Not quite, Walter. But it's coming. We return to work on August 13. Yes, that lengthy summer vacation that people always talk about is about to come to an end. What's that, you say? I've been working all summer? Nonsense. Teachers only work part-time. We work six hours a day for nine months out of the year. At least that's what I've always read in the newspaper opinion sections. This is not going to be a rant about teachers' low pay, etc. I don't buy that argument, ever. Every one of us knew going in how much the job paid. What gets me is the public perception that we only work part time. In the 20 years that I have been a teacher, I have taken two summers off. Two. After my first year of teaching full time I took the summer off because I had worked the previous two years without so much as two days off in a row. Then I took the summer of 1993 off. That's it. Other than those two years, I have taught summer school and Jump Start and written curriculum in my spare time. This summer I did both sessions of summer school and am now at work on writing 60 problem-solving questions (with scoring rubrics) for the different departments in our school.
I don't know about the other teachers in our school, but in twelve days I could use a vacation. Too bad I have to start work.
1 comment:
Jim, teachers do get a bad rep with all that "they get summers off". My son had year-round school while we lived in Wake Forest. He went nine weeks on/three weeks off all year. The teachers did the same. It was nice in that the kids never had a time to 'forget' stuff. And the teachers got paid all 12 months. He has adjusted to traditional school since we moved two years back. Still, it is nice when the summer ends and he's looking forward to school again. I hope that attitude stays.
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