A few months ago, probably around the time school was letting out for summer, I had a somewhat disturbing conversation with a man at our church about teachers and schools. He is a very nice man with whom we have broken Wednesday night bread on several occasions, and even though we do not know his family well, we do know that he and his wife have two school-aged children.
Please do not think that I am speaking ill of him when I relate the meat of our conversation. I don't think of him in that way because this was not the first time I had heard these sentiments and I know a lot of people think this way. That's why I'm writing this post - to set the record straight.
During the course of our talk, he let me know his feelings on teachers and how our schools work. His thoughts included the following phrases:
Teachers waste too much time babysitting.
The teachers at _______ School just don't care.
The only reason the teachers at __________ School care more is because they get more money.
I'd like to address these issues, if I may.
Teachers do not "waste" time, and they are certainly not "babysitting." Every minute of every day is consumed with something they are doing for your child. I do not limit this to just the 9-12 hours they spend in the classroom every day. (What? You didn't know teachers got to school around the time you wake up and leave when you're sitting down to dinner with your family? True story.) Let me shed some light on a typical day in the life of a teacher. I can only speak from high school experience, but perhaps and elementary school teacher can fill us in with a comment or two.
4:30 - 6:30 Wake up, shower, get dressed, feed your own children, grab coffee, fly out the door, drop kids off at daycare, pray that you get to school in time to do half the things you need to get done.
6:30 - 7:20 Work on the 3-5 pages of lesson plans that have to be posted in exactly the right format, with all standards and objectives highlighted, by 7:30.
7:20 - 7:45 Morning duty. This could include bus duty, cafeteria duty, all duty, any duty that requires you to tell girls their skirts are too short and to break up fights between people who are half your age and twice your size.
7:45 - Noonish Try to get in as much teaching as possible between filling out paperwork on absent kids, kids who are failing your class, kids who are on a field trip today, etc.
12:00-12:20 Run to cafeteria, inhale lunch, cross your fingers that you have time to go potty, be back in room before any students show up.
12:20 - 1:00 Teach some more. Pause every 45 seconds or so for the kid who can't stop talking/texting/trying to ring the trash can with balled up paper.
1:00 - 2:00 Planning period. This is a misnomer. You actually use the entire time trying to contact parents of students whose grades fall below a C, because if they don't answer the phone, it goes on record that you never tried to contact them at all.
2:00 - 3:00 Teach last class of the day.
3:00 - Whenever you can tear yourself away from the desk - Start working on next week's lesson plans, grade some papers, call more parents, go to faculty meetings, meet with parents, answer emails, etc.
When you get home, you grade papers until you fall asleep. This is also true of Spring Break and Winter Break.
At what point, exactly, did this teacher "waste time babysitting?"
The other issue I'd like to address is that of the uncaring teacher.
Teachers have to do what they're told, just like you do when you go to work. They will lose their jobs if they do not follow orders, just like you will if you don't follow orders.
Often, and I'm speaking from my own experience and well as from the experiences of former colleagues, teachers are told to, "Just teach what's on the exam, even if you have to exclude the rest of the curriculum." "If a student's grade is borderline passing, you do what you have to do to make them pass." Teachers are sometimes told to change grades so that students cannot fail, even if the student has not understood a single word of what was taught. (Not every school is like this, but please do not be so naive as to think it doesn't happen.)
There are programs adopted by schools every year that are HORRIBLE and go against everything we know is good for students. We have to teach them, anyway. It's our job.
Do teachers know all those things are wrong? Absolutely. If they didn't care, they would stand up, walk out, and never look back. It's because they DO care that they stay, hoping that something they've said will stick in a child's brain and the lightbulb will at least flicker.
And lastly, teachers don't teach for money. If you chose a teaching career, you didn't do it because you wanted to be a millionaire. You did it because you love it. You have to love it. It has to be under your skin and in your veins, or it's just not worth it. And, if it's not worth it to you, it won't be long before you find yourself taking another path.
I love it. I plan to do it all over again, as soon as I feel that it's the right decision for me and my family. It is so worth it.
So, ask yourself this question as you send your kids back to school in a few days: What would happen if you prayed for your child's teacher and sent some words of encouragement, instead of writing him or her off as a glorified babysitter? Think about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment