So to those who would say, “You knew the pay when you took the job” I would say I also knew the benefits. When those benefits are being reduced will you be the first to stand up and say, “Hey! You can’t cut those teachers’ benefits! They knew what they were getting when they took the job!”?

Anonymous wrote:^ and it is partially revamped - all in August.

Oh see here's your mistake. You somehow believe when I posted that earlier I was speaking personally and specifically about you, a person I have never met. I was not.

Anonymous wrote:
Fairfax Underground has FCPS salaries listed.
Quite a few make 75k+. How is this a bad salary? They teach 3 periods and have a planning period (many teacher friends leave early or go in late - many principals allow such) 180 days a year? I know IT project managers who make the same (with 8 years experience) and work 9-630 with only 2 weeks vacation . I think Ryan and the others in Richmond need to stop acting so entitled. If you don’t want to teach, please quit. I’ll gladly take the career switcher program and take your job. And teachers don’t have shutdowns, yearly RIFs, and staying late as part of the culture.

Not true at every school...many teachers stay late every day!

Anonymous wrote:I think math teachers are probably the easiest teaching jobs.

The curriculum is the same every year and you just go through the book

Most people don't even grade homework anymore and I would give tests on scantrons (don't even know if they exist)

The toughest job would be elementary school. 5+ hours of new content everyday.

After 5 or so years it would get easier I guess and you could just do the same thing everyyear

Until they change the curriculum every few years. No rest for the weary.

I think math teachers are probably the easiest teaching jobs.

The curriculum is the same every year and you just go through the book

Most people don't even grade homework anymore and I would give tests on scantrons (don't even know if they exist)

The toughest job would be elementary school. 5+ hours of new content everyday.

After 5 or so years it would get easier I guess and you could just do the same thing everyyear

Anonymous wrote:^ and it is partially revamped - all in August.

NP...so explain to me how you teach to the students you have this year vs last year? In my experience, teachers like this are super rigid and freak out when there are snow days, when they have students who have any sort of challenge, or when they have something new from the county thrown at them. There are two English teachers like this at my school. They think everyone loves them. Most people (students/teachers) do not.

^ and it is partially revamped - all in August.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I have a real issue with the teachers who proudly say "I have the entire semester with assignments and due dates and test dates already posted." It reveals that that teacher has done NO changing or updating to their curriculum, which should be at least partially revamped each year to stay fresh, and it shows that they are not teaching with the needs and skills of each class in mindI could not POSSIBLY know in August where my kids in any given class would be by even October enough to have their test dates planned out. It passes as organized but it's really just very static and staid teaching.

I know, right? If you're not reinventing the wheel each year, you're doing it wrong.

"Which at least partially should be revamped" was the key phrase here hon

PP, funny.

Anonymous wrote:I said that I prepare for the year in August. I review what I had planned the prior August and what I actually did (since I do make tweaks as needed). It’s like I do a lessons learned round table with myself. I incorporate new material, kerp some previous stuff, create some new materials (study guides, exams, extra credit) and plan out my year. FWIW, I don’t teach down. I refuse to teach to the LCD. I have a higher standard of what I teach, and most of my students rise to the occasion. For the ones that dont get it, I stay late and review with them 1-2 times a week (my office hours, if you will).. it’s really not that hard if you’re organized

How can you plan for the year over summer when you don't have an "instructional coach" there to guide you?

I said that I prepare for the year in August. I review what I had planned the prior August and what I actually did (since I do make tweaks as needed). It’s like I do a lessons learned round table with myself. I incorporate new material, kerp some previous stuff, create some new materials (study guides, exams, extra credit) and plan out my year. FWIW, I don’t teach down. I refuse to teach to the LCD. I have a higher standard of what I teach, and most of my students rise to the occasion. For the ones that dont get it, I stay late and review with them 1-2 times a week (my office hours, if you will).. it’s really not that hard if you’re organized

Oh, and I'm only allowed to miss planning if I use vacation hours to do so. Doesn't matter if I stay 4 hours late to make it up. I have to be in the building from 7:00-2:30, and any time I am not in the building it is PTO (unless for training or whatever school purpose, obviously). There is no such thing as flex time in schools I've worked in.

Anonymous wrote:If my 1st block is planning, my principal will let me attend my kids’ PTA morning meeting, my kids’ poetry reading, etc.

It’s not everyday, but it’s flexibke. I’m super organized, and I make tweaks as needed, but my semester is posted with assignments, due dates, materials covered each week. I prepare in August for the year, so I almost never stay late. And my coworkers almost never do, either.

How do you prepare in august for the year? I've been doing this for 10 years, and never taught the same units exactly the same way year over year. The kids are different. The teachers in the prior grade are different and emphasized different things. Every year they come with different math gaps and understandings, and I have to meet them where they are to bring them up. Every year I get the opportunity to look at old materials and rethink how to make them better--and I do!

Don't get me wrong, year 5 was sooooooo much easier than year 1, because I was modifying lessons every day instead of starting from scratch, but I literally have never used exactly the same thing the next year.

If my 1st block is planning, my principal will let me attend my kids’ PTA morning meeting, my kids’ poetry reading, etc.

It’s not everyday, but it’s flexibke. I’m super organized, and I make tweaks as needed, but my semester is posted with assignments, due dates, materials covered each week. I prepare in August for the year, so I almost never stay late. And my coworkers almost never do, either.

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax Underground has FCPS salaries listed.
Quite a few make 75k+. How is this a bad salary? They teach 3 periods and have a planning period (many teacher friends leave early or go in late - many principals allow such) 180 days a year? I know IT project managers who make the same (with 8 years experience) and work 9-630 with only 2 weeks vacation . I think Ryan and the others in Richmond need to stop acting so entitled. If you don’t want to teach, please quit. I’ll gladly take the career switcher program and take your job. And teachers don’t have shutdowns, yearly RIFs, and staying late as part of the culture.

How the heck do you go in late when your first class starts at 8 AM?