I was hoping someone would mention this. When people point out that their taxes pay for my job, I have to point out that my taxes pay for my job too. It's not like I get a free pass on paying my taxes or something
Yep, that one gets to me too. Many people are paid from taxes. Can I order the garbage man around and demand that he start coming on Monday instead of Friday? After all, I pay him! Do I have any right to criticize the way the DMV is run? Yes, my paycheck comes from the taxpayers; however, that doesn't make me a slave to them, nor does it mean that the general public has any special knowledge about what I do!
Teachers aren't "paid" during the summer. Some teachers receive a check during the summer because they opt to have a percentage of each check deducted during the year. That money is then paid out during the summer.
I don't know about all states, but we no longer have the option of dividing our pie into 10 or 12 pieces -- we receive 10 checks for the 10 months we work, nothing in the two months in which we do not work.
An individual student taking time off doesn’t affect anyone but the student. It’s the student (and ultimately the parents) responsibility for their own education. An absent teacher affects the entire class, including students and parents who expect that teacher to be present in the classroom while school is in session (with some exceptions, of course).
In theory, this sounds true . . . but in reality, things don't work that way.
If the teacher is out, she can leave one good lesson plan and the whole class is covered with one (admittedly long, detailed) document.
When one student is out today, two students are out tomorrow, and a different student is out the next day, the teacher must catch those students up individually, arrange after-school days for each of them -- it's a whole lot of work for the teacher, and it takes away from the time the teacher has to prepare for the whole class!
As for catching up being the responsibility of the student and his family, I suggest you look into the nuances of the No Child Left Behind legislation. If the class/school doesn't do well, NOTHING happens to the parents or the student -- but the teacher, the administration, and the school system may have serious consequences.
There are ALOT of people in America who have to make those types of sacrifices. My mother left me home alone sick and she waited on non emergency related medical procedures for slow times at work when she wouldn't be missed.
If your going into the teaching field you should know that your precence is IMPORTANT. You can't be replaced by someone who doesn't understand how you run your class and doesn't know your kids.
A day or two once in a while for emergencies is one thing (and a LUXURY that alot of other working people don't have,so excuse me if I don't weep for teachers) Taking time off for vacations or getting your house in order after moving (what? my mom worked 60 hrs a week and then moved us on the weekend by herself) or because you want to spend HALF the school year with your new baby,that half taken out of the middle, so you're there for the first and last couple of months, with about 10 different subs brought in during the interum because if they hire someone long term you get kicked off the books and gee you're more important then the kids right? That is something else and it does happen.I've seen it and worse.
Yes, all working mothers walk a thin line between being employees and being responsible for a growing human being, and at times those things conflict; however, your information is incorrect. Six months at home with a newborn isn't excessive, and an interim sub can take a teacher's place for up to two years without interferring with that teacher's ability to return to the job. Heard of the Federal Family Leave Act? Clinton enacted it, so it's hardly new.
No one's saying that the teacher's more important than the students; however, it would be shortsighted of the school system to "let go" a good, experienced teacher over a six-month maternity leave. You know, it's not all that easy to find people who know that
alot isn't a word, or that presence is spelled with an
s, or that
your and
you're aren't the same word!
Yes but teachers are paid 60,000(at the LOW end of the pay scale for teachers here, most make much more!) + for 180 days of work, thats a darn nice salary for half a years work! 333 a day doesn't sound to bad in my book!
Keep in mind that all teachers don't receive paychecks this size! I've been teaching 15 years, and I just crossed 40K two years ago. Those who are making the big bucks are in union states, and the union is taking a big bite of those paychecks every month; those states also tend to rank much higher in cost of living.
Also, we don't work half a year; we work ten months. To be more specific, I work 200 days/year. My husband (an engineer), on the other hand, works 50 weeks/year and has 10 holidays, which means he works about 240 days/year. More days? Yep. Twice as many as I work? Nope, but his paycheck is more than twice the size of mine. Argue, if you wish, but use the correct facts!
I love my job. But ANYONE going into it for the "time off" is nuts and won't last five years.
You're absolutely right. Many people have the idea that teaching is sort of a little "part time job". It isn't. I also love my job, and there's nothing else I want to do, but it drives me nuts when people complain about the entire profession, and their facts are just plain wrong!
Did you know that THREE out of every five new teachers leave the profession within five years? I have to believe it's because so many people enter the job with incorrect expectations. I'm glad to see that the university near us (which sends us many student teachers) is requiring more and more observation hours of prospective teachers early in their educations. The classroom is quite different from this side of the desk; it's better for everyone if the student learns the realities of the job early -- early while a change is still realistically possible. I've seen a few student teacher who've come into their last semester of college actually believing that teaching takes very little work apart from the actual face-time with the students; or that once you've made a lesson plan, you can just repeat it year after year with no preparation; or that a teacher is essentially just a student who wears heels. Realistic expectations = teachers who stay in the job.
One day is much different than a week or more. I've seen subs teach entire units and the result was that absolutely nothing was accomplished.
I would not say that this NEVER happens, but this doesn't have to be the fact. A good teacher and a good sub can work together -- especially if the teacher knows about the absences in advance -- so that there's no "down time".
Yes teaching is stressful at times, just as I'm sure many other jobs are. It's also very rewarding, just as I'm sure other jobs are. I don't understand why people get so wired up about teacher salaries. If it's a jealousy thing, go get a degree and join the ranks.
Yes, teaching is stressful, but it's also the only job I want. I had another professional job before I went back to school for a teaching certificate, and teaching is
not more or less stressful than my other job was -- it's just a better fit for my personality and skill set.
I think people assume they know everything about teaching because, hey, we were all students, right? So we all know exactly what the teacher does!
It is easy to point the finger at teachers because most of us have experienced teachers who have made the job look easy
Oh, I've had an education in this point lately! I have a student teacher this semester, and she's just wonderful! She really knows the subject well, and she has fantastic creative ideas -- especially dealing with technology. She's going to be a first-rate teacher, and I'd love for her to become my co-worker in the future. But . . . as much potential as she has, she's not experienced in the classroom yet, and she forgets little things -- things that I do without even thinking -- so I'm having her write DETAILED NOTES to herself: Have students get books from shelf. Do not speak until everyone's seated. Get everyone quiet, THEN give instructions. Write instructions on the board. Take questions. Give a time frame for this activity. She writes excellent lessons, and she'll do very well, but she doesn't make it look easy yet!
.
Uh ... already aware of that and covered it the minute I heard she was leaving with a coloring page of the Continent of Africa, had the students circle Nairobi (where my student will visit), brought in my own photos from the summer I lived in Malawi, read a few African stories (inc. Anansi). My student is supposed to be keeping a journal while she's there. I am hoping that the journal gets written in. When she took her 10 day trip in Oct., she was supposed to keep a journal but didn't. I have had kids go away for long vacations and not turn in the journal and not have much to say about their trip. A few years ago, I had one student go to S. Korea for 3 weeks. All she said was that the plane trip was long and she stayed at her Aunt's house and they didn't go anywhere or do anything. Nobody wrote in her journal (after all, if you truly did nothing, how much could you write?), did not bring anything in, so much for that. It was disappointing b/c what could've been a wonderful opportunity to see her native country, she didn't see anything but the airport and the inside of her aunt's house. You have to remember that not all vacations are going to be filled with learning experiences and opportunities to see unusual things. Not all parents are going to do those things for their children.
