Am I the only teacher who is fairly happy?

[SaltyRock]

I've been teaching since 2013, not long I know, but I love it.
Yes, it's hard work, and it takes a lot of time, and I tutor 3 evenings a week to up my pay as I refuse to take on a TLR, but I'm really happy in my job.
I get to talk about my favourite subject all day every day and show students how exciting it can be!
My school are pretty good. We don't mark classwork and homework is marked in class or online automatically. We have assignments for each class once per half term which are quality marked by us but that is fine.
Preparation is shared eagerly between teachers and everyone is very supportive of everyone else.
Is it just me? Am I incredibly lucky?

[EvilTwins]

I still like it. I qualified in 1997 and have seen a lot of change but I still love the day to day job. Having said that, my school (part of a MAT, 5 heads in the last 2 years and still no permanent leader, in special measures) is chaotic and exhausting. But I love the teaching bit and love the kids. I'm leaving at the end of this year to start my own business but I'll still be teaching.

[SawdustInMyHair]

Me too! I was having wobbles at the beginning of my NQT year, but that's pretty normal and I had that in other jobs too.

I know having my school helps - our head used to be an Ofsted inspector, so she knows what they're actually looking for. We don't do lots of pointless crap based on myths. Marking is based on the minimum which is useful for us and the children. Our flipcharts are our weekly plans, so only termly ones have to be submitted. I am grateful every day that I chose this school!

But I think having had a demanding (but far worse paid) career before teaching helps too - I would rather be working some weekends for something I love than bored to death every day, hoping I'd break a leg so I wouldn't have to go in.

[TeacherBob]

I love my job.

I think the demands on teachers are ridiculous, only going to get worse and people will be driven away from the profession, and we will have a major recruitment crisis (already started, so many unqualified teachers atm).

But I wouldn't change my job.

[Calsgirl]

It completely depends on the school you are in. For a long time I was a very happy teacher. I had a TLR point but my workload was manageable and I felt that there really was a purpose to what I was doing. There was a lot of challenging behaviour but also a lot of support from a strong team. Perhaps naively I thought it would be the same everywhere. I moved to a 'nice' school and by Easter wanted to leave teaching altogether. It felt like everything we did was for Ofsted or data and there was so much thrown at us that I went from being a confident teacher to feeling that I didn't even know what good teaching looked like anymore. In so many ways teaching has gone crazybonkers.

[noblegiraffe]

I like teaching still, I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't. I'm in a comfortable position at the moment, near the top of UPS, part time, no TLR (they won't give them to part-timers and while it's fine for the moment, this may grate in years to come). However, I hate the position that the government has put us in with the new Maths GCSE which is a bunch of bollocks for less able kids. I'm worried about the massive impending workload for the new A-level which starts first teaching next September (syllabus yet to be approved of course). I'm incredibly worried about the ongoing budget cuts, our school is in a dire situation regarding SEN support and I can't see it getting better, and ridiculous demands are being placed on us in sixth form to make up for lack of money. And a lot more children seem to be suffering with mental health issues which is causing me some worry.

I still like the actual teaching.

[leccybill]

I don't mind it, currently.
But- after many years in a school in SM, which was awful, I left to do supply.
I'm on long term supply now in a great school. I get to focus on learning and teaching without any of the other crap. I do this part time, balanced with my own business as a specialist teacher.

Only this way have I found some control and worklife balance which fits in with family life.

[hippyhippyshake]

If you don't mark class work how do you tell if a child is struggling or hasn't understood the LO? Not being snippy btw, I work in a school that pink and greens every book/sheet every lesson which is WAY too much.

[EvilTwins]

I teach a subject which has no marking at KS3. There are plenty of ways to check if students have understood and made progress. Possibly easier in secondary (and in drama) but the vast majority of my feedback is oral - even at KS4 & 5.

[SirChenjin]

I have friends who are teachers - all love their jobs.

[VintagePerfumista]

I love my job but I'm not in the UK.

[teacher54321]

I also teach a subject which has hardly any marking in KS3. (Music) I still like my job very much. I'm lucky in that I like my school, and the HT, the kids I teach are on the whole lovely and by and large the workload is manageable except for the twice yearly pinchpoints; Christmas because of reports and all the Christmas music related school events and then the summer term when we do full reports and the end of year production. I can see that friends in less supportive environments are at breaking point. Schools are often run by micromanagers who do not understand how to use and analyse data correctly and who overcomplicate systems which they never have to actually implement.

[SaltyRock]

I'm really glad to see other teachers who love their jobs despite the challenges.
Marking a book doesn't tell me any more than talking to the kids, AfL during the lesson and progression tests. Often they can write stuff they don't understand, or forget it the next lesson. Marking kept to a minimum gives us more time for planning.

[bangingmyheadoffabrickwall]

Me ... for the time being!

I am part time - 3 days and I ensure that all work that I do is at school and not at home. There are times when I can't help but take work home but the amount has massively reduced. The main reason is that I am more pro-active in ensuring I have a work/life balance and I am more confident to say 'no' or 'I need time out if x, y and z needs doing'.

Prior to going part time I was full time for 14 years. I went on sick leave for a very long time after having a major disagreement with my HT. Now I am back PT, my relationship with my HT seems to be on the mend (hopefully!) too. We got on really well, or so I thought, and I do believe a looming OFSTED was a trigger for her poor behaviour towards staff. Funnily enough, everyone at my school have said that 'this' PM we have all had has been the best ever for her being positive and friendly. Let us hope this continues because I genuinely believe that everyone is the happiest they have been for a long time.

[MrsGuyOfGisbo]

Yes, me
I worked supply after my PGCE to get to know different schools. I now have a part time job in a lovely indie and just teach the subject, no tutor group , clubs or extracurricular and the marking requirements are sane - no pointless box ticking for mythical Ofsted requirements.

[Fallulah]

I'm an RQT in a core subject and I don't regret changing after ten plus years in public sector senior management. It's no harder than my previous jobs but is hard in different ways. I do hate marking though!

[susannahmoodie]

I'm happy overall. I became HoD of a core dept in January and have found it a big step up (hard moving schools mid-year) but overall I would say I have a good balance. I have 2 dcs aged 5 and 3 and have just finished my Masters too.

[ChinchillaFur]

I am enjoying it at the moment .

I went through a bad patch 3 years ago and wanted to leave, but I've since gone 0.7 part time and now have no extra TLRs. I have a lovely yr7 form and in general I like most of our SLT. I enjoy my days off doing lovely things like lunches out and shopping (not marking!).

I would agree with a lot of what Noblegiraffe has said though as that is what causes unnecessary stress. I wish the govt would just get rid of ofsted and everybody would be much happier and more productive.

[TheFallenMadonna]

I love it now. Recently moved from SLT in mainstream to mainscale in Alternative Provision. Challenging behaviour (obviously!) but small classes and thus very low marking load. And only accountable for my own work is hugely liberating!

[TheFallenMadonna]

I'm UPS3, so pretty well paid. By mainscale, I meant no TLR.

[fatowl]

I do, but I'm part time and not in the UK.
I have small classes (18-22), private school, teach Upper primary, lower secondary ESL and English "literature"- which I set the syllabus myself, so I have fun reading Harry Potter, Roald Dahl and Michael Morpurgo.

Well behaved, conscientious kids.

Biggest discipline issue so far this term - one of the Y9s was caught texting in class.

Teaching in the UK sounds like hell at the moment, but sometimes I miss the chaos and the banter with the kids.
Don't miss the politics and the paperwork.

[SuperPug]

Really like my job and school- not perfect but infinitely better than what I used to do. Overall, nice co-workers and kids and I love teaching.
Sorry, I don't completely follow re: marking. We do AFL but for secondary, a lot of marking is inevitable and needed, especially for exam classes. I'm in a school where this isn't as strict as other schools but find that it helps their progress and writing skills.
I've been impressed by primary school marking. Saw some recently and the level of detail and what was expected from kids (in a school where circumstances aren't the easiest) was incredible, with kids encouraged to respond to the marking in the book. I don't think that was a unnecessary exercise as they were clearly understanding their mistakes.

[Fourmantent]

I'm a secondary TA and really love my job. Secondary schools are crazy, dynamic, interesting, rewarding, hilarious and emotional environments. TA wages are pants though.

[mumtomaxwell]

All my classes are exam classes - I teach social sciences which we don't offer at KS3. We don't mark classwork or set discreet homework!! That means hardly any marking - we only mark half termly assessments. We are frequently used as an example of good practice to the rest of the school.

Frankly I wouldn't teach anywhere else because at the moment I have a pretty good work life balance

[SuperPug]

This seems to really differ from school to school. Our policy is to mark every two weeks, more for some. Other teachers seem to mark every day.
I guess it also depends on the report system of the school.

[itssquidstella]

I love my job. I teach in a very good private school, though. Wouldn't move to state for anything.