Frazzled

Parent teacher conferences. Again.

12 hours at school today, and that's not all. Before I sleep I have 5 test versions to finish writing, test remediation to develop, two lessons to plan, and then I'll still be behind but will stop and go to sleep, hopefully cramming in my normal 4.5 hours.

Days off are not days off. Last week my dept. chair took one Saturday off to play with his kids and help with soccer games, dance recitals, being a spouse, etc. He was so far behind after one day off it took the entire following week to catch up. He's been doing this for 15 years now.

Which kicks my hypothesis out of the water before it's even been tested. I figured the first years are the hardest and then they just get easier every year. Evidently I'm wrong.

People often tell me how "lucky I am" to have so many Holidays. Yes, I get President's Day off. Yes, I get Spring Break. And yes, I don't work summers. Officially anyway.

The reality is that, like with many things, the perception falls significantly far from the actual experience.

I work harder than I've ever worked at any job in my life. I have 215 students of completely varying abilities, interests, and dedication. At least 35 of those have special accommodation needs. I'm required to provide education to anyone, regardless of primary language, ability, or prerequisite knowledge and to do so that they reach mastery on my core. I have students whose first languages are Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Burmese, Portuguese, Thai, and a few that I don't know. Several of these speak little or no English and they do not all have translators.

Other students have learning challenges which require completely different accommodations. I have students who are recovering from traumatic brain injuries, are chemically imbalanced, have serious allergies, cancer, hyper as all get-out, or worse have no support or role models at home.

Students who, as freshmen, have already decided that they aren't going to graduate but come every day for the social aspect of school. It's where their friends are.

I'm responsible for the shopping, the cleaning, designing labs, prepping labs, cleaning up after labs (have you ever tried to clean up after 3 teenagers, let alone 200+?), getting all homework graded and posted DAILY, and getting 80% of my kids to understand the material at 80% competency. I'm a nurse, attendance monitor, policeman, entertainer, motivational speaker, and professional student. Kids always ask questions I don't know answers to so I learn. It's like being in college forever.

I don't just teach science, but literature, writing, government, math, business law, psychology, history, art, and engineering. Life is inter-curricular, so too should school be.

Plus parenting. The legal definition of my job uses the phrase "in loco parentis" meaning having the responsibilities of a parent when none is present.

And I do it all for less than I made before graduating college. Minus union fees. And PTA fees. And foundation fees. And school fund fees. And paying for classroom supplies out of my own pocket because school budgets are strapped (bad housing economy = no property taxes = no education funding).

This summer is rapidly approaching, and already I'm swamped. I'll have 2 new courses for fall to develop curriculum for (not an easy task my friends), a class at the college to teach, two graduate courses to attempt, not to mention getting Aeryn's visits to her dad planned in and a desire for some actual recreation once in a while. I seriously don't know how it's all going to fit. Curriculum design is so very time consuming. Summer? What summer?

But I LOVE MY JOB. So much. Truly. The kids are insane and life is crazy busy all the stinking time, but I really, truly love it. Even days like today where I haven't figured out how in the world I'm going to get any of what I need done finished and there seems to be no end to the tunnel.

Despite this adoration for my job, I'm getting really tired of hearing "Teachers are so lucky!" because "you get all sorts of Holidays!"

Really?

When are those?

I suppose it depends on one's definition of 'Holiday.' My definition of Holiday is any day that I can get 5+ hours of sleep and only have to work after Aeryn is in bed. Those don't happen very often. Certainly not on weekends.

So I suppose the point of this endless drivel is this: the way we see other people's jobs is just like the way we see their lives; rose colored and tainted by our own experiences.

What I've learned so far this year is that public teachers are among the hardest working people on the planet. We are here because we care about your children and want them to have the best opportunities in life. Good teachers never stop working and think about the job 24/7, and there's a heck of a lot of good teachers out there. It isn't the way I saw it when I was in high school, or when I was pregnant, still married, and planning to home school based on the classical education method. My experience has changed, and so too my perspective.

I'm so glad.

Public education rocks.
Teachers are amazing, and we adore your kids so much that we are willing to go through the ringer for them. The variety of people and the social challenges of being in school are so good SO GOOD for helping your kids decide who they are going to be and see a more broad perspective on the world. It shapes their character, and gives them opportunity to choose for themselves who they will be. This does more good than you can know, and so many kids are choosing to be great!

Now that I've said my two cents about forty-seven times over, I better get back to work. It's a never ending beast, and for some reason, I really like it.