Something is going on in Wisconsin and I am not going to pretend I understand completely the fight between the Wisconsin GOP and the teacher's union. I try to stay up to date with current politics, but sometimes life gets in the way. I have read a few articles on various websites and I am appalled by the backlash against teachers in the comment sections (I need to stop reading the comments, they just get me fired up).
There is a misconception that many teachers go into teaching because of summer vacations, this is not true. Thousands of teachers across the United States either work in year-round school districts, teach summer school or work a second job in the summer. We spend our winter breaks, spring breaks and summer breaks preparing for the upcoming months of lessons, tests and workshops. We spend our weekend worrying about our lesson plans for the upcoming week. Many choose to further their education and attend Master's programs in the summer, as well as going to night school throughout the school year. We are also required to keep our teaching license up to date with continuing education credits.
Alright, here is where I am going to get on my soap-box...I am fed up with people telling me how I should do my job as a teacher. I would never walk into an operating room and tell a surgeon how to do their job. If you have never worked in a school then you have no idea what it is like to work in a school. Yes, you have attended school that does not make you an expert on school as a business and job. I do my job and I do it well, I don't need someone who thinks they are better than me telling me what they think I am doing wrong.
Like any profession there are some teachers who probably shouldn't be a teacher, those of the teachers who get all the publicity (sleeping with students, harsh punishments and abuse, dealing drug...the list can go on and on) but most of the teachers I know pour their heart and soul into their profession and care deeply about the impact they have on today's students. A teacher is always trying to think of new and creative ways to reach their students, fun ideas to incorporate into their classroom, and how we are going to cover everything that the tests of No Child Left Behind measure. We are under increasing pressure from state and federal government to produce high test scores or funding will be cut.
We are constantly told by students and parents we are doing a bad job. The other day I heard a story about a parent who called to yell at a teacher because their child was not allowed to go out for recess because they did not finish their homework. WAKE UP PEOPLE, LIFE HAS CONSEQUENCES! I do not go into my classroom unprepared each day, if I did there would be consequences. Parents, please do not treats us like we are idiots. I will tell you the same thing I tell my students, I will treat you with respect and I expect the same in reverse.
Being a teacher is hard and can be physically and emotionally exhausting, but I love it anyway. There is no better feeling than finally seeing the light bulb go on for the first time a student gets something.
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