To feel the rage with “teacher tired” posts

[Rainbowsandglitterbullshit]

The season of teachers posting SM messages “no one knows tired like an end of term teacher/TA/dinner lady” is almost upon us.

I want to scream, what about the fuckers who work stupid hours all week and don’t get 6 weeks off in the summer, half term, two weeks Easter, two weeks at Christmas.

I wouldn’t be a teacher for all the tea in China but these people chose their career.

Grrr, actually don’t care if I’m BU.

I have two recently qualified teacher friends who started as TA’s and studied etc to qualify
All. They. Do. Is. Moan.
About the hours, the kids, the pay, the everything
And both post TGIF posts weekly- irritates me as both KNEW what they’re getting into

Maybe they just need to vent.

After all, teacher often go many hours without another adult to vent with.

both KNEW what they’re getting into

Loads of people complain about things when they knew what they were getting into. Just look at the people on MN complaining about aspects of parenting that were bloody obvious. It's just a whinge.

Let’s not forget Lucy Kellaway, the Financial Times journalist who was so sure that she knew what she was getting into that she set up Now Teach, a training route for career changers, so that she herself could become a maths teacher.

How did it go? She found it ‘unendurably hard’, now only works three days a week to make it manageable, and switched from maths (a core subject taught to all) to business and economics (upper school).

www.tes.com/news/exclusive-teaching-full-time-unendurably-hard-says-lucy-kellaway

Interesting that MN is a place where people come to ask for help with parenting their own wild, badly behaved children, yet when a person's job is to look after and try to impart knowledge and skills on 20+ kids, 7 hours a day, 5 days (most) weeks of the year, they're called lazy.

OP, most people choose their own careers, doesn't make it easy.

QOD, if as you say they are newly-qualified, they didn't know what they were getting into.

Training is one thing. The job is another.

Would you say this to a junior doctor? A social worker? A nurse? A police officer?

Thought not.

I think the issue really is that teaching involves far more skills and scenarios than people sign up to - behaviour outside of classrooms is often a tipping point. Plus the instructions form managers to make constant contact with home, whilst offering neither time nor support (not a privately located phone sometimes!) to do this.

I did not sign up for fighting and arguing amongst students, or being sworn at , or about. I would argue that police and nurses know that this is an unfortunate part of their job : that is why there are signs everywhere in hospitals and police stations saying abuse is not tolerated. sadly, we now need those signs in schools.

I always find it rather ridiculous when people criticise teachers.

Do people seriously think that they work Monday to Friday, term time, in school hours? Do they honestly believe that they spend none of their time at home, during holidays and weekends working?

I work hard, I don't work term time, I work shifts. Does that mean I can sneer at those who don't? Hell no it doesn't.

Teachers are tired, because I know for sure my own kids are after a long year. Why wouldn't their teachers be?

But, yes, I would agree that the trainees QOD mentions presumably took on the job ill informed and maybe entirely motivated by the bursary and the increase in pay from the pittance TAs are paid. Wrong motives : and I am sure people signing up to nursing, medicine, the police etc with equally spurious motives 'moan' and then find another career path.

Contrary to belief, teachers do not like hearing teachers moan out loud about the job of teaching much, unless it's a lunch time vent. It gets my back up sometimes, too. But moaning, debating and complaining are all different things.

I did not sign up for fighting and arguing amongst students, or being sworn at , or about. I would argue that police and nurses know that this is an unfortunate part of their job : that is why there are signs everywhere in hospitals and police stations saying abuse is not tolerated. sadly, we now need those signs in schools

That's horrendous. I know sometimes parents have cause to be unhappy with a teacher, but those occasions call for calm and reasonable conversations to reach a resolution. This kind of behaviour, from either pupils or parents is horrific and never, ever called for.

YABVU I'm not a teacher but I do understand that they are tired. Teachers at my son's school are there at 8 am and do not leave before 5.30.

I know from a friend who is a teacher in the UK in a high school that is it really hard graft. This is in a 'nice school' too (wealthy area, good grades).

It's the endless calls from parents, kids not paying attention and resisting being taught, hours of planning all evening after they get home because it's now a requirement to submit. It's writing report after report for classes they've barely taught because there's no organisation and they're being swapped around 'someone has to do it'. It's being personally blamed for kids achieving lower than predicted grades. She spends her summer holidays doing pre-GSCE or A-Level sessions because she genuinely wants her kids to do well (and there is lots of pressure on her to make this happen). I know this is not just her school.

It's a combination of mental parents, lack of respect for teachers, poor management skills from the school leaders, poor education structure from top down (e.g. government rules about reporting, curriculum etc).

YABU

Some of us don't have the luxury of feeling exhausted at the end of term, hard week or work, life's stresses & strains etc because we are permanently more exhausted than you will ever feel, unless you join the throngs of us suffering with the many energy sapping illnesses & life your life with a persistent flat battery.

Dragging my ass up to the school every morning when DD was small & having to listen to certain mothers whinging about how "beyond exhausted' they were after a night out would give me the rage too.

Yes competitive tiredness is irritating, but if I can get over myself & think "Meh" then you have no excuse

& you're a moron if you think teachers actually work those hours. It's a LOT more than that & stressful as hell to boot.

What can I say. Some staff you want to retain, some staff you don't.

In real schools, even outstanding ones, the staff you want to retain are the ones who are over 18 and with a pulse. No other real qualification necessary.

In my previous school we’d have hired anyone who could count to 10 and was willing.

*I think k you should quit. End of

Ha ha! If cherriesandoranges was an actual ex-teacher, they would know about ilovesooty. grin*

Quite.

we’d have hired anyone who could count to 10

Oooh potential maths teacher!

I have two recently qualified teacher friends who started as TA’s and studied etc to qualify All. They. Do. Is. Moan.

I suspect they didn't know what they were getting into as being a TA is very, very different from being a teacher. I doubt they realised just how different until they had already qualified, you certainly earn the extra cash several times over. 65 hour weeks are not unusual when you include what is done at home.

it's well known that "those who can, do! - those who can't , teach!". Teaching ought to be like a job in a holiday camp - if it isn't it's because they have let the kids take over.

Wtf. Teaching should be like a job in a holiday camp except a holiday camp where you have to sit in a classroom and learn to solve quadratic equations with a really high stakes exam at the end.

Basically the same thing.

I'm not a teacher, but have worked in schools and, frankly, seeing what teachers go through makes me feel two things; firstly, utter guilt at what a shit I was whilst at secondary school and, secondly, extremely thankful I never chose teaching as a career.

Especially in relation to the last 1000+ pupil academy school I worked at, I honestly don't know how some teachers get out of the bed in the mornings.

@noblegiraffe

that's the kids, not the teachers. The teaching bit is easy, until they lose control, (which they have done) and then it gets hard.

That's why the buzzword is "learning", not "teaching". give me strength. Rote learning is the way to do it. IMO.

The teaching bit is easy

Jesus Christ.

No it’s fucking not. So little appreciation for the skill of designing and delivering lessons, coaching pupils, giving effective feedback.

Teaching ought to be like a job in a holiday camp

Post of the day, I think.