Top Four Things to Stop Saying to Teachers

Stop!  Please Stop!

This teacher is tired.

I am in my eighth year teaching and I work on average 10 hours a day, Monday through Friday.

I am a special education teacher and I love my job, but it’s hard work.  I wouldn’t want to do anything else because working with kids with disabilities is my passion. I am good at it and I am patient.

I am starting to lose my patience, but not with my students. I’m losing my patience for others who continue to talk negatively about teaching.  If you know a teacher, please stop saying the following four things…

1.  It must be nice to get summers off.

Seriously, that’s why teachers teach, right?  Well, I have never had a full summer off. I work in the summer to make ends meet. Sometimes, I need to take classes, which I usually have to pay for myself, to renew my teaching license and/or advance along the pay scale.

2.  Teaching is so easy, anyone could do it.

This is just as annoying as the quote,  “Those who can do, those who can’t teach.” ~ George Bernard Shaw.

I saw this quote on a colleague’s mug and I love this twist on the quote, “Those who can, do. Those who can do more, teach.” ~ Unknown.

Teaching is not something that anyone can just walk into the classroom and do.  It takes a lot of planning and preparation. I would love someone to spend at least 30 minutes in my classroom and see if they still think teaching is an easy job.

3. Teachers only work nine months out of the year.

My teaching contract is nine months. However, I am in my classroom off and on throughout the summer; prepping materials, planning lessons and purging materials.  I only get paid for nine months but my paycheck is spread out over 12 months. The average starting salary in 2016-2017 for teachers as stated on the NEA (National Education Association) website in the United States is $38,617.00. I started teaching with my Masters and my starting salary was $41,000.

4. Teachers get to leave at 3:00 p.m., must be nice.

My contract is 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., but I think I’ve left at 4:00 p.m. only once this school year and that was because I had a doctor appointment.  I usually show up to work at 7:00 a.m. and the latest I have stayed this school year is 9:45 p.m. On average I leave around 5:30pm, but then I usually take work home with me and work over the weekends, too.

Hopefully people will stop saying these things to teachers, because teachers are tired, hardworking and work for other people’s kids.

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