. [/quote]The hyperbole here is astounding.  I have no doubt that teaching is tough and that there are many unreasonable demands, but this post is over the top.  Teacher are used to adapting and working in a fast paced environment because a kid might have a seizure?  Or because they receive a new schedule after the year has started? Or get a new student? Or have to enlarge text?  This has done nothing to change my views.  [/quote]

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