In Response to another Blog "Why teaching is so darn hard"

I read a blog post that was very elegantly worded about these last few weeks of getting the room ready for school. As a reply a man named Zach, who gave himself such "accolades" as Democrat, Master’s Degree, Southern white male, votes for several causes, hates whiny bullcrap; bashed teachers. I was so appalled by his “bullcrap” he wrote, about how easy teachers have it with having summers off and great working hours that I wrote a reply only to be told it was too many characters to post so here it is on my blog. Are there truly people out there who have no clue what we do? It isn’t that we are complaining; ask a teacher if they love their students. We all do. You would not believe what we do for them and let’s face it; we stay in the business for the children. Here is my reply to Zack:

Zach, I sit here at 5:30am on a Sunday two weeks before school starts with my Master's, two Bachelors, an Associates and have worked as an Executive in the private sector, I am creating documents for my incoming class this morning and have been for the last three weeks night and day much to my family's dismay. I am the chair teacher in charge of six other teachers. I have endless meetings after school every day but one. I do not get paid for this. I work Monday through Thursday 6:30am to 4:00pm (that includes my meetings and Friday 6:30am to 3:30pm.)

 On Saturdays I go into work for 4 hours to set up for the next week. I spend on the average $700.00 a year on my students out of pocket. I attend at the least 12 evening events throughout the year that gets me home around 9:00pm AFTER working my regular work day.

 I have taken in students and families of students to live with me over my 13 years of teaching (one’s mother was arrested for drugs and she came to me and asked me to take her child while she went to jail and rehab) I have taken in children and their families who lost their homes to foreclosure, divorce, abuse, and fire.  I myself have a family and children. I make fewer than $50,000 a year with my degrees and am required to continue my education with a total of 120 additional hours in five years ON MY OWN TIME.

 I spend my summers working a host of jobs because teaching does not afford me to send my own children to college. I spend at least 2 hours an evening and most evenings 4 hours grading papers and filling out paperwork required of me that I cannot fill out during the work hours because I am busy teaching students.

 I do not get a pee break. I get one break a day for 40 minutes at 1:10pm to pee and eat. (Let’s remember that I have been in the building since 6:30am) After I drop my students off, talk to any of the following about a troubled student: counselor, principal or interventionist and then go pick them back up, I may get a 20 minute break. That is IF I am not in training, I.E.P., parent conference or evaluation meeting. Yes, they are planned on my break time so that a sub is not required.  NO, I do not get a lunch break for I eat with the children who in that 20 minutes need things opened and most often do not handle the time wisely and I must intervene. I spend my lunch with at the least 200 screaming 5 to 7 year olds.

I most often have 20 to 32 students in my room. The average year gives me 25 squirming seven year olds.  I become their everything: teacher, mother, father, nurse, counselor, and friend. I must teach them an ever changing curriculum, be held accountable if they do not pass the state standardized test all the while being evaluated at the least once every two weeks by a host of many people from my principal, reading specialist, math specialist, a panel of leadership team members, district office personnel and the host of anyone who would like to come and watch me teach from parents to community residents. I am also given new teachers to train on the job from the local colleges and high school students to introduce to teaching who are enrolled in career courses. Each comes with mounds of paperwork.

I am expected to call and conference with parents on a regular bases and schedule all those appointment times (on average I meet with at least 30 sets to accommodate children with two sets of parents) and this is AFTER my work hours and again I do not get paid for this. In addition I am to find a service learning project to support with my students. I organize events and collect money and complete races, runs, walks, skates to support organizations such as cancer research.

I lived through 911 and the sniper of VA with students. I held crying children in locked downed rooms while we got the news of 911. I had students whose parents were in the Pentagon when it was hit. I used my body as did all my fellow colleagues, as a shield to make lines on the bus ramp so that we could get the students in and out of the building during the sniper. I spent weeks in a room with 27 students who came in each morning to tell about the shooting at the Michael’s Craft store the one I just went to the night before. I practice hiding my students in my room in the dark while administration shakes my door handle loudly to resemble intruders in the building all the while keeping those squirming seven years olds calm and quiet.

So Zach, come walk in my shoes.  You have no idea what it is like to be a teacher or a spouse of a teacher who gets talked into coming to school for community service day, spend their evenings running around to football games, baseball games, softball games, dance recitals, of children they do not know.  Or gets calls to meet at school to move, lift, hang, create a host of many objects to make children an atmosphere that all children can feel safe and open for learning.

I chose this profession. I do not complain or moan about it. I love it. I endure the low pay and the long hours. I do it because it is an important job. I do not belittle other professions nor am I saying mine is more important or harder than anyone else’s. I understand that other professions have their ups and downs as well.  I get to spend my days with the most amazing people. Children. I laugh every day and my “co-workers” hug me as they leave, thank me and tell me they love me. I do it for them. I am making a difference one child at a time one day at a time.