Teacher rage

[Mozismyhero]

AIBU to think that as a teacher I should be allowed a holiday and not be sat here, on a sunny Saturday working while my children have fun with Daddy in the park? Or that I shouldn't have had to stay up until midnight every night last week working? Yes, I get 6 weeks off but I want to actually have them off, not spend half the time working and planning for next year. I love the kids I work with but the volume of work I do at home is draining me.

Ok

Genuine question

What are you doing

Why didn't/couldn't you do it in term time?

On the 13 weeks vs 5 thing.

As someone who went into teaching after another career, I find that the vast majority of the extra time is actually spent working, or needs to count a lieu time.

For example this year I led 3 intervention sessions after school on top of a full timetable this was every week from after October half term till May. Now it might not sound a lot but this adds up to 3 hours a week, for 24 weeks, an extra 72 hours teaching time. There were then 4 Saturday morning revision sessions, 3 full days of revision sessions at Easter and February half term with one for Year 13 in May half term.

This then doesn't include giving up evenings and weekends to complete boat loads of assessments and paper work.

I worked out that even without the holiday time sessions I put in about 55 hours a week into my job. The only time that differs is in the last say 4 weeks of term when the A level and GCSE classes are finied.

35 x 55 = 1925 hours worked, and then lets say I do have an easier time of it in those last 4 weeks and do the 33 hour weeks that the Government say is the minimum so 132 hours. Over all that means 2057 hours worked in the school year. Not including the Saturdays and holiday sessions.

Average working week of 40 hours x standard working year of 47 weeks = 1880.

Only half your holiday working? I think you've probably underestimated. Many's the year I worked straight through.
Stop.

I have a friend who is now an ex-teacher (SAHM) and she often talks about how people don't appreciate teachers' workloads. She would spending entire weekends marking and lesson planning, and often felt she was missing out on family life. I had a brief infatuation with teaching as a career, namely because of the holidays, but she gave me a bit of a reality check (plus the fact that I only like my child - could have been a problem!). It's certainly not 9-3:30. If only!

Sympathy with OP. I'm also a teacher and will be working most days of the holiday. I kind of plan out the summer quite rigidly, I went on a course for 10 days at the start of the holiday, and of the times when we're going away as a family I have a 7 day period when no work will be done, the computer won't be turned on, (although my "holiday" reading will be work-related, luckily they're books that I like!) The other days are assigned as work days or play days, or half of each, and I stick to my plan. (If it's not all done at the end of the holiday, I'll panic then. Most summers I get there, more or less). I make sure there's always something to look forward to with the family even if it's just an hour's walk around the park or making pizzas together.

I find working at home less efficient than working at school and would actually prefer to go into school for say 4 or 5 hours each weekday during the holidays; I'd get more done more quickly.

Try to make yourself a holiday "timetable" and I would hope that leaves you with a clear distinction between work and play time over the summer, and a good incentive to whip through the work!

callherwillow Genuine question

Can't speak for the OP, but I am learning about the new forms of assessment that both the exam. boards and my school are bringing in next year. Then creating resources for my department (not single-handedly, everyone has a different task to do) and our students to understand the new grades and how to achieve or mark them.

In terms of the classes I'll be teaching next term:
Year 10 - new syllabus (not the same as the Year 11)
Year 11 - different syllabus to last year's Year 11
Year 12 - new A Level (different to Year 13)
Year 13 - new A Level

So I have a great deal to read and learn in preparation for next term, before I start planning in what order I'll teach everything, then creating resources and lesson plans, as well as introductory materials to give the students explaining the courses.

Also for the exam. classes (Year 11 and Year 13) I need to create revision materials as I can't use last year's as the IGCSE syllabus has changed and there is a new A Level. The Year 11s will take their mocks at the end of November so will need to start revising soon after term begins. Personally, there is never enough time to make revision resources during the term; it's a holiday job.

Other things I've got to do involve planning trips for next term (definitely a holiday job), sorting out the students into their tutor groups for next year, reading the files for the new joiners (of which we have many), developing a new PSHE programme for two year groups, communicating with parents of new (and existing) students about pastoral and academic issues, preparing resources for new tutors, and other admin. and prep. Oh, and preparing some training sessions to give during INSED.

I feel for you OP.

The demands are ridiculous; you should be able to have more of a break. A friend has quit teaching at the end of the summer term. She's had enough and has already lined up a non-teaching role which she will love ... and she will have a better balanced life.

The government is driving away teachers with it's demands that they be everything to everybody except their own families.

So you've got to prepare for new exam boards, and that ALL has to be done in July?

It's easy, just move to Scotland and teach here... Since breaking up from school at the end of June I've been in school twice for 4 hours each, will go in twice again in the last week of the holidays and except for that I won't think about the place until inservice starts... And yes I'm a good teacher who cares very much about the children. I couldn't even think of enough things to do to keep me as busy as you are saying you are.

DH is working this summer holiday. He and his dept colleagues are rewriting the Y10/11 schemes of work to be taught from September. The new Science GCSEs a la Gove involve significantly increased content but no extra timetable time to teach it. So as well as including new content, the schemes have to be tight and well-planned to cover everything in the time.

There are two courses; double and triple science (the latter having even more content) for which schemes have to be written. The schemes include lesson plans, resources and extension activities (not always relevant for the specific class but a good starting point for the teacher).

They have been trying to write these since the new specification came out but none of them have had the time, with end of year reports to write for approx. 270 pupils each and ongoing planning, preparation and marking, plus additional responsibilities (DH is curriculum leader for the teaching school).

DH is very stressed about this. I've suggested in the past that he does his holiday work at the beginning of the holidays so he can relax for the rest of them. But he needs the downtime first and then it drags on. He's also responsible for the childcare in the holidays.

Fwiw I earn the same as DS and don't so much as look at an email during my 5 weeks' annual leave. Nor do I think about work a single iota, even to the extent that if we go on holiday I always forget to bring back treats for my office.

So it is shit and he definitely doesn't deserve to get 13 weeks' holiday a year thrown at him as justification for teacher-bashing. But he loves what he does and wouldn't go back to working in industry even if he could earn double and chose when his holidays were.

Callherwillow We haven't changed exam. boards, the exam. boards have changed the assessment.

The training courses were in June so not able to do much before then; the exam. boards have been very slow in releasing information too. In September, we'll be marking students' work according to the new assessment criteria so we need to be quite clear as a department of how to mark and also be able to explain to students (and parents) what their new grades mean and what to do to achieve the next one - to this end we are converting existing work into examples marked and graded according to the new criteria over the summer.

Ideally, the exam. boards would have announced the changes and provided the necessary detail earlier so we could have been working on this over the course of the past year.

I still think one could manage to go to the park, even given the tardiness of the exam boards

I hear you. I'm forcing myself to step back this holiday and only work in the final 3 weeks but it will be full on days of work rather than dribs or drabs here and there. I recently moved into the primary sector after being in the middle school sector for a decade. I've got a full academic year under my belt and am thankfully in the same year group so the pressure is off slightly but the next cohort are a different kettle of fish to the ones I've just waved off.

I do try and see my actual holiday in terms of 5 weeks across the year and if DH is off, I'm definitely off too! It's hard to work around the DC as they want to be doing things all summer but they have a mountain of toys and I'm not beyond using the TV to babysit occasionally!

I have no alternative childcare in the holidays as my DC are in term time only provision but luckily I may get a day or two help from family to enable me to do a hard day (7am-10pm) in relative peace.

So you've got to prepare for new exam boards, and that ALL has to be done in July? 

I think you seriously underestimate just how much needs to be done. I teach students 16+, so I only teach exam classes. This means all the work I have done has to be ripped up and I need to start again from scratch.

I teach two main courses. One is a new (interim) A2 and the other is new AS.

I only get four weeks summer holiday. One week, I went away.

In the remaining three weeks, I need to:

• teach myself the new content.
• write the new scheme of work, ensuring all the material is covered.
• rewrite all the course guides, assessment materials and guides etc...
• write all the course materials to Oxbridge standard.

Oh and the text book which might be able to help me, Won't be available until the second term (Oct / Nov time).

So unless I plan on not teaching anything for the next 8 weeks... Yes, I have got to write it all from scratch.

So yes, I do need to start in July, oh and no, it's not because I'm inefficient - it's because I'm rewriting two whole courses from scratch (and have been doing this for the past two years, and will be doing this for the next three years too!)

I'm a primary teacher. I don't work during my holidays. Sometimes, I'll go in for the odd few hours one day but that's to get my classroom organised. It very much depends on how I feel and what's going on with my own dc.
I doubt if I'll go in this year; too busy with my own family. And too busy relaxing after the year from hell.
I've been teaching for almost 30 years and I consider the holidays to be the biggest perk. Whether I go in or not will make very little difference to me; it just means I'll stay a bit longer after school for a few days.
It certainly won't have a great deal of impact on my class. I'll get my head around planning etc when I'm back at work and I know the children that I'll be working with. (I do know them, what I mean is knowing where they "are" and where to go from there.)
Teaching is the kind of job where you could always be doing something and I realised a long time ago that there's an element of martyrdom in it for some people.
Not me. I do my job and I do it well. But I don't work when it's my holidays (unless I actually want to.)
I've been reading various things on teacher FB pages that have really interested me and given me ideas, but that's as far as it will go.
Yes, I consider the holidays to be a privilege and a perk, and it certainly makes childcare easier. I need the holidays to recharge my batteries.
I don't work weekends either. It's a job, it's not the be-all and end-all. And I'd like to point out that I'm very committed to my job and my pupils, and my classes have always done very well.
I've been teaching a long time and it's changed so much. It's still just a job, yes a very important one, but it's a job. I have my own family and my own life.
Go to the park, spend time with your own dc.

Stop being goady Willow.

I don't think you're inefficient but I don't think you need to be working seven days a week over a holiday either.

My DM retired from teaching last year. This is the first summer (in my lifetime) that I can ring her up and say "do you fancy going for a coffee/ lunch/having a mooch round the shops etc and she can say "YES! Sounds good, pick you up in and hour or so?" And not "I can't, I've got too much to do, but if you come in school, with me for a few hours then we'll go for a cake after?" I am 30.

The hours I've spent sorting stockrooms, taking down displays, putting up backing paper for displays, organising text books, calculating exam percentages to input into excel.

I would have loved to go into teaching, but it's not worth it.

Op and all other teachers

Because that statement isn't likely to start a bunfight :)

I'll bow out because the great and powerful fox has spoken - no need for further discussion. Poor teachers, etc.

One of the reasons I stay in teaching is so I can spend time with my DC in the holidays. If I decided to make it that I had 5 weeks off a year, I would just leave teaching. So many of my colleagues, who were good teachers, have left over the past few years due to the workload.

The work I am doing is for new specifications. I teach secondary. And yes, I do need to do it all now as 1. I won't have time when I am actually teaching in September and 2. I need to know what I will be teaching so I can teach the whole course holistically rather than make it up as I go along.

I know I am lucky that I get holidays off with my children and can organise my work so I don't stay until 6 every night but pick up DSs at 4 and work when they're in bed, thus getting to spend more time with them. It's just that sometimes it's hard.

And yes I do work smart, manage my time well etc. This is just the reality of my subject.

Thanks for supportive comments. The teaching community is amazing.

I purposefully avoided using 'the real world' as noone I know lives there. We all live in our own little selfish bubbles.

My point was to highlight that lots of fields require you to work in your holidays. And lots will give fixed annual leave dates with no capacity to swap. (Same as teachers). And most fields have shorter holidays.

My best friend is a teacher. She is going travelling for 5 weeks this summer. She did 4 last summer and the Caribbean at easter. She saves every penny to enable her to do this. And credit to her. I do not think every teacher can do that. She creams in the extra work around the holiday. And yes inevitably takes some work with her. But then one of my friends in the same business as I am was doing work whilst waiting for her anaesthetic on the day of an operation and I was doing paperwork 24 hours into a 2 week sick leave after an operation.

If we get into the who works hardest debate we will all lose. Someone somewhere is working harder.

But perhaps op can carve out some time for herself. I get 6.5 weeks leave. I have to work for some of it. I make sure I have 2 weeks in November (outside of school holidays you see -an advantage those of us who don't work in education get) where I really really relax. Op could maybe do that in August instead.

Also a teacher in Scotland!

But you were being a little on a wind up there willow.

This teacher had better get up

I don't think willow is being goady. I used to work in the finance industry and while that job was much tougher than being a teacher (for me) I didn't really understand what it was that teachers did until I was one.

Willow If you read my first post, you'll see that I make time for work and play during the holidays. If I couldn't, I would change something; holidays have to include family time and relaxation, otherwise I'll go back to school unfit to work.