Buffalo Boy's Blog

I started my pre-student teaching the past couple of weeks, and I knew going in it was going to be crazy busy. But I want to pass this on to everyone out there who has caught themselves saying that teachers don't work.

They do. I have learned and done more this week than I have ever done in a PT position. I am working in the classroom, granted most right now is observing with the exception of actually doing my lesson that I have scheduled to do. I also have been jumping in and helping with individual students and small group work.

Teachers have a ton of work both in and out of the classroom. The actual teaching is the easy part. It is the behind the scenes stuff that really gets things busy. Not only are teachers responsible for the 15-30 kids in their classrooms but they have meetings at inconvenient times, prep time, they shop for their classrooms, they bring the work they don't get done while staying late in their rooms and do it at home.

My point is that over the years, I have seen what teachers do close up and believe me and premonition that I had that the job was easy was wiped out of my head years ago. The time off is spent catching up and prepping for when they get back to school. It doesn't stop. Even during the summer, there is prep work to do and students files to review for the following year. So summers off doesn't mean that teachers stop working for two+ months.

This week I have been busier than I have ever been. My current physical therapy job, I take no work home, I leave it all at work. Its manageable to leave it there. Even as a pre-student teacher and the five lessons I have to teach, I am bringing home bags full of materials to prep for the next day. So lay off the teachers do no work thing, its an ignorant statement until you go to a classroom and see what teachers have to do on a daily basis.