Month: June 2017


Jun
2017

What Teachers Really Do During the Summer

categories: Teacher Life

I have people who are upset with me right now, giving me the side-eye whenever they see me. What is it that I have done to make people so upset with me? It’s all because I am a teacher and I am off for the summer and I keep posting pictures of my legs crossed, a book in my hand, and a cup of coffee at my side. No worries. No schedules. No concerns.

I’m sorry, but I am not sorry. I’m sorry that not everyone can have a job where they get two months off and, thanks to year-round pay, still get paid for it. However, I am not sorry because this is a well-deserved break. I won’t go into all of the details of what a teacher has to do during the year. However, I wanted to give some insight into what most teachers actually do during the summer.

*Disclaimer: Please excuse my grammar in this post. It’s not a dissertation, just some fun, so please don’t judge me.*

Here’s a list in no particular order:

#1 – One thing that I know I do plenty of during the summer is reflect on the previous school year. What did I do right? What did I do wrong? What can I do better?  How did I actually survive that one class period that made me want to quit every single day? Will THAT child be in my class again next year? Why did I become a teacher? Is there time for me to get another degree over the summer? Do I really have to do this again next year? Then something clicks in my brain. Wait…I have two months off.  Two full months. Two months. Then I come back to my senses and I say, “I think I’ll stick with this teaching thing after all.” Got to take the good with the bad.

#2 -Believe it or not, we actually start planning for the next school year. Wait, did you really believe all of that teacher magic could really happen with us coming back only ONE week before the students do? Noooooo!!!! Most teachers have already started filling their Pinterest boards with classroom decor and ideas for the new year. Some are attending summer trainings in order to learn new strategies (oh, and for a much needed stipend). And all are praying that this year will be the year of perfect lessons, no unnecessary meetings, and perfectly behaved students. Hey, we can dream. To tell you the truth, we know that the first week back to work for teachers is actually filled with meetings, meetings, and more meetings, so there is NO real time to plan in our rooms.

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Jun
2017

The Entitled Generation

categories: Teacher Life

*Disclaimer: This is a bit of a rant.

I apologize in advance.

I had to get this off my chest.

As a child, I remember hearing the phrase, “You don’t get something for nothing,” and I realized that in order to get something, I needed to earn it. Whether this was referring to earning grades, awards, or money, it was the same idea. You get from life what you put into it. I understood the concept that hard work would be rewarded and no one wins at everything. Hard work, dedication, and perseverance were  keys to success.

The same concept seems to be neither taught nor understood by this current generation of children, the generation that includes my own children as well as the students I teach. I think this school year has been my most frustrating one out of the sixteen that I have been teaching. I don’t think I have ever had so many students angry with me because they did not receive an ‘A’ in my class for just being present in the room on a regular basis. The amount or quality of the “work” that they turned in or whether or not they actually turned in any work at all seemed to be of no consequence. They felt they should get a passing grade just because they came to class, just because they were nice, just because they got an ‘A’ on that one assignment that one time, etc.

It is extremely frustrating!

When did we start teaching kids that just because they are alive, the universe and all of the people in it owe them something? When did we start teaching kids that everyone is equal in talent and ability at everything? When did we start teaching kids that having a talent meant that they didn’t have to work hard because that talent would just carry them along to success?

I see it every day. Students who earn high test scores on standardized tests automatically seem to believe that their test scores entitle them to an ‘A’ in a class, that the mediocre work that they turn in to the teacher is acceptable and they don’t need to do any more than that. I see talented singers and dancers at the school who think that they don’t need to actually rehearse for a performance, that they can just get on stage and magic will happen. It’s in the struggling learner who feels that because everyone knows that it’s harder for them to learn, that they shouldn’t really have to work at all, that the teacher should just have sympathy as well as low expectations and gift them with a passing grade. (more…)