The Hardest Job Everyone Thinks They Can Do
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This piece was inspired by a heated discussion I had with a man who believes that teachers have an easy job. Please feel free to share it with others if you agree with the message.
I used to be a molecular biologist. I spent my days culturing viruses. Sometimes, my experiments would fail miserably, and I’d swear to myself in frustration. Acquaintances would ask how my work was going. I’d explain how I was having a difficult time cloning this one gene. I couldn’t seem to figure out the exact recipe to use for my cloning cocktail.
Acquaintances would sigh sympathetically. And they’d say, “I know you’ll figure it out. I have faith in you.”
And then, they’d tilt their heads in a show of respect for my skills….
Today, I’m a high school teacher. I spend my days culturing teenagers. Sometimes, my students get disruptive, and I swear to myself in frustration. Acquaintances ask me how my work is going. I explain how I’m having a difficult time with a certain kid. I can’t seem to get him to pay attention in class.
Acquaintances smirk knowingly. And they say, “well, have you tried making it fun for the kids? That’s how you get through to them, you know?”
And then, they explain to me how I should do my job….
I realize now how little respect teachers get. Teaching is the toughest job everyone who’s never done it thinks they can do. I admit, I was guilty of these delusions myself. When I decided to make the switch from “doing” science to “teaching” science, I found out that I had to go back to school to get a teaching credential.
“What the f—?!?,” I screamed to any friends willing to put up with my griping. “I have a Ph.D.! Why do I need to go back to get a lousy teaching credential?!?”
I was baffled. How could I, with my advanced degree in biology, not be qualified to teach biology?!
Well, those school administrators were a stubborn bunch. I simply couldn’t get a job without a credential. And so, I begrudgingly enrolled in a secondary teaching credential program.
And boy, were my eyes opened. I understand now.
Teaching isn’t just “making it fun” for the kids. Teaching isn’t just academic content.
Teaching is understanding how the human brain processes information and preparing lessons with this understanding in mind.
Teaching is simultaneously instilling in a child the belief that she can accomplish anything she wants while admonishing her for producing shoddy work.
Teaching is understanding both the psychology and the physiology behind the changes the adolescent mind goes through.
Teaching is convincing a defiant teenager that the work he sees no value in does serve a greater purpose in preparing him for the rest of his life.
Teaching is offering a sympathetic ear while maintaining a stern voice.
Teaching is being both a role model and a mentor to someone who may have neither at home, and may not be looking for either.
Teaching is not easy. Teaching is not intuitive. Teaching is not something that anyone can figure out on their own. Education researchers spend lifetimes developing effective new teaching methods. Teaching takes hard work and constant training. I understand now.
Have you ever watched professional athletes and gawked at how easy they make it look? Kobe Bryant weaves through five opposing players, sinking the ball into the basket without even glancing in its direction. Brett Favre spirals a football 100 feet through the air, landing it in the arms of a teammate running at full speed. Does anyone have any delusions that they can do what Kobe and Brett do?
Yet, people have delusions that anyone can do what the typical teacher does on a typical day.
Maybe the problem is tangibility. Shooting a basketball isn’t easy, but it’s easy to measure how good someone is at shooting a basketball. Throwing a football isn’t easy, but it’s easy to measure how good someone is at throwing a football. Similarly, diagnosing illnesses isn’t easy to do, but it’s easy to measure. Winning court cases isn’t easy to do, but it’s easy to measure. Creating and designing technology isn’t easy to do, but it’s easy to measure.
Inspiring kids? Inspiring kids can be downright damned near close to impossible sometimes. And… it’s downright damned near close to impossible to measure. You can’t measure inspiration by a child’s test scores. You can’t measure inspiration by a child’s grades. You measure inspiration 25 years later when that hot-shot doctor, or lawyer, or entrepreneur thanks her fourth-grade teacher for having faith in her and encouraging her to pursue her dreams.
Maybe that’s why teachers get so little respect. It’s hard to respect a skill that is so hard to quantify.
So, maybe you just have to take our word for it. The next time you walk into a classroom, and you see the teacher calmly presiding over a room full of kids, all actively engaged in the lesson, realize that it’s not because the job is easy. It’s because we make it look easy. And because we work our asses off to make it look easy.
And, yes, we make it fun, too.
Addendum, 11/18/2013
Based on some of the commentary I’ve seen, I would like to clarify one point: For the record, I never said that teaching is the hardest job. I said that teaching is the hardest job everyone thinks they can do. The title is intentionally vague (and yes, somewhat hyperbolic), but I spend the entire post clarifying what I mean by it. At no point do I complain or claim that teaching is harder than any other job out there. If your comment is something to the effect of how hard your job is, and how teachers therefore need to stop whining, then you probably didn’t actually read the post.
If you’re going to respond, I think you at least owe me the courtesy of reading first, yeah?
Addendum, 6/30/2015
Since this post still gets so many likes and shares (thanks, everyone!), I decided it would be fun to create a custom domain for it. So, if you’re ever talking to someone in real life and want to refer to this post, just tell them to go to howhardisteaching.com. And then they can find out just how hard teaching really is. 🙂
There is *no* summer vacation. What teachers get is a summer seasonal layoff.
It depends on the school district….some pay you for a 12 month year, some pay you over 10 months and you have to stretch it over the to non-paid months. But I agree with many of the others who have said that they do not get two months. My husband and children got very used to my combing bookstores and craft stores as well as teachers stores over the summer, and the last three weeks before school resumed we would be doing professional development and getting our classrooms ready. Thank heavens I am now retired!!
@Teri- Unless you have a 12 month contract, you are not being paid for a 12 month year. Many districts offer the option to hold back a portion of your 10 month salary each month in order to pay you the money you already earned over the 2 months in summer that you are not under contract. That is not the same as being paid for a 12 month year.
Teaching is an art and a gift and a passion. Thank God when we are blessed with good ones a d pray for those who need support a
Hallelujah from the other side!! I’m a retired teacher of 3 years and do not even look back…except when I find myself saying it was worth it! My almost 20 year teaching career…from 41 to 60 years old…after home-making 23 years…was a delightful adventure…though the ups and downs. Meeting them today as high school graduates, college students, Mommies and Daddys…etc.,…and having those I had to correct in class…as well as those I didn’t…either say, “Thanks!” or “I’m glad you were my teacher!” or “Your stories about life made a difference in my life!” Or, “Are these your grandchildren?” Or, whatever they say…or if they just acknowledge they know me…WOW how right you are, Dennis! Today, for me, and for others of us that teach…or those who have judged us…or even our encouragers and best cheerleaders…the fact that the job can’t be quantified is amazing!!! What an outlook here, and a blessing to nail it! Even the young man who thanked me for loving him even when his mother and he tried to do me in! I mean, we don’t know our influence until many years have gone by…and won’t know how many we affected until we meet them in glory!!! I best love to hear I inspired them to do right!!! or that they knew I was a Christian! In today’s school where we can’t say it…but can live it!!! Woo Hoo!!! My cousin, whose daughter is a teacher, posted this on facebook…I read today and will be sharing!!! It is tougher today to teach than ever!!! I’ve been through it and don’t want to return, and yet, I thank God I was there, that He called me to the classroom…that the influence is still going on…and I live today, 63 years old…and now, I’m Mimi…keeping a grandgirl every day…and the other 4 pretty often…and yet, even this very weekend was encouraging one to teach…and helping her get there with who I know or what I know…Thanks from me to you Dennis, and to all the teachers who have withstood the stormy and full of sunshine days in the classroom!!! I salute you all! It’s much the same as saluting every soldier in this great nation!!! I salute all the teachers…past, present, and future!!! Amen and Amen…
This is absolutely spectacular!!!
You really should repost it on teachersletterstobillgates.com!!!
i always knew the importance of teachers, knowing that they spent more time with my kids than i did, and they held a lot of responsibility. and their work doesn’t end when the school day does.
I liked the part where she gets angry because she had to go back to get a teaching credential. I’m a retired teacher (39 years in the classroom) and the #1 skill you need to master is classroom management. You can be a master in your subject area, but if you don’t have great classroom management skills, it doesn’t matter. And a special acknowledgement for Middle School teachers.
The author is “he”.
After teaching high school students for 13 years, I taught another 16 years at the university level. Despite the fact that I had my bachelors and masters in education, several of my colleagues with PhDs told me I might be professionally qualified, but I would never be “academically” qualified. Most PhDs have little if any talent or interest in teaching.
So true,Jim
The best article I’ve read in ages. Thanks for the encouragement, Mr. Hong!
Thanks for a GREAT article. You have put my thoughts into words very eloquently and precisely.
Why must us teachers continually remind other people how tough our job is? Seriously, I’ve been a teacher for 7 years now and it’s really not that difficult. My pay is good for the amount of work I do and I enjoy what I do. None of my friends (who aren’t teachers) complain about how easy our work is. In fact, they say the opposite and think it’d be tough going!
I think most teachers who write these articles are an embarrassment to the rest of us. They make us seem like whingers who are hard done by. Well – we aren’t.
Well it’s pretty easy to do a shoddy job, but some of us care greatly about what we do.
Hello anonymous.
Who’s to say I do a shoddy job? Maybe I’m good at what I do? I don’t need to whinge and carry on about how hard life is…because it isn’t.. If its really that bad, then you probably aren’t a good teacher and don’t like the profession anyway. It’d be better for those people to get out and do something they enjoy where they don’t continually whinge.
I love what you said Tim! Every once in awhile you find teachers that appreciate what they have and don’t complain. I think that’s the issue non-teachers have. It’s not that we don’t appreciate what teachers do, or understand their job can be tough, just like everyone elses. It’s the complaining!! Kudos to you for liking your job and seeing the positives in it! Very refreshing!
You two make a great pair. You should go off somewhere to fail at reading comprehension together.
For the ten-thousandth time, people, this is not about how hard teaching is. It’s about how people like Linda here, knowing NOTHING of the profession, claim stupidly, with no basis in the conversation, that teachers complain too much, while simultaneously voting for and supporting policies that make their jobs harder.
I’m a lawyer. Several of my friends are teachers. They have amazing stories and lots of frustration with the system, but when we get together I’m the only one complaining about his work.
I love my job! Let me repeat that…I love my job! I get to work with amazing kids that inspire me every day. I love the puzzle that is trying to help then comprehend the material that is important. I am made smarter by the colleagues and mentors I a blessed to work with.
I do not complain about my job.
Over the past few years, however, I see more and more how teachers are painted in the media. I also see how that perception has been furthered by disgruntled voices. I do complain about that.
I am sad that my profession is something I am supposed to be ashamed of now. I am sadder that when I read an article about schools, 85% of the time it is intended to denigrate the people teaching. We should focus on the policies that are changing the school environment.
I do not look at those who have chosen other paths of vocation and whine about their benefits. I am certain every one of those careers have positives and negatives (I know this since I have my students explore careers in depth).
I just feel, when I see posts like some (not all) here, that I have become an enemy. All I am is a mom, a taxpayer, a professional, and a consumer who is blessed to have a career I adore working with the kids who are our future.
I am retired from teaching. 1-You average over 50 hours a week.30 in class and 20+ correcting papers, planning lessons, making phone calls. It is more for some subjects. 2- We have a 10 month contract so in reality we are unemployed and do not get paid for the summer. 3-We can,t take family vacations from September to June. 5-Teaching was like having group therapy sessions non stop for five hours with five different groups every day.
Can you get this to Bill Gates? He needs help understanding the big picture in education as evidenced by his comments about teaching. This is most important since it seems he speaks with authority and donates lots of money and has no clue. SO sad.
i don’t actively bash teachers; however, I don’t think their job is any more difficult or stressful than any other profession. I’m so tired of seeing teachers post the “I should make this much since I’m just a babysitter” equation.
Here’s how I see it: Teachers choose to enter the teaching profession. They didn’t just fall into it, since it usually takes a Masters degree, and by then have had more than enough time to reevaluate their path in life.
Teacher may not get paid over the summer, but they sure do have some seriously nice benefits compared to those who work in the private sector.
Do I think teachers have a difficult job? Sure.
Do I think it’s more difficult than someone elses? Nope.
Nobody is saying it’s more difficult than someone else’s job. That’s the point. Teachers don’t tell everyone how easy their job is. It’s the many others that tell us how easy our job is, and how lucky we are to have three months vacation. I know I certainly don’t tell others the best way to do their job. But, many feel entitled to tell teachers how to do theirs.
You do not need a masters to teach k-12 only a bachelor’s and teaching cert. After a while teachers are told they need to get a higher education than other degrees and also mandated to take classes in the summer. Also what a lot of other jobs do is pay for office supplies. Teachers usually have to buy supplies out of their own pocket, and do not get reimbursed at the end of the year, or even taxes. So no your response that teachers are just like any other profession is wrong.
I’m fed up of hearing teachers constantly whining about how hard done by they are. Yes it can be a difficult job I’m sure. So is working in the private sector without the luxury of 13 weeks off every year.
I do not think most teachers would post anything if people were not attacking their profession. I am not talking “Oh your job is easy.” I am talking about the possibility of just taking away our pensions that we paid into (Wouldn’t you be upset if your employer just came in one day and said that you can’t have that 401K you have been putting money into for however long you have been working) and making these crazy evaluations that make no sense to anyone and do not hold parents at all accountable for their child’s education (As a HS teacher I saw any given student for 45 minutes a day, there is no way I can ensure in 45 minutes a day that they learned everything I said… it is called studying at home as well). The icing on the cake is all the comments people make when they have no idea what they are talking about that just set us over the edge. For example “vacation” in the summer. Is it awesome to have 2 months where we don’t have to be at work – yes. However, we are not getting paid to be home nor did we have that choice, which is why most teachers work those summer camps kids go to over the summer because they can’t stay home unsupervised. I think if people backed off teachers you would hear and see less of these “babysitting equations”…
And you had a choice to go into the private sector. The private sector complain that they are losing money and teachers end up with a cap on their raises each year. What happens when the economy turns around? Oh yeah, some of those in the private sector will get increases in pay way beyond 2 percent and Christmas bonuses will return. I was in the private sector and went back to school for teaching. You could have done that too since teaching is so easy and we get 2 months off in the summer. Every job has its pros and cons. I am not saying being in the private sector is not hard. I was there at one point in my life and understand the difficulties. What I am trying to say is each job is different and the difficulties are different. You cannot compare a private sector job with teaching just like comparing apples to oranges.
I recognize teachers get a lot of unsolicited input on how “easy” their job is or how they could do it better. However, when you complain – you solicit. And then goes for anyone.
Do you ever feel foolish complaining about yours jobs? Considering we have military overseas that are missing the Birth’s of children, putting their lives in jeopardy. I certainly feel like a jerk when I complain, and then I’m reminded (gently) by my friends with military spouses just how easy I have it. And it’s true, I do.
Teaching isn’t an easy job. There are a lot of challenges and things that I’m sure our frustrating. On that note, your job isn’t harder than most other jobs. Most positions require professional degrees, additional training, etc. Often people have a false idea/sense of what other people do. Nurses, people in IT, customer service jobs. We often are not aware of the barriers/complications that other people go through while doing their work. Yet, we all know how it could be done better.
I purchase a lot of my own supplies, pay for some of my own training/certifications, I get 3 weeks vacation a year. My benefits are expensive. I do not have a pension. I pay SOCIAL SECURITY TAX, I self-fund my retirement. But I have a job, so I’m grateful. And yes, I get comments about it all the time (helpdesk support for large company).
Well said! As a career educator, I think the reason everyone thinks they know what it takes to be a good teacher is that they’ve all been in a classroom, many classrooms– as a student. They figure that they went to school, so they know how it works. And they probably experienced the feeling of being in a classroom led by an effective teacher, and that seemed so easy and effortless, right? Yep, just like those athletes, the great ones make it seem effortless.
THIS IS GREAT. Thank you.
– Just finished my first year of teaching
For the record, winning court cases isn’t all that easy to measure, nor is diagnosing illnesses. There is a great deal of ambiguity – just as there is in teaching.
I’m not Anonymous. I tried to log in as Nancy Hudak, but it didn’t work!
For the record, winning court cases isn’t all that easy to measure, nor is diagnosing illnesses. There is a great deal of ambiguity – just as there is in teaching.
I was a corporate trainer for years and that was difficult enough. I never deluded myself into believing that teaching children would be easier. My husband, after almost 20 years in the insurance industry, decided to make a second career as a teacher and a coach. He has the patience and capabilities that I don’t. The children who have him as a teacher are lucky. (Note: he has taken a $60,000 cut in pay in order to enjoy what he does most of the time).
Lets say we talk about the “normal” 5-9 job. Where you wake up, go to work and go home. LEAVING your work, at work. My contracted hours are from 7am-4:30pm everyday Monday-Friday by the time I actually leave school after either coaching, night school tutoring, after school family nights or just in preparation for the coming days it’s 7pm. Just about every night. Once home, we too have families who have missed us, that we need to attend to as well as lessons to make and items to grade. Work is never left at work. Saturday and Sunday are much of the same in terms of extra curricular activities and grading. I work from the moment I wake up until the moment I got to bed. And don’t think of this as a complaint. I love it. I don’t consider my work, “work”. And no, not because it’s “easy” (ha!) because I love it. If you love what you do you never work a day in your life. Is it tiring at times? Whoa, it sure is. So consider summer our weekend off. And like weekends during the school year there are meetings, workshops, lessons, professional developments and…. Well…. By now you should get the picture. Don’t be spiteful because you hate your job or wish you had “more days off”. Rather, maybe you should get into a profession that makes you happy and you won’t have to spend hours of your time complaining about how others have it “better” than you. The only difference is that a teacher goes into teaching for the LOVE of it. We love what we do! 🙂
Thank you thank you thank you! Thats all I can say!
“Maybe that’s why teachers get so little respect. It’s hard to respect a skill that is so hard to quantify.”
In fact it’s quite easy to quantify, if only our union would utilize standardized testing to weed out underperforming teachers. But that’s just the opinion of former lawyer who left the business world with real metrics to enjoy literally the easiest job I could imagine after 90/hr weeks. If you enjoy average intelligence, you too would be qualified to take my position as a 5th grade Chicago Public School teacher but I’m never giving it up thanks to incredible vacation time and the best protected pension plan in the world.
But yes, having a job that involves responsibility is a bummer -if you are sad that people don’t respect you I’d suggest you go to a district which remunerates you accordingly, so you can buy a boat… people will respect you for that, even if you maintain your put-upon attitude. We all chose our own path and to that end, CPS is hiring right now. 76k for nine months a year @ 38hrs/week. https://www.cps-humancapital.org/app
Law?
Homey, I’m a lawyer and let me tell you, the only “metric” at most firms is how many hours you bill, i.e. how much you can pretend to be working.
Sounds like you were a garbage lawyer who failed at one career, and now you’re a garbage teacher phoning it in to another.
The problem is you, Bill. You’re a loser.
If you are honestly delusional enough to believe that any GOOD teacher only works 9 months a year and only 38 hours a week, then I suggest you get your ass out of that comfortable office chair in your high rise building or government cubicle and spend some time in the trenches with us. Sure, every job has its issues and problems. But teaching isn’t a job…it’s a life altering career. “The easiest job” you can think of…. my only comment to that is: “EFF YOU, you insignificant minion.” I am the reason you have the job that you do because I educated you despite your petulant complaining and passive-aggressive attitude, and I am the reason your children will become good citizens, because while you are working your 90-hours high flying “important” JOB, I am raising your kids! I AM A TEACHER!!!!
Bill,
Your comment makes it completely obvious that you are not actually a teacher, you just pretend to be one on the internet so that you can make assy comments.
I know a number of teachers and none of them works 38 hrs a week. They design lesson plans and correct tests after hours. They are in meetings and they run after school organizations like speech and debate or robotics club or band. They can’t just call in sick the same day. And to the surprised to some, teachers have to pay for a lot the school supplies. I can’t think of another job where you have to buy your own pens and paper.
Bill, if you really are a teacher, which I highly doubt, you’re not a good one, and therefore, part of the problem. Hopefully, your students will be blessed with a caring, hard-working teacher next year that will work to catch your students up and help them see what a real learning community can and should offer all students.
Bill: You are a class A jackass…
People will respect you if you buy a boat? WOW. Just wow.
You are the “teacher” we fight against.
All I can say is “What an ass.”
Bill,
your attitude belies your ignorance and makes me fear for your students.
I highly doubt you are actually a teacher. If you were you wouldn’t believe standardized test could measure teacher effectiveness and you would know the dozens of reasons why, you wouldn’t have a such a glib tone, and most importantly you would know that teachers work far more hours than just the time they spend in the classroom. You would know teachers spend hours and hours planning, grading, etc. outside of school hours. Clearly, you don’t know what goes into teaching, which means you are not a teacher. If you want to make a legitimate point, instead of relying upon a farce, you could provide a logical argument; of course, you can’t because you are clearly ignorant of what goes into teaching.
Bill you’re a piece of garbage. It’s because of people like you we real teachers get a bad rap. Get out of teaching, you’re trash.
I hope this posting is a joke. No real teacher would ever, ever write this.
Bill: you are one class A jackass. Stop trying to pass yourself off as a teacher. No teacher would ever make the comment you made.
This guy can’t be real.He had to post this to get a reaction.Because if he really thinks this way the students he is responsible for are being cheated out of a good education.Also he is an ASSHOLE!I bet you he was the kind of kid that use to get his ass kicked.
CPS is hiring right now? Really? After laying off 2,000 employees at the end of last year? Something doesn’t ring true here.
I’m sure the parental guidance in Chicago has rendered students above par intellectually and morally. Blame the teachers, Bill. Go back to being a lawyer. Sounds like you don’t grade papers, make out tests, prepare a lesson or anything else at home. Must not be a class sponsor and work on proms or coach cheerleading or do the many others things that kids need in a world that doesn’t let them be kids anymore. Elementary is where the best teachers should be. Those kids are the foundation. Sounds like your lazy attitude will produce real winners.
That our product as educators is the child first and subject second should not be remarkable. The flaw within a system that has otherwise given us the degree of success (material wealth) we enjoy, cascades from current pedagogy. Again, understanding Victorian era values not fitting need so well in the 21st Century, might be better appreciated as having led us into this moment where everyone is an expert simply because everyone has experienced education. As Hong suggests, intelligence that is unmeasureable must become a supported aspect in the process. Only after Howard Gardner’s work describing multiple intelligences was first published in 1982, did we begin to understand intelligence as more than what an I.Q. test can measure.
There is a readily available solution. An Earth based education model, one that gives every child at every grade level a real world, hands-on, multi-sensory, inter-disciplinery experience in each community’s natural settings and led by educational specialists, knits state learning objectives with the place where the need for language and numbers first arose. Guiding learning (as opposed to “teaching”, in my opinion) of the whole child is our ultimate work. Man’s intelligence evolved from the balanced intelligence that preceded his entrance onto our planet. We need to respect it as part and parcel to the process we all care about.
Brilliant! It is not easy. Never ever will it be. I think teaching/studying the arts gets lots of flack, too. It’s, like you rightly said, not just giving someone a skill, it’s encouragement and enhancement of the young mind. Whilst we’re here- I’d like to endlessly thank my high school Drama teacher. She encouraged the creativity that drives me today. And, I’m a chef…
I hate the saying I’ve heard so many times before “Those that can’t, teach”. To that, I say, f**k off.
Great blog!
Cheers
As a recent high school graduate of a district where the teachers make an average of $65,000 a year (with a guaranteed pension of at least 50% of their salary PER YEAR after they retire), I can say that they have a very fortunate situation. That being said, it saddened me when they threatened to walk out and not come back til they got a pay raise. They constantly preached students first but when they wanted their 3% raise (Which in order ot meet this demand, the district cut buses, music and arts programs, raised the sports fees to $500 per sport, fired about 2 dozen teachers) I lost all respect for these ungrateful, uncaring people who claim they care for the kids. I will never support a teacher union nor a school levy unless the money goes to the kids.
When was the last time those teachers got a raise ? 3% is about the rate of inflation. If your district had to cut all the the things you mention to just give a 3% raise, then there was something massively wrong with the district to begin with. That math doesn’t make sense.
Also it was the district’s decision to cut those things not the teachers. No teacher wants to see other laid off. Teachers get a pension because teachers don’t get Social Security. Paying teachers a decent wage goes straight to the kids. People leaving teachers for better paying jobs all the time and teachers pay for a lot of classroom supplies out of their own pocket.(bet you didn’t know that).
I am thinking you need to educate yourself a little more about the realities before you decide you are unhappy with teachers.
And , BTW, we pay for our own pensions. They are deducted from our checks from day 1.
And , BTW, we pay for our own pensions. They are deducted from our checks from day 1.
chrisfs..when is the last time many working people in business got a raise… I will tell you for many 6 years!!! Not even a lousy 3% COLA raise… How many people have I seen get laid off in those past 6 years over 20 from my department alone.
There are good teachers and there are bad teachers just as in any other profession. But not all teachers are helpful to the kids, many are tired and been in the system forever and really don’t want to be, I see it every day. Supplies out of your own pocket, many business professionals do that too, oh and you can claim that on your taxes too, did you know that so you get it back on the back end.
This is not the situation that most teachers face. I work 8-12 hours daily. My students often rely on me for food, clothing, and supplies. Let me make it clear…they rely on me, not my school. The best part is I make 30,000 a year pre-tax and have not been given a raise in 6 years. Although my administration considers me one of their top teachers my job is constantly threatened by legislation. The inequality throughout the country is most certainly one of the biggest problems.
I am a recently retired high school Spanish teacher in a school district that has about 60% of our students on free or reduced lunch, (which indicates our level of poverty ,perhaps I can explain to a person who has never taught what it means to be a teacher. First We have to love the subject we teach, we esrn a Bachelor’s degree in our field as well as a Master’s degree in Education and higher levels of pour subject to be as well aeducated in our subject as possible.After we graduate we take more classes and attend conferences and workshops. because we are constsntly learning, not only our subject matter, but also how to provide the best environment for our students to learn. There are many factors out side of the classroom that can come into play that influence our students–poverty, illness, divorce, drugs alcohol, gangs, bullying, coping with sexual identity and more. But despite the many outside factors we care about our students and advocate for them, trying to provide an atmosphere where learning can take place. We creat a asafe place for our students(our kids) We teach to the kids our age group (K-12 and veyond) and have studied how to motivate our students to find out about our world and skills that are necessary to life a life of fulfillment as a citizen of the world. We teach them about how to behave, respect others, accept responsibility for one’s actions, become a caring human being. We are constantly expanding knowledge of our subject and wherever we are pick up ideas or insights that we bring back to our classes( which I have done when travelling with my students on my spring breaks). We spend so much time preparing for our classes- at school and at home, We meet with guidance counselors, administrators, parents,and colleagues. We attend workshops, conferences, faculty meetings. We spend weekends and evenings (and summers)creating what we hope will be great lessons, explore the internet and exciting websites, decide on meaningful homework, making up tests that let us know if the learning has taken place and how to teach it in a new way that might help students get the idea. Our salaries are not bad but many people feel that considering our task we should be getting paid much more, But you don’t go into teaching for the money. The rewards are not always tangible but we are proud of the successes of our students. Sometimes we don’t realize the impact we have had on our students until many years later. It has been worth it to me and many colleagues who put in the same amount of time and effort for our kids. It is a calling to become a teacher. It is lots of work but worth all of it. Visit a classroom and see what takes place there and then tell us that we have an easy job.
The fact that you’re claiming to be a former language teacher and yet you can’t use basic grammar and punctuation makes me uncertain of your credentials.
Yes..it is about being RESPECTED!! And for those who are clearly misinformed….teachers are considered 10 month employees. SO its not that they get 2 months off paid vacation…they are not paid during the summers! I think that it should be required that ALL professionals do a tour of duty as a teacher, in any grade K-12, for one year! Then maybe you will start to understand that some of these “rants and complaints” from them are not the case! So until you have truly walked a year…..not a day, but a year being a teacher, hold your tongue!
I agree, Mel. I have always said that every school administrator and decision maker should spend 1 year out of 5 back in the classroom. It would do them good to live with the policies they implement. Maybe they would realize that they often make a difficult job even more difficult.
It is whiny silly statements such as “those who are clearly misinformed . . . teachers are considered 10 month employees . . . not that they get two months off paid vacation” that cause teachers to be disrespected.
Annual wage is the basis for any meaningful evaluation of salary. The average annual wage per U.S. job in 2011 was $48,301 for 12 months of work including slightly more than 12 vacation days. Whether you spend the money in 10 months or 12 months or even 3months is quite irrelevant, except to note that you perhaps worked fewer days for the same amount of money.
This means that the average 22 working day monthly salary for an American in 2011 was $4025.08. If you made more than that, you did better than the average American per working month. If you made less, then you weren’t as well paid per month of work as the average American. That’s the meaningful set of facts to consider.
I never understood that ML. Arguing they are only paid for 10 months, wouldn’t that be a good thing for them? I wish I made my salary over 10 months instead of 12. I know this isn’t standard, but the teachers in my area make $80k. That is why I have trouble with the pay complaints. I could only wish I made that, and had the opportunity to spend extended holidays and the summer with my children. Priceless. One of the teachers I know just bought his 2nd business to go along with his teaching paycheck. He obviously has time. Another one supplements his income by coaching several different baseball teams because he has time all summer. He can support a family of 5 with a SAH wife and just built a beautiful home. Cleaning ladies, boats, yearly vacations to FL, that’s the life of the teachers I know. And if you have 2 teachers in the house, even better! Buy a nice 1st home and then a 2nd home in FL and you have lots of time to spend there! All before you are 40 years old! Probably can retire nice and early with their pensions too.
very well said!
Jill, I don’t know where you’re from, but those are not average teaching salaries in most parts of the U.S. The average new teacher makes about $30,000-35,000 a year. Most of the time the only teachers that ever make the kind of money you mention ($80,000) are the ones who have been teaching for a long time and have moved up the pay scale as far as they can. Granted, some areas and some states pay better than others, but in general, teachers do not make the kind of money you’re talking about. Most of them have to work other jobs during the summer and may also work during the school year to supplement their incomes.
Jill…I agree, I’m from an area where 80K/year is the average salary. Starting salaries are high 40’s and after 15 years they’re making 120K….that’s not too shabby considering I work in a medical laboratory where the scientists (PhD’s) top out at 100K…. I’m all for teachers making a decent salary, but to complain about a six figure salary??? My daughter has a friend whose parents are both teachers…they have a live in nanny, a huge house, new cars every 2 years and vacation to Disney every year. I’d say they’re doing pretty well…considering they don’t work summers. Do they work later than when the school bell rings? Sure! But so do a LOT of other professionals….I work weekends and nights too….I even bring home “homework” sometimes. To hear a teacher (plenty of them on facebook are not shy about it either!!) complain in August that they have to go back to school…and then to publish a countdown to the end of the year or any vacations coming up is annoying…and rude. They’re basically saying…I hate it when I have to go back to teach kids, I can’t wait for the holiday so I don’t have to teach and I’m counting down the days to summer break so I don’t have to teach any more kids!!!! Yeah, you’ll get a lot of pity from parents right there….I can see how much you love your job and love MY kids.
Lucy111.. You have deep seated issue with teachers. Try it for a week and get back to me.
Read the article. Yes, I agree that everyone should spend a year teaching – Especially the principals and administrators. A committee should just walk into the principal or administrator’s office and say – for the next year, you’re teaching x grade at xx school, you’ve got 2 days to days to get ready. Then, after 6 weeks move them again new grade, new school. Give them the assignments that “teach for American” can do better than a classroom teacher. Make sure they are bell to bell teaching, no breaks – forget the bathroom, make sure there is no toilet paper. It’s your fault if they don’t learn, or threaten you, or throw chairs, books or other object. Make sure their scores show how good a teacher you are. Because your pay, your livelihood, depends on it. Maybe then, we can start getting respect.
And yes, I’ve had students bring me Kleenex when I had a cold, a congratulations note on funeral home sympathy note, and, after Kevin did 3 years in Juvenile lock up for armed robbery, and got his GED he came and told me, “you were right, Mrs. K. I can do better than this.”
Administrators are former teachers…so, they know full well what is required…just sayin.
Yes, TEH, administrators are former teachers, but most of them forget what it’s like. I have always said they need to get in a classroom for a semester, or even a week, to remember how life is in the trenches.
Actually, not all administrators are former teachers. In fact, many states do not govern administration like they do teaching staff. Many do not require a degree in education at all. AND, many of those who did teach only taught 1-10 years.
The key word here for administrators is ‘former’. Teaching changes constantly and with each new school. The classroom experience this year is not at all what it was just 4 short years ago, before all of the CCSS and high states testing started making money for politicians the the like. That is why MANY teachers give a 5 year return to the classroom. Most teachers DO work extra, not because they have the time but because they need the money. Look at the parking lots of the schools. No big money cars there. Yes, there are some who got lucky and married someone who makes good money or family money somewhere, but for the most part teachers can (and do) sometimes even qualify for income based discounts. Sad when you consider the $$$ put out for the education. Oh yes, and the education. Please stop comparing us to the ‘average’ American worker. We are not. We are professionals with a great deal of higher education in the form of degrees, certifications and constant professional development. In my particular district we are required 1 hour of professional development per week to be attended during one of our “planning” periods. Another planning period per week is dedicated to dept. meetings. That leaves 3 planning periods of 55 minutes per week on contract to grade papers, contact parents, fill out constant paperwork on (in my case 99) students, plan lessons, make copies, analyse data, chart data, attend parent conferences, meet with guidance about students, as well as fulfill committee obligations and much more. Yes, I get all that done on the public’s dime. Right, I do…… Said NO TEACHER THAT WAS WORTHY OF HER/HIS STUDENTS.
So, tell me again how easy we have it. I actually had 3 weeks off this summer to do with what I wanted. The rest was taken by my principal with unpaid committee work and ‘volunteer’ trainings on the new programs implemented this year. The two out of town were on my dime as well.
No complaining here. I love my job. Just wish people who have NO CLUE WHAT I DO would keep their ignorant (meant literally not snarky) comments to themselves until they educate themselves about the subject.
Kudos to teachers. And there are many excellent teachers out there. You know who you are. You’re the one who cares about each student. You care enough to prepare your lessons plans with all of them in mind. You care enough to take that extra step to give an alternative explanation of the subject matter. You care enough to get involved with important extra curricular activities (not just sports) that will help the students even more than just classroom studies. You’re the teacher who makes sure each child is afforded learning opportunities no matter what their family background is like. Every student depends on you to teach them to he best of your ability with an attitude that convinces them that you are speaking directly to them (each of them!). Yes, that’s how good many of you are and we are thankful for you. Don’t ever stop being a good teacher and don’t ever give up on any student!
Say, “If you think teaching is so easy, why aren’t you teaching?”
Most likely they’d say, “Oh, I couldn’t do that!”
Love it!
Some teachers have students that are defiant, disobediant, disruptive,disrespectful, and rude. Yet these teachers work extra hard to help students. The more the students are like this behavior, the more challenging for that teacher. How on Earth can you judge that teacher by a test score?
What was worse, from my 7 years experience teaching, was the parents who would say “there is nothing wrong with my child, you aren’t doing your job.” Inevitably, it was the parents that made me leave the profession. They would send their children to school hungry, filthy, and disrespectful, and when I would have meetings with them regarding their child’s behavior, it was my fault?!?! It is not my job to teach your child manners. But while I have you here parent, look at your child’s test scores, they have actually gone up, because unlike you (which I never actually said to a parent), I never gave up on your child, despite their behavior, but if you would work with me, imagine what success they could have!! The final straw for me was when I had a parent claim I was “faking” test scores so that her child could be label MR and she could get more money from the State for having a child with a disability. I had never been so proud of myself for what I had accomplished with this student, and her mother accused me of cheating?!?! That was it, I gave up, I couldn’t take it anymore, that was my final school year. People should walk a mile in someone’s shoes before they claim it is easy.
Let me clarify, the parent I was referring to, she claimed that her child’s test scores were faked because she, her mother, wanted her child to be labeled MR, she thought I was making her scores higher than they should be because she wanted more money from the State.
I love this. Thanks for these words. It inspires me at a time when I need it the most. Teaching is one of the hardest professions ever and nobody, NOBODY will agree unless they’ve walked a year in our shoes.
School administration should be split into two jobs – one that deals with curriculum and the specifics of teaching and one that deals with running the school – they are two very different skillsets and splitting them would benefit everyone.
Some say, “Those who can, do; those who cannot, teach.”
Others say, “Those who cannot teach, teach gym.”
Still others say, “Those who cannot even teach gym, become school administrators, or else write education law.”
As an principal who LOVED being a teacher and never thought she would become an administrator, I ask you to think about the fact that like those who have not taught but think they have all of the answers, some of you are judging administrators without knowing all that “goes into “in our role as school leaders. I am there to support students, teachers and parents. Teachers have the hardest and most important role in a school, but it takes many: support staff, para-professionals and yes-even administrators, to get the job done. I sincerely hope you all have a great year!
I think that the argument most people want to make (and cannot express because they’ve had such… oh wait… HORRIBLE TEACHERS) is NOT that teachers aren’t hard working. It’s that most teachers are pathetic at what they do. Most cannot teach the subject past what is required of them at the state level. I got through advanced calculus without ANYONE correcting that I was performing algebraic equations in the correct order. NOT ONLY had no math teacher I had in four years ever taught the PEMDAS order correctly, AND none of them corrected myself or fellow students, but I was somehow awarding CRAZY HIGH MARKS in math, meaning that my incorrect calculations were CORRECT in the eyes of the teacher.
Some of the people I went to school with are teachers now and… wow. Good luck to THOSE students.
Teachers need to fire up, and no one that *I* know take that as “work harder”. We take that as be more educated in what you do.
Teachers need to fire up, and no one that *I* know take that as “work harder”. We take that as be more educated in what you do.>>>>>>
Yes, you definitely needed better teachers. This is not readable.
I am very sorry you experienced such poor teaching. I am a bit concerned that you believe this points to the whole teaching profession. There are good and bad workers in every profession. The question is how to sort the two from one another. I would like your input. How would you judge a poor versus excellent teacher? Are student scores a fair indicator? (Do the scores of a non-verbal autistic class weigh the same as the scores from a AIG class?) Would student ratings be fair? (This seems to be your method.) Let me know what you think.
I always tell my young teachers that teaching is a much delayed reward. Like raising kid, our rewards come many years later when our students end up in successful careers.
I tried to teach “Techical Writing for three semesters to Seniors in COLLEGE once. Not only did these Seniors NOT KNOW HOW to write a basic sentence they had no understanding of the meaning of the words “Technical Writing0. I had to write and provide them with a basic Grade School English manual! But one Senior student stumped me one day when he stopped me at the classroom door to say “JUST GIVE ME A “D” SO I’LL PASS AND WON’T HAVE TO GO TO CLASS.”
NEEDLESS TO SAY, I DIDN’T DO THAT!
Teaching is so much more tha what the author says here. It is advocating for kids who have no voice to parents who do not listen, to admins who expect us to change grades to make the school look better or get the student noticed by a sports scout. It is about raising the bar in the class room and encouraging students to realize that they can and will attain the standard of performance despite the angst they feel. It is about facing the admin head-on who says to lower the bar bc everyone should get a ribbon for trying. It is about defending the honor of colleagues you know to be valiant, and integrity-driven when some little cha-cha gets a thorn up her craw and has it in for her teacher bc she got a detenion or 2, or a bad final grade that the teacher refused to change. It is about physically placing yourself between the bully and the victim and telling the bully to hit YOU to disperse the fight in the HS hallway. It’s about telling the student who’s parents are abusive, when DCS does nothing, that it won’t go on forever, that age 18 is coming quickly and so will personal changes and then running into that parent outside of school somewhere where there is no other person around as a witness and verbally confronting to stand up for the kid, bc it will happen and it does all the time. It’s about buying the kid a new shirt bc they don’t have one, when they need to do an oral presentation for the county science fair, letting them think their mom sent it in, so they can beam with confidence and pride before the judges, but being super-careful, bc mommay not like this and beat the crap out of the kid bc she think it makes her look bad. It’s about the teachers doing the secretarial work bc there are so many of us and so few of them, so the task gets done quickly. It’s about taking orders from secretaries who have earned no BS, MS or PhD’s, who boss us around and tell us what we’re REQUIRED to do while they wear miserable expressions and making sure we always use our Emily Post manners. It’s about maintaining personal integrity and honor far and above what any one else cannot even begin to expect of themselves yet judge us on every moment of our lives, even in our personal time. It’s about parents who want to run class rooms their own way. It’s about absentee parents who hurt their kids bc they’re selling their kid’s prescribed medication so they can be on a 3 week bender and the kids don’teven know where they are or if they’ll even see mom again. It’s about absentee parents who take lengthy vacations or fly endlessly away on business and leave the kids w/ an au pair who doesn’t give one rat’s hair that your kid spits on me or threaten sme with scissors bc I asked for his homework 3 days in a row, and he said, “I don’t have to do what you say. You’re just a teacher.” It’s about the dean who sent the kid back to class and has easily lowered my level of deserved respect bc “I” need to consider where the kid comes from and give him yet another chances. NOW…it REALLY is about these 4 self-examinations I learned from my mentoring teacher when I interned in 1980: 1. Did I serve the student? 2. Did I serve the family? 3. Did I serve the school? 4. What did I do today that I can do better tomorrow? Any questions???
Interesting article and discussion. I am always intrigued and many times hurt by some of the negative comments I see thrown at teachers. I don’t fully understand the vilification of teachers in our society, except that they are paid by tax payers. The tax payers see one side of the job and don’t understand the other side. It seems when teachers explain their job then the teachers are “labeled complainers and whiners”. Keep in mind if you are not a teacher and make assumptions about someones career just because you know someone who is teacher does not make you an authority on the teaching profession. When people make assumptions about the teaching profession then teachers, naturally, defend what they do which then gets labeled as complaining and whining.
I am a teacher, in a private Catholic school, in New York City. I used to work in the business world for ten years, more specifically the travel industry, and always had a yearning to be a teacher. I thought to myself I work hard in a busy fast paced office environment, year round, I can surely handle being a teachers. I went to grad school, earned my masters degree, and landed a job as a 3rd grade teacher. I learned very fast that teaching is a very challenging job. I too thought teachers had it rather easy but it is not. Of course every job has it’s tough parts but teaching seems more intense. Nevertheless I enjoy it because I like challenges and I enjoy seeing the progress in my students. I have grown as a person being a teacher rather then sitting behind a desk all day.
It saddens me to see other people talk about the teaching profession when they are not in it. I do my very best not to do that to other people’s profession. For example, I went to my accountant during tax season. He spent an hour with me and charged me $130. Now, at face value that looks deceptively easy to me. He plugged away at the computer and that was that and made $130. But of course I am sure he does a lot of “behind the scenes” work like I do. My students are with me from 8-3 all day of course and I have work on top of those hours. Therefore one does not know what each of our jobs entail. I would never make an assumption that my accountant has it easy. I can’t say that, it looked easy, but I am sure he has extra work to do on my taxes. Just like teaching we always have extra work but we do have a lot of vacation time. However many of us work above our 8 hour work day. The hours of work at my school for teachers are 7:30-3:30 (students are present from 8-3). I usually work at least 3 hours on top of my 8 hour work day plus on weekends. In addition I do not get any breaks (no lunch break) three days a week. When I add up my extra hours (an no lunch breaks) I basically pre-work most of my summer and all of my breaks. Also keep in mind teachers have to take certain summer courses over the break. I am in NO WAY complaining just giving some people insight on what teachers do. I also realize we are not the only profession that brings work home, many other do. Though, when I look at my family and friends the teachers in my group are the only ones working after hours but I am sure other professions do this. I have a friend who is a graphic designer, another a head of finance for a non-profit, another friend who is an attorney for Thompson Routers, my brother-in-law is an accountant for Master Card, and my father is in sales for Deitz & Watson Meat Company but out of all of those professional people I am the only one who brings work home each night and on the weekends. While I have heard of other professions bringing work home every night I have yet to see that in my circle of friends and family. I asked my friends and family if they bring work home out of curiosity as many of them ask me why I can’t get my work done at school. I tell them that I can’t do the work at school since I have children in front of me – I have to teach and manage them while they are present and in front of me. All the prep work, grading, creating of assessments and lesson plans, calling and emailing parents and researching ways to teach need to wait until after the students leave.
That brings me to my other point. Why do so many people make teachers feel like we can’t make a decent salary? I make $45,000 for the year. It is for 10 months of work. I get medical benefits that I contribute to but I do not get dental or vision. I have a graduate degree and I am certified to teach in New York State. I have taken three exams to get certified and I received high marks for my graduate degree in education. Like any professional with advanced degrees, such as a lawyer, I have college debt and I live in the NYC area so our cost of living is high. I am not complaining about my salary just giving the facts. I support teachers getting paid more since we have advanced degrees and are certified professionals. Attorneys are paid very well, why isn’t teaching given as much clout as attorneys? It is an interesting question.
It is frustrating to see many non-teachers vilify this profession. There are really so many dedicated teachers working for the young of our society. Give them some respect. Of course we chose this line of work and knew that the salary isn’t the best but when you actually are in the trenches you see that certain things can be made better and improved. We need to all work together to respect the teaching profession and not trash on it. If we respect teachers I really feel the education level in this country will start to improve.
If you are a non-teacher and think that teachers complain or have it easy I invite you to join. Instead of sitting on the sidelines and being an arm chair teacher join us and make a difference to the profession. If you think we have an easy job and got lucky you can be part of that too.
Lastly, I want to say I am grateful that I have a job and very happy I made my switch from the business world to the world of education.
I couldn’t agree more. I have been teaching for five years, starting my sixth this year. I have been laid off, excessed and had my jobs “dissolved”. I too live in NYC, and work for NYC public schools. My rent costs almost as much as I make in a month. The norm is not teachers who make 80k,that’s in suburbs, after 10+ years, and even so, why shouldn’t we be paid for the 200 some odd credits were required to take? Instead of pointing fingers and judging, show some respect, because your children hear your disrespect for us and mimic it in our classrooms.
Justin, I’m from an area where teachers make $120K/year and they STILL complain about salaries. From what I hear, they compare themselves to a CEO of a company. Now, I don’t know exactly what they think they should be paid, but a CEO of a company is ONE person of a company that makes a profit….there are dozens of teachers in every school and they’re paid by the taxpayers… In my district, our school taxes alone are $6,000/year and every year they go up. These over 100K/year teachers are guaranteed their hefty pensions after they retire so our taxes go up every year even with budget cuts!!! I have no problem with teachers making a decent salary….45K/year is too low especially for a seasoned teacher….but schools aren’t a business, they don’t MAKE money. The administration and teachers can’t compare their salaries to some CEO of a huge corporation. It’s not the same. One CEO to a business…possibly a few dozen to a couple of hundred teachers to one district. Where does the money come from?? The pockets of the taxpayers. I don’t think teachers should be paid pennies…but when other professions are taking a hit due to the economy why should teachers be excluded from that? Other professions have to deal with a lot too; clients, customers, vendors, lawyers, bosses, coworkers etc. They too have to deal with lack of respect, long hours and little money. I have respect for teachers, but not more than many other professions. I’ve seen lack of respect within the teaching profession too….so for them to complain about respect, when they give little themselves is hilarious. I know a 7th grade teacher who thinks the kindergarten teachers have it easy…I’ve heard her complain about how much the art, music, and gym teachers make the same $$ as she does and she does more. To each and every one of them, THEIR specific job is the hardest…all the other grades or subjects are easier to do than their job. complaints, complaints, complaints…that’s all I hear yet they make 3X more than the average teacher. I just don’t get it. If they hated it so much, why not quit and become a CEO if it’s that easy. LOL (and no, I’m not a CEO of a company…)
To Lucy111, talking about salaries is not what this article is about – you need to think about what you are reading instead of just giving a knee-jerk reaction to a subject which has been knocked around a lot. This article is talking about respect for the skills of the teacher, and people with no training thinking they could be successful teachers. You are right that ALL jobs need proper training (I would not be a successful CEO without a lot of experience and training in whatever field this position requires, and even then, I might not have the right personality for it, or the right contacts). Most teachers do not make anywhere near what you quoted, unless they have advanced degrees and decades of experience as well as live in a more affluent area. High taxes are experienced by everyone these days, including teachers. Lastly, do you ever complain about your salary?
Well said Justin and I am sure that as a teacher at a Catholic sponsored school that your salary is not as high as it might be. But in the end it’s not about money, I knew what I would be paid when I took the job. What it comes down to is respect and being allowed to do the job you were trained to do. That is all I ever asked for.
After 30 years of teaching, I usually get the same comment from my friends. “It must be nice to have three months off during the summer.” The last time I checked, I was in school countless days in July compiling data about student test results. I just went back to work during the third week in August. Our classrooms are not climate controlled. My students are either roasting or freezing. Yet, they always say “thank you” at the end of the lesson. We haven’t gotten a raise in 4 years. I challenge anyone to stand in front of 25 teenagers for a week. You’ll change our tune. That, I can guarantee.
Most people don’t realize it’s about controlling, managing, and shaping the learning day for 36 or more people. And the people involved often don’t want to do it or be there. And nobody outside fellow teachers knows how hard it is to be on all the time. It’s like putting on a show for 6 hours every day for an audience that doesn’t always listen, and then going home and doing 3 hours of paperwork before the next show begins.Alot of physical, emotional and psychologicl stress. I would wish everyone who thinks they can do it would do it for a month and then we could talk. Love the job and the students but the stress of politics, budget cuts, no materials, parents who don’t parent, lost children, endless paperwork and endless meetings, no salary increases etc. it wears you out frankly and so there is so much burn out that 50 percent quit after 5 years.
I have the most utmost respect for teachers. So what if they have school vac. off and holidays ect. They totally deserve it. You know why? Because they have to put up with your kids. The totally misbehaved, spoiled brats that you bring up. AND not only that, THEY HAVE TO PUT UP WITH YOU (the parent).
I was a bank teller for years, then went back to school and now teach preschool children with disabilities. People are always more impressed that I used to work in a bank. :::sigh:::
The truth is most jobs are difficult, and if people just respected each others professions there would be no need to defend ones career in the first place.
Well stated
Your article loses credibility through its generalization: “WE make it look easy”. Who is this we that you are vouching for? I had many teachers growing up. Most saw me for 40 minutes each day, generally lectured, gave me tests and every once in a while threw some questions my way. A few stood out as special for several reasons. Some because they cared more and showed it through action, some because they did a better job of imparting the subject matter knowledge they were responsible for.
Saying teaching is hard to measure is a cop-out. You CAN measure teachers and it does not have to be exclusively a function of standardized tests. Student feedback is a heck of a lot more objective than one would think. Survey the top 50% of students and their answers will tell you exactly who your top teachers are.
I will never forget when teacher union was on salary increase strike at my high school and 99% of teachers refused to give students in my grade college recommendations in protest. Teachers should be subject to competition, just like everyone else in this country. Bottom 10% recycled every year into a less critical profession.
Totally agree. I had teachers in school where they recycled old tests, sat down the entire time while the class read aloud the material and practically ran out of the building when the bell rang at the end of the day. I also had awesome teachers who you knew cared about teaching and about their kids. They were always there after class, after school and didn’t give up on the kids who were just not getting it. The kids and parents know who the good teachers are…. the principles know who the “bad” ones are too…but their unions say they can’t trade them for another “good” one, so the kids suffer.
@ Lucy ..Just like there are bad workers in all fields and in all careers…You can’t let a few bad apples spoil it for the whole bunch. Generally there are a lot more good teachers out there than there are bad. The public doesn’t see it that way. The respect is gone.
“I just can’t get no respect.” I can’t tell you how many times people have given me advice on how to teach or how they could do the job. Unbelievable!
I’m in love with aa teacher <3
Teachers work hard, I know many teachers and without exception they are an incredibly committed bunch. They love their job, they work exceptionally hard and all for the love of it. Here’s the thing, I actually no longer engage in talking to teachers about their job. Not because I don’t care what they do, or I don’t respect the incredible job that so many of them do for mine and other children, not because I think I could do their job (because I know I couldn’t), not because I think they’ve got it easy…No I don’t ask them because they don’t respect my job. They don’t respect how hard I work, they truly don’t believe that I might work just as hard as they do, that I might love what I do just as much as them. That my job isn’t just a job. No it turns into a battle of words, that I couldn’t possibly know the hours they put in…so how do you know how hard I work?
I am a retired teacher who taught MS/HS for 35+ years. I think the major reason teachers are not respected is due to our required education system. Everybody has gone to school, so they think they know all about teaching. That statement can’t be made about most other jobs/professions.
Also, parents who don’t want to recognize their child has learning problems or who will lie for their child to make themselves or their child look better or get out of trouble don’t help any situation at all. All they’re doing is teaching their child to lie.
Teachers get paid different amounts in different areas largely due to cost-of-living differences. The number of years teaching as well as advanced degrees also affect pay. Even if teachers don’t hold advanced degrees, certification renewal requires taking additional classes.
Teachers’ unions aren’t responsible for poor teachers staying in their jobs. As all citizens, teachers have the right to due process. If a teacher isn’t doing his/her job, then administration has steps to take to make sure they improve or are removed. Unfortunately, it takes extra effort for administration to do so, and it doesn’t always happen. That is one reason why there are poor teachers teaching. Another reason is the shortage of teachers. Administrators will sometimes hire an unqualified person just to fill a slot if there is no qualified teacher available for hire.
A lot of people seem to think that a teacher with tenure cannot be fired. That is not true. Tenure means the job is permanent which means the teacher cannot be fired for no reason. Teachers on probation status can be terminated for no reason.
My parents thought a teacher’s job was pretty easy until I lived at home one semester while teaching. When they saw how much work I needed to bring home, they changed their tunes.
In our high-tech society today, including TV and movies, children are used to being entertained constantly. I wish they would go outside and play more often; however, I understand in some areas it would not be safe for them to do so. My point is that life is not always entertainment. There are tasks that need to be accomplished that are not entertaining; they might even be boring. Children need to understand they need to work hard in school, not to expect the teacher to be a cartoon character who does everything for them.
Lastly, teachers are human and make mistakes as do all humans, parents included. Just because a teacher makes a mistake (or even more than one) doesn’t mean the teacher is a bad teacher or bad person.
You are right. That is unfair of your friends to rank their hard work above yours. I don’t think all of us teachers do that though. Personally, conversations about my profession only turn sour with non-teachers when they belittle the work I do.
I have to say that as a teacher who is fairly new to the profession, a lot of the comments on here are really upsetting. Before I chose to become a teacher, I also thought that teachers were paid during the summer, had the best schedule ever, and had a fairly easy job. I’m not saying that there aren’t definite perks to the job (such as having weekends off and some time off in the summer), but I earn every single penny I make. Some comments on here suggest that most teachers make $50,000+ per year and work 40 hours a week for nine months. False. Some teachers do make that much, but not all of us. I am contracted to work nearly 42 hours a week (not to mention the 3-4 hours a day I work extra) and I make around $34,000 a year. When I add up my basic expenses, I have very little money left over; then, out of that, I do buy things like supplies for my classroom because I want my kids to succeed and I want to provide tools to help them. Some people might say that I can write these expenses off on my taxes and I can… Up to $250, which all we teachers know is not even a drop in the bucket. As for this myth that teachers get paid during the summer- yes, I receive a paycheck in the summer when I generallly don’t have to go to school. However, this is simply payment for work that I have ALREADY done. Instead of receiving my salary in the ten months I work, it is split over twelve months so that I can still afford things like rent and car insurance in the summer. And the idea that we have the entire summer break off is also a myth; most of us attend conferences and workshops during the summer.
Being a teacher is hard and I think that like jobs in retail or food service, no one can truly appreciate that fact until they’ve done it themselves. This is the only job in the world where I have to be knowledgable of my content, my students, the many laws surrounding education, school rules and policies, and how to make everything relevant to my students, as well as being a coach, a cheerleader, a counselor, a mediator, a mentor, a disciplinarian, a planner, a grader, an inspiration, and, of course, a teacher. This is the one of the only jobs in the world where my private life can cost me my job (without me having broken any serious moral codes or any laws) and where I must live beyond reproach all for a small salary. So for those of you who feel that you can do this job, feel free to try. I’ve got a class of thirty-five kids waiting for you.
What’s wrong with teachers? The bad apples that your unions protect. 99% of all teachers work hard, give a damn about those they teach, and aren’t paid enough. Get rid of the bad apples and show us, the public, that you give a damn about what we think about you.
Thank you for writing this article. I think many people think they know how to teach because they sat in classrooms growing up. However, I have flown in many airplanes and you certainly don’t want me to fly it.
Haha…love this!