Did any teachers have it easy over last 11 weeks?

[PicaK]

I nearly lost my shit yesterday with someone who insisted most teachers have had an easy life and not doing a proper day's work during Covid.
I'm not a teacher but many friends are and I don't know any who haven't had a full workload. It's absolutely not the message that's coming across on social media either. Most teachers saying they've done more work.
But then I wondered if my snapshot was accurate.
Does anyone personally know any teacher who has coasted/had an easy ride? (I am not talking about your kids' teachers who you have opinions about but friends or family where you have more insight.)
I'm hoping it's a no tbh and I feel justified for feeling so put out.
Aibu
Yes - yeah the teachers I know have had it easy
No - you're right all the ones I know have worked as much if not more.

I think this thread shows the huge variation between what different schools are providing. Unfortunately in a year's time students in yrs 10 and 12 will be sitting the same exams regardless of whether their school went above and beyond or provided very little. In some cases their parents won't have been in a position to support them either.

I’m a teacher. While I haven’t worked as many hours as normal I have answered all communications including emails, learning journal entries and social media communications within an hour of being sent, planned home learning which takes about 5 hours, undertaken CPD and worked with keyworker children in school. Personally I feel children should come back to school as some have suffered over lockdown.

My friends a teacher and shes had it easy, we've messaged each other every day throughout and she's been bored out her mind, only going in to provide childcare once a week.

Can I just point out that so many posters saying my neighbour/SIL is a teacher and seems to have a lot of time off are really just banging their own drum and don't actually know how much time someone is doing. Most of those voting "easy"are talking of "my kids teachers" and again don't know what staff are doing. You are not gaining any accuracy in your vote.

No, as a regular poster on teaching and education threads I don't know any teacher who has had it easy. Most of us are pretty shattered. The posters who have claimed to be teachers or that their DH is one but has had no work to do - they just aren't ok? It doesn't work like that. No school waved their teachers off and said "now, you feel free to do fuck all for 6 months,won't you? We don't want you to do a thing! "

Lots of poster names I've never seen in the Staffroom or on education threads..

"Volunteer in a carehome", are you insane. By law I cant get into the grounds of a care home right now. I did phone all my students, most parents didn't answer. Nit all students live in functional homes with parents willing to engage with teachers. Nit all students parents speak Engkush. My job was to ensure children git their free food parcels and ensure various other agencies such as school home officers and social workers kept their support. Many of my students live in refugee centres again hard to contact. I did everything I had to and could do on my fully paid tax payers salary. And when that was done I sat in my garden reading and drinking gin. Should I have whipped myself? The cheek to tell teachers how to do their jobs. You'd think we started the pandemic.

I have a number of friends who are teachers, one is a head teacher and she’s been busy, I also know from talking to my own DCs head teacher that she’s got a lot on her plate too while class teachers in her school are less pressured.

The others by their own description have been much less busy, volunteering to go into hubs for key workers twice a month (there’s a group of 10 primary schools working in one hub each school taking a day each a fortnight) and preparing materials for online learning. They’re predominantly primary school teachers so don’t have the same course work, exam prep or marking as their secondary colleagues.

I’ve one friend who’s a secondary teacher and he’s working his socks off supporting third, fourth and fifth year students ahead of exams next year.

From talking to my circle of friends I think it varies hugely depending on the stage you teach and the arrangements for key worker children.

@Simplyenchanted
"I imagine there will be many a teacher thinking ‘Is it worth getting this constant barrage of crap whatever I do?’ and will leave teaching for better pay and treatment in another industry!"

I hear this a lot. But guess what? It never happens. Maybe industry is not willing to throw the big bucks at those who have gone school->6th form->university->teacher training college->school, never leaving the academic world.

I'm not a teacher basher (usually) but teachers are so ridiculously naive if they think that they can just flick a switch and earn a decent wedge in business.

Most teachers are owed years of unpaid overtime, so if some have been able to rest more in the past few months- fantastic.

My working hours are usually 8-5, then 9-11. At the moment, im working fewer hours, yet still doing what I need to do to do my job. Like lots of people in other professions.

@Disquieted1 That’s an odd assumption to make about teachers’ career paths. Many of us have arrived here by different routes. I had a range of senior management positions before retraining as a teacher (which, despite the significantly lower wages, is by far the most challenging role of my career so far). Even those who have gone directly into teaching are some of the most hardworking, intelligent people I know. I’d employ any of them in a heartbeat.

I’m also concerned that there are some parents on here who think they can guess their teachers’ workload. Much of what I do would be utterly invisible to most of my parents including:

• work with children with an EHCP or other specialist needs
• medium term planning
• policy writing
• planning for the return to school
• award submissions
• reports
• online training
• subject-specific admin

They only see my work when it involves contact with children and parents. I would hope they’re sensible enough to understand I have other things on my plate as well.

It’s got to depend what you teach, surely? Upper level English, physics, maths, you’re probably pretty busy. Cooking, woodwork, librarian, you’re getting paid to sit at home. I work with teachers and see a huge variety of effort/work ethic/ability to do subject online.

My husband has been continually face to face teaching since Covid appeared. He is a teacher in a pupil referral unit. The kids have extreme behaviour problems so social distancing has been out of the window and he has had no PPE! So yes he's not only continually been working but also risking his life. It's a joke that suddenly the teaching unions are demanding safety measures now when they left these other teachers to just get on with it weeks ago.

People need to stop fucking teacher bashing. It's upsetting and ignorant!

Ive been working full time hours but in a flexible way so going for walks at lunch and gardening etc. Sure my idiot neighbours think I’m not working because I water my plants.

Also my friends and relatives in office jobs who only work very SHORT hours in normal times (40 a week instead of my 60 a week) have been doing a lot of lazing about and social media posts, which they did pre-lockdown too..

@Disquieted1 *and will leave teaching for better pay and treatment in another industry!"

I hear this a lot. But guess what? It never happens.* Hmmm, there's actually a significant recruitment/retention problem in areas of education such as maths, physics, chemistry etc., presumably the subjects where better money in industry is available. And there are the same recruitment/ retention problems in other areas too, sometimes depending on geographical location. Or perhaps you're not interested in the facts and just prefer to add to the general teacher bashing?

@Sittingontheveranda this has been our experience too. Links to BBC bitesize and other websites/videos, lots of online tasks and no teaching. No calls and no zoom
Classes either. My DD spent at least another 60min watching TV and playing on apps. We stopped this nonsense after a few weeks. When I asked that they organize a zoom, I was told that it was too difficult to coordinate.

If there’s a recession and jobs lost imagine there will be an influx into the teaching profession

I have been working as hard, but without the commute. My secondary requires that we make a video for every lesson...six per day...and my camera keeps crashing all the bloody time. Plus on line marking every day. But the worst thing is worrying about the 25% of kids who are not engaging at all and who are slipping further and further behind...at least we get our year 10's back on the 15th. Of course...then I will be teaching loads of tiny classes AND providing online learning for all other year groups. I do not mind though as I just think how hard all the NHS staff have been working. They are heroes

DD's teachers are excellent. They've been contacting us regularly, providing activities for us to do with her, as well as going to work at the childcare hubs. There's been no pestering to complete work etc (I haven't stopped working because NHS, DH was furloughed for two weeks before going back so she does schoolwork little and often between our shifts).

I hope they are managing to rest a little bit more than usual because they've adapted so quickly to very unusual circumstances and helped us to help our children too.

I have primary aged children, one with SEN. I have had one phone call from my non SEN child’s teacher since school closure and no contact whatsoever from my SEN child’s teacher since school closure.

The school uploads a worksheet for Literacy on their website, 5 basic maths questions (e.g. 23+12= or 12x2= , no actual maths worksheet on a specific topic) or directs the children to practice their times tables on TT Rockstars.

The school have not advised us to send work in for marking or feedback nor have they provided us with any contact details should we choose to submit work.

There is nothing set for “Topic” work or reading, although they advise parents to do 30mins yet the advice on their website and letter is parents should do 30mins maths, 30mins writing, 30 mins reading and 30mins topic. The work provided on their website is not enough to last 20mins.

On some days it’s just a link to phonic video on YouTube and nothing else.

The school itself is a large primary school, and key workers children in the school prior to June was less than 10 children.

So from my experience, I can safely say that the teachers of my children appear to have done almost nothing.

@Disquieted1 just lol. My outstanding secondary is FULL of retrained lawyers, business owners etc. Teaching is by no means a way of avoiding the real world. My non teacher friends can seem naive and idealistic to me at times. And it is true teachers can't walk straight into other professions. Just as people from those other professions can't walk into teaching.

@VashtaNerada and @Sewingbea amen!

I think you’ll find @Disquieted1 that teachers do not leave for a few reasons (I’m basing this on my own and friends experiences). I’ve kept in touch with people I trained with and few have stayed teachers mainly down to the overwhelming lack of work life balance and equivalent pay.

1- You do not do this job for the pay or quality of life you lead yourself! You want to make a difference to children, love the interaction and you just don’t get that level of experience in other public facing roles.
2- Ironically if you decide to move on, most teachers are so distraught/defeated/relieved to leave, their own self esteem has taken a massive knock so to apply for other jobs is really hard when you are in that frame of mind. This is not reserved for just teachers obviously but it is true.
3- It is also down to comments like the ones you see on here teacher bashing that you doubt you can do anything else or not see the many skills and attributes that you do have. I will agree there are a lot of ‘straight out of uni’ teachers but the first year kicks your arse so hard lots of those do not last which is a real shame but is hardly surprising considering that education is in a similar state as the NHS with bad money management and changing priorities every 5 minutes!

I’ve had lots of different jobs before (I didn’t start teaching til my late 20’s) and while it is my passion it is the hardest I’ve ever worked. If even one child has an eureka moment or says they enjoyed your lesson, you are on cloud 9 🥳

I’m in FE. It’s been intense. Am exhausted after only two days back from half term. Not sure how I’m going to get through to summer.

Not a teacher, but a couple of friends who are and also know one support staff.

From what we have chatted about...their school implemented a rota for teachers to go in for key worker children. Most have been done by volunteers so the usual happened that the hard working ones volunteered and the others haven't been seen since schools closed (has been noticed apparently which won't help staff relations when they all get back) They said they didn't have much to do at all apart from prep bits of stuff for online schooling which didn't take long due to using existing material....one did comment about a friend of hers that moved to a private school and she had been massively busy as their students were expected to do far more work.

Basically they have had a nice 10 weeks off with loads of exercising and lazing outdoors...and thinks most can continue until summer holidays as limited as to only small numbers of kids going back.

They can fizzy! Our senior lawyer friend walked into being a maths teacher at a leading public school. Banking friends dine the fast track into being maths teachers very quickly.

Anecdotally friends that have gone from law / banking into teaching enjoy it as they value the holidays shorter hours and less pressure. My family who pretty much all went direct into teaching take a very different view but they have never worked in the private sector so no comparator.

All the talk of teachers saying they will leave... You do realise who is actually leaving the schools ...

The very bright and motivated students like my son, who always breezed through the work and then spent the rest of the class helping the teacher by sitting with struggling classmates and explaining things to them and coaching them through it.

Children like that need and want to be educated even now. I am not the only parent by a long stretch who has therefore realised it is time to scrape the cash together and switch to private

I know so many parents telling me they are looking round private schools etc and in every instance it is because their child is similar to my child - bright, motivated, enthusiastic about learning.