Take the Day Off for Teachbad’s Anniversary!!
Before we get into today’s post about days off work, I’d like to point out that today, December 9, 2012, is the three-year anniversary of Mr. Teachbad’s Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement: Where Teachers Laugh and Complain; shortened now mostly to the more compact and efficient Teachbad.
And now back to our regularly scheduled post:
Two years ago I couldn’t have imagined a world where I would have a job and not have 15 days off for Christmas. How could a 15-day break ever be properly squeezed into a four-day weekend and New Year’s Day? And what kind of life could you really have without spring break? What would be the point?
After six years of teaching, I could no longer imagine functioning professionally if I had to go to work on Columbus Day, Labor Day, Veteran’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, DC Emancipation Day or Memorial Day. Having all of these be guaranteed paid time off is outstanding and patriotic. And sometimes you don’t have to go to work if it snows or gets super windy, for safety.
The District Employee’s Handbook says (I’m paraphrasing):
If a holiday falls on a Monday, we’ll usually knock off around 12:30 the Friday before. The day after Thanksgiving is off, of course. Christmas and New Years are pretty close together, so…fuck it. Let’s do two weeks for that and then just one week for Spring Break. However, and we’re sorry about this, but we’re only going to be able to give you 7 weeks in the summer from now on. The good news is that there will now be 13 full days of professional development and parent conferences instead of just 11. Those aren’t a great time, but you can just sit there with your thumb up your ass all day long if you want. You know what I mean. Your body has to be here, but your mind is on a day pass and we’re cool with that.
I knew deep down that most jobs didn’t work this way. And I dreaded ever having one of them again. Teachers spend a surprisingly large amount of this time working, but the time off offers a huge amount of flexibility. And if you want to plan a three day weekend, there is always one coming right up. You will never feel like you have to be at work on any of these days. The building is closed. You couldn’t even get in if you wanted to. Most people actually have to be at work during almost all of this time. And, to me, that sounded like a drag.
But to my genuine astonishment, it’s really not that bad.
It’s not that I was wrong about having a lot of days off. I won’t tell you that having a ton of paid time off isn’t awesome, because it obviously is. The problem with teacher time off is that I really began to need it, like in a medical way. Those days made it possible for me to teach in the first place. Doing that job year round and not having DC Emancipation Day off would have been a deal breaker. They became essential for my mental health, such as it was.
Teaching is an irrational cluster-fuck of a job and it was driving me insane. It’s way too much spinning your wheels and feigning compliance for unclear purposes while everybody works very hard to pretend and hope that’s not the case.
After I realized that the time off from teaching was by far and away the best thing about it, I knew I had a problem. That’s not what I’m looking for in a career.
With my new job, I don’t wake up every morning and want to punch myself in the face. I don’t mind working late or on a Saturday. If I’m working, as I was through Frankenstorm, Veteran’s Day and will be during most of the winter break, I always have something I’m working on because it actually needs to get done. People need things to happen and if they don’t happen, other people won’t be able to do the stuff they want to do and everybody is sad and nobody makes any money.
I work with a team of people on getting things done. We all know what the things are that need to get done and we divide the labor. We can all clearly see which things have been done and if they have been done correctly. If the team needs to speak about our objectives and goals, we arrange a time to gather together in what is sometimes called a meeting. In these meetings, my team members and I discuss the issue for which the meeting was called. Meeting attendees may spontaneously propose other topics for discussion as well. When we have finished, the meeting is closed and we return to our individual work, reconvening meetings as necessary.
And my needing to miss fourth period for a teeth cleaning doesn’t trigger the awakening of a giant bureaucracy.
It’s good. Don’t be afraid to try it.
Mr. Teachbad
I’m not sure what it says about me that I actually got in on the door buster special at 2:08 am. Clearly I have been on a shopping spiral since Black Friday. I may be in need of a Christmas Crack intervention. But before that happens, I do really need a new mug…..
I used to have a real job. It was a good real job, and i liked it, and felt useful, but because there were other people who were more interested in making money than in any ethical considerations, real people really died. I tried hard, but I could not prevent it.
No matter what I do in school, people do not really die. No matter how bad the stupid professional development is, people do not really die as a result of boredom or the stupidity of administrators.
As a result of my experience in the real world, I tend to work during school days off. I work on at least 12 of those 16 days off. My classes have work the day before a holiday (“Come on miss, everyone else is showing movies.”), because otherwise we might have to also take off the day before the day before the holiday…and pretty soon the day off starts the day after school starts. Oh yeah, some people do, I forgot.
I don’t get my knickers in a twist when I have to provide my own pens for me to do my job. I don’t mind having my own computer at home (it’s better than the Tandy TRS-80 that my kids still remember: I’ve upgraded on my own dime!).
I am still shocked and disgusted that the administrators, middle management in business terms, have, in general, no management skills, no literacy skills, no financial skills, and no idea what teachers do all day. And they keep touting “the business model.” They would be out on their collective ear in any business that wants to be self-sustaining. Sadly, as in the business model, when administrators screw up, the workers (teachers) are the ones who suffer.
I’m glad you have a real job, Teachbad. Someone has to keep the global economy going. One day, our students will come and work with you… sorry!
I want a real job! Where are they? LOL
Take off TUESDAY, drive to Lansing, Michigan and protest Right to Work!
Wear Red on Monday!
Yep, that’s what did it. After 7 years of music teaching I realized I could not survive without all that time off. I was a complete wreck hoping an 18 wheeler would give me a gentle nudge off the road on the way to work. Even if I was slightly maimed I could get some time off. Now my wife (also a former teacher) rent a space where she tutors reading/writing and I teach classical guitar. I actually know all the names of my students and their parents and their dogs and hermit crabs. We have been making this happen since 2005 and days off are no where near as essential as they once were. We take Labor Day and Memorial days for Mondays – that’s it and it’s no biggie to work the rest.
Great post, Teachbad!
Teaching was a second career for me. I did we’ll in the business world prior but a situation came up forcing me to find an alternate career. The whole thing has been a shock. My first year I had a second grade that I am ashamed to say took out the district. Being sales and business orientated, I assumed that making my quota was the thing! Turns out nobody cared and many were just plain pissed. Finding out that ones contributions and worth was based on some mysterious set of criterion was unnerving but I now realize that the entire edu burearcracy rewards those who talk the talk and the walk doesn’t matter at all no matter what they say. Good teaching isn’t that my kids read great: good teaching is that I taught using some crazy method that they came up with this year
Teaching (or An Irrational Cluster-fuck of a Job): A Poem by Mr. Teachbad
Spinning your Wheels
and
Feigning Compliance
for
Unclear Purposes
while
Everybody Works Very Hard
to Pretend
and Hope
That’s Not the Case.
I like it.
I am in my third year of teaching. I think about leaving. But I do not know what I would do. To all of you who got out: what are you doing now?
Liesel, don’t wait another minute. See my comment above (cj renzi). My wife and I are doing swell without the schools or rather we use them to build our client base and it’s fantastic! We did not think it was possible, scared the shit out of us, but we are sure glad we took the risk!
I started my own Home Improvement business (painting, floor/wall tile work, & regrouting). I only started a few weeks ago and am full aware of the chance I took. However, I had no choice. My mental health was suffering to say the least. While money will be tight to start, my nightmares have stopped, as has my constant sadness/despair. Now I look forward to making just as much in due time, while being much happier. Quite honestly, ANYTHING will make you happier than teaching. I believe a lot more teachers can do this than they themselves realize. You just need a plan. If you have a family/wife/husband, they have to be willing to trust you on it and do their best to support you. Wasn’t easy for my wife (though she never let on too much how she was uncomfortable with it), but now she doesn’t have to hear me complain day and night…something I generally never do! She doesn’t have to get my texts every other day with a picture of yet ANOTHER nonsense form which needs to be completed….BY FRIDAY/TOMORROW, etc. Money is tight but life is good…and will be getting better :O)
That’s a great story Diff This! And congrats on your success. I have been outta teaching since 2005 and just had a nightmare last week, but they are far less frequent now. An yes, my poor wife when I taught! Now she gets to have a playful, easy-going guy who simply enjoys life and is very pleasant to be around. In other words, I am back to being myself. There may be good teaching jobs out there, but certainly, there are not enough for ALL the teachers out there. Stack the deck in your favor, Liesel, and make a plan like DT said.
@cj renzi, Your story is intriguing as well. You and your wife are living proof that there is a better life to be had without self-torturing yourself by being a teacher. The tutoring is a great idea. It’s something my wife brought up to me to do as a business. While I am already starting a different business, who knows what the future could bring. I’m certainly going to supplement my other business by tutoring as well. I used to tutor my first two years as a teacher. Then, my energy and will began to take a nose dive. I began to turn down tutoring jobs because I had no energy or desire. Anyhow, it’s so nice to read stories like yours cj renzi. Hopefully others will read and question their current plight…and make that big change.
Liesel,
RUN, GIRL, RUN……I am in too deep at this point. GO while you can. It is only getting worse.
I don’t know how the new teachers are doing this at all. If had to worry about basic planning and classroom management on top of all the rest of it, I would end up in the hospital. Oh wait, I did end up at the doctor with shingles and then in the hospital with an ulcer last year. Not to mention a really bad case of hives at one point.
One of our teachers DIED suddenly at the start of the school year. I have NO DOUBT that the harassment he faced at school the past few years contributed to his death is a big way.
Liesel, get out now. Get a nice job at the mall or answering phones. keep your sanity and your health.
Reason number 500 not to continue working as a teacher:
Check out this email I received this morning from the New York City teachers union (I’m still on their email list…because it makes me laugh lol)
*Btw, maybe I’m reading this wrong, but looks like they are very willing to include future test scores as part of the teacher’s evaluation…how thoughtful of our union*
Dear colleagues,
As you may be aware, for the past two and a half years, the New York State Education Department has been constructing a teacher growth-score database as well as reconfiguring state standardized tests to the Common Core Learning Standards.
Today, the city Department of Education is sending state “growth scores” to ELA and math teachers in grades 4 through 8. These scores are supposed to represent a child’s academic growth as it pertains to state standardized test scores from one year to the next — in this case, growth from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year.
This year’s scores cannot be used in evaluating you. If we ever come to a new evaluation agreement, future state growth test scores like these will never be used for more than 20 percent of your final evaluation.
The state growth scores assign you a number, from 1 to 20, representing the 20 points out of 100 that growth scores will contribute to your evaluation if and when a new system is implemented. The state also translates this number into a “subcomponent rating” — ineffective, developing, effective or highly effective. In any final system that we possibly reach, that rating would only apply to the student growth score component of your evaluation. If you would like further information, please call the UFT at 212-510-6366 or email us at growthscore@uft.org.
There is no new evaluation process in place. If an administrator speaks with you about using these scores as part of your evaluation, please contact your chapter leader and district rep immediately.
We have been working hard to hammer out an evaluation system that will give you the much-needed support for the work that you do every day. No matter what the mayor threatens, we will not sign any teacher evaluation agreement unless it is constructive, fair and, most importantly, helps us help our students.
Sincerely,
Catalina Fortino
Vice President for Education
United Federation of Teachers • A Union of Professionals
52 Broadway, New York, NY 10004 • 212.777.7500 • http://www.uft.org
I am really not sure what else I could do that I have any talent in and would find fulfilling. Besides, I’m in too deep anyway at 13 years/ in my 40′s. I suspect my professional demise will not come directly from the standardized tests, since I don’t tech a “core” subject. My demise will come when they sacrifice electives and humanities and leave them eviscerated on the altar of the Common Core and standardized tests.
On a happier note, I ordered myself “Pretty Good Teacher” and “No Rubric” mugs. Which one should I conspicuously sip from during my upcoming post-formal observation meeting?
You make me laugh. I think you should casually sip from one, and offer a cup of hot tea to your admin in the other! For the nerves.
My God, everything you write is so true. I left teaching at 4PM on November 19 2010. I have had exactly 6 weekdays off since then. I work harder than I have ever worked but its something that I love doing. I found myself wishing my life away when I was a teacher. Now I work with people who work just as hard but we get too use our intelligence, and our work makes us feel good. When we meet its in a virtual classroom and we really do get things done. Sure I miss the time off but I am really living now and I wouldnt go back to teaching again even if they offered me 10X what I am making now.
Yes, there is life after teaching and dont let them tell you otherwise.
Thanks Teachbad, I hadnt thought of how depressing my life had become in a long time.
Tom
I am so glad I found this site. I couldn’t agree more with all of the commentary on this site. Now I know I’m not alone. I’m just a 1970′s style teacher stuck in 2012. Haha! I feel for all of those common sense people stuck in a profession that has totally negated it. I swear I’m one more crappy professional development seminar away from walking out for good.
See you all in the real world of work in June of 2013. My parole date is coming up!!
Does this desire to run for your life reflect teachers today or does it reflect teachers who googled for Misery. Is it us? The others seem so fine. They talk the talk all day and if I didn’t read Teachbad, I would think I’m the only miserable teacher out there. It’s scary because there has been a shift this past week at school and the kids are out of control. Note: I know, but this is way beyond the standard of horrific that I’ve grown use to.
Our kids are off the hook too. We had 2 teachers in the same department resign last week. Out. Gone. They were done. Lucky Bastards. There have been a few “almost fights” the past 2 weeks and I imagine they will be full blown before we break for peace on earth and Goodwill towards men” next Friday.
Talking the talk is a KILLER. I did it, even to myself. I told myself that it’s for the kids, that I would be happy with 65% of my income from TRS in 30 years, told myself I was just a bit tired and not TOO fat, told myself this is how kids are supposed to act and that when they were total animals it was probably my fault, told myself Friday is coming, spring break is coming, summer is coming, then it started all over again, told myself next year it will be better despite evidence to the contrary each previous year. Walking the walk right out the door was what saved me and my wife. Working for ourselves was a risk, but boy are we having fun!!
Teachbaby, I agree with Cj Renzi. There are many reasons why some other teachers seem okay (though most were not in the schools I taught).
As Cj Renzi pointed out, some self-brainwash. They take the brain-washing they received from college (you know, the professors who make you feel like you’re partly to blame for the struggling people of society) and we carry on because “we have to care more for others than ourselves”.
Some teachers may be fine because they DON’T care. I cared about what I put up on the walls, how my room looked, etc. Some teachers really don’t. Too bad I did.
Of course, there are also the teachers who are “in” big time with admin. That will certainly take some stress away.
Then there are others who seem fine and wouldn’t say otherwise because they are TERRIFIED that telling others would backfire on them.
I think we get the point. From my experiences, most teachers are VERY unhappy. For those that are or seem okay, there’s a reason. However, that is not the norm, that’s the exception.
Just watch the turnover rate increase even more over the next few years or so. The job is simply unbearable (for those who are “normal”).
Thanks Diff This! Yeah, I did the guitar lessons after school for a few months and that was hell and my energy was fabulously low, but I knew when the that school year was over, teaching in Pub Schools was over. I had already gone for training and purchased a licence to use this guys’ guitar curriculum. Seven years later the licence agreement expired and I developed my own curriculum so I no longer owe that guy royalties and my time slots are still full. $300/mth instant raise. Hells Yeah.
It can be done.
Dare I say it? Where is the word PUBLIC in the coverage? If it was “charter” I bet we would hear it every time. They don’t hate teachers not the bad teachers, right?
My students eat garbage for lunch, staff is bare-bone, supplies ha ha etc.
Does society really care?
Sure society cares…about smart phones, cars, houses, well-manicured lawns, The Voice, football, hair styles and nails, etc. Yeah, society cares. But until they care about intellect and science in AND outside our schools (home is grossly overlooked) our schools will continue to suck as they do now.
It’s been great reading this particular blog post and comments. I am in year 14 and this is the year I feel ready to take the leap of faith and leave teaching for a new career. I have slowly come to acknowledge that the best part of my job is the time off and pay day. I long for a new chapter even if payday will not be so certain. Am I nervous? Yes! Am I scared? Yes! Am I ready? As best I can be! And, most important: Can I continue to teach high school in a huge urban district with massive problems in a career I no longer relate to and feel abused by? Hell No!!
I have dreamed about becoming a certified personal trainer for a few years now and am planning to take the classes this spring while I teach. My oldest child is graduating HS this June, I am about to turn 50, and I feel that if I don’t make this happen while I have some good years left, then what? I do not want to remain in a profession that will continue to suck the life out of me, and beat me to a pulp. I figure it’s time to hand this baton off to another poor soul who can run this race. As for me, I have to have faith that all will work out, and I will be happier in the end. Life is too short to be miserable and right now, teaching is one miserable profession. Here’s to a brighter future for all of us who brave to step into the vast unknown on a wing and a prayer!