This is a truly eye opening article. I think it would be powerful for people outside the education field. I think that all teachers, no matter what level, spend an enormous amount of time planning, grading, participating, and valuing education and their students. While we did "sign up" to be educators we do spend a lot of time preparing our students to be productive members of society. This article definitely "speaks the truth".
There are far too many people that need exposure to this article. Like todd1km, I agree that teachers of all grades spend countless hours beyond what is expected of them. Why? Because we care. And if we only put in our 40 hours/week, then we wouldn't be reaching our students as well as we can. It bothers me when people think we are "so lucky" to have summers off. Personally, I think we all deserve it! :)
I think this article is spot on!! It also reminds me of a conversation I had with a man I know from my "other job"--dog shows. This man is a superintendent, which means he is in charge of putting on the shows. When I was turning in some entries a few weeks ago, he made some comment to me about "gee, it would be so nice to be you and have my summers free." I asked him what he meant, and he explained that "not all of us are so lucky as to have weekends and summers off!" I was a bit flustered, but I mentioned that on my time "off", I was usually taking classes, preparing for the next year, attending conferences, and doing schedules for the upcoming year...and oh, I didn't get paid for that! As far as putting in only 40 hours a week, I can tell you right now that it is ONLY Tuesday, and I have already worked at least 20 hours!! (And it is only 9:20 AM!)
This is a truly eye opening article. I think it would be powerful for people outside the education field. I think that all teachers, no matter what level, spend an enormous amount of time planning, grading, participating, and valuing education and their students. While we did "sign up" to be educators we do spend a lot of time preparing our students to be productive members of society. This article definitely "speaks the truth".
ReplyDeleteThere are far too many people that need exposure to this article. Like todd1km, I agree that teachers of all grades spend countless hours beyond what is expected of them. Why? Because we care. And if we only put in our 40 hours/week, then we wouldn't be reaching our students as well as we can. It bothers me when people think we are "so lucky" to have summers off. Personally, I think we all deserve it! :)
ReplyDeleteI think this article is spot on!! It also reminds me of a conversation I had with a man I know from my "other job"--dog shows. This man is a superintendent, which means he is in charge of putting on the shows. When I was turning in some entries a few weeks ago, he made some comment to me about "gee, it would be so nice to be you and have my summers free." I asked him what he meant, and he explained that "not all of us are so lucky as to have weekends and summers off!" I was a bit flustered, but I mentioned that on my time "off", I was usually taking classes, preparing for the next year, attending conferences, and doing schedules for the upcoming year...and oh, I didn't get paid for that! As far as putting in only 40 hours a week, I can tell you right now that it is ONLY Tuesday, and I have already worked at least 20 hours!! (And it is only 9:20 AM!)
ReplyDelete