Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Hell Week

I've been teaching full time for three weeks now. It has been tough but not as tough as this week. Teachers deserve a lot of slack and appreciation for what they do. I've come to appreciate them more and more.

I start by arriving at school at 7am. It still isn't enough time to prepare before all the kids come at 9. Luckily we have a prep period but that is often consumed by meetings and other such nonsense. I've been at school everyday until 4. By that time I've been at school working myself to the bone for 9 hours. I come home and then I do my grading, my planning, my preping for about two hours.

Oh I also have responsibilities as a wife and mom.

Not to mention when I got observed they gave me a 3/6 for attendance. They said I'm not putting in enough time and hours...I think 11 hours a day is more than enough time UNLV. Especially for a 12 credit class.

I'm being observed today by the prickly principal.

I just want you to know that not only do teachers have to plan and prepare lessons/homework/grading. They also have to manage a class of 25 plus children, they have to meet all the standards and prove they are teaching each standard and that each kid is meeting that standard (if not they have to provide alternate instruction) and when the test scores come back they are to be held accountable for that. Which is all great and I think that is how it should be...except teachers get a LOT less credit for what they do.

4 comments:

Lilian said...

I hope it gets better for you soon.

Georgia said...

I whole-heartedly agree with you that teachers are one of the most underappreciated and overworked professionals in the world. The rewards certainly aren't monetary, but in the lives that you touch and affect for years and even generations. You will be remembered for your kindness, personality and your teachings can open doors to a multitude of opportunities...pretty rewarding when you think the impact you are having on your students.

My fouth and fifth grade teacher (same lady) died during my fifth grade year...I think about her almost every day. I recently wrote a thank you letter to my sixth grade teacher for the amazing influence he has had on my life.

You may never know how much you have impacted these little people you teach, but maybe you'll get a letter from one in about 40 years.

Melissa said...

Adam says: It is neat to impact a child's life positively. Last year I had a student that was suffering from Aspergers Autism (something like that) and he struggled to control his anger and didn't make friends easily. I dreaded having him in my class because the previous years were so disastrous with him. HOwever, we seemed to get along really well and we worked together to help him improve his behavior. Every teacher that knew him before his change has commented on what an amazing thing it was. Now he has friends and his teachers enjoy him, which is dramatically different from his first few years in elementary school.

Melissa said...

Adam also says: I look forward to getting a letter one day. However, I am not confident it will happen because our 3-5 grade students are terrible at letter writing unless I write the letter for them. I am hoping they get better at it. Some kids still cannot write a complete sentence with a capital letter at the beginning and proper punctuation at the end.