[quote name='dmaul1114']This is one of those things where people who've never taught just need to shut the up.
People don't realize how much work goes into every hour of class room time. Or how much time is spent on grading shit and providing useful feedback. And that all this has to happen outside of the five 8-hour workdays as the non-class room time gets ate up by meetings, administrative tasks etc. If a teacher is lucky they're school gives them one free period to work on their class prep, grading etc.
There's also just so much bullshit that goes into it with administrative work, meetings in school, meetings with parents etc. I've had several friends that quit as they just didn't feel they could be good teachers and have any kind of life as so much of their work day time outside of class periods was wasted on bullshit that they had to slave away nights and weekends just to keep up with basic course prep and grading. Much less to try and go the extra mile and be creative and extra effective in teaching.
The problem is a lot of people are just bitter and hate their jobs and look at teachers and think they're just working 5-7 hour days nine months of the year when they don't understand the reality of the situation. Just a case of the grass is always greener.
And I'm not being defensive as I'm a college prof at a research university and have zero desire to ever be a K-12 teacher, and have no real gripes about my workload or salary. I like my work, spend a lot of time on it as I enjoy it and think it's meaningful, and think I'm fairly compensated for what I do and the stage of my career.
I just find it depressing how education is undervalued in our country when it's the future of our society, and how many people have such misguided opinions of the amount of work that goes into teaching--especially to be a good teacher, because they're miserable in their own careers and lives.[/QUOTE]
Are you referring to me? I'm not bitter or miserable. I don't think I undervalue education. I just don't think teachers are saints that can't be questioned.
No offense, but everyone knows many teachers. Among the ones I know, some work lots of hours, some don't. Some love their job, some tolerate it, some hated it and quit. Just like every job.
Everyone has to deal with meetings and admin work. Everyone. No one believes that teachers are immune from that.
So, what would be an appropriate work schedule for a teacher? How many hours of class time? 6.5 hours doesn't seem crazy to me.
People don't realize how much work goes into every hour of class room time. Or how much time is spent on grading shit and providing useful feedback. And that all this has to happen outside of the five 8-hour workdays as the non-class room time gets ate up by meetings, administrative tasks etc. If a teacher is lucky they're school gives them one free period to work on their class prep, grading etc.
There's also just so much bullshit that goes into it with administrative work, meetings in school, meetings with parents etc. I've had several friends that quit as they just didn't feel they could be good teachers and have any kind of life as so much of their work day time outside of class periods was wasted on bullshit that they had to slave away nights and weekends just to keep up with basic course prep and grading. Much less to try and go the extra mile and be creative and extra effective in teaching.
The problem is a lot of people are just bitter and hate their jobs and look at teachers and think they're just working 5-7 hour days nine months of the year when they don't understand the reality of the situation. Just a case of the grass is always greener.
And I'm not being defensive as I'm a college prof at a research university and have zero desire to ever be a K-12 teacher, and have no real gripes about my workload or salary. I like my work, spend a lot of time on it as I enjoy it and think it's meaningful, and think I'm fairly compensated for what I do and the stage of my career.
I just find it depressing how education is undervalued in our country when it's the future of our society, and how many people have such misguided opinions of the amount of work that goes into teaching--especially to be a good teacher, because they're miserable in their own careers and lives.[/QUOTE]
Are you referring to me? I'm not bitter or miserable. I don't think I undervalue education. I just don't think teachers are saints that can't be questioned.
No offense, but everyone knows many teachers. Among the ones I know, some work lots of hours, some don't. Some love their job, some tolerate it, some hated it and quit. Just like every job.
Everyone has to deal with meetings and admin work. Everyone. No one believes that teachers are immune from that.
So, what would be an appropriate work schedule for a teacher? How many hours of class time? 6.5 hours doesn't seem crazy to me.
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