Tag: School
No, I don’t go to school in bunny slippers…
Yes… I am an expert at classroom management (something that takes years to master). Today proved that I really can not only teach, but get all that pesky (yet very required) paperwork done. Wait… You’re telling me it’s vacation? My class WASN”T there? The only way I was able to get things organized in three hours was because the school was closed. No wonder the class was so quiet and no once asked to use the restroom… even once.
So after a day at home the teacher returns to their classroom to dig out… I know, again, for most professions this is normal. You return to your office and have to the fight the fires that popped up while you were gone. The difference that I see is you usually have time… I don’t. I come in and there is usually a disaster… the plans were not followed, and I have notes and emails from parents about things that I wasn’t around for… oh and the class arrives and I have to go back to teaching, dealing with this stuff as time permits. This means putting it off until around lunch, and not eating so that I have 30 minutes to hopefully figure out what I need to do. The other piece is that I now have to grade every bit of busy work that I handed out along with reteaching everything since all the sub did was hand out the paper and say “turn it in when you are done… no talking.”
Parents wonder why if there is a substitute the class watches videos… its because you never know what kind of sub you are going to get. You might have an excellent retired teacher who comes in and complains that you didn’t have enough for them to do (The one the kids groan over when you say they are coming back). You might have some guy who has just enough college to get the job and sits in your class telling jokes the entire day (They really liked the substitute, SO you run -don’t walk- to the office and request that they NEVER return to the building). They run the gamut and you never know who (or what) is going to take over for you.
When I ran the computer lab my plans were simple- the kids practiced their touch typing for 50 minutes. Why? because I knew the program worked, I knew every student knew how to access it, and I never knew if my substitute knew the difference between a computer and a toaster. Back in the classroom, I just try to make sure that we have built enough rituals into our day that the routine will carry us through even the most incompetent substitute. Somedays it works and some days…
So I’m sick… What do I do? In most cases I go to work… I know there are people in other professions who do the same thing, but for most teachers it is easier to go in sick than stay home. You see if I don’t go to work it isn’t like they cancel school… now days to even get a half day in Indiana is impossible. Teachers need to turn around and create elaborate lesson plans for their substitute. These plans should outline every minute. Teachers also need to make sure that everything is ready for the class (even though they feel like the plague will take them in the next few minutes) the sub is probably going to show up at the last minute, and won’t know how to run copies. So the dutiful (sick) teacher takes a couple hours and outlines everything that is supposed to happen that day and makes sure that everything is set up for the substitute.
Last time I checked most jobs if you got sick you went home- “Cancel my appointments tomorrow, Ms. Guignol” and off you are to rest at home, for as many days as it takes for you get better. Your kid gets sick- “Cancel my appointments…” Again, I know people in other professions who go in sick because they feel it is their duty, or there is a meeting that they can’t miss. I have over 200 sick days accumulated because it is more work to be home sick than it is to just go to work. Do you know what happens once I get a break? I get sick having stayed somewhat healthy by pure willpower for 180 school days.
And I won’t even start to talk about what happens when I get back…
One of the joys of being a classroom teacher is that you are exposed to every form of plague possible every Monday morning. Flu shots? Why? by the time I get one, I’ve already had it 3 times. About once a year I tend to get some kind of bug, about once every 5 years I get a bug that hits me really hard, hard enough for me to stay home. The bad part is I usually don’t know about it until about halfway through the school day.
Yup! it’s Labor Day and I’m late on posting, but school has started and for all my friends who are teachers I post this. When I returned to school for the first time I discovered that my classroom had been used as the dumping ground for every box labeled “Fourth Grade” and that while everything was there, the desks were not where I had left them and the chairs were all piled up in a corner. Those of you who are not teachers (and think it must be an easy job) you need to understand some of the logic in the educational system as I have experienced it. The week before school lets out you are supposed to prepare your room for the summer. This usually means taking everything off the walls and shelves so they may be cleaned, this includes your desk. Those of you in business think of it as before you leave fro vacation you not only have to make sure that your projects are caught up, but you must also strip your office of everything. Then when you return you have to put everything back. Now here’s the kicker- All this moving and storing is done when you are not on the clock, in fact you’ll be severely reprimanded if you do it when you are supposed to be working. I came in took one look at my room and went home.
I recall when Sue took her new job and I asked when she was going to go into the office to get things ready fro her first day. She looked at me funny and told me she would be going to the office on her first day and spend the day getting things together. Some teachers do have that luxury they have a couple paid days before school, I do not. Our first day is filled with meetings and then at 5:00 the parents arrive to meet us and everything needs to be ready before they arrive. This requires a few days of unpaid prep. Do I hate my job? Far from it, what I dislike are the people who think that because we have a summer break that my job is easy. I put in a year’s worth of hours in 9 months and need that summer to recharge and spend time with the family I have neglected during the school year.
Enough of that soapbox while the majority of schools in the United States start tomorrow, I need to decide if I have enough information to send home mid-terms on Friday. To my teacher friends- may your students be well-behaved and may their parent’s helicopter be out of fuel.