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| At the beginning of this school year, we hired a new teacher. She used to be an accountant, but she wanted a less stressful job, so she went back to school for her teaching certificate. She left on her second day of school in tears. She didn't even make it through the whole day. She called in sick for the next three days until she finally decided she could not come back and turned in her resignation. I can't tell you the number of people who have said to me that once they retire from their real jobs, they might like to teach for a few years, you know for the enjoyment and to make a difference in the system. Are people really that clueless??? This isn't a profession of relaxation and playtime. I've worked in an office before. There is no comparison. We start the day and end the day working. There's no breaktime or chitchat in the coffee room. Have you ever eaten a meal with a teacher? I'd advise you never to go up against one in a speed-eating contest. On in-service days, we get real lunch hours. It's so exciting to go out to eat like real grown-ups. But, we finish our food in 10 minutes and don't know what to do with ourselves. We also have administrators combing the parking lots and our classrooms to make sure we don't take advantage of our less structured time. All those great holidays that we get? We need that time to grade the papers that stack up becasue there aren't enough hours in the regular workday available. Summertime? Ask around and you'll see how many teachers take a second job because they need the money. Yes, this is my rant and it's not a frequent one, but some days, we're asked (commanded) to do one thing too many, like sponsor a school group for no extra pay or grade a benchmark test on top of all of our other work. People often tell me sympathetically that teachers really should be paid so much more money. My response, albeit not a very nice one, especially since people are genuinely trying to show support, is to ask them what percentage of their pay they'd be willing to turn over. It's a real question. Our pay comes from taxes (and I won't even tell you what I think about people who tell me that, technically, they pay my salary and should have some control). But, so far, I have received basically the exact same response every time. "Well, if I had more money to give, I would certainly be willing to give to the cause." Nobody has more to give!!! The more people make, the more they want to upgrade their lifestyles. Now, it may sound like I don't like my job. Far from it. I LOVE my job. I knew some of what I was getting into before I entered it, but I'll tell you what, if I can just be in my classroom with my students, I'm happy as can be. It's all the outside influences that tarnish the system. My advice for any willing to enter this field, make sure you have a love for it. It's a necessity in order to deal with the frustrations. |
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