Anonymous wrote:This was on my FaceBook feed a couple of weeks ago:

“I think teaching is the only job in which you have to work before you get to work so you have work to do at work. Then you have no time to do work at work, so you have to work after work to catch up on all the work you didn’t do while at work.”

Sums it up quite well for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Why does no one acknowledge how overworked teachers are ?"

Two reasons:

1) Because teachers constantly tell us how overworked and underpaid they are;

2) Because everyone else is also overworked and underpaid.

I disagree with #2. Everyone I know easily makes double what I do as a teacher.

Really? What do you make? If it's over 40k I can introduce you to a lot of my family and friends who don't make double. If it's over 50k...hi!

Do they have multiple degrees? Most teachers have Master's degrees and more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of the “overworked” is more just frustration at handling behavioral issues (either directly or indirectly through not getting enough subs to agree to teach at the school due to behaviors), so why don’t teachers try to do something about the behavior? Most parents want much higher behavioral expectations in the schools too. We talk so much on DCUM about wanting to change different laws, so why is nobody talking about changing whatever laws allow behaviorally disruptive kids to stay in classrooms and drive out all the good teachers? Have the teachers (either through unions or not) actually tried to change this? Or everyone just assumes it’s too hard?

WTF? Can we all live in your fantasy land?

PP needs to try out substitute teaching for a day.

But I do wonder if we can offer parenting classes or something.

She should absolutely try out substitute teaching for a day. When parents think of their children in school, they imagine their child and 25 other students sitting in rapt attention with smiles on their faces listening to the teacher or enthusiastically collaborating with peers on a science experiment. I know this because I was a parent long before I became a teacher and that's what I thought classrooms were like.

They would be shell shocked if they realized what many children are actually often doing: sleeping, checking their phone under the desk, staring in space, checking their phone, yakking away, checking their phone, trying to get out of the classroom and staying out as long as possible, copying other people's assignments, checking their phone, finishing homework for the next class instead of working on the assignment in the class they're in--and that's when they're not outright disruptive.

So many of them plan on becoming influencers or football players--what is the point of school exactly?

Anonymous wrote:Don't forget the kids vaping. My son says whenever the teachers turn their backs, kids suck on their vape pens. He said that a sub once tried to wake some sleeping kids and it was not a pretty sight. They were belligerent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of the “overworked” is more just frustration at handling behavioral issues (either directly or indirectly through not getting enough subs to agree to teach at the school due to behaviors), so why don’t teachers try to do something about the behavior? Most parents want much higher behavioral expectations in the schools too. We talk so much on DCUM about wanting to change different laws, so why is nobody talking about changing whatever laws allow behaviorally disruptive kids to stay in classrooms and drive out all the good teachers? Have the teachers (either through unions or not) actually tried to change this? Or everyone just assumes it’s too hard?

WTF? Can we all live in your fantasy land?

PP needs to try out substitute teaching for a day.

But I do wonder if we can offer parenting classes or something.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of the “overworked” is more just frustration at handling behavioral issues (either directly or indirectly through not getting enough subs to agree to teach at the school due to behaviors), so why don’t teachers try to do something about the behavior? Most parents want much higher behavioral expectations in the schools too. We talk so much on DCUM about wanting to change different laws, so why is nobody talking about changing whatever laws allow behaviorally disruptive kids to stay in classrooms and drive out all the good teachers? Have the teachers (either through unions or not) actually tried to change this? Or everyone just assumes it’s too hard?

WTF? Can we all live in your fantasy land?

I’m generally sympathetic to the cause here but let’s not pretend that teaching degrees are the same difficulty or rigor as many other degrees.

Anonymous wrote:Both my husband and I feel overworked but don’t receive any gift cards on our birthdays, holidays, and /or PW (Profession Week). We are not allowed to take gifts.

Anonymous wrote:Both my husband and I feel overworked but don’t receive any gift cards on our birthdays, holidays, and /or PW (Profession Week). We are not allowed to take gifts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Why does no one acknowledge how overworked teachers are ?"

Two reasons:

1) Because teachers constantly tell us how overworked and underpaid they are;

2) Because everyone else is also overworked and underpaid.

I disagree with #2. Everyone I know easily makes double what I do as a teacher.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of the “overworked” is more just frustration at handling behavioral issues (either directly or indirectly through not getting enough subs to agree to teach at the school due to behaviors), so why don’t teachers try to do something about the behavior? Most parents want much higher behavioral expectations in the schools too. We talk so much on DCUM about wanting to change different laws, so why is nobody talking about changing whatever laws allow behaviorally disruptive kids to stay in classrooms and drive out all the good teachers? Have the teachers (either through unions or not) actually tried to change this? Or everyone just assumes it’s too hard?

Let me tell you what it looks like when teachers try to address behavior: First, a lot of parents are in denial, especially in elementary school. Covid didn't help the situation but it was happening for years before that. NCLB was the start. A parent who won't agree to an evaluation or stonewalls a conversation or is otherwise uncooperative means the issue drags for months while the teacher and other students attempt to cope. Second, admin really do not want a bunch of discipline referrals because it looks bad for the school. This is especially true if the student already has an IEP. Teachers are supposed to try a million different interventions first before involving admin unless it's something very serious where imminent danger is likely and even then the student might get ISS for half a day and then be right back in the classroom the next day. Be suspicious if you see an article where an admin is lauded for reducing suspensions or discipline referrals by 95%. Ask almost any teacher and they'll tell you a bunch of stories about being gaslit and berated for trying to refer a student. The expectation is that behavior issues are handled in class and anyone who can't do it is a crappy teacher who is trying to get rid of a student who just needs a little extra help. Ironically, most of the people pushing this narrative the hardest haven't been in a classroom in years and also grew up in a time when kids who were causing regular disruptions, cussing out teachers, and damaging school property were quickly removed from a gen ed setting. Third, it is almost impossible to get a placement in an ED center anymore, mostly because of reasons 1 and 2 but also because working at one of those places is physically and mentally draining and staffing is a problem.

TLDR version: Yes, teachers have tried to change it and it's not happening. Admin and school districts would rather keep 5-10 highly disruptive students in a school, than retain 5-10 highly competent teachers who will inevitably quit over this nonsense.

So stop trying to work with admin. Go above them, go around them. Go to the news.