Teachers!

Teachers, have you ever heard that you have an easy job?  I mean, come on, we get three months off a year plus the holidays.  I mean, let's face it, you relax during those times, don't you?

Let's tell the public the truth.  We need to not only educate our youth, but we have to let their parents know what we do during our down time. 

If you're a classroom teacher and you have 25 students, I bet you could have fun figuring out how many papers you grade in the course of 9 months.  How many special projects you grade, how many parent contacts you make, phone calls included during the day. Special requirements during the day from your building principal, extra duty either before or after school, organizing them all during the day and take that times 25 times and then some.

Your job isn't finished when you get home, you have a family to take care of , too. Take your kids to practices, lessons, maybe you have meetings to attend because you're involved in your community so, you attend those meetings, then come home to grade more papers and put those grades into the computer. 

I can only speak for myself but during my "down time", I am planning for the next lesson, looking for grants, reading new approaches on fantastic games and activities to engage my students during their physical education classes. Put those grades into the computer, did I mention, that is for 500 students with four different areas of grading.

No, I am not complaining, I love my choice of work, I picked it back when I was seven years old!  You see, I come from a teaching family.  I saw how my parents took interests in other parents kids, I saw the guidance that was happening in my own home, when those "kids" stopped by to talk with them.  To this day, I have people stop me on the street to ask how my parents are doing and then they tell me a story about them, back in their school days.

So, take those comments, that teachers have it easy and just remember how many things you do during the day and then some and just remember, how many lives you are touching!  Hold your head up high and repeat, I am a teacher, I am a teacher and I love it.

Down time?  Good teachers are always looking for new challenges for their students and themselves....down time to us, is creative time for our students.

High Fives, everyone.