Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

Sunday, June 16, 2013

TEACHING - Getting a Raise

Wow, looks like we’re getting a raise!

Eventually…

Well, immediately we can afford a happy hour. For next school year we’ll be earning 101% of what we used to! Just make sure the happy hour is at a fast food place where extra ketchup is free.

And then in the middle of next school year, we’ll actually get a raise.
Sorry, sorry, that is not exactly accurate. We will receive a contractual pay increase that in some way reflects the number of years we’ve (without a raise) worked. Not a raise.

Maryland keeps getting ranked as #1 in public education, but there’s no need to pay teachers more for that. When I used to work at a restaurant, there we had an expression for when customers said how great the service was and then left a lousy tip. Actually, there were a lot of expressions, but the one you may not have heard before is verbal tipping.
verbal tipping - it's not just for waiters anymore
But hey, getting those rare, infinitesimal pay increases is better than in other school systems where all the teachers get fired, right? Right? I mean, what we’re doing now is better than just leaving, right? We shouldn’t just give up and stop working in a broken system where no one appreciates us, right? … right?...

-(clears throat amid deafening silence)-


Oh, wait – it's summer.
Okay, so I can't be too bitter with weeks of vacation at hand. But please understand that the teacher appreciation image above is intentionally missing parts.
Enjoy the summer, everyone!


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

TEACHING - the New Counting


24

That was Bob’s status update. No words, no pictures – just the number: 24.

Yet I knew exactly what he was talking about.

24 days left of instruction! Summer is almost here!

Come to think of it, there may have been an exclamation mark.

I remember my first year of teaching. Thanksgiving break was coming up, and I was anticipating having several uninterrupted days off. I took thankfulness to a personal new level. At that time I had three schools, and the dozens of teachers I saw in class or crossed in the hallway were bright and cheery for the upcoming holiday. In fact, it was all anyone talked about.

The kids, however, were much less excited. I couldn’t help thinking about the mini-vacation, but when I asked them about plans or if they were excited, the responses were subdued. Plus, they even had a few more days off than the teachers.

I talked to my dad about it. It was one of the very rare occasions where he couldn’t help but make me feel like an idiot. At least he got a good laugh out of it. “You thought the kids looked forward to break more than the teachers? Buuuwwwahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!”

Children are so naïve.



In advance, happy summer – I know that’s all any of my fellow teachers are thinking about.

George proposed that the last 10 days involve some kind of theme, a spirit day that only teachers celebrate and the kids just observe and wonder about. Yes, that is the spirit indeed.