On a Soapbox

I hear all the time about how "easy" teaching must be and how "nice" it is to have weekends and holidays off. Excuse me, but do you teach? Obviously not. If these people taught they would know that there is no such thing as a weekend off and summers? Summers are for professional development and pre-planning and making games and things for your future students. Summers are not for breaks. Weekends are not for sleeping. Weekends are for grading papers and finishing lesson plans. Get real people. Teaching is a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year job. It is NOT 8-3 Monday through Friday, August to June. No. It is so much more than that. Many people have jobs where they are DONE when they leave the building. That is simply not how it is for a teacher. Even if you don't physically take home any work, you are constantly thinking of new ways to teach things and how to reach your kids and how to make a difference. It's not something you leave at the door when you walk out. You can't. You have more than your time invested in this job, you have your heart in it.

That is all. I am done now. Thanks for listening to the rant.