Teachers
When I tell people that I'm a teacher, they usually comment on my long summers and the minimal days I work a year. Those are the ignorant ones who don't know any better. They view our 190 days as a piece of cake and our summers as whipped cream icing. I don't really mind what they have to say about my job because they're working over three hundred days and rarely get more than one week off during the summer. I think they believe I'm lying when I tell them I spend hours on lesson plans, grading papers, setting goals and objectives when I'm not physically at school. Again, those are not the individuals with whom I'm upset. I'm upset with our educational leaders who are so out of touch with the classroom teacher that they implement ridiculous policies and then expect our educational success.
I would love to say that a teacher's day is all rosy. That we go into our classes and have students who are one hundred percent there. I would love to say they have all been fed, sheltered, loved, and attended to. I would love to say none of my teenage students have to work, so they can add to the family's income, and that they come to class refreshed after a great night's sleep. I would love to say that I teach my subject, they learn, and then we all go home happy to our weekends, holidays, and summers off. The truth is, none of that is true. Classrooms are made up of every type of individual you can think. We have the melting pot of society in one room, and oftentimes the melting pot boils over. Sometimes teachers spend more time solving social issues than they do teaching. Let me give an example. Imagine a child going to school after a difficult morning at home. The teacher notices the student is experiencing a hardship, suggests they speak after class, and then begins class. The student is not being attentive because the student has an unresolved issue, so he or she becomes somewhat disruptive. Now the teacher must set aside the lesson to handle the disruptive behavior. The momentum is lost yet as soon as the situation is resolved, the teacher resumes teaching. The fifty minutes of teaching became forty minutes of teaching, if that, since it normally takes students at least five minutes at the beginning of each class to adjust to a new subject.
Adding more students and or adding more classes in order to save money on salaries will not increase student learning; this adds to tension, teacher burn out, and poor student retention. As it is most students have about a ten minute concentration maximum. With shorter class time, increased class sizes and increased classes, teachers are being asked to do the impossible which is to teach to diverse learning styles without being given the opportunity to be creative, since planning time has also been demolished.
I realize I am biased. I have been teaching for nearly thirty years, so I'm pretty passionate about my profession. I believe educational success will happen when teachers are given opportunity to grow in their field, when they are respected and admired by administrators, parents, political leaders, and school boards. I want to impart my subject to students who have been cared for and tended to. I want leaders to understand that a teacher's day begins with the best intentions to teach and to do right by each of our students. I want senators, congressmen, mayors, governors, and even our president to know that we may teach 190 days a year, but we are working hundreds of days and hours more to prepare for our classes and our students.
I would love to say that a teacher's day is all rosy. That we go into our classes and have students who are one hundred percent there. I would love to say they have all been fed, sheltered, loved, and attended to. I would love to say none of my teenage students have to work, so they can add to the family's income, and that they come to class refreshed after a great night's sleep. I would love to say that I teach my subject, they learn, and then we all go home happy to our weekends, holidays, and summers off. The truth is, none of that is true. Classrooms are made up of every type of individual you can think. We have the melting pot of society in one room, and oftentimes the melting pot boils over. Sometimes teachers spend more time solving social issues than they do teaching. Let me give an example. Imagine a child going to school after a difficult morning at home. The teacher notices the student is experiencing a hardship, suggests they speak after class, and then begins class. The student is not being attentive because the student has an unresolved issue, so he or she becomes somewhat disruptive. Now the teacher must set aside the lesson to handle the disruptive behavior. The momentum is lost yet as soon as the situation is resolved, the teacher resumes teaching. The fifty minutes of teaching became forty minutes of teaching, if that, since it normally takes students at least five minutes at the beginning of each class to adjust to a new subject.
Adding more students and or adding more classes in order to save money on salaries will not increase student learning; this adds to tension, teacher burn out, and poor student retention. As it is most students have about a ten minute concentration maximum. With shorter class time, increased class sizes and increased classes, teachers are being asked to do the impossible which is to teach to diverse learning styles without being given the opportunity to be creative, since planning time has also been demolished.
I realize I am biased. I have been teaching for nearly thirty years, so I'm pretty passionate about my profession. I believe educational success will happen when teachers are given opportunity to grow in their field, when they are respected and admired by administrators, parents, political leaders, and school boards. I want to impart my subject to students who have been cared for and tended to. I want leaders to understand that a teacher's day begins with the best intentions to teach and to do right by each of our students. I want senators, congressmen, mayors, governors, and even our president to know that we may teach 190 days a year, but we are working hundreds of days and hours more to prepare for our classes and our students.