If you are not a teacher or never were a teacher, you will never, ever understand it. There are many times when I ask myself, "Why did I choose the hardest thing possible... again?" I chose to play hockey, which requires a strange amount of equipment. I chose the double bass (stand-up bass), one of the largest and most difficult instruments to transport (and play, too). I chose teaching. The profession that requires you to sacrifice your social life, your nights, your weekends, your hopes of dating and meeting someone and actually having time to devote to him/her, your hopes of living a somewhat normal life. The profession that is underpaid and underappreciated. The profession where you're expected to fix everything. And the profession in which everything is somehow your fault.
Last week was our spring break. Now, most people get to relax during their breaks. Teachers? We can relax during our breaks, but doing so will most assuredly lead to the week of school after being a deeply regrettable, soul-crushing span of time that will likely shorten your overall life expectancy. My week back so far has been nothing short of a whirlwind of stressful, infuriating, confusing, and depressing moments. And it's only Thursday. And we didn't teach on Monday.
The purpose of this post is to enlighten non-teachers to the unspeakable things we go through and have to put up with every day, and to make all teachers that read it simply say, "Sounds about right." Even though I didn't have students on Monday, I will still start with Monday because what I experienced was essential to comprehending the teacher experience.
Monday
We started the week back from spring break with a staff meeting. There was no email on Sunday or any prior day informing us of what we were supposed to do, if we should bring anything, or what time it started. As we are sitting down, we are frantically informed that we should have our laptops with us. We, of course, reply as dryly as possible, "An email informing us of this would have been nice, and not difficult to send." Up to the third floor to get my laptop I go.
The first thing on the never-shared agenda was to go over survey data (my school district's favorite word). Before break, our administration sent us a survey asking our opinions about the current issues with the school uniform policy, which is, just so you know, a complete disaster. They like to send surveys to teachers; they know it makes us feel like we have a voice. Six years in, however, not once have I noticed any discernible change that happened as a result of teacher feedback. So, the principal read us the survey results in a defensive tone because nearly all teachers expressed that our current uniform policy and the enforcement thereof is a complete joke. Also, most teachers indicated that admin should be equally responsible for enforcing the uniform policy (which they don't, by the way). Enforcing uniforms, is, you guessed it, the teachers' job! It's not like we have other things to focus on, you know? Oh, and the cherry on top was that at the end of this part of the meeting, they gave us notecards to write down our comments about uniforms — another thing that will simply be ignored.
We then went over some other things, one of which was something we've already gone over multiple times this year. Next, we were released to lunch and self-directed time for the rest of the day. One thing we had to do was complete an online training for the upcoming SAT test. I agreed to help a colleague of mine with it. Well, since this is my life we're talking about here, this turned into an hour of us trying to reset his password with College Board. College Board had contradicting instructions on its password reset page, which was maddening. After two phone calls and many blocked attempts, we finally got it to work. An hour out the window, we proceeded with the online training, completed it, printed our certificates, and then continued with our day.
I went back to my classroom, got organized, got some work done, and then went home. That night, because of the various things I had to do during the day, I still had to plan lessons for the week at home and did that until about 10 p.m.
Tuesday
I started my classes off with a warm up and then went over the rules and expectations for, God willing, the last time, since it is now the eighth month of school out of a nine-month school year. Amazingly, incredibly, after doing this, I still had to ask students to take out their stupid earbuds and put phones away. Stunning. Three junior girls I have gossiped and talked about prom dresses for the entire class period. Three junior guys sort of did work and definitely did play an incredibly stupid card game on their phones every time I walked away. This all happened in an AP class, by the way. (My admin and/or school district can't seem to get it through their heads that they shouldn't allow phones, but still complain that students' grades and pass rates aren't high enough.) This class has a lot of missing assignments, and it appeared that they got very little done over the break.
In my last class of the day, a student pulled out a lighter and burned the edge of a piece of paper, a student slept in the back the entire class period (I usually don't allow this, but this student being quiet is something we're all grateful for), three groups weren't working together correctly even though I just went over expectations for group work right before, and students didn't take time I gave them to make corrections on an exam seriously.
Wednesday
Let's see, Wednesday there were a strange number of students absent, but it wasn't a bad day overall. One student, when asked if he wanted to talk about how to get his grade up, said, "No," which was sad and annoying. One girl somehow lost $90 in cash (which was out on her desk for unknown reasons) and distracted the whole class when she accused everyone around her of stealing it. It turned out someone hid it just to mess with her and it was found behind one of the trash cans in my room. What this shows, however, is the boy that hid the money cared more about doing that than learning. Another group wasn't working together correctly. When I addressed it with them, none of them said a word and ignored me. Cool.
I had to go grocery shopping, an activity that I hate more than words can adequately describe, make dinner, and then plan for Thursday because I had absolutely nothing ready (because I actually took a break during spring break). Well I did the first two, but then fell asleep in my chair since I decided to rest right after I ate. When I woke up, I realized I still had to plan. What ensued was the teacher version of writer's block: I just couldn't think of what would be good to do in class. I had some ideas, but I wasn't sure. I ended up spending almost two hours, which went way past my bedtime, looking for good video clips about the Cold War. It was a real challenge to find good ones. Getting more and more tired and less able to focus, I still needed to plan another activity so I would have enough for the next day. I was so frustrated in that moment because this is the kind of thing non-teachers don't have to do. It's not fair that we have to give up our time to rest and recuperate to do work at home that will be largely unappreciated the next day.
Thursday
Thursday morning I had to meet with a representative from a retirement plan company to switch over my current plan from another company. Later, my AP class came in. The guys I mentioned earlier playing the card game on their phones were once again playing it as class was starting, confirming to me that they value that over my teaching and their educations. I took all of their phones away and separated them. After the class worked on the warm up, I called on three students randomly to share, one of whom was one of the girls that wasted Tuesday gossiping and talking about prom. Upon hearing her name, she rolled her eyes and then said, "I wrote the same thing as them." I said, "What did YOU write?" She then gave me a made-up, thoughtless answer (which was also incorrect). I told her that she needs to do it right and show me later. She tried to argue with me and said she didn't care, so I told her to go in the hall. She just left and didn't return. Yes, a junior in an AP class was too lazy to answer one question correctly and then argued about it.
It gets better though. The other two gossipy girls, even after seeing their friend get sent out, continued to blab away and not work. I asked them to either stop the conversation or move seats. Well, they chose to argue with me and be defiant. Then, one of them had the audacity to say that I was now interrupting her work time. I told her to get in the hall as well. She also left and didn't come back. I called for a member of the discipline team to come to my room to talk to the third girl. The three of us talked in the hallway and (hopefully) cleared up the issue. I have to deal with the other two this coming week, but we did call home and let their cheerleading coach know about the defiance and disrespect.
Then, during 6th period, I had several issues with headphones again (even though it's the eighth month of school) and one student taking his sweet time wandering the halls and talking to other students because he doesn't care about learning.
(Update) Friday
The perfect way to end a terrible week: forget to set your alarm and wake up an hour late. Luckily, my hair wasn't a complete mess, so I did what I could to get ready and ran out the door. Before 1st period, I saw a new student of mine slowly walking in the hall, and yet he still showed up to class over an hour late and refused to make eye contact with me when he came in. Then, he sat down for one minute, looked around, then got up and left without saying a word. This student has been nothing but disrespectful since arriving about two months ago. I've looked at his behavior history and it's not pretty. This student also refuses to talk to me about his grade, but has cowardly gone to the principal twice and asked him to talk to me about it, as if he's trying to get me in trouble or something (even though his grade isn't an arbitrary thing that I decide, which is what he thinks it is). I will deal with him this coming week.
Third period was a complete circus. It's a large class and, of course, they all know each other and are constantly trying to impress each other by acting out or trying to be funny. Fifth period was alright, but some of the same immature behavior happens in there too. Annoyingly, some of the girls that are usually good were trying to be sneaky and putting in their earbuds. I find this disrespectful on so many levels, and my students know this, but they still push. They still push. Every single class period, every single day.
After my last class of the day, I had to cover all content-related posters in my room to prepare for the SAT on Tuesday. Luckily, one of my students offered to help me, so we got it done quickly. The testing woman brought up the rack of butcher paper to the third floor and asked that it be returned to the auditorium after teachers were done using it. No one else would do it, of course, so I brought it down in the elevator, had to find an assistant principal to unlock the doors, and put it in the auditorium. That was the week.
Conclusion
It was quite a week. Overall, it was terrible. It was probably the worst week of this school year so far. What I wrote in this post is but a fraction of everything that actually happened. I've been doing this long enough that I'm able to brush most things that a non-teacher would find appalling aside. Let's hope that it was just because it was after spring break and students weren't fully focused. I usually don't have these behavior issues (except for phones). Let's also hope that administrators, parents, and students learn to take some responsibility and ownership and not put everything on teachers.
Like orchestra musicians are soldiers fighting to keep real music alive, we are soldiers for education and a better, more informed, more productive society. Let's hope that some people get their heads out of their asses real quick, because teachers can't do it alone, nor should we be expected to.
It gets better though. The other two gossipy girls, even after seeing their friend get sent out, continued to blab away and not work. I asked them to either stop the conversation or move seats. Well, they chose to argue with me and be defiant. Then, one of them had the audacity to say that I was now interrupting her work time. I told her to get in the hall as well. She also left and didn't come back. I called for a member of the discipline team to come to my room to talk to the third girl. The three of us talked in the hallway and (hopefully) cleared up the issue. I have to deal with the other two this coming week, but we did call home and let their cheerleading coach know about the defiance and disrespect.
Then, during 6th period, I had several issues with headphones again (even though it's the eighth month of school) and one student taking his sweet time wandering the halls and talking to other students because he doesn't care about learning.
(Update) Friday
The perfect way to end a terrible week: forget to set your alarm and wake up an hour late. Luckily, my hair wasn't a complete mess, so I did what I could to get ready and ran out the door. Before 1st period, I saw a new student of mine slowly walking in the hall, and yet he still showed up to class over an hour late and refused to make eye contact with me when he came in. Then, he sat down for one minute, looked around, then got up and left without saying a word. This student has been nothing but disrespectful since arriving about two months ago. I've looked at his behavior history and it's not pretty. This student also refuses to talk to me about his grade, but has cowardly gone to the principal twice and asked him to talk to me about it, as if he's trying to get me in trouble or something (even though his grade isn't an arbitrary thing that I decide, which is what he thinks it is). I will deal with him this coming week.
Third period was a complete circus. It's a large class and, of course, they all know each other and are constantly trying to impress each other by acting out or trying to be funny. Fifth period was alright, but some of the same immature behavior happens in there too. Annoyingly, some of the girls that are usually good were trying to be sneaky and putting in their earbuds. I find this disrespectful on so many levels, and my students know this, but they still push. They still push. Every single class period, every single day.
After my last class of the day, I had to cover all content-related posters in my room to prepare for the SAT on Tuesday. Luckily, one of my students offered to help me, so we got it done quickly. The testing woman brought up the rack of butcher paper to the third floor and asked that it be returned to the auditorium after teachers were done using it. No one else would do it, of course, so I brought it down in the elevator, had to find an assistant principal to unlock the doors, and put it in the auditorium. That was the week.
Conclusion
It was quite a week. Overall, it was terrible. It was probably the worst week of this school year so far. What I wrote in this post is but a fraction of everything that actually happened. I've been doing this long enough that I'm able to brush most things that a non-teacher would find appalling aside. Let's hope that it was just because it was after spring break and students weren't fully focused. I usually don't have these behavior issues (except for phones). Let's also hope that administrators, parents, and students learn to take some responsibility and ownership and not put everything on teachers.
Like orchestra musicians are soldiers fighting to keep real music alive, we are soldiers for education and a better, more informed, more productive society. Let's hope that some people get their heads out of their asses real quick, because teachers can't do it alone, nor should we be expected to.
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