Get Schooled

By SET

June 28, 2006 12:30 PM | Link to this

The blog didn’t look that comprehensive. There were no issues of personal safety or violence. The writer just wasn’t fulfulled and you can make a lot more money elsewhere not being fulfilled.

If someone wants to teach there are better jobs at the Jr College and College level. If you want to be a social worker, those jobs are more exciting. I don’t see how a high cost state like CA is going to get public school teachers in the future. The ones already here have to stay to collect on their pensions. New potential teachers have other options.

I know! We just go to the Phillipines or India and recruit! Just like for the nursing industry.

By Dana

June 28, 2006 01:12 PM | Link to this

I have to comment, because I know the blogger. She has another blog that she does keep updated, and it is fairly comprehensive. She wrote what she wrote in a separate place because it made her feel safer to discuss those feelings in another blog apart from her main blog. I don’t feel comfortable divulging her blog URL, since I don’t think she wants to be “outed.” I can tell you that she didn’t have a classroom of her own for most of the year, nor a place to work. She had inadequate resources. She had high standards in a school where this was not the norm.

In answer to Patti’s questions, I’m not sure most parents are sympathetic to a teacher’s plight. They give lip-service to it — they know, for instance, that the pay isn’t much. But I think they look at those summers as time off. I am currently in professional development and will spend a lot of my summer planning for next year. I will also be reading professional literature. It is not time off, that’s for sure. Teaching is hard work. There is a lot of paperwork, grading, planning, constant interaction with people, etc. I think sometimes parents lose sight of how draining that can be. I find it insulting that some folks think teachers couldn’t make it in the corporate world. I’d turn the tables. Let’s see how those folks do for a week in teaching!

By call me crazy but...

June 28, 2006 01:16 PM | Link to this

Many teachers get burned out, as do police officers, social workers, nurses, etc. Teaching just wasn’t for that person. I appreciate her bowing out gracefully….its much more admirable than some who I’ve seen stay and not perform, because they’re counting their years to retirement.

Hey SET, I like out-sourcing….I’m on the fast track to learning Sanskrit every time I call Dell or Vonage. I’ll have my degree in another two years (lol).

By another teacher

June 28, 2006 01:45 PM | Link to this

Instead of saying teachers are on “summer vacation,” how about using the term furlough. After all, we don’t get paid for the summer.

By Robert

June 28, 2006 02:05 PM | Link to this

Patti -

Will you PLEASE stop perpetuating the myth that teachers have the summer “off.” We do not. We must take classes for certification renewal. We possibly do take a “vacation” for a week or two like any other employed person does, but we do not have summers “off.”

This summer, I am taking 4 PhD level classes at GA State plus getting AP certified (a week at Olgethorpe University). That is more than a full load even for a full time student. Is this a summer “off” for me?

By Patti Ghezzi

June 28, 2006 02:23 PM | Link to this

Hmmmmm…Good food for thought. I think that the myth is that teachers spend their summers lounging poolside. Most of the teachers I know teach summer school, take classes, work as nannies etc. But… I don’t think it is a myth that teachers have the summer off. You do. It may be a short summer. But that is time that you are free to spend as you wish. It’s in your contract what day you report back to the classroom, right?

I welcome thoughts from others on this…

By Robert

June 28, 2006 02:32 PM | Link to this

Patti -

We cannot really take summers off because if we really do (spend time as WE chose), then we will not have the required hours to renew our certification and we will be out of a job!

And, for those teachers that you mention that teach summer school or do other summer jobs, do you really think that is how they would “chose” to spend their summer if it was really a choice? The answer is no. They do those things because they need the money - teaching alone doesn’t pay sufficiently.

Simply stating that teachers have the summer “off” really does imply the wrong idea.

By Leia

June 28, 2006 02:34 PM | Link to this

Patti - Technically, our contracts do not specify exactly what day we report to work. But, it does say, “The employee agrees to participate in the local school in-service program and other staff development programs designed for professional growth, also those necessary to meet Southern Association Accreditation requirements.”

That translates to: If your department chair tells you that you will attend a specific workshop during the summer, you are obligated to do so. It is not necessarily our choice of how we spend our summers. I have yet to not have to attend SOMETHING during the summer!

By HB

June 28, 2006 02:54 PM | Link to this

Certification classes (by the way, those course are only every few summers, right?) and mandatory meetings/workshops, of course, are not days off. But Robert, summer school teachers are making a choice of what to do with their off days. I work full-time Mon-Fri year-round. This summer, I have picked up a second Saturday job. I choose to work Saturdays and pick up a few extra dollars just as I could choose to see a movie or go shopping or volunteer somewhere. It is still time off from my full-time job. I work for a non-profit, don’t have a big salary (smaller than many teacher’s), and can use the extra money to make my life a wee bit easier. But it’s still my choice to work on my day off. By the same token, teachers do choose, for the most part, how to spend their summer hours/days.

By Jeff

June 28, 2006 03:13 PM | Link to this

Taking the myth debate over to the new blog… others follow? Please?

By Kage

June 28, 2006 03:18 PM | Link to this

Hate to add to the ‘myth’, but I am enjoying a fantastic summer off. Truthfully, I think there’s a lot more ‘summer’ in our summers than some like to admit. I also think there’s a lot more work in our summers than non-teachers are aware of.

Last summer, I taught a college course to pre-service teachers, attended a weeklong math course at my expense, and worked on redesigning the ELA curriculum for our district. In addition, I planned most days of the week, moved my classroom, and collaborated with my team weekly. I took a one week vacation. Definitely a summer ‘on’.

This summer is a different story. I did one week of professional development, for which I received a nice stipend as well as PLU credit. I moved my classroom (again). I haven’t been able to set up my new room because the carpets haven’t been cleaned yet, so I’ll have to go in a week early to do that. Otherwise, I’m enjoying lots of time off. I’ve traveled out of the country and will travel out of the state soon. I hike daily, kayak down the river weekly. I’m reading up a storm. I’m enjoying nature photography after nine months of my camera being used only for and by schoolkids.

There are definitely elements of schoolwork: I read professional books as well as books for pleasure. The ratio is delightfully inverted from the school year - (school year is usually 5 prof bks to 1 pleasure book). The thing is, I enjoy reading professional books, too. I love sitting on my deck with a bowl of cherries, my iPod, and a book about elementary math instruction. I’m also planning integrated units and writing grants - all from my deck. If I had a pool, I’d be lounging by that to do my planning.

I do know teachers (definitely seasoned veterans) who lock up on the last day of post-planning and don’t open the door again until pre-planning. I’m glad that I have the experience of being around them. It reminds me that my time off is my own and I choose how to spend it. If I want to do a lot of planning, great. The year goes much more smoothly that way. But it is a choice.

By elementaryhistoryteacher

June 28, 2006 05:20 PM | Link to this

While I don’t know the teacher in question in person I was familiar with her situation as I have a blog as well and occaisionally read her entries. There is a large amount of stress in education today due to expectations of administrators, politicians, parents, the media, and others. While we try to stay focused on the goals we have set for our students it can become a very stressful situation when we feel we have no back-up in our own building.

By Lee

July 3, 2006 12:31 PM | Link to this

Getting back to the original theme of this blog, you know, it’s a difficult thing for an eighteen year old college freshman to decide what to do with the rest of their lives. Then, after four (or more) years of college and a few years work experience, they realize that they made a bad decision. For some, by then it’s too late to change careers (i.e. mortgage, marriage, kids, etc. etc.) and they are stuck in a job they don’t like.

I remember 30 or so years ago, the only career guidance we received was a listing of occupations with their annual salary. I went into college as a pre-pharmacy major. I thought that would be a great profession - earn big bucks counting out a few pills. Didn’t take but one college chemistry class to realize that I was in something way over my head. Finally wound up in accounting. (Went from a pill counter to a bean counter)

I just hope the guidance has gotten a little more realistic than what we received….