You might be a public school teacher if--
1. You want to slug the next person who says, "Must be nice to work 8 to 3:20 and have summers free."
2. You believe "unbelievably annoying" should have its own box in the report card.
3. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."
4. When out in public you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct their behavior.
5. You reflect that marking all A's on report cards would make your life SO much easier.
6. You think people should be required to spend two years teaching middle school before being allowed to reproduce.
7. You wonder how some parents ever MANAGED to reproduce.
8. You encourage an obnoxious parent to check into homeschooling.
9. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.
10. Meeting a child's parent instantly answers the question, "Why is this kid like this?"
2. You believe "unbelievably annoying" should have its own box in the report card.
3. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."
4. When out in public you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct their behavior.
5. You reflect that marking all A's on report cards would make your life SO much easier.
6. You think people should be required to spend two years teaching middle school before being allowed to reproduce.
7. You wonder how some parents ever MANAGED to reproduce.
8. You encourage an obnoxious parent to check into homeschooling.
9. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.
10. Meeting a child's parent instantly answers the question, "Why is this kid like this?"
posted by Kim at
2/17/2005
1 Comments:
As a fellow Middle School teacher (7th grade & 5th Grade Social Studies in the Bronx, NY) I can say that your comments reflects with the utmost accuracy how I feel on a daily basis. I love my students on a personal level, but most who act as if teachers have it easy do not realize how much we NEED those breaks during the year. I've worked longrterm in an office environment, with the politics, pressure, etc. and it does not compare to teaching Middle School.
It would be nice to see most of those who say "you are so lucky to have such and such vacation" teach for a year (not one day which tells very little about the psychology of adolescents). I doubt many would keep their views about the ease of being a teacher, with the multiple vacations. If they weren't there I could not even imagine how I would survive the year.
I remember leaving college to take a job with only "10 days paid vacation" thinking, "Hmmm, can I handle such little vacation, compared to being a student?" But it turned out to be an easier transition than anticipated. I left the office life to pursue a job that would be more of a positive contribution to society as a teacher, which seemed to suit me more. What I can say that the ease of my office job life disappeared, and now it has become a struggle.
The reality is that there are some who are magnificent at this profession, and have "what it takes" to succeed with greater ease than many, but even they are very stressed, and few are willing to teach in locations where the children are in most need of help.
The American education system is a travesty in my view. Certainly we cannot maintain our economic and political dominance or even relevance over the long term with things remaining mostly the same. A REAL educational and social revolution will have to take place if we want to see improvements on this front. Will this happen anytime soon or at all? That remains to be seen and I hope it does, but honestly...it seems doubtful at the present time.
By
Anonymous, At
2:25 AM
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home