teacher rants

I started this post back when I was teaching full-time, and even though part-time has been amazing, I have had so many frustrating things happen lately that inspired me to finish this post. Teaching is hard! I am not trying to whine, this is my post of complaints to get it all off my chest. (Read to the end and I promise it ends happy).

1. People think teaching is "easy."
Why in the heck have so many people told me this?! Do they know what teaching is??? My favorite is when people find out my hours are 7:30-3:30 (this year 10-3:30). "You get off at 3:30?! That's so cool! I am so jealous." Yes, 3:30 is when I stop getting paid. But is 3:30 when I stop working? Nope. In fact, I am hardly ever not doing something for work. I put in hundreds and hundreds of hours of overtime a year and never get paid overtime. Overtime is not even an option. And don't get me started on how great it is that we get summers off. You realize we don't get paid for the summer? And that there would be an increase in teachers going insane or beating children if we didn't have that? Most teachers have to get a second job over the summer to make ends meet anyway.

2. I get paid NOTHING.
I know everyone knows this and talks about it all the time, but if you're not a teacher, I don't think you truly realize how crazy this is. I'm gonna be all kinds of honest here and tell you that as a full time teacher, I was making $20,000 a year after taxes. And they tax the crap outta teachers. Oh and guess what? There's a salary increase FREEZE in most districts and has been for years. So instead of getting a slight increase every year, we get nothing. I know a woman who has gained two master degrees since she started teaching, and has gotten not a cent more.

3. As a special ed teacher, I get paid the same as general ed.
I am in no way demeaning general ed teacher because they work their freaking butts off, but in a secondary setting, I am responsible for almost double what a general ed teacher is. And I get paid not a penny more. Endless meetings and paperwork and parent phone calls and more paperwork and crazy behaviors and IEP writing and compliance dates and accommodations and testing and data collection and more paperwork all thrown on top of the normal things teachers have to do like lesson plan and teach. 

4. People think that since I teach special ed and my class sizes are "small," that things are easier.
"You have 15 kids in your class?! That's SO small!" First of all, do you know what a class of 15 kids with disabilities is like? Yes, mine are high functioning, but high functioning Autism is no picnic. All but 2 of my students have ADHD and they are severely ADHD. Every single one has a learning disability and several have behavior disorders. Put them all together and try to teach them. Not to mention, resource classes are supposed to be a lot smaller than that. But mine keep getting bigger every few weeks.

5. Everything is our fault.
Gone are the days when the teacher is king and always right and gets to hit the kids with rulers. (Not that I want to do that or anything). If a student has and F, it's not because the kid is lazy and not doing any work or paying attention. It's the teacher's fault. Somehow, it's always the teacher's fault. Especially in special ed. I get phone calls blasting me because their kid is failing math. I DON'T EVEN TEACH MATH! But it's my fault. Because I wrote their IEP. And we all know that IEPs mean your kid magically gets straight A's. There's no appreciation either. My kids love me and I have good relationships with their parents thanks to having them for two years, but there's never any "thank you's" or anything along those lines. Teacher appreciation week is basically non-existent in a secondary setting. I once had a mom bring me a candy apple and a card, and one time I got an email from another mom thanking me for helping her daughter read better. But that's it. My kids love to hang out with me and bring me diet cokes, but thank you is a word I never hear from them. Can't blame them too much. They are 15. But it's often draining when all you hear are silence or complaints.

6. State Legislatures expect perfection. And nothing less.
We have a teacher evaluation system called JPAS that comes from the state and that we are required to complete every year. It involves 4 observations where an administrator comes into my room for 30 minutes, checks some boxes, puts it into a computer, and spits out a piece of paper telling me whether or not I am a good teacher. Now, I have always gotten good scores so I shouldn't complain too much, but this system makes no sense! How can you know if a teacher is a good teacher after watching them for 30 minutes? And don't even get me started on the portfolio to go along with it. Let's just say it took me 15 hours (unpaid) to complete. Then you present it in a grueling hour long interview where the grill you on every single of aspect of teaching. And no matter how much you do, there is always something you're not doing. "So I see that you do behavior trackers, tally talk-outs, have students grading their own participation, use assignment trackers for failing students, do assessments once a month on IEP goals, measure fluency and comprehension once a month, update your grades every Friday, have pre-and-post tests for every unit, have a class wide point system and an individual point system with each student, have writing workshops for every essay, do all the state-wide and school-wide mandated testing, have 'check-out' quizzes after every lecture, have one-on-one meetings with each student once a quarter.. but how else are you taking data?" TRUE STORY. And the first round is done in the first 5 weeks of school. So no trying to settle in for the year.
 
7. Everything is based off test scores.
Most people are not good test takers. Taking tests do not accurately demonstrate learning, achievement, and progress. Yet, in the public school system, everything is based off test scores. They are even trying to base teacher pay off test scores! In our district, they took test scores and gave each school a grade. We got a B+ and got reamed by our principal. We take weeks out of our precious teaching time to do all this stupid testing that proves nothing.

8. I was told I had to take a 2 and a half year Reading Endorsement class..
 ..in which I have learned nothing more than what I was taught in college, have had to shell out thousands of dollars (including $200 just to take a test), and since the class is elementary and secondary combined, have spent most of the time learning how to teach reading to 1st graders which is something I will never do. But that $200 test I have to take is 80% elementary content.

9. The public school system is going down the toilet.
Just like our government these days, our school system is not in a good position. We have no money. We go about everything the wrong way. We spend millions of dollars on things we don't need. Our curriculum has been "dumbed down" drastically over the years, and so to try and fix that, they jump forward with a new core that aligns with none of our tests or texts. Sometimes I seriously wonder if a 5 year old is making the decisions behind public education.

Why I do it anyway.
This is a super negative post, and it's probably scared away some perspective teachers. I apologize! Because there's a reason I am still teaching, and still loving it. Do I hate all the extra crap we have to go through and the way we are treated and how much we're paid? Yep. But do I absolutely love teaching? YES. A big, fat, freaking yes. Nothing makes me happier than watching that light bulb click on for a kid. Or seeing the progress someone can make. Or just relaxing and joking around with my class. Or teaching them a new concept that they are excited about. Or reading The Outsiders and boys telling me it's the first book they have ever liked. Or hearing them tell me something finally makes sense. And I'm good at it. I was born to teach. It's not for everyone, but for those who can do it, there's something amazing about watching kids learn. It's a joy I can't explain. And I love these kids in a way I can't describe. Each one has crawled inside my heart and will stay there forever. I adore them. In every way. That's why the teaching profession is filled with some of the most amazing and selfless human beings in the world. We are put through hell and paid nothing for it, but we love what we do. We change lives. We help build the future. And at the end of the day, it means more than a paycheck. It means more than anything. Sometimes, I just need to get the annoying stuff out to remember and see more clearly why I do this. I don't do it for me. I do it for the kids.