aibu to think teachers should

[goodbyemrschips]

to think teachers should work like the rest of us.

Just have 5-6 weeks of a year and work 8-5 mon to fri.

If this happened then they would get all the time they needed to set up lessons and teacher train etc during the time the kids were on holiday.

[this is inspired by another thread]

[forehead]

YABVU, and obviously don't understand how difficult it is to be a teacher.

[maxybrown]

Mrs Chips - you are more than welcome to come and stay in our house and experience the true life of a teacher - and his family, for a while. Can't gurantee you'll get to meet the teacher in the house though, depends if you catch him in the ten minutes he has before bed He def does not have 4/5 weeks holiday/time OFF in a year, so your 5/6 weeks is extremely generous

[LadyCornyOfSilk]

I think MrsChips wasn't aware of the pay issue perhaps....

[donnie]

OP what do you do for a living? do tell.

[mummytime]

Wow if teachers worked 8-5 mon to Fri I would be a teacher. They don't so I had to quit my training.

[Badgerwife]

And another thread on how teachers do eff all and get all the holidays . Please OP, do know what you're talking about before starting. My DH is a teacher is works 8.30 am till 6 pm at school, then a minimum of an extra 3 hours at home after dinner most weekdays, plus extra on sundays marking and planning. Most good teachers do.

I suggest you become a teacher and see how you like it.

Sorry, but this kind of 'ill thought out suggestion' as NinkyNonker rightly states really does get my goat every time I hear it.

[NinkyNonker]

I think it is actually a great idea, but not for the reasons the op is suggesting. Totally unworkable (but never let that get in the way of a good gripe eh!) but more money for less hours and cheaper hols sounds brilliant to me!

[allgonebellyup]

Wow op, do you even know what you're talking about??

i work in a school where all the teachers are there by 7.30, dont leave til nearly 6 and then spend most of their evening planning, marking (a hell of a lot of this for certain subjects) and then writing up what can be 170 reports a term.
It s a highly stressful job, not just the teaching itself, but the paperwork/beaurocracy (sp) and behaviour problems too.

I really wanted to go into teaching properly but there is NO WAY that i would now.

It is underpaid and undervalued too.
I think you need to rethink what you have assumed about the profession.

[Laquitar]

I think they work very hard in uk.

[katz]

this is what the OP posted on another thread on a similar topic this morning

goodbyemrschips Thu 28-Apr-11 08:28:23
'And many teachers don't I know several that do not do much outside of 9-5 mon to fri.

Some people just have better time management and organising skills.'

[chmm]

[Shakirasma]

If my dad had had to work the hours and holidays you suggest OP, then we would have had a lot more quality time with him.

My childhood memories of him mostly involve him sat at the dining room table surrounded by exercise books looking knackered. 9 nights out of 10 I kissed him goodnight while he was sat at that table, gone 8 o clock at night.

[exoticfruits]

OP should try being a teacher-she obviously hasn't the foggiest!

[Ormirian]

While we're at it could we arrange for DH to have a week where he isn't punched and spat at, or have chairs thrown at him. And where he doesn't have to physcially restrain children. And where he always leave school on time. And when he isn't physically and emotionally exhausted.

And we'd love the income from the extra weeks he'd get paid for.

[elphabadefiesgravity]

YANBU - that is a wonderful idea - all the many teachers I know including dh (who along with his head of department was in school over the easter holidays running show rehearsals and other colleagues running revision sessions) would be delighted.

it would transform our lives. Teachers could actually HAVE a family life.

Anyone seen that flying pig over there?

[HappyMummyOfOne]

YABVU and obviously dont have a clue as to how long they do work. Added to the fact that they dont get paid for all the holidays anyway and having standard holidays would cause havoc arranging cover. Children need the break as well, especially the younger ones.

Being a governor, i know exactly how hard they work, the long hours they put in and the time spent answering emails at night/weekends etc. Compared to the work load the salary is very low.

Its not just the long hours, they are hugely responsible for teaching the children not to mention having to put up with parents moaning that little johnny didnt change his book or needs to be challenged etc despite being in reception.

[Laquitar]

'OP should try being a teacher'

But people who say that other jobs are easy they never try to get into those jobs. Strange . If you think that a job is easy and well paid nobody stops you you can train and go for it. And i have never read a post of a parent who encourage dcs to become teachers (like they encourage them to become lawers for example). If the money was that good....

[LegoStuckinMyhoover]

What you are suggesting is what already happens.

I am a teacher and work all through the holidays, except for a few weeks in the summer. I arrive at work at 7.45am and leave around 5pm. This leaving time is early at my school, with most teachers going home at 6pm. I also arrive later than most teachers at my school. I have half an hour lunch break and quite often less than that.

When I get home there is always things to do for the next day, week etc. This is not because of poor time management, it is because it is a huge job and there is not enough time to do everything within working hours at school. The work teachers take home is varied, it maybe; IEP's, marking, planning, assessments, planning for clubs I run at school, SEN work, co-ordinator [of subject or as in my case, subjectS] work, letters for parents and children, setting up displays, making power points, writing targets, researching an area I am going to teach, planning, filling out forms for adult students that maybe in your class, learning songs or music to teach, designing work sheets etc.
When my children go to bed I start working. This is for about one hour an evening, most evenings. When it comes to report writing I spend all half term writing reports and evenings leading up to the half term. At the end of each term, I spend a few hours every evening doing assessments and analysing tracking. There are also the hours you work late in the evenings for parents meetings on top of a full working day of course. If you are a school teacher governor you have to attend late evening meetings. You might help with the christmas or summer fair at the weekends. The list is endless.

There is no way you could plan a whole years work as every child is different and responds differently. It simply does not work like that. I can plan a whole weeks work for a class, but it will always need to be adapted or changed during the week if things don't go as planned or if a child isn't understanding something etc.

In summary, we already do have only about 5 weeks a year on holiday, if that when you take into account the hours we do during the normal working week! Teachers do work hard.

Hope that helps.

[exoticfruits]

Anyone who knows what the job is like wouldn't encourage a DC to do it. I used to be a teacher-but I wanted a work/life balance.

[maighdlin]

I'm not a teacher but my DSis used to be and is now a teacher trainer. Oh we all took the piss at her working 6 hours a day for half the year, but the reality was much more different. She took a lot of holidays and she will say that herself but thats because she was in work for 7am home for 6 and then did her lesson plans that night and at the weekends. She worked it out that even including her holidays she did the same amount of hours in a year as my other sister did as a solicitor.

The OP is NBU just ignorant. Teaching primary school is more than songs art and simple maths.

[ImNotThere]

Wow, I'd have loved to work those hours when I was a teacher.

[ImNotThere]

I used to get up at 5am to be in school by 7am so the photocopiers and computer would be free. Would leave early (4pm) but start work again as soon as I got home and continue until about 10 or 11. Worekd in the holidays too, though not as hard.

[NorfolkNChance]

Ohhh does that mean I get to take my holidays when I want for a change? That'd be nice, might actually tally with my DH who can't take holiday time in the summer.

[johnthepong]

Its the royal wedding weekend and I am going away with my in-laws.

Oh yes, and the large (about 150) year 10 exam papers I have to mark. When I return next week, I will have about the same of year 7, 8 and 9 exam papers to mark. I spent Easter marking coursework. Seems to take me about half an hour to an hour to mark each exam paper. About 2 hours to mark each piece of coursework. And that is not doing it justice really- i should spend longer but I dont have the time.

I am in school on the days I work until 5 or 6pm, always there before 8, and always work in the evenings- planning and marking lessons.

Not sure how I could set up for a lesson (I teach a practical subject) in the summer for Feb?? Also not sure how I could mark work that had not yet been done?

Great suggestion, OP. You are very welcome to come and spend a week with me and then perhaps you could come up with another suggestion.

[IlsaLund]

Great idea OP (just taking a break from writing reports while on my holiday...)

Seeing as we are currently paid for 1265 hours your plan would have teachers officially working for approx 500 hours more, and presumably being paid for those as well.

Presumably we'd be able to take our holidays at a time of our choosing, parents' evenings that go on until 7pm+ would either be paid as overtime or we could claim time off in lieu - the same would apply to concerts/residentials etc.

[BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack]

YABU!!! There's more to teaching than people appreciate!