I spend more time with other people's kids than my own

[user71017]

That's just fundamentally wrong.

I took dd2 (3) to a party yesterday and was so upset because I didn't know a single other mum. Why? Because I've never been able to take my youngest to preschool.

Dd1 (7) had her first netball match on Friday. She was the only team member not to have mummy watching.

I know the parents of the kids in my class more than the parents of my friends kids. I see the kids in my class more than I see my own.

This is all with being part time but being screwed over with working 3.5 days over 5.

Sleepinghooty I am interested in how you think the amount of planning and marking can be reduced.

Change of name

Some schools share lesson plans throughout the department, so every teacher has access to a library of lesson plans they can just pick up and use. That would save a lot of time.

To be fair, the teachers I know in the U.K. who work 8-5 have this system in their schools.

The strain of putting on a performance all day, often to young people doing the modern day equivalent of throwing tomatoes at you

^This to me sums up why teaching is so exhausting. You are an actor performing on a stage for 5 hours a day to an audience who are constantly booing and heckling. And then after spending 5 hours being treated like that, there is a whole OTHER job to do afterwards, in preparation for the next day, when all I want to do is go lie down in a darkened room.

I used to work for a private company in research, and we were given DAYS, literally DAYS to prepare ONE presentation, that would be anywhere between 10-30 minutes in length, and we were given time to "wind down" after it - in teaching, I prepare 5, 1 hour long presentations a day, knowing the audience will be hostile, and there is definitely no wind down time between presentations.

Blueberry is right. Some schools are taking different approaches to marking and report writing. I know of a headteacher who insists that nobody works past 6pm. They have teachers queuing up to work there. Don’t get me wrong- govt have A LOT to answer for but I do think there are ways to make it better within the system- although I know it’s not possible for lots of teachers in their schools

I am interested in how you think the amount of planning and marking can be reduced.

I don't teach in the UK, and work less hours than the hours I see talked about from UK posters. I'd say generally I do an hour after school, sometimes a bit more or less depending on requirements.

I tick books with an odd comment here and there, I give oral feedback, I get children to correct their books, I peer mark or I just don't correct them. I don't do number crunching, data tracking (well, I do, but not to same degree) as part of my assessment. I don't do unpaid lunchtime or after school clubs. I don't provide extra tutoring during break, lunch or after school as I've seen some mention. My plans are simple and straightforward, just key sentences and objectives really - for short term notes these are fortnightly, I don't do lesson plans per se. I'll also reuse ideas and lessons year on year. I do pretty but simple displays that don't take hours - I've seen very elaborate things on Twinkl groups etc.

All in all, I'm a good teacher and my class are happy and learning. My class are important, but I'm important too.

Thanks. I vaguely remember a time when I did less ‘stuff’ and I agree that a lot of what we do is not needed or not really possible with the time we have but I was wondering what a non teacher thought.

I saw this interesting discussion on twitter the other night about where this insane workload has come from, Becky Allen reckons that it started when Ofsted reduced their inspections from a week to a couple of days. It changed from Ofsted rocking up, learning loads about a school from observations and so on, to Ofsted rocking up and looking at the SEF and seeing whether it agreed with the school's assessment of itself. The burden of evidencing evaluation changed hands from Ofsted to the school. This means that schools are now constantly trawling for evidence. Endless data collection. Book scrutinies. Learning walks. Mocksteds. Billions of Observations.
In the meantime, the use of technology exploded. Remember when if someone wanted to get a message to you, they put it in your pigeonhole which you checked in the morning? I used to get hardly any. Now I get loads of emails in a day that need a response or some mental effort. I'm still only a class teacher so it's not because of additional responsibility. I used to set homework, kids used to write it down and that was that. Now I set homework, I have to put it on the homework website, attach any relevant documents, set dates, assign it to a class. It's now my job to write the kids' homework down for them. And then SLT scan the number of homeworks set to make sure we are doing it properly
And dear god, league tables. Due to bloody league table obsession, kids aren't allowed to fail any more. That means more work for me. Lunchtime, after school, co-ordinating intervention, meetings with parents.

Just a few things that have changed.

Now I set homework, I have to put it on the homework website, attach any relevant documents, set dates, assign it to a class. It's nowmyjob to write the kids' homework down for them. And then SLT scan the number of homeworks set to make sure we are doing it properly
I hate this.
I must admit I only put 1-2 sentences and a due date. I've given out the sheets. If they lose it they can find me and ask for a new one (and I will keep an eye on who are the disorganised ones).

Op, I have not read all the comments, but I am the daughter of a part-time teacher. My mum ended up, exactly like you, being paid part time, working practically full-time, stressed. You have done the right thing.

To those saying it is irrelevant that she spends time with other people's kids, and to those saying it's not because it rubs it in for the op, please remember that her children will also notice that she spends more time with other people's children. Mummy is doing a cool craft activity with those children but has no time to do it with me. Mummy knows all about the books her class is reading but didn't have time to take me to the library to get new ones. My friend had a rotten cold and got to stay at home and do homework on the sofa, I had to go into school and do my best. These are very real feelings for a small child and when you work with children, your own children can make the comparison very easily in a way they cannot with vague 'meetings' of which they have little concept.

Yes, the holidays were nice as a child, but is also very all or nothing which isn't always easy for anyone. Plus, I am sure my mum was not alone in never really completely switching off. On holiday visiting a castle? I could adapt that kids activity for a history class next term, hang on a minute while I scribble it down. On the beach? Could you collect some extra shells for an art project? You always, always share you mum with other children.

I'm sure some people manage the balance brilliantly, but if you were feeling torn, op, you have definitely done the right thing.

Swirling that gave me a lump in my throat. You've hit the nail on the head. My poor girls. They deserve their mummy back not to be shared amongst 40 odd kids.

They do, op, but you deserve to feel happy too rather than that you are missing such a precious time. You see so many people saying they feel that working gives their children a good example. To me, I'm afraid, it just gave me the idea that work was a stressful thing. I decided early on I would never do anything that could lead to my children feeling second place (this has not actually been good for me, or my bank balance). I love my mum and even as a small child I understood the challenges she faced and appreciated all she did, but understanding is not the same as sometimes wishing things were different. Good on you, enjoy your girls and good luck for the future.

I’ve considered this for a while a posted about leaving the education sector a few weeks agO. After a terrible few weeks I’ve had 2 panic attacks tonight. I’ve never had panic attacks. I have to leave. I just need to figure out how to pay the mortgage.

Forms, data, policies, spreadsheets, data, tracking, data. It is absolutely exhausting and never ending. It’s so sad.

OP you have to do what is right for your family. I don't feel the same as you but that's just my opinion.
I am a full time teacher with some management responsibilities and I absolutely love it. I'm also a single parent to three children. I miss out on all of the things that you mention but I hope that my children understand that I need to work hard to provide for them and also because it makes me happy. My children are all loved, happy and thriving so I feel like it works for all of us.

Some schools share lesson plans throughout the department, so every teacher has access to a library of lesson plans they can just pick up and use. That would save a lot of time.

To be fair, the teachers I know in the U.K. who work 8-5 have this system in their schools.

Interesting. What schools do your 'friends' work in? Because I am primary and we wouldn't be able to do this? You have to tailor your lesson plans to the individuals in your class, according to their needs. And in early years, and increasingly further up the school, the trend appears (appears being the operative word because everyone is interpreting everything their own way and no one seems to have a fucking clue what it is that the powers that be actually want) to be to 'follow the interests of the children' which obviously year on year. So you have to come up with new and exciting ways to teach everything which will keep the little darlings engaged whatever their interests.

So no, opening up a plan from a bank and running with it doesn't really cut the mustard.

Sorry that should say *obviously changes year on year.

Yes swirling I am always buying resources and my kids say 'oooh what's that?' and I'm like 'sorry it's for my kids at school'!

Well done OP

“Interesting. What schools do your 'friends' work in? Because I am primary and we wouldn't be able to do this? You have to tailor your lesson plans to the individuals”

It’s family not friends. One is a class teacher in the Pre-Prep department of a Prep school, the other is a form tutor & subject teacher in the Senior dept of an Indy all-through school.

At the Senior school it really does appear to be just pulling next weeks lesson plans out of the big folder of lesson plans. At the Pre-Prep as you said, everything is tailored to the interests of the kids, so they choose their topic at the end of one term and the teachers in the year group collaborate to tailor the lesson plans to the theme. Since it’s a selective school I’d imagine the range of ability is much narrower so easier to cater for??

Part of what has made the job increasingly difficult has been the fact that exam specifications and national curriculum requirements have changed so many times and so rapidly in recent years. It means that the 'let's use last year's lesson plans' idea just doesn't work any more.

In my 13 years in the job I have taught four different GCSE specifications, three different A levels and three different key stage 3 courses. This is all in the same school and all these changes have been statutory.

Whilst the subject itself may not have changed, the exam requirements have. OCR A level used 'lattice enthalpy' whereas AQA uses 'lattic dissociation enthalpy' which is the exact opposite. Time-of-flight mass spectrometry is now taught as opposed to deflection. At GCSE, the lime cycle and plate tectonics is gone but the electrolysis of aluminium and condensation polymerisation is in.

Last September I was teaching completely new courses for year 13, year 10 and year 9. I'm sure things could 'settle down' in a few years but it's doubtful. If we end up with a change of government, I'm sure there'll be another whole new curriculum to teach. My sanity simply doesn't have that long...

This, of course, is without getting into any debates about differentiation and personalised learning with regards to 'standardised' lesson plans.

OP, sorry to be blunt but it's called 'work'. Every full time working parent is exactly the same except in most people's cases they see more of their colleagues than their children.

Quality not quantity is what working mums focus on. Or else quit and be a SAHM.

But there's no point in complaining about seeing other kids and knowing their parents more as it's your job to.

You're not a teacher are you lamp

Uokbing, that's exactly it, and you have to do it. But, I t hi k the point I want to get across is that the sort of 'aren't you lucky only working 9-3, getting lots of holiday' teacher-bashing that you can seen on this thread, which quite understandably riles you all so much, is also something experienced by the children of teachers: 'you're so lucky to have mum/dad all holidays', 'it's easier when your mum is a teacher because they are always there to help with homework and know what they are doing', 'your mum is wonderful. So caring, brilliant with kids, you are so lucky to have her (well yes, she is, but actually it's you that has her). Be grateful, you mustn't moan.

Sometimes, and I am not implying this applies to anyone specific, this denial or lack of acknowledgment of the negative things the child has to deal with can come from the parents themselves simply because this is how they cope with the crap.

I'm not saying other children don't have to deal with the negatives of their parents' work but I think it's maybe more common to hear 'you must miss mummy when she works nights' rather than telling child they should be grateful.

I do pretty but simple displays that don't take hours - I've seen very elaborate things on Twinkl groups etc.

I used to be so amazed at the displays on Twinkl pages, but then I realised that they were almost invariably done by twenty something, child free, full of beans NQTs who would have to spend hours on them. Bless. Give it a couple of years and they will be as jaded as the rest of us/have left the profession.

Sorry that sounds so bitchy, but I do get so sick of completely unsustainable ways of working being held up as 'good practice'.

Not a teacher but I'm not saying a word about her hours. They are no different to lots of working people.

I was simply replying to the OP. As you say I'm not a teacher so I have nothing to add to a discussion on teaching. But I do know about having kids and working so can comment on that.