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I was hoping for a more detailed explanation than your simple yes or no response. Like I stated, this is not an attack. These were my pre-conceived thoughts, so it is what it is. Show me where I made ignorant comments?
If you wanted to know what the hours and responsibilities of teaching are, Nemesis, then ask - don't make fatuous posts and expect them to be taken seriously.
And given that, in spite of your initial tone, you have gotten several folks who pointed out where you made ignorant comments, but you are persisting in what still seems like a trolling expedition, rather than responding to the MEAT in prior comments, I see no reason to change my initial reaction.
So, if you actually want to know something, then go ahead and respond to the folks who have told you what things are like for them. Ask some questions based upon the serious comments you have gotten. Maybe do a short search on "work load" in this forum, or something...
Is being a teacher really that difficult? During my k-12 years, I've always heard teachers complaining about lack of pay and hard work. Is this an exaggeration or the truth?
Teachers where I live with a BA/BS start at like $41k. Plus, their hours are roughly 7 hours of working a day. Add into the fact that like 3 of these hours are dedicated to supposed "curriculum planning". They also from my knowledge receive all the breaks that students get and don't work over the summer which allows them to pick up more money working side jobs.
So am I fair in this assessment?
Please, by all means, go into teaching. I predict you won't even make it to Christmas break.
It's a stereotypical assessment from someone who has no inside knowledge of the job of a teacher, and no it's not an accurate one.
Starting salary varies widely from area to area. In Texas the average starting salary is somewhere just under $30,000, however the starting salary in the DFW area is closer to $50,000.
The teachers here are on contract to work at a minimum of 8 hours per day, depending on their specific jobs. My daughter who teaches in elementary is contracted from 7:40-4:00 daily while my daughter who teaches high school is contracted from 7:20-4:30 daily.
They are also contracted for a minimum of 180 days per year during the school year and an addtional 2-3 weeks during the summer for professional development. They do typically have 3 days at Thanksgiving, the 2 weeks at Christmas and a week of Spring Break. About the only other holidays they consistently have off is Labor Day. Some years they have off MLK day and/or Memorial Day, but not always.
They have at the very most a one hour block per day to work on lesson plans, conduct parent conferences, hold/attend staff meetings, make copies and other things like meet with the principal concerning problem students.
Both of my girls are often there longer than their contracted hours in order to get things done that don't fit into the actual work day and that have to be done at school. They also have times that they must tutor students before or after school. They also have after school events they must attend on occasion.
Add to that all the hours spent at home grading papers, finishing lesson plans, organizing/prepping for class and they spend far more than 40 hours a week during the school year. Their normal weeks average about 60 hours a week school related work.
Doing the math, that means they work over 2300 hours per year compared to a person working a normal 40 hour job who works 2000 hours per year.
So it would be more accurate to say they work so hard and so long during the school year that they need that little time off they have during the summer in order to be ready to start all over the next year.
Is being a teacher really that difficult? During my k-12 years, I've always heard teachers complaining about lack of pay and hard work. Is this an exaggeration or the truth?
Teachers where I live with a BA/BS start at like $41k. Plus, their hours are roughly 7 hours of working a day. Add into the fact that like 3 of these hours are dedicated to supposed "curriculum planning". They also from my knowledge receive all the breaks that students get and don't work over the summer which allows them to pick up more money working side jobs.
So am I fair in this assessment?
Welcome to the world of teaching.
We have tried for years to conceal the truth.
We go to work for 7 hours...
One hour is breakfast (6 hours left)
One hour is lunch (5 hours left)
3 hours are curriculum planning. (2 hours left)
One is dedicated to classroom management (1 hour left)
One is dedicated to grading papers ( ZERO hours left)
and we all go home when the bell rings having collected a big FAT check
for doing NO TEACHING and working 180 days.
And now, thanks to you, this knowledge has been made public on C-D
Every unemployed person in the country will be enrolling
in a teaching program at their local university.
As luck would have it, I also understand someone else has
revealed that EVERY district in the country is really HIRING at least 100 teachers between now and June and another 200 teachers for September.
This darn C-D is giving away all our best kept secrets!
It's a stereotypical assessment from someone who has no inside knowledge of the job of a teacher, and no it's not an accurate one.
Starting salary varies widely from area to area. In Texas the average starting salary is somewhere just under $30,000, however the starting salary in the DFW area is closer to $50,000.
The teachers here are on contract to work at a minimum of 8 hours per day, depending on their specific jobs. My daughter who teaches in elementary is contracted from 7:40-4:00 daily while my daughter who teaches high school is contracted from 7:20-4:30 daily.
They are also contracted for a minimum of 180 days per year during the school year and an addtional 2-3 weeks during the summer for professional development. They do typically have 3 days at Thanksgiving, the 2 weeks at Christmas and a week of Spring Break. About the only other holidays they consistently have off is Labor Day. Some years they have off MLK day and/or Memorial Day, but not always.
They have at the very most a one hour block per day to work on lesson plans, conduct parent conferences, hold/attend staff meetings, make copies and other things like meet with the principal concerning problem students.
Both of my girls are often there longer than their contracted hours in order to get things done that don't fit into the actual work day and that have to be done at school. They also have times that they must tutor students before or after school. They also have after school events they must attend on occasion.
Add to that all the hours spent at home grading papers, finishing lesson plans, organizing/prepping for class and they spend far more than 40 hours a week during the school year. Their normal weeks average about 60 hours a week school related work.
Doing the math, that means they work over 2300 hours per year compared to a person working a normal 40 hour job who works 2000 hours per year.
So it would be more accurate to say they work so hard and so long during the school year that they need that little time off they have during the summer in order to be ready to start all over the next year.
It's a stereotypical assessment from someone who has no inside knowledge of the job of a teacher, and no it's not an accurate one.
Starting salary varies widely from area to area. In Texas the average starting salary is somewhere just under $30,000, however the starting salary in the DFW area is closer to $50,000.
The teachers here are on contract to work at a minimum of 8 hours per day, depending on their specific jobs. My daughter who teaches in elementary is contracted from 7:40-4:00 daily while my daughter who teaches high school is contracted from 7:20-4:30 daily.
They are also contracted for a minimum of 180 days per year during the school year and an addtional 2-3 weeks during the summer for professional development. They do typically have 3 days at Thanksgiving, the 2 weeks at Christmas and a week of Spring Break. About the only other holidays they consistently have off is Labor Day. Some years they have off MLK day and/or Memorial Day, but not always.
They have at the very most a one hour block per day to work on lesson plans, conduct parent conferences, hold/attend staff meetings, make copies and other things like meet with the principal concerning problem students.
Both of my girls are often there longer than their contracted hours in order to get things done that don't fit into the actual work day and that have to be done at school. They also have times that they must tutor students before or after school. They also have after school events they must attend on occasion.
Add to that all the hours spent at home grading papers, finishing lesson plans, organizing/prepping for class and they spend far more than 40 hours a week during the school year. Their normal weeks average about 60 hours a week school related work.
Doing the math, that means they work over 2300 hours per year compared to a person working a normal 40 hour job who works 2000 hours per year.
So it would be more accurate to say they work so hard and so long during the school year that they need that little time off they have during the summer in order to be ready to start all over the next year.
Nicely put. I agree that we need the break in the summer to recover. I'm so burned out by June, I'm barely functional. I swear it was late July before I got off of the couch .
For me, add that Christmas break, mid winter break and spring break are simply time to catch up on schoolwork and get ahead on lesson planning. Because I'm off for two weeks, I'll have all of my lesson planning done for 2-4 weeks when I go back. I don't really have these two weeks off but I will have a sane January because I have them "off". I'll go back with grading caught up (I have 140 projects to grade over break) and ahead on lesson plans. For a few weeks, I'll only need to call parents, make copies and talk to the principal on my prep.
One thing people need to remember is that some of our "vacation" isn't vacation at all. It's just time to catch our breath and catch up a bit. I will spend about half of my time off during Christmas break on school realted activities.
You are correct on hours worked. People think I'm making it up when I say I work more hours now as a teacher than I did in my former life as an engineer. A LOT more hours. Summers off aren't vacation time, they're comp time. It's time off in exchange for hours already worked and then some. Working the pace I do, I'd need about 6 more weeks off a year to come close to the amount of time I had off as an engineer. As an engineer, I had weekends off. As a teacher I don't. As an engineer, my evenings were mine. As a teacher they are spent grading and lesson planning. As an engineer, vacation meant you were on vacation. As a teacher, it's just time to catch up. And people, mistakenly, think we have every day off the kids do. We don't. The only holiday I get off during the year besides thanksgiving and the day after is memorial day. The other holidays the kids have off, we're in in service. It's, definitely, a different world.
For me, it is low pay and long hours. I don't mind the hours but I have to earn a living so I'll be leaving teaching as soon as I find something back in industry. Unfortunately, I counted on making what our state posts as the normal salary for someone with my background. Turns out that is a pipe dream. The only thing available is low paying charter positions that I can't afford to work very long.
Is being a teacher really that difficult? During my k-12 years, I've always heard teachers complaining about lack of pay and hard work. Is this an exaggeration or the truth?
Teachers where I live with a BA/BS start at like $41k. Plus, their hours are roughly 7 hours of working a day. Add into the fact that like 3 of these hours are dedicated to supposed "curriculum planning". They also from my knowledge receive all the breaks that students get and don't work over the summer which allows them to pick up more money working side jobs.
So am I fair in this assessment?
Teachers around here start at just under $40K per year. They do not get raises that are comparable with the private sector.
I have worked both as a teacher and in the private sector and I can say that there are advantages and disadvantages to teaching. The same can be said of the private sector.
One of the main disadvantages of teaching is that you cannot ever schedule a personal appointment during your work day. It simply does not happen. I can never attend teacher conferences. My husband has to do that as my work schedule is totally inflexible. I As a teacher I need to be on campus at 7:15 and I usually leave around 4. In my book that is a full work day. It's true that I get out earlier than office workers but I need to be there earlier as well.
I get one planning period per day. That's 55 minutes, not 3 hours. I work for all 55 minutes of that time. Sometimes meetings are scheduled during that time, sometimes I spend the time writing lesson plans, and catching up on paperwork. There is a ton of paperwork that teachers need to complete and you cannot do it while you are teaching (for obvious reasons). Since we are on a rotator schedule I get a planning period 6 out of 7 work days. When we drop 5th period I have no planning period. Although I have no students during that time I cannot leave to get a haircut or to have my nails done like I could when I worked in the private sector.
One of the plusses of teaching is that I am home when my kids are home. I like that, but remember even after 10 years of teaching I will be making only $45K per year. As far as getting other jobs, yes it is possible, but the types of jobs you can get in the summer are not worth having if you have to pay someone to take care of your kids.
I don't think teachers make a starvation wage, but it's not a ton of money either.
I was hoping for a more detailed explanation than your simple yes or no response. Like I stated, this is not an attack. These were my pre-conceived thoughts, so it is what it is. Show me where I made ignorant comments?
Anyone who gave even an ounce of thought would realize that having 3 hours a day (out of 8) to plan curriculum is ridiculous. That's a start.
Essentially, you will pack a full years worth of work into each school year.
For my students it is almost 2-3 years worth of work.
I have just over 5 1/2 hours a day to teach ALL subjects (math, reading, science, social studies, grammar, social skills and art) and do not have a planning period in which to do this.
Then they all are suppose to pass the EOG in March or I have to prove they were well prepared and had the opportunity to master the material.
To think I turned down med and law school for this!!
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