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Try being an OR tech or working on a nuclear sub. At least teachers get to wear street clothes.
Define "central office" please?
I'm retired, and thus am able to pee whenever I please. When I was employed, I got an average of one lunch break a week (and could hold it indefinitely if necessary, and it often was) until I got smart and started working in a small private practice.
Sure. The routine is similar (though I will note you don't have to shower with thirty other people or suffer through the school bus). However, the power structure, the peer group, the compensation, and often even the dress code are completely different (unless teachers have started having to wear polos with school crests and plaid skirts, like a couple of magnet schools in this district), depending upon whether you're at the beginning or end of those 50 or so years-- which was the original point.
Not every profession is perfect and I have never said teachers have it worse then anyone else so don't try to paint that picture. I have often posted how good we have it. Yes working on a nuclear sub is not bed of roses especially if you are tall. Hmmm are you even able to? Remember teaching spans a number of years and a number of health situations. Some stages of life you go to the bathroom more than others. Most public school students don't wear uniforms and if you study the profession many school districts are discussing dress codes for teachers. Teachers have their own peer group structure and students react to teachers through the same prism they do each others. Parents often do. The cool coach can do no wrong and the nerdy teacher gets laughed at. Both groups respond to the same power structure within the building and is the school based administration. Central office is the centrally located and center for school system operations. They operate in a student free environment and thus don't have a lot of the restrictive constraints classroom teachers do. A classroom math teacher going to central office to develop curriculum begins to operate with a very different set of constraints. Not sure how many kids still take group showers in school anymore. To many issues and possible issues associated with. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/22/us...pagewanted=all
The above article is from 1996 and I have no reason to believe more students are showering today. Not sure when you went to school but it may be that a lot has changed.
You noted in another post that you functioned as a Special Education advocate. Did that school system have a central office that you worked with as the advocate? Was there anyone from the district Special Education office working with the school based team?
"I'd be happy to teach your child if only she were normal". Please tell me this isn't what you're saying. Because a teacher actually uttered those exact words at an IEP meeting I attended as an advocate.
The terminology exceptional is applied to Special Education Students and Services. Thus implying something other than normal procedures and practices. exceptionalities - About.com : Special Education
I have no idea how the teacher meant it but I am sure as the advocate you were aware of the nuances of Special Education and if they said it within the appropriate context. The poster you are responding to can respond to your question of them.
Not every profession is perfect and I have never said teachers have it worse then anyone else so don't try to paint that picture.
Hey, you asked:
Originally Posted by TuborgP Working school based and working at central office afford very different experiences. At central office you can get up and urinate when you need to and can eat lunch when you need to and leave the building easily if you want for lunch. Do school based teachers have the same luxuries? Do you?
Must you get coverage to use the rest room? Is your lunch time usually the same time every day unless you have planning to back it up etc etc etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TuborgP
Central office is the centrally located and center for school system operations. They operate in a student free environment and thus don't have a lot of the restrictive constraints classroom teachers do. A classroom math teacher going to central office to develop curriculum begins to operate with a very different set of constraints. Not sure how many kids still take group showers in school anymore. To many issues and possible issues associated with. Students Still Sweat, They Just Don't Shower - The New York Times
The above article is from 1996 and I have no reason to believe more students are showering today. Not sure when you went to school but it may be that a lot has changed.
I went to school considerably before that article was written (and to private school-- no group showers, ftr), but my eldest two daughters graduated from public school since. Our metro area still has working locker rooms (and children being assaulted in them, but I digress).
You noted in another post that you functioned as a Special Education advocate. Did that school system have a central office that you worked with as the advocate? Was there anyone from the district Special Education office working with the school based team?
I am not a district employee. I've been trained through a local advocacy program for disabled children and their families.
The district sends an LEA representative, some of whom are infinitely better versed in SpEd law than others.
I have no idea how the teacher meant it but I am sure as the advocate you were aware of the nuances of Special Education and if they said it within the appropriate context. The poster you are responding to can respond to your question of them.
In complete and utter frustration-- and unfortunately for her, also on tape.
Hey, you asked:
Originally Posted by TuborgP Working school based and working at central office afford very different experiences. At central office you can get up and urinate when you need to and can eat lunch when you need to and leave the building easily if you want for lunch. Do school based teachers have the same luxuries? Do you?
Must you get coverage to use the rest room? Is your lunch time usually the same time every day unless you have planning to back it up etc etc etc.
I went to school considerably before that article was written (and to private school-- no group showers, ftr), but my eldest two daughters graduated from public school since. Our metro area still has working locker rooms (and children being assaulted in them, but I digress).
LOL locker rooms still exist and get used but showers don't. If the locker room is bad can you imagine what the shower with nude bodies would be like? How many teachers want to take the risk of supervising and watching 30 nude 17 year old's in the shower. To not provide proper supervision oh well that's another law suit.
hey when you work on a nuclear sub you stay submerged a long time but you do get to see the world. A teacher gets to leave during the day for inservice and not much else. They all have their perks. But you must admit that serving on a nuclear sub is unique and probably not comparable at first to your life activities prior to the service.
I am not a district employee. I've been trained through a local advocacy program for disabled children and their families.
The district sends an LEA representative, some of whom are infinitely better versed in SpEd law than others.
Local Education Administrator probably works in central office and in some ways likes their job better and in other ways doesn't. They have a different set of stress and pressure but have a freedom that they cherish. All jobs have a plus and a minus side to them. Teaching after awhile can in some ways become redundant and people need a change and find it difficult to obtain. They also realize they have been in that environment for a long time even if the roles are different it is stll the same environment and not always the most attractive. Brand new schools with all the bells and whistles offer something that makes them unique new and different. Office space can be configured differently but classrooms tend to remain oh so similar.
A little numbers adding for us to consider. Foget grade K. Just grades 1-12 at a 180 day school year and perfect attendance a student walks through the school parking lot and into school 2,160 possible days. In a 35 year career with 192 work days and perfect attendance a teacher walks through the parking lot and into a school approx 6,720 days for a grand total of 8,880 days of potential school attendance. I am not including college because hey those were the best of times nor Kindergarten cause that was often a half day and you got to take a nap. Forget the role you are in, there is a lot of potential redundancy from age 5 to about 57.
If you don't like learning or aren't a very good student, then yeah, being in school is unappealing, but I think teachers are burning out for other reasons.
I agree. Im not a teacher, but I'm pretty well-versed in watching many. I think that the demands of teaching to test as required by legislation/administration vs. being able to teach the way they know best plays a part (i.e. micromanagement). Also, having to be the police, social service agent, and pseudo parent (in some cases) cannot be easy either.
Add to it the fact that they are often criticised for working only 180 days a year when in fact (in most cases) they work evenings and/or weekends. All of the "other" hours put into classroom maintenance, paper corrections, pupil evaluations, and class planning take additional time, but apparently can be done while they're teaching.
I used to marvel at a parent of another team member on my son's baseball team. She would cheer her son on with one eyeball peeled on him and the other scanning the tests she was correcting for her 6th grade class. She didn't have time to do it directly after school because she had a mandatory faculty meeting. I think her ability to multitask was one of the reasons her students did well.
Last edited by cebdark; 07-21-2009 at 11:21 AM..
Reason: sentence correction
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