We probably all have moments that don't reflect who we really are. It sounds like you are concerned about this teacher. There could be many reasons for her short fuse. Since you know her, you might send her a card or email telling her you saw her the other day and were reminded of what a great teacher she is. Let her know that you recognize the hard work she does every single day. Teachers rarely get a pat on the back, and frankly...when I was a teacher...I didn't need it, but when you are having a bad day, it is nice to know that someone cares.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m a Gen-exer too and yes, the financial pressures are much worse for millennial teachers than they ever were for our generation.

Maybe, for you. But, I am a certified Baby Boomer--and, believe me, we had more financial difficulties than the current new grads.

What we did NOT have was all this testing and busy work that is put on teachers today. But, we also did not have all the teacher work days and not nearly as many holidays. Summer vacation was longer, however. No question that there are far more professional pressures on today's teachers. But, financial--not so much.

http://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-gap-is-wider-than-ever-teachers-pay-continues-to-fall-further-behind-pay-of-comparable-workers/



I also object to your statement that we have more teacher work days. Yes, we have tons of them but what do you think we are doing during teacher work days? Not doing our own work. Out of the 10 or so we have every year, one of them is mine to do what I need to do in my classroom. One out of 10. The rest of them are non-stop meetings. Most of them are held at other schools not near my own school. I do my own work (lesson planning, grading, etc) in my own time. Even 2 or 3 out of 5 planning periods per week is taken up by meetings. Schools are run more like businesses these days so the testing gives us the constant streams of data. When do we crunch the numbers? During our planning periods.

If you are in FCPS your days should not be filled up with meetings. At least two of the Teacher Workdays should be used at your discretion. School Planning Days have 50 percent of the day directed by the school and 50 percent of the day directed by the teachers. Teacher-directed time may include individual planning, collaborative team planning, or attending professional development offered by the school or FCPS departments. Program managers may facilitate any needed coordination for teacher-directed time but may not require specific activities during this time. Time during Two-Hour Early Release days is to be used at your discretion. The days before school starts are supposed to provide a balance of teacher planning time with opportunities for staff meetings and professional development. Emphasis is on teacher planning time to prepare for the first weeks of school.

Your planning time is also protected. For example, if you are an elementary teacher you should have a minimum of 300 planning minutes per week with at least 240 minutes directed by you. A minimum of 60 minutes are to be utilized for collaborative planning. There is also a limit to the number and length of staff meetings.

Where are you getting your information, PP? There is nothing that states a limit to the number and length of staff meetings. Here is the exact language from FCPS Reg 4421:
Responsibilities involving time in excess of 7 1/2 hours per day or 8 hours per day
if assigned to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and
extended-day schools may be scheduled by the principal or program manager.
Such duties shall normally relate to, but are not limited to, pupil transportation,
faculty meetings, student-related activities, and parent conferences. A teacher's
primary responsibility shall be to teach, and, whenever feasible, the assignment of
nonteaching duties to teachers should be limited.

Reg. 4421.17, Section IV, paragraph I (1):

Schoolwide Meetings
1. Faculty meetings should ordinarily be held no more than two times a month and
last for no more than one hour. Principals may conduct faculty meetings before or
after school. Such faculty meetings should be scheduled at least one week in
advance to allow employees to make arrangements to attend.

https://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/ASBRBK6CF00A/$file/R4421.pdf

Sure, only 2 staff meetings. My school only had one a month. Didn't matter - during any given day there were 3 or 4 other meetings (committee meetings, IEP meetings, team meetings, collaboration meetings, and just plain old meetings for a million other reasons). I had zero planning time of my own during the day. ZERO - every moment was taken up with meetings or other required activities - sometimes even lunch.

I understand. Did you read the other info about planning time? I am saying if you taught in FCPS now your planning time wouldn’t be taken up with all of those meetings. You would have at least 240 minutes of your own. If you taught (or teach) in another district that may differ of course..

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m a Gen-exer too and yes, the financial pressures are much worse for millennial teachers than they ever were for our generation.

Maybe, for you. But, I am a certified Baby Boomer--and, believe me, we had more financial difficulties than the current new grads.

What we did NOT have was all this testing and busy work that is put on teachers today. But, we also did not have all the teacher work days and not nearly as many holidays. Summer vacation was longer, however. No question that there are far more professional pressures on today's teachers. But, financial--not so much.

http://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-gap-is-wider-than-ever-teachers-pay-continues-to-fall-further-behind-pay-of-comparable-workers/



I also object to your statement that we have more teacher work days. Yes, we have tons of them but what do you think we are doing during teacher work days? Not doing our own work. Out of the 10 or so we have every year, one of them is mine to do what I need to do in my classroom. One out of 10. The rest of them are non-stop meetings. Most of them are held at other schools not near my own school. I do my own work (lesson planning, grading, etc) in my own time. Even 2 or 3 out of 5 planning periods per week is taken up by meetings. Schools are run more like businesses these days so the testing gives us the constant streams of data. When do we crunch the numbers? During our planning periods.

If you are in FCPS your days should not be filled up with meetings. At least two of the Teacher Workdays should be used at your discretion. School Planning Days have 50 percent of the day directed by the school and 50 percent of the day directed by the teachers. Teacher-directed time may include individual planning, collaborative team planning, or attending professional development offered by the school or FCPS departments. Program managers may facilitate any needed coordination for teacher-directed time but may not require specific activities during this time. Time during Two-Hour Early Release days is to be used at your discretion. The days before school starts are supposed to provide a balance of teacher planning time with opportunities for staff meetings and professional development. Emphasis is on teacher planning time to prepare for the first weeks of school.

Your planning time is also protected. For example, if you are an elementary teacher you should have a minimum of 300 planning minutes per week with at least 240 minutes directed by you. A minimum of 60 minutes are to be utilized for collaborative planning. There is also a limit to the number and length of staff meetings.

Where are you getting your information, PP? There is nothing that states a limit to the number and length of staff meetings. Here is the exact language from FCPS Reg 4421:
Responsibilities involving time in excess of 7 1/2 hours per day or 8 hours per day
if assigned to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and
extended-day schools may be scheduled by the principal or program manager.
Such duties shall normally relate to, but are not limited to, pupil transportation,
faculty meetings, student-related activities, and parent conferences. A teacher's
primary responsibility shall be to teach, and, whenever feasible, the assignment of
nonteaching duties to teachers should be limited.

Reg. 4421.17, Section IV, paragraph I (1):

Schoolwide Meetings
1. Faculty meetings should ordinarily be held no more than two times a month and
last for no more than one hour. Principals may conduct faculty meetings before or
after school. Such faculty meetings should be scheduled at least one week in
advance to allow employees to make arrangements to attend.

https://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/ASBRBK6CF00A/$file/R4421.pdf

Sure, only 2 staff meetings. My school only had one a month. Didn't matter - during any given day there were 3 or 4 other meetings (committee meetings, IEP meetings, team meetings, collaboration meetings, and just plain old meetings for a million other reasons). I had zero planning time of my own during the day. ZERO - every moment was taken up with meetings or other required activities - sometimes even lunch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m a Gen-exer too and yes, the financial pressures are much worse for millennial teachers than they ever were for our generation.

Maybe, for you. But, I am a certified Baby Boomer--and, believe me, we had more financial difficulties than the current new grads.

What we did NOT have was all this testing and busy work that is put on teachers today. But, we also did not have all the teacher work days and not nearly as many holidays. Summer vacation was longer, however. No question that there are far more professional pressures on today's teachers. But, financial--not so much.

http://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-gap-is-wider-than-ever-teachers-pay-continues-to-fall-further-behind-pay-of-comparable-workers/



I also object to your statement that we have more teacher work days. Yes, we have tons of them but what do you think we are doing during teacher work days? Not doing our own work. Out of the 10 or so we have every year, one of them is mine to do what I need to do in my classroom. One out of 10. The rest of them are non-stop meetings. Most of them are held at other schools not near my own school. I do my own work (lesson planning, grading, etc) in my own time. Even 2 or 3 out of 5 planning periods per week is taken up by meetings. Schools are run more like businesses these days so the testing gives us the constant streams of data. When do we crunch the numbers? During our planning periods.

You need to read more carefully. I did not attack you at all. I just stated that you have more teacher work days--and that is true. I totally understand your issue with all the work--I have written on here before that that is the problem with the teacher work days--teachers are not allowed to work. That was even true back in the dark ages when I was teaching. Somehow, the administration--even then--thinks that teacher preparation days are a great opportunity to schedule meetings and training, when all you really want is time in your classroom ALONE--or with your team members.

If you read what I wrote--my point was that your financial situation is no worse than it was when Baby Boomers started teaching. FWIW, we did not travel like the young people of today. If we did, it was on a shoestring. No one I knew went for manicures or pedicures unless it was for their own wedding. We ate out on special occasions and, yes, we, too, spent our own money on our classroom needs.
Yes, I totally agree that the professional pressures are ridiculous. I said that.

All I hear when I see this statement is that teachers have always been paid crap and always will be. Years and years of clammoring for higher pay and...we're not better off now than decades ago? It's no wonder the number of people willing to go into the profession is rapidly declining.

Oh, and, FWIW, I can't afford to travel so I don't, I never get mani/pedis (not even for my own wedding) and I only eat out if I have a gift card or someone else is paying (parents, in laws, etc). Let's not go down the avocado toast road here.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Sounds like FCPS teachers have it made in the shade then. I wish we had all of that time to actually do our own work. I work in MD (not MCPS) and we have very little paid time to do our own work on PD days. We are sent to other schools for most of them and they are all day. Our principal has a full day of meetings scheduled. She notes that they are optional but if we don't go, she notices. This is the person in charge of our EOY evaluation so you don't want to get on her bad side.

I just reread the PP. I have 225 minutes of panning per week. 300 sounds wonderful.

The rest of the information (in addition to the staff meeting) came directly from Board Regs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m a Gen-exer too and yes, the financial pressures are much worse for millennial teachers than they ever were for our generation.

Maybe, for you. But, I am a certified Baby Boomer--and, believe me, we had more financial difficulties than the current new grads.

What we did NOT have was all this testing and busy work that is put on teachers today. But, we also did not have all the teacher work days and not nearly as many holidays. Summer vacation was longer, however. No question that there are far more professional pressures on today's teachers. But, financial--not so much.

http://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-gap-is-wider-than-ever-teachers-pay-continues-to-fall-further-behind-pay-of-comparable-workers/



I also object to your statement that we have more teacher work days. Yes, we have tons of them but what do you think we are doing during teacher work days? Not doing our own work. Out of the 10 or so we have every year, one of them is mine to do what I need to do in my classroom. One out of 10. The rest of them are non-stop meetings. Most of them are held at other schools not near my own school. I do my own work (lesson planning, grading, etc) in my own time. Even 2 or 3 out of 5 planning periods per week is taken up by meetings. Schools are run more like businesses these days so the testing gives us the constant streams of data. When do we crunch the numbers? During our planning periods.

If you are in FCPS your days should not be filled up with meetings. At least two of the Teacher Workdays should be used at your discretion. School Planning Days have 50 percent of the day directed by the school and 50 percent of the day directed by the teachers. Teacher-directed time may include individual planning, collaborative team planning, or attending professional development offered by the school or FCPS departments. Program managers may facilitate any needed coordination for teacher-directed time but may not require specific activities during this time. Time during Two-Hour Early Release days is to be used at your discretion. The days before school starts are supposed to provide a balance of teacher planning time with opportunities for staff meetings and professional development. Emphasis is on teacher planning time to prepare for the first weeks of school.

Your planning time is also protected. For example, if you are an elementary teacher you should have a minimum of 300 planning minutes per week with at least 240 minutes directed by you. A minimum of 60 minutes are to be utilized for collaborative planning. There is also a limit to the number and length of staff meetings.

Where are you getting your information, PP? There is nothing that states a limit to the number and length of staff meetings. Here is the exact language from FCPS Reg 4421:
Responsibilities involving time in excess of 7 1/2 hours per day or 8 hours per day
if assigned to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and
extended-day schools may be scheduled by the principal or program manager.
Such duties shall normally relate to, but are not limited to, pupil transportation,
faculty meetings, student-related activities, and parent conferences. A teacher's
primary responsibility shall be to teach, and, whenever feasible, the assignment of
nonteaching duties to teachers should be limited.

Reg. 4421.17, Section IV, paragraph I (1):

Schoolwide Meetings
1. Faculty meetings should ordinarily be held no more than two times a month and
last for no more than one hour. Principals may conduct faculty meetings before or
after school. Such faculty meetings should be scheduled at least one week in
advance to allow employees to make arrangements to attend.

https://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/ASBRBK6CF00A/$file/R4421.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m a Gen-exer too and yes, the financial pressures are much worse for millennial teachers than they ever were for our generation.

Maybe, for you. But, I am a certified Baby Boomer--and, believe me, we had more financial difficulties than the current new grads.

What we did NOT have was all this testing and busy work that is put on teachers today. But, we also did not have all the teacher work days and not nearly as many holidays. Summer vacation was longer, however. No question that there are far more professional pressures on today's teachers. But, financial--not so much.

http://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-gap-is-wider-than-ever-teachers-pay-continues-to-fall-further-behind-pay-of-comparable-workers/



I also object to your statement that we have more teacher work days. Yes, we have tons of them but what do you think we are doing during teacher work days? Not doing our own work. Out of the 10 or so we have every year, one of them is mine to do what I need to do in my classroom. One out of 10. The rest of them are non-stop meetings. Most of them are held at other schools not near my own school. I do my own work (lesson planning, grading, etc) in my own time. Even 2 or 3 out of 5 planning periods per week is taken up by meetings. Schools are run more like businesses these days so the testing gives us the constant streams of data. When do we crunch the numbers? During our planning periods.

If you are in FCPS your days should not be filled up with meetings. At least two of the Teacher Workdays should be used at your discretion. School Planning Days have 50 percent of the day directed by the school and 50 percent of the day directed by the teachers. Teacher-directed time may include individual planning, collaborative team planning, or attending professional development offered by the school or FCPS departments. Program managers may facilitate any needed coordination for teacher-directed time but may not require specific activities during this time. Time during Two-Hour Early Release days is to be used at your discretion. The days before school starts are supposed to provide a balance of teacher planning time with opportunities for staff meetings and professional development. Emphasis is on teacher planning time to prepare for the first weeks of school.

Your planning time is also protected. For example, if you are an elementary teacher you should have a minimum of 300 planning minutes per week with at least 240 minutes directed by you. A minimum of 60 minutes are to be utilized for collaborative planning. There is also a limit to the number and length of staff meetings.

Where are you getting your information, PP? There is nothing that states a limit to the number and length of staff meetings. Here is the exact language from FCPS Reg 4421:
Responsibilities involving time in excess of 7 1/2 hours per day or 8 hours per day
if assigned to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and
extended-day schools may be scheduled by the principal or program manager.
Such duties shall normally relate to, but are not limited to, pupil transportation,
faculty meetings, student-related activities, and parent conferences. A teacher's
primary responsibility shall be to teach, and, whenever feasible, the assignment of
nonteaching duties to teachers should be limited.

Wow. Sounds like FCPS teachers have it made in the shade then. I wish we had all of that time to actually do our own work. I work in MD (not MCPS) and we have very little paid time to do our own work on PD days. We are sent to other schools for most of them and they are all day. Our principal has a full day of meetings scheduled. She notes that they are optional but if we don't go, she notices. This is the person in charge of our EOY evaluation so you don't want to get on her bad side.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m a Gen-exer too and yes, the financial pressures are much worse for millennial teachers than they ever were for our generation.

Maybe, for you. But, I am a certified Baby Boomer--and, believe me, we had more financial difficulties than the current new grads.

What we did NOT have was all this testing and busy work that is put on teachers today. But, we also did not have all the teacher work days and not nearly as many holidays. Summer vacation was longer, however. No question that there are far more professional pressures on today's teachers. But, financial--not so much.

http://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-gap-is-wider-than-ever-teachers-pay-continues-to-fall-further-behind-pay-of-comparable-workers/



I also object to your statement that we have more teacher work days. Yes, we have tons of them but what do you think we are doing during teacher work days? Not doing our own work. Out of the 10 or so we have every year, one of them is mine to do what I need to do in my classroom. One out of 10. The rest of them are non-stop meetings. Most of them are held at other schools not near my own school. I do my own work (lesson planning, grading, etc) in my own time. Even 2 or 3 out of 5 planning periods per week is taken up by meetings. Schools are run more like businesses these days so the testing gives us the constant streams of data. When do we crunch the numbers? During our planning periods.

If you are in FCPS your days should not be filled up with meetings. At least two of the Teacher Workdays should be used at your discretion. School Planning Days have 50 percent of the day directed by the school and 50 percent of the day directed by the teachers. Teacher-directed time may include individual planning, collaborative team planning, or attending professional development offered by the school or FCPS departments. Program managers may facilitate any needed coordination for teacher-directed time but may not require specific activities during this time. Time during Two-Hour Early Release days is to be used at your discretion. The days before school starts are supposed to provide a balance of teacher planning time with opportunities for staff meetings and professional development. Emphasis is on teacher planning time to prepare for the first weeks of school.

Your planning time is also protected. For example, if you are an elementary teacher you should have a minimum of 300 planning minutes per week with at least 240 minutes directed by you. A minimum of 60 minutes are to be utilized for collaborative planning. There is also a limit to the number and length of staff meetings.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m a Gen-exer too and yes, the financial pressures are much worse for millennial teachers than they ever were for our generation.

Maybe, for you. But, I am a certified Baby Boomer--and, believe me, we had more financial difficulties than the current new grads.

What we did NOT have was all this testing and busy work that is put on teachers today. But, we also did not have all the teacher work days and not nearly as many holidays. Summer vacation was longer, however. No question that there are far more professional pressures on today's teachers. But, financial--not so much.

http://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-pay-gap-is-wider-than-ever-teachers-pay-continues-to-fall-further-behind-pay-of-comparable-workers/



I also object to your statement that we have more teacher work days. Yes, we have tons of them but what do you think we are doing during teacher work days? Not doing our own work. Out of the 10 or so we have every year, one of them is mine to do what I need to do in my classroom. One out of 10. The rest of them are non-stop meetings. Most of them are held at other schools not near my own school. I do my own work (lesson planning, grading, etc) in my own time. Even 2 or 3 out of 5 planning periods per week is taken up by meetings. Schools are run more like businesses these days so the testing gives us the constant streams of data. When do we crunch the numbers? During our planning periods.

You need to read more carefully. I did not attack you at all. I just stated that you have more teacher work days--and that is true. I totally understand your issue with all the work--I have written on here before that that is the problem with the teacher work days--teachers are not allowed to work. That was even true back in the dark ages when I was teaching. Somehow, the administration--even then--thinks that teacher preparation days are a great opportunity to schedule meetings and training, when all you really want is time in your classroom ALONE--or with your team members.

If you read what I wrote--my point was that your financial situation is no worse than it was when Baby Boomers started teaching. FWIW, we did not travel like the young people of today. If we did, it was on a shoestring. No one I knew went for manicures or pedicures unless it was for their own wedding. We ate out on special occasions and, yes, we, too, spent our own money on our classroom needs.
Yes, I totally agree that the professional pressures are ridiculous. I said that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You can't pay your bills with you pension and health insurance PP.


Have you seen how much health insurance costs an FCPS retiree ($$$). Compare that to what a retiree from Arlington pays.

Please post the comparison.

Sure. For example let's use Kaiser Permanente since both districts offer that system:

In 2017, a retired FCPS teacher pays $500.46/mo for an individual, $1,100.91/mo for two.

https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/Retiree%20Premium%20Charts.pdf

Contrast that to APS. For Retirees with 20 or more years of service with APS, the School Board makes the same contribution towards the Retiree’s premium as it does for an active employee. So, an APS retiree with 20+ years of service pays $116.50/mo for an individual and $379/mo for two.

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Retiree-Rate-Sheets-2017-rev-01-31-17_added-new-retiree-category.pdf

Even those with 5-9 years of service in APS are paying less than FCPS retirees with 20+ years of service.

Anonymous wrote:Teachers, do you think that dealing with a much more diverse population than, say, 20 years ago, adds to your stress?

Yes! I recently started working at a much more diverse school than where I was previously. Behavior issues are a much bigger problem. This probably more to do with transience and so many coming together from all over the world each year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a teacher. She may have something else going on that is disturbing her. One mental health day usually is not that much help. After all, we've had a few days already this year and more coming up.

She may have not felt well. She may be having trouble with her own children, husband, etc. Or, she may be losing it.

Was she sarcastic with the kids? I remember one colleague who I saw being sarcastic with the children and I realized then that she was in trouble. I had taught at the same level as her the year before and she had asked for a different grade level. When I worked with her, she was fine--but, when I saw her in the hall the next year one day, I was stunned at her sarcasm--as that was not her usual behavior with kids. Shortly after that, she had a breakdown and took off the rest of the year. It actually was personal problems--not the teaching. But, certainly, when you are having problems, teaching is not a particularly good place to be.

OP here. YES, she was very sarcastic. Even after a girl was in tears she continued to be sarcastic and annoyed that the girl took her so seriously. I know this woman. My kid loved this woman. This is NOT her. Maybe it is personal issues. I know if any of us were observed on a bad day things could seem way worse. She was one of those socially aware teachers who really cared about building a community of kindness. The "her" I know, would not approve of the "her" I saw.

I think you have very good perspective here, and maybe talking with this teacher would help serve as a friendly wake-up call. She and you know that this is not her better, usually self. I'm a teacher who is having a stressful year with a really tough class. I'm trying to pull from all resources in order to help things get better (and they are). If a parent saw me handling something in a questionable way, I would really appreciate it if he/she said something to me (not on the spot, obviously). That teacher could be heading for an explosion or breakdown, and she needs to get help before it gets worse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a teacher. She may have something else going on that is disturbing her. One mental health day usually is not that much help. After all, we've had a few days already this year and more coming up.

She may have not felt well. She may be having trouble with her own children, husband, etc. Or, she may be losing it.

Was she sarcastic with the kids? I remember one colleague who I saw being sarcastic with the children and I realized then that she was in trouble. I had taught at the same level as her the year before and she had asked for a different grade level. When I worked with her, she was fine--but, when I saw her in the hall the next year one day, I was stunned at her sarcasm--as that was not her usual behavior with kids. Shortly after that, she had a breakdown and took off the rest of the year. It actually was personal problems--not the teaching. But, certainly, when you are having problems, teaching is not a particularly good place to be.

OP here. YES, she was very sarcastic. Even after a girl was in tears she continued to be sarcastic and annoyed that the girl took her so seriously. I know this woman. My kid loved this woman. This is NOT her. Maybe it is personal issues. I know if any of us were observed on a bad day things could seem way worse. She was one of those socially aware teachers who really cared about building a community of kindness. The "her" I know, would not approve of the "her" I saw.

I think you have very good perspective here, and maybe talking with this teacher would help serve as a friendly wake-up call. She and you know that this is not her better, usually self. I'm a teacher who is having a stressful year with a really tough class. I'm trying to pull from all resources in order to help things get better (and they are). If a parent saw me handling something in a questionable way, I would really appreciate it if he/she said something to me. That teacher could be heading for an explosion or breakdown, and she needs to get help before it gets worse.