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You do realize that in times of high volume or trade shows or production or whatever else is going on in businesses, that employees are not permitted to take time off. Blackouts, if you will.
If the amount of time off is so problematic, I recommend any teacher getting a job at a local company. Enjoy your 10 days. Then come back and cry about how unfair those 14 weeks off are.
Teachers receive an annual salary. They know when and how they are paid. Just like the rest of the workers in private companies. If they are ill equipped to do that math that will sustain them financially through the year, they shouldn't be teachers.
I've worked full-time in other careers. This is what I can tell you - teaching burns me out like nothing else. When I was a chef, I worked my ass off, but I left work with a clear head and more energy than I leave work now. My stress level was very low. I also worked in sales. It was more stressful than restaurants, but it was less stressful than teaching. Teaching can be absolutely brutal and draining. It's insanely demanding. You need to the time off to recharge and get your head right.
That being said, the amount of time off most people get in private industry is a joke. The rest of the industrialized world laughs at us. My wife works in HR for a non-profit and gets a decent amount of vacation. I would take her 4 weeks per year and less stress in a minute.
I've worked full-time in other careers. This is what I can tell you - teaching burns me out like nothing else. When I was a chef, I worked my ass off, but I left work with a clear head and more energy than I leave work now. My stress level was very low. I also worked in sales. It was more stressful than restaurants, but it was less stressful than teaching. Teaching can be absolutely brutal and draining. It's insanely demanding. You need to the time off to recharge and get your head right.
That being said, the amount of time off most people get in private industry is a joke. The rest of the industrialized world laughs at us. My wife works in HR for a non-profit and gets a decent amount of vacation. I would take her 4 weeks per year and less stress in a minute.
And there are teachers that phone it in and are not burned out. There are 25-year teachers teaching classes on children's literature and picture books. There are teachers that teach the textbook and nothing else.
And there are people in other careers who are also burned out ... or phoning it in.
Teachers do not have a monopoly on stress and burnout.
I've noticed that all teachers do -- generally speaking -- is complain about how their job is more difficult than anyone else's and that they don't get paid enough and that they don't get enough time off. It's rare to hear a group of teachers saying how much they love their jobs. It's always the opposite. How much they HATE it.
Well, you make a choice. Continue being a teacher or if you are miserable you get a different job. Just like EVERYONE ELSE.
I've noticed that all teachers do -- generally speaking -- is complain about how their job is more difficult than anyone else's and that they don't get paid enough and that they don't get enough time off. It's rare to hear a group of teachers saying how much they love their jobs. It's always the opposite. How much they HATE it.
Well, you make a choice. Continue being a teacher or if you are miserable you get a different job. Just like EVERYONE ELSE.
Did you notice that the topic of this thread is teacher quitting education to move to other jobs?
Apparently, they didn't need your advice to do exactly that.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,548 posts, read 57,460,499 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phetaroi
Yes, increasing class size will improve the individual attention a student gets. ....
As an
educator, (4th generation)
employer,
job creator,
parent,
lifelong school volunteer
and $25k annual tax contribution to 'schools'...(in 3 states)
I just measure results & offer and seek solutions. Not excuses
We lived, worked, educated, and hired in countries where teachers taught 40 students from 8am - 12pm, and 40 more students 1pm to 5 pm. (5 1/2 days / week).
That requires less than 1/2 the school buildings and teachers.
No buses (used public, private and WALKING)
No food service required
No gymnasiums (Used public facilities)
No Stadiums (Schools are for educating, not sports promotion)
No auditoriums (Used public)
Much fewer administrators required (~80-100 reporting, rather than USA average of 20 reporting staff/ admin)
results =
these countries FAR exceed USA in academics, very far exceed!
Hiring students (Academic output) far exceeds USA (where I, as an employer am expected to 'train' the graduates I hire.)
Spending / student is a fraction of USA
Quote:
So predicable from USA teacher / education staff... (Where are the intellectual solutions one would expect? Definitely not coming from USA education participants. (Advancement / improvements are not necessary to keep feeding at the trough of the failed USA edu system)
Quote:
Originally Posted by history nerd
As a teacher I can imagine ways to accomplish some of the suggestions....
But they all require parents sucking it up and losing some of what they are getting now, major changes to our national culture, or increasing taxes.
As a teacher I can (xxxx)* ways to accomplish some of the suggestions....
*(xxxx)... IMPLEMENT ways to accomplish improvement WITHOUT additional staff or expense, in fact... better / easier without the overhead of those who are unwilling or incapable.
Teachers Are Quitting, and Companies Are Hot to Hire Them - Today is a good day to put that choice into practice, if it is your desired outcome.
I don't think any other profession is challenged as much by people who claim they understand it better than those inside the field do. I have listened to parents without any college education try to tell me they understand "education" better than trained teachers. Teachers are beset with all kinds of nonsense today like laws prohibiting the "teaching of critical race theory" or prevent them from mentioning gay people or transgender people. Seriously, if I were a teacher I would be afraid to even mention the word "race" or the word "sex".
Public education is not a perfect system. I have had concerns for many years about the fact that it is too much of a "one size fits all model". Yet, the same people who criticize public education are generally the same ones who want to deprive schools of the resources and the money necessary to make it function for more diverse students.
The schools would probably function better if a large chunk of parents just shut up and let the schools do the job they are supposed to do.
As an
educator, (4th generation)
employer,
job creator,
parent,
lifelong school volunteer
and $25k annual tax contribution to 'schools'...(in 3 states)
I just measure results & offer and seek solutions. Not excuses
We lived, worked, educated, and hired in countries where teachers taught 40 students from 8am - 12pm, and 40 more students 1pm to 5 pm. (5 1/2 days / week).
That requires less than 1/2 the school buildings and teachers.
No buses (used public, private and WALKING)
No food service required
No gymnasiums (Used public facilities)
No Stadiums (Schools are for educating, not sports promotion)
No auditoriums (Used public)
Much fewer administrators required (~80-100 reporting, rather than USA average of 20 reporting staff/ admin)
results =
these countries FAR exceed USA in academics, very far exceed!
Hiring students (Academic output) far exceeds USA (where I, as an employer am expected to 'train' the graduates I hire.)
Spending / student is a fraction of USA
So predicable from USA teacher / education staff... (Where are the intellectual solutions one would expect? Definitely not coming from USA education participants. (Advancement / improvements are not necessary to keep feeding at the trough of the failed USA edu system)
As a teacher I can (xxxx)* ways to accomplish some of the suggestions....
*(xxxx)... IMPLEMENT ways to accomplish improvement WITHOUT additional staff or expense, in fact... better / easier without the overhead of those who are unwilling or incapable.
Teachers Are Quitting, and Companies Are Hot to Hire Them - Today is a good day to put that choice into practice, if it is your desired outcome.
Is there any job you don't have years of experience doing? How old are you? I ask because you seem to be an expert in everything and have years worth of experience doing it in several different countries. I enjoy your posts, you need to write a book about all these experiences.
As an
educator, (4th generation)
employer,
job creator,
parent,
lifelong school volunteer
and $25k annual tax contribution to 'schools'...(in 3 states)
I just measure results & offer and seek solutions. Not excuses
We lived, worked, educated, and hired in countries where teachers taught 40 students from 8am - 12pm, and 40 more students 1pm to 5 pm. (5 1/2 days / week).
That requires less than 1/2 the school buildings and teachers.
No buses (used public, private and WALKING)
No food service required
No gymnasiums (Used public facilities)
No Stadiums (Schools are for educating, not sports promotion)
No auditoriums (Used public)
Much fewer administrators required (~80-100 reporting, rather than USA average of 20 reporting staff/ admin)
results = [list][*]these countries FAR exceed USA in academics, very far exceed!
.
8-12 and 1-5 isn't the schedule I've encountered in developing nations. Usually, kids have to get up at 6 a.m. or earlier to be at school at 7. They get out at noon. The second shift goes from 1-6 p.m. I seriously doubt fewer teachers are needed, because one shift is elementary, the other is junior high and high school. Different teachers with different certifications are needed.
The schools exceed the US in academics, because they use the European system of education, which juggles more subjects per semester or year, and continues those subjects for a second or third year, roughly 2--3 days/week per subject. The US system covers 4 subjects thoroughly by teaching it 5 days/week, so the topic is covered in one semester, then another subject is done the next semester, and so on. US history in one semester, European history in another semester, biology in one semester, then a semester of chemistry. Compared to jumbling all those plus Music History, Art History, applied art and music, history of their particular continent (Latin America, Africa, whatever), math, foreign language, native language/grammar/writing/literature, all at the same time, and dragging it out over 4 years of high school.
This is not to imply the US system is better or worse. It's only providing clarity regarding how schooling is handled in those low-budget countries. It's not as simple as presented.
But in the meantime, parents are expecting more out of teachers. They about lost it in her district/county during hybrid learning. They send her emails about why their kid isn't performing well, and she'll send feedback about all their missing assignments, missed tests/quizzes, and absences and the parents just can't wrap their heads around it. My wife said there is so much grade inflation in their school because all it takes is the parents filing some sort of grievance, forcing the teachers to fudge the numbers upwards.
My wife likes her school because she says the admin is pretty supportive and relaxed, despite teaching in a county that is relatively conservative and thinks schools should run like businesses. But schools, at least pre-college, aren't supposed to be businesses. They're essentially non-profits tasked with providing all children with adequate and equivalent education across the board. All that despite the fact that these kids come from different backgrounds and have different levels of support at home.
I’ll bet the second or third time they had the event it ran a lot smoother.
You really aren’t any smarter or more competent, you’ve just done it before.
I agree that experience is the #1 factor in success. That is why it is so important to defer to people who have the requisite experience.
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