Reply to Why does no one acknowledge how overworked teachers are?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If you think teaching is easy be a sub for one day in public American schools and you will be eaten alive as kids treat you like Jackie Robinson on his first game ever in MLB throwing trash and cussing you out as you lose your voice trying to talk over them.  Then your principal comes in and berates you for being terrible at your job and being stupid for not being able to control students.  It's horrible horrible horrible.  The helplessness and zero life control give teachers pstd.[/quote]

My job has meetings in the middle of the night occasionally. I survived.[/quote]

Given the choice, I’ll take middle-of-the-night meetings any day over teaching. You also mention they happen “occasionally,” whereas the stress/panic of teaching happens all day, every day. [/quote]

Except you’re not teaching all day, every day during the year, are you?  Look, I get it, teaching is hard and maybe you don’t like your career decision. That’s totally ok. But wild exaggerations like that don’t help. We all know your get massive amounts of time off. You’re up at night in the middle of July or on Christmas Eve with night terrors about something that happened at work that day?  That actually is some people’s reality. So let’s at least try to have some perspective. [/quote]

This is why DCUM is so toxic. Guess what? I go to therapy because of teaching. I have been for years. This job can be so abusive and can break the toughest of people. Also: I am always working. ALWAYS. If I’m not at work, I’m at home prepping for work. That’s on weekends. That’s over the summer.

You can tell me to gain perspective, and I’m going to ask the same of you. There’s a reason DCUM is filled with threads like this one. It’s because teaching is HARD, and it’s only those who haven’t tried it who think otherwise.

I am a career changer. I came from a tough corporate job. It was a breeze compared to what I do now.

[/quote]

New to this thread, but man. Teachers really do think they have the hardest job in the world, don't they? Why does it always have to be crappy job Olympics? I haven't once seen a teacher say something like [b]"wow, that is not a problem we have to deal with!" or "gee that also sounds hard!"[/b]

It's like someone can say that their job is high-stress dangerous muck diving in sewage to re-weld old plumbing (a job which exists!), and a teacher will be like "well at least you have a muck diving suit! I accidentally touched poop with my bare hands once!!!!"[/quote]

Well considering we also have to deal with bathroom issues, at least in ES, this is a bad example. I think the reason you never see teachers say the bolded is because[b] our job is all encompassing. We are lawyers and doctors, we are managers and low level data entry employees, we are secretaries and diplomats (and plumbers)[/b]. Im curious what part of your jobs that you think are unique that teachers don't actually do![/quote]

NP. Look, I agree teaching is a hard job but it’s this kind of melodramatic exaggeration that makes people roll their eyes and then discredit any actual point you may be trying to make. [/quote]

I notice that you didn't actually address the point of my post. What is unique to other jobs that teachers do not do? [/quote]they don’t work summers[/quote]

You know you've lost the argument when you revert to coming at teachers unpaid summer time [/quote]

Thr time off in the summer IS THE ACTUAL win to the argument. It's the whole argument. Unpaid is irrelevant - just budget better. For most people in the workforce, The idea of having literal weeks, maybe even months of not working is an actual dream.  An unlivable dream. 
[/quote]

Let me crush that dream for you.

I work 60 hours a week  x 40 weeks = 2400 hours
I work (minimum) 2 weeks during my unpaid summer = 80 hours
Total: 2480 hours

A 40-hour a week job, 50 weeks a year: 2000 hours —- 480 hours less.

As I see it, my summer vacation is my break for a grueling year. Also, my job is always ON. There are no long lunches, breaks in a friend’s office, etc.

Am I complaining? No. But I am going to say “summers off” is the MOST annoying misconception I hear about my job. [/quote]

Lol what. I’m not sure where you’re getting this mythical idea of the 40 hours a week, hard stop job…unless you’re talking about factory workers or something, most of us are working more than 40 hours a week. Why would only the hours teachers work on evenings/mornings/weekends count as extra, and not everyone else? (Besides the fact that it plays well into your preferred narrative…)

And to act like getting 3 consecutive months off every year PLUS 3-4 other weeks throughout the year isn’t an amazing and completely one of a kind perk is idiotic [/quote]

What teacher gets a 3 month summer? Try 2… tops. And it’s unpaid. Why do we ignore the fact teachers are actually 10-month employees? And your “3-4 weeks” extra? Where is that?

Again: you get paid for 12 months of work. Teachers don’t.

If teachers have it so great… apply!!! Clearly people have tried it and realized it isn’t the awesome deal non-teachers think it is. [/quote]

Right, because I do 12 months of work. You do not. That is the difference, and having THAT much time off every single year is unheard of in any other profession (in America, at least)[/quote]

It is not time off. Teachers are NOT EMPLOYED during the summer. Seriously… this is not a difficult concept.

I’m doing 12+ months of work in 10 months… and then I am NOT PAID for 2.

You are paid for 12 months of work. [/quote]
Not getting paid for hours you don't work is how employment works. Did you expect to be paid for your xxxweeks of not working?[/quote]

I'm confused bc other posters are telling us that our summers off are a huge perk. I'm confused which one it is. I can't imagine too many people would be pumped if their jobs just decided to not pay them 8 weeks/year and say "but you have that time off"[/quote]

Actually, based on another thread that’s on this site currently, people would be extremely excited about that. And quitting a job then being unemployed while looking for another one is OBVIOUSLY not the same as having time off while having your job held for you, still getting benefits, etc…surely you cannot be serious?[/quote]

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