A rolling thread where we are teachers

yeah are they really that high? This is now week 5 of our term, I've been teaching in person 4 hours one day per week (2 hours with about 30 students, then 2 hours with about 15 students). As far as I know there haven't been any cases among students or faculty. The rooms are big enough not be packed too badly.

The school where I substitute has zero documented cases right now, so technically that'd be 0%, except I know you have to account for potential asymptomatic carriers--I'd have to take a two-week timeout to be sure.

You can check your risk here — https://www.microcovid.org/ but it’s hard to get the numbers exactly right.

My town had four confirmed cases this week, but it is wealthy and testing is not readily available.

I am actually less worried about my safety in the building than I am about what happens if/when I DO get sick. (Because we do not have subs, shared lesson plans, and the expectation is that we work from until we can’t).

The erosion of workers’ rights is one of the scariest parts of this whole situation.

I could not agree with you more on that. My rights (and those of my few remaining colleagues) have been eroded to such an alarming degree that my internal bells are all going off. All the time.

Most of the public will be appalled, but I agree with the West Virginia superintendent who made news today announcing that snow days will remain in place there.

With remote learning in place now, I know a snow day can't really be rationally defended. But if you've taught elementary (can't speak for secondary), you know what a godsend they were. Even a no-bus day--which at my old school, meant maybe 30 kids total in attendance--was a gift in terms of catching up on marking and organizing the room. The superintendent is selling this in terms of the students--tobogganing, frolicking, etc.--and sure, students love them too. But a snow day for a teacher is pure joy.

Public: good point, you don't get enough fucking time off already.

Public: good point, you don't get enough fucking time off already.

The public would break into a cold, nightmare sweat and go weak in the knees if their job suddenly became walking into a classroom full of 35 sixth graders day after day and they were required to teach them the curriculum for seven hours straight with minimal breaks. It would break them in pieces before the end of the first week.

No argument here, but with an unreceptive audience, I've found it impossible to move that conversation past SUMMERSOFFSUMMERSOFFSUMMERSOFFSUMMERSOFFSUMMERSOFFSUMMERSOFFSUMMERSOFFSUMMERSOFFSUMMERSOFF...

ppl tend to stfu abt summers when i explain to them how much grading / planning / tutoring i do outside of my "work day"

Having my life dictated by the academic calendar for 14 years now I can say that the “summers off/bust ass beyond reason 10 mo/yr” model is actually not a very good one.

Imagine getting to travel when you want, to have 4 weeks of vacation (or some ppl I know get “unlimited” PTO *as needed*)

Instead you work doglike for 10 mo, need a month to recover and then you get the other month to relax but it’s always the same month of the year and this will never change. Your entire life revolves around this calendar.

Even with the envied “summers off” it’s a raw deal. My school switched to year round and offered us no secure PTO. Raaaaawwwwest deal

I understood the arguments for year-round (from a teacher's point of view), but I never even considered applying one of the two or three schools in my board that offered that.

Instead you work doglike for 10 mo, need a month to recover and then you get the other month to relax but it’s always the same month of the year and this will never change. Your entire life revolves around this calendar--dead on (though I'd say it was more like half the other month to relax, because the anxiety started up in the third week, and the fourth I was in the school setting up). And even with all that, I still wanted those uninterrupted two months away from the school.

Yes agree, the two weeks before going back were fraught so yeah two good weeks in there.

Is it normal to be fried to a salty crisp like this? I don’t believe so. I’m on burnout outreach if anyone needs resources.

Three months off = six unpaid weeks

also lmao at "summers" i literally get july and a week on either side.

honestly it's not that bad though. i could think of worse things i could be doing, and workload or no at least i got to talk to teenagers about escape velocity and car accidents for like nine hours today instead of whatever lame shit ppl do at desk jobs

Guys, Friday’s my last day before winter break, and even so I just don’t know if I’m going to make it. This year is crazy.

I feel like I spent the last month putting my students through a bunch of really dreary classes that were just repetitive and content-focused and no fun. Mostly because I had a ton of election/post-election anxiety and headaches, and kept having to work through headaches where I could barely think. I feel really bad because I know my class started out pretty fun and I feel like I'm losing my students. This week I have good plans and good energy, but I can tell my students have lost momentum. Wish I could rewind and do this whole month over.

if it makes anybody feel any better i know a lot of ppl (teachers students and parents) at a lot of different schools (primary secondary and higher, large and small, poor and rich, urban and suburban, high and low performing) and nobody, i mean nobody, has anything good to say abt this year

there's a fucking plague, what can you do

amen

I like that this has resulted in more small-group teaching sessions. I hope that carries over into the future.

im gonna spend some time over the break refiguring what i want to do with our class time bc i judt do no trust anyone higher up than me in the leadership chart to know anything right now

I've just broken up for Christmas and feel utterly destroyed. Not entirely sure how we've made it through, to be honest. And, just as the kids are exiting the gates, the DfE announce that the start of next term will be delayed and we'll be teaching online. Would it be possible for these fuckwits to get a little bit more organised? Three more days notice and we would have been able to get students set up with resources etc. Now, the start of next term will be a mad rush. Happy Christmas!

I've been in school since September, fwiw. We've been incredibly lucky and had minimal cases and haven't had to rely too heavily on bought-in supply staff.

Can't remember where you are, Chinaski...Ontario's being a little coy, but some teachers at my old school think the break will be extended for a week or two extra (i.e., move online). Interesting theory from one of them: so no teachers would have time to book a holiday in the Barbados or wherever. (A highly subjective theory, I should add: she's a dedicated traveler.)

Glad I've banked 25 supply/sub days so far, in case there's an even longer shutdown. They raised our ceiling this year from 50 to 95--I'll be content to get to 50 later in the spring and summer.

Less coy today: “Our chief medical officer of health has confirmed that the transmission of COVID-19 in schools has remained low … however, the public health environment in Ontario continues to evolve rapidly,” the document said. “The government is continuing to monitor the COVID-19 situation, including recent trends in hospitalizations and intensive care unit patients. As a reminder, we are recommending that boards encourage students and staff to take home any materials that they may require for remote learning before they leave school for the holiday period so that we can continue to be ready for all scenarios.”

All right, here goes: I think I want to become a high school teacher. I know it's a lot of work, thankless, etc etc.

But I don't want to work a desk job. One day sitting at a computer, making edits on PDFs for pharmaceutical companies, confirms it. I love teaching, and I'm pretty good at it.

Any tips or pointers accepted.

yyyyyeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! it's a shitty year for teaching, but it gets so much better.

what state are you in?

PA.

it looks like they do have an alternate route for folks who are already degree'd up: https://www.education.pa.gov/Educators/Certification/BecomeAnEducator/CertificationPathways/Pages/CPIntern.aspx

An alternate route where they don't actually explain what the fuck you have to do. Jesus, this is exactly why I've always given up on this type of stuff— the bureaucratic language is so thick that it makes it impossible to understand the basic steps one needs to take to get into the program.

I mean, I figured it out, but the whole page is gonzo in how confusing it is, imho

My advice, as someone who went from college teaching to secondary, is to do as much of the traditional teacher training, with student teaching included, as possible. There's A LOT to secondary teaching that I didn't know anything about before I did my training, and when you're working with large class sizes and have discipline issues to think about, it's good to have at least a semester, ideally a year, of student teaching before you have to handle everything on your own.

Another thing to think about is how many content areas you could be endorsed in. I went in hoping to teach English but so far have only been able to find jobs in French because it's in higher demand. That's let me get my foot in the door of the district I want, and hopefully I can transfer to an ELA job at some point.

Thanks Lily. I'd probably try for English, History, and French, with more emphasis on the former. Would love to teach history, really regret that my only university experience in teaching American Studies occurred during my first semester...many things I would have done differently!

You two should join us on the French borad some time:

https://www.ilxor.com/ILX/NewAnswersControllerServlet?boardid=725388455

My French probably isn't good enough for it, but I'll try.

Everyone is welcome!

I got into teaching when I turned 40, Table. I'd had literally zero experience in the classroom but was male, had a decent subject-related CV and I'd barely signed a bit of paper before I was in a classroom. I'd 100% agree with Lily: get as much experience as you can because, curriculum-wise, you'll always know more than the kids, but you won't know how to manage/orchestrate a room and that only comes with time and experience.

We have a thing called SCITT in the UK, where you basically learn in school (school-centred initial teacher training) - as opposed to the University-based route. I'd look for something similar to the SCITT if it's available: you're in school from the beginning, aside from a six-week period at a second placement, you'll be in the same environment for the whole academic year. I'd look closely at where you're going to be based and try to get a good sense of the levels of support because you'll need it! It varies so much from school to school and it's utterly ridiculous. By support I really mean time - what you're looking for is how long you'll have with the class teachers, mentor etc but also if they're available to be in the room with you when you're stumbling through the early phases of teaching. It's hard because it's basically all criticism early on, but it's invaluable. So many training teachers just get bunged into the classroom with no support and it's bullshit. No wonder so many people bail out.

This is all UK-related so apologies if it's not all relevant. Happy to discuss via email if that helps. Good luck! From what I've read on here, any school would chew both arms off to have someone like you and the kids would bloody love you.

Back to online teaching. Two days in and god this is soul crushing.

Guess students are even more apathetic second time around?

Yeah, very much so - and very clued-up on how to cut corners. The worst thing is the 'talking to the void' aspect of it. A Y10 class who are cheeky, noisy and boisterous in the classroom were completely mute with me today. Not a word.

Hello, my former institution offered me a class for the spring semester, which begins next week. Online, with a weekly synchronous session that's 1hr40 minutes long.

The pay is not terrible, but I just started work in another industry that promises to be more stable in the long run (medical proofing and editing).

Legit have no idea what to tell them.

I think if I were in your position, I’d decline. Even if the pay is not terrible, it’s unlikely to be commensurate with the amount of work you will do. I adjuncted for a while in grad school and after dropping out, and my quality of life improved whennI just stopped being lured by the siren call of adjuncting. It was always exploitative.

Yeah, I think I'm going to turn them down. Too much work for too little reward.

God, this winter feels endless, and it's not even close to finished. Obviously that mostly has to do with the pandemic/lockdown/stay-at-home order, but I realize it's also because I'm retired and not teaching. I was regularly supplying last winter, so I didn't notice as much.

When I was full-time, there wasn't a winter as such, but a series of small blocks you had to get through to move onto the next one. You started with first report cards/interviews; then Halloween/Thanksgiving; Christmas; second reports; March break; and when the long Easter weekend came, you were done. Now it's just winter, forever.

Schools were closed here through January, so I had my first supply job since before Christmas today. I retired as soon as I could because I'd hit the wall with reports, interviews, meetings, and the rest, but I do miss being in the classroom (which is that much more fun when you don't have to worry about that stuff). I found out today from one of my grade 3 guys about a YouTuber with 39 million views who says that 80% of your weight is supported by your two big toes, and also that zombies are real. The first actually seems to be in the neighborhood (it's a bone below the big toe, and 50%). I'm just glad for the warning with the second.

Something else I miss: I didn't even know what a YouTuber was till six or seven years ago. I used to do an art lesson where they'd sketch a famous face; I had a slide show and printouts with about 40 people I really liked--Janis Joplin, Jackie Robinson, Warhol, etc.--and they'd do one of mine, and then one of their own choosing that I'd print out for them.

"Can I do Petey Pie?"
"Who's Petey Pie?"
"A YouTuber."

"Can I do Tree Stump?"
"Who's Tree Stump?"
"A YouTuber."

A lot of recent talk here an elsewhere about in-class learning. I didn't really feel any more vulnerable today than before Christmas: the classes are even smaller now, from 10-15. But the big thing is the variants. On the way in, the radio said there were eight new variant cases in Toronto (I was next door, in Brampton). Also, I was in for coverage, so I saw six different classes--obviously, the complete opposite of bubbling or cocooning or whatever.

Just had an observation that didn't go great, and now I have to wait until Monday for my post-observation meeting. Ugh.

I hate being observed, it makes me nervous and I overthink both my planning and my teaching.

observations are, in fact, Bad

I've got my first interview in 23 years this week to get on the supply list where I live (rather than driving crazy distances to the school I retired from). One of the main reasons I stayed there forever is I hate interviews, and they hate me. It'll be done online. I'm assuming I'm not expected to wear a jacket...I will change out my pajamas.

Observation is such a bullshit concept. We've moved to a coaching model, mercifully; we pair up, pick something you want help with, then get some useful feedback on what you might do differently. There is no grading and it's basically half hour per term.

I had my first week back this week. It was, to be frank, fucking mental. After three months of a (relative) quiet life, I couldn't cope with the sheer amount of input and questions, particularly from adults. The testing has been managed really well, but it does mean huge disruption to staffing, as it's manned by LSAs and PE teachers. We had a positive case late on Friday and we're a teacher down in the English department.

The main issue is around Y11 (15/16 yr olds) who should be doing their GCSEs this year. It's all teacher-assessed, which is fine, but there's an 'appeals process' in place, which has already been advertised. It means we're going to need as much evidence as we can, to beat off angry parents and Ofqual, so we're basically putting them through a whole round of assessments. These are 'optional' apparently and won't actually be sent out to schools until the end of March so we have no idea what we're actually preparing them for. It's so stressful - for us and the kids. Bollocks to all of it.

Good luck with your interview clemenza. I'd go into like Red at the end of Shawshank Redemption.

Appreciate that. I've decided my "strategy" will be to emphasize what mattered to me re supply/substitute teachers when I had my own class--I won't even try to fake my way through jargon.

By "observation," I take it you mean what would be called performance appraisal in Ontario, which happens every five years. Is this your first? The deeper you get into your career, the easier principals are about that. When you get to the last couple, I figured they don't have much choice at that point but to let you skate by. The alternative--"After letting this person teach for 15 years, we've finally decided he/she isn't very effective"--don't look good.

Man, I wish this were the case where I am:

As of Monday, teachers and educators in all 50 states will be eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccinations. The eligibility comes as the US ramps up vaccination efforts in hopes of curbing the spread of coronavirus variants and setting a course toward some sense of normalcy again.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/13/health/us-coronavirus-saturday/index.html