teacher myths

[Darsa]

Teachers don't shop at the grocery store! Ever see a student in the grocery store?

My daughter, her friend and his sister were with us at the state fair last week, and they saw THEIR PRINCIPAL there! IN A TEE-SHIRT!!! That was the conversation all the way home


I would never be able to be a teacher, ever. I don't know how they do it, and I have an enormous amount of respect for people who are able to put up with what they have to on a daily basis. I, personally, think they deserve to be able to take the summer off after what they have to do during the school year. Once snowflake with teacup parents is all it would take to send me right over the edge...

 

[bunny]

It doesn't matter what thread you start or what you call it, the teacher bashers will find their way in.

If your post is directed at me, I am not a teacher basher. I value all the hard work my children's teachers put into teaching them. My kids have had some amazing teachers. I recognize that.

I am just pointing out that I think in most regions teachers are adequately compensated for their work. I also don't think teaching is a cake walk but it also isn't extemely hard. I live in an area dominated by steel mills, coal mines, and chemical plants. Some of those jobs are hard and dangerous.

One thing I do envy teachers is job satisfaction. I would imagine it must be heartwarming to have a child look up to you.

 

[DawnM]

It is often a very rewarding job.....but the job is very different depending on where you work.

Not really aimed directly at you, just teacher bashers in general.

I taught high school in a very inner-city school. There were many heartwarming stories, but there were also a lot of tragedies. I LOVED my job.

DH got transferred across the country and for several reasons I have opted to stay home for now. I miss working many days and will probably go back at some point.

ETA: For some reason I completely missed the second part of your post.....really? You are comparing teaching to working in a steel mill or coal mine? How is it that teaching is always compared to a job that requires less than a high school diploma?

My husband is an accountant. Personally I find the work extremely boring, but it isn't "hard" as in physical labor hard.

Dawn

If your post is directed at me, I am not a teacher basher. I value all the hard work my children's teachers put into teaching them. My kids have had some amazing teachers. I recognize that.

I am just pointing out that I think in most regions teachers are adequately compensated for their work. I also don't think teaching is a cake walk but it also isn't extemely hard. I live in an area dominated by steel mills, coal mines, and chemical plants. Some of those jobs are hard and dangerous.

One thing I do envy teachers is job satisfaction. I would imagine it must be heartwarming to have a child look up to you.

 

[Michelle and crew]

Here is a myth: Standardized high stakes state testing is valuable and shows how well a teacher can teach or a student has learned.

This is a myth because in fact much of the high stakes testing flies in the face of what good teaching is supposed to be. It is paper, pencil, black and white no color. It is often unreasonable and one size fits all. It does not instill an intrinsic love of learning or thirst for knowledge but in fact is based on extrinsic motivation. It does more harm than good because some kids can excel in a variety of modalites but this type of testing only explores one.

Our state had a math test that was really a reading test. Even though some students were great in math the authors of the test made the problems so difficult to comprehend that the kids who could have at least excelled from a mathmatical aspect were crushed from a reading comp aspect. Then again some of the authors of the test were not teachers. I guess I forgot everyone knows better than the teacher and everyone else could do a better job. If that is the case WHERE are these wonderful people?

I agree. Standardized tests show very little. Almost all of them are really testing reading comprehension, imo. And like anyone with sense, I hate NCLB. I think it handicaps teachers.

I agree that the problem is that in some areas the myths, aren't. We have a strong union here, and strikes every 4 or 5 years. So it is no wonder people have an issue with them. I am not a believer of teachers unions, and have personally seen them work to move teachers who should have been fires. Or castrated.

Teachers in our district make more than some professions and less than others. That is life. I chose social work, and at the same degree level made a 1/3 less than the teachers. Paid by the same county. Oh well, we all make our choices.

And it doesn't take a "teacher" to learn to read. I learned from my grandmother, and my children learned from me.

 

[DawnM]

Opposite here. Teachers get 30 min. for lunch....they are not allowed to leave campus without signing out and signing out would mean dock in pay and there is no way to get back within 30 min. anyway.

We are responsible for our homerooms in case of an emergency.....so if there were a fire (or earthquake when I worked in SoCal), the students are directed to the football field and have a designated spot to meet with their homeroom teacher who is responsible for taking attendance and making sure noone is missing.

My husband on the other hand, has a one hour lunch break, can take longer if needed, can leave whenever he wants as long as the work gets completed, and can go in late and just stay late if he wants.

It just depends on what kind of job one has.

Dawn

At my DS old school, teachers were allowed to leave at lunch, they didn't eat lunch with the kids or take recess with them.



I would say that isn't an option for most people working -

 

[brerrabbit]

My wife works in a local Middle School. She is the Records Clerk/ Substitite/ duty worker/ back up nurse/ back up receptionist/ Xerox repair person. I know exactly what goes on in schools in our area. You want to talk about low pay? She works from 8 am till 4 pm and if she is not clocked out and leaving at 4 someone is yelling at her you realize you don't get overtime and we won't give you comp time for being here late so leave! Teachers in her school get lunch because she has lunch duty to watch the kids while the teachers eat. She works 8 hour days with 30 minutes for luch so basically 7.5 hours a day. The teachers work the same hours. She makes half what a starting teacher makes a year. She also works 1 week before the teachers get back and one week after they leave.

The teachers start at $42,000 a year and go up from there. Teachers with 20 years are making as much as $80,000 a year. I certainly appreciate what teachers do and at one point in my life considered it but went into the business world instead. In our state teachers pay into Teachers retirement and the retirement plan is decent but since you do not pay SS you can not collect it in retirement.

Overall if husband and wife both work as teachers in our area, which for some reason a lot do, it's not a bad life at all. Twenty years in with a combined income of $150,000 and a lot of time off. Every job has it's good and bad, and every career has to be built on over time. You don't start at the top pay scale. But given a lot of side benifits of the profession there are a lot of teachers in our area that would never think of doing anything else.

 

[MELSMICE]

The Myth - "Teachers don't make any money"

I know a 3rd grade teacher who makes almost $80 grand a year. She has a masters, but Puleeez - why are we hiring people with Masters degrees to teach 3rd grade for $80 grand. Sounds like a living wage to me! Plus the time off all summer, tenure, plus the pensions and retirement package...I wish I had become a teacher. Is this the exception?

Why not? I am not a teacher (although my sister is). Why shouldn't we pay our educators to educate our children? What price tag or value do you put on the education of your children? We pay athletes millions of dollars a year but we don't want to pay our educators?

In our area you can begin teaching with a bachelor's degree but you must obtain your master's degree within 5 years of graduating with your bachelor's to continue teaching. Most graduates will get a job teaching & go to school at the same time to achieve this goal.

If your post is directed at me, I am not a teacher basher. I value all the hard work my children's teachers put into teaching them. My kids have had some amazing teachers. I recognize that.

I am just pointing out that I think in most regions teachers are adequately compensated for their work. I also don't think teaching is a cake walk but it also isn't extemely hard. I live in an area dominated by steel mills, coal mines, and chemical plants. Some of those jobs are hard and dangerous.

One thing I do envy teachers is job satisfaction. I would imagine it must be heartwarming to have a child look up to you.

If you mean hard as in physically hard, no it's not, but teaching is not a cake walk. In fact, you really can't compare teaching with the professions you mentioned because they are so different.

Like I said, I am not a teacher, but I work in an education industry & work with children from 2 years old through college aged kids. Until you've walked in a teacher's shoes you can't even imagine what they go through on a daily basis.

Also, those summer off.................guess again. My sister who teaches 2nd grade has had about 6 mandatory seminars & workshops that she had to attend this summer. She paid a babysitter to watch her children so she could do these mandatory things. She will also be in her classroom next week prior to the start of school to get things set up for her students.

Don't get me wrong, I think teaching has some great perks as far as time off, etc., but it is certainly not the cake walk that many believe it is. I also think that a good teacher deserves every penny they receive to educate our children.

OK - off my soapbox!!!

 

[bgirldeb]

. Why shouldn't we pay our educators to educate our children? What price tag or value do you put on the education of your children? We pay athletes millions of dollars a year but we don't want to pay our educators?

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Why not? I am not a teacher (although my sister is). Why shouldn't we pay our educators to educate our children? What price tag or value do you put on the education of your children? We pay athletes millions of dollars a year but we don't want to pay our educators?

Because the athletes are being paid from the huge amounts of money being generated by their companies.

Teachers are being paid out our pockets. And, at least in our area, the Unions cannot seem to realize that a tax-base can only support salaries at a certain level. If every 3-5 years the salary schedule is adjusted another 4%-5%, where does it end?

The salaries in our area have now hit the 6-figure mark. This is not because the teachers have gotten better, but because politics rule in our district, and we have some large Districts that the State Union uses as "benchmarks" for the rest of the State, so they will stage, basically, a large scale war in that District. Also these higher salaries have not equated to "better education" as the Union would like you to believe. Test scores, graduation rates, % attending colleges, has all stayed stagnant.

The question most people have is, "Where does it end?" We certainly cannot put a value on our childrens' education, but what happens when the taxes required to pay the teachers drops some of those children into the poverty zone? What's more important at that point, food on the table or some political agenda to get all of the teachers in the State a 6-figure income?

 

[bunny]

"WE" don't pay athletes. Athletes earn money through advertising, ticket sales, etc. Teachers are paid through taxes. They are not sponsered by big companies.

The point I was trying to make in my previous post is that teachers act like they need combat pay. Their jobs may be stressful but they are not hard.

The questions is how much are their jobs worth. In my area a lot of people are out of work or have had major paycuts. Our teachers went on strike this spring because their health care was going to increase $50 per month. They still received their cost of living increases. I personally haven't had a pay increase for several years. And all of our costs have increased as well.

On top of that the teachers have great retirement plans. Yes, they are paying into them, but they are much better than the majority of private sector plans.

I live in Pennsylvania also and choose to send my children to private school since the public school get such low marks. The teachers at our school make 1/2 of what the public school teachers make and yet have some of the best scores in the area.

 

[Jaime4004]

Another myth I hear all the time: It cant be hard to be a kindergarten teacher--all you do is babysit!

I am going into my 3rd year teaching Kindergarten--i love it, but it is not babysitting...When i tell them that the kids are now reading and writing a bit in Kindergarten, they are amazed!

I second that! I'm very happy that my DD came out of kindergarten reading very well, along with math and counting money, etc. She learned quite a bit in the 2.5 hours/day she was there. Hope my DS does as well this year!

 

[Scurvy]

Why not? I am not a teacher (although my sister is). Why shouldn't we pay our educators to educate our children? What price tag or value do you put on the education of your children? We pay athletes millions of dollars a year but we don't want to pay our educators?

I think people worry so much about how much teachers earn because they have this belief that because they pay taxes, and taxes are used to pay the teachers, then they are paying the teachers and should get to control how much the teachers get. They think they are the teachers' bosses. Of course it doesn't really work that way. If you think you should be able to completely control how much the person who teaches your kid earns, you should hire a tutor.

Obviously teachers earn a decent amount in some areas. Both of my inlaws taught until last year and together they didn't earn as much as some teachers mentioned on this thread, so it clearly varies quite a bit from one area to the next.

So many people have the perception that it's "just" teaching, so teachers shouldn't earn much. It isn't important like being a football player or executive. After all, anyone can teach. I think most of the people who feel that way have never taught. It does take some special skills to be a good teacher. I'd really love to see some of the teacher bashers spend a year in the classroom, dealing not only with the kids but also the parents and the ridiculous policies that teachers are forced to follow. Oh yeah, and the budgets, when you're expected to do all sorts of things in the classroom but you don't actually have the budget to pay for any of it.

I don't complain about how much teachers earn. But I do have to object when people start trotting out the numbers as a justification for their expectation that teachers should put in even more hours. "Working" parents (as though teachers - or even stay at home parents - don't work) seem to think that teachers have all this "free time" and they ought to be willing to donate their time to make the parents' lives easier. Teachers already work full time jobs. Unlike those in most professional careers, they don't have much chance to earn promotion and raises. My husband works crazy hours but he sees that pay off every year when he gets his yearly evaluation. There's an incentive for him to work longer hours, to show that he's deserving of that next promotion. People always mention that sort of thing. They carry on about all the unpaid hours they are expected to put in to their job, and seem to think teachers should have to do the same thing. But they have a reason to do so. What incentive is there for teachers to devote all their time to their job? Most teachers put in quite a bit more than the minimum they are required to do, but there's no real benefit to working the extra time. They aren't going to get larger raises or bigger promotions than the teacher who does put in the minimum. They're doing the extra work because they think it's the right thing to do, but some parents still expect more. Because the parents have "real" jobs, they think their time is more valuable than that of someone who is "just" a teacher. I really think some people view teachers as nothing more than some combination of indentured servant and glorified babysitter.


Bunny - I take it you've been a teacher?

 

[MELSMICE]

"WE" don't pay athletes. Athletes earn money through advertising, ticket sales, etc. Teachers are paid through taxes. They are not sponsered by big companies.

The point I was trying to make in my previous post is that teachers act like they need combat pay. Their jobs may be stressful but they are not hard.

The questions is how much are their jobs worth. In my area a lot of people are out of work or have had major paycuts. Our teachers went on strike this spring because their health care was going to increase $50 per month. They still received their cost of living increases. I personally haven't had a pay increase for several years. And all of our costs have increased as well.

On top of that the teachers have great retirement plans. Yes, they are paying into them, but they are much better than the majority of private sector plans.

I live in Pennsylvania also and choose to send my children to private school since the public school get such low marks. The teachers at our school make 1/2 of what the public school teachers make and yet have some of the best scores in the area.

We will have to disagree on the hard part, as I personally believe a teacher's job is very difficult & very hard.

I disagree about "we" paying the athletes also. It is the public that supports those sponsors & advertisers & also the public that purchases the tickets to attend the athletic events. Without the ticket sales & the support of the sponsors by the public, the money would not be there to pay the athletes.

Every job has it perks & also things that sink about it, but every individual has the option to choose their profession.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

We will have to disagree on the hard part, as I personally believe a teacher's job is very difficult & very hard.

I disagree about "we" paying the athletes also. It is the public that supports those sponsors & advertisers & also the public that purchases the tickets to attend the athletic events. Without the ticket sales & the support of the sponsors by the public, the money would not be there to pay the athletes.

Every job has it perks & also things that sink about it, but every individual has the option to choose their profession.

However, I can opt out of paying Kobe Bryant's salary by not going to Lakers games, or purchasing goods that he puts his face on.

Exactly where would I end up if I decided I wanted to opt out of paying my taxes?

 

[Mermaid02]

We will have to disagree on the hard part, as I personally believe a teacher's job is very difficult & very hard.

I disagree about "we" paying the athletes also. It is the public that supports those sponsors & advertisers & also the public that purchases the tickets to attend the athletic events. Without the ticket sales & the support of the sponsors by the public, the money would not be there to pay the athletes.

Every job has it perks & also things that sink about it, but every individual has the option to choose their profession.

I think many jobs are very difficult and very hard- my dh is an electrician, he works long hours in HORRIBLE weather, climbs steel so high the thought makes me sick and risks his life every day. Firemen, policemen, nurses......... all have stressful difficult jobs.

I've paid more in taxes to education than I have to athletes and entertainers. A LOT MORE.

 

[minniebeth]

To lighten the thread a little, the myth that teachers live in closets is not true.

I had a little boy in my class once who thought I lived in the closet, lol.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

The thing that confuses me is teachers get upset when people express negative thoughts about their jobs. But all I hear are negatives from teachers -- low pay, long hours, teaching to a test, hard to handle students and parents, no lunch breaks. Maybe one part of a sentence says "don't get me wrong, I love my job" and then the next three paragraphs go on about how horrible it is. And I'm supposed to feel, as a parent, that my child isn't picking up on all the negativity from their teachers? I'm supposed to assume that even though you're all obviously miserable, you're doing what's in the best interest of my child and giving it your all? Many of these posts come across as being bitter that they actually chose to be teachers. Am I to assume you didn't know about all the negatives before you chose this line of work? And are you telling me that the summers off were not a consideration when you chose teaching? What exactly drove you to teach and what keeps you there if you're so miserable?

I agree teachers' pay may not be what most would like, and I know they put in longer hours than just the classroom hours. I also realize you have your own families who have needs, but then get out and do something else if it's so horrible. If you come into the year with a chip on your shoulder the kids will pick up on that, especially in the upper grades.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

To lighten the thread a little, the myth that teachers live in closets is not true.

I had a little boy in my class once who thought I lived in the closet, lol.

My best friend is an Elementary teacher. Whenever he sees a student out at the mall, or wherever, the student looks so surprised to see him. I really think they believe their teachers live at the school.

 

[Michelle and crew]

To lighten the thread a little, the myth that teachers live in closets is not true.

I had a little boy in my class once who thought I lived in the closet, lol.

Lol, I remember the first time that I realized that teachers had lives. I was selling cookies for brownies and knocked on my first grade teacher's door. She was wearing a housecoat and slippers!!'

inconceivable!

 

[lovesmurfs]

To lighten the thread a little, the myth that teachers live in closets is not true.

I had a little boy in my class once who thought I lived in the closet, lol.

I'll never forget when my 4th grade teacher sent me a thank you note for the gift I gave her for Christmas. She MAILED it and included her return address on the envelope. I thought it was the coolest thing that she had an address!