Petition for the August 1st Calendar

#81: shakes head - people need breaks? 

 Dear Mr. "Head"...(appropo)...You obviously don't teach.  Let me explain what teachers do, since you are coming from a place of utter ignorance, bless your heart.  As middle school teachers, our day officially starts at 8:40, I think.  I don't really know since I get to work about 7:15 everyday.  I think the day ends when the students load the buses...this would be 4:15.  The only reason I know the official end time is because that's when I walk the kids out to safely board the buses.  That doesn't mean my day ends.  My day ends generally about 5:30, sometimes 6.  If I have an after school activity to attend or supervise (which is frequent), I can stay as late as 8pm. 

Now.  Breaks.  Well, we don't have any.  You see, we have to be with kids the whole time they are in school.  I can't even go to the bathroom at my leisure.  It's either pee in 3 minutes and race back to class, or hold it to the end of the day.  Lunch?  Sure.  It's for 22 minutes, and I have to supervise kids the whole time.  Oh yea...there IS that planning period we get in the day when our kids are in Connections.  Oh...but wait...that's when we meet as content teams, data teams, grade level teams...that's when we meet with parents, or do training for assessment administration...or meet to discuss retention issues, or tutor kids who are behind.  Planning?  No.  We do that once we get home....which is when we grade all our papers and essays, too. You see, for a teacher, the day doesn't end when we get home.  There is still much to do.

And summer?  What summer?  You see, Mr. "Head", summer is the time teachers hone their teaching skills by attending trainings and planning for the next year.  They are often found meeting with their teammates to analyze what things went well the year before and what things could use some improvement.  This is a time teachers work on additional certifications, or go back to school to take extra hours towards a Masters or other educational endeavors. 

So sir, please watch your arrogance.  You really shouldn't be commenting on something you know nothing about.  You obviously haven't read the research on Balanced Calendars, nor have you stayed up on the fact that America needs to improve its educational system.  We are constantly searching for ways to make our educational system World Class.  The status quo that you are referring to isn't good enough anymore, and in case you haven't noticed, the world isn't the same place it was when you were a lad.  Take the cotton out of your ears and put it in your mouth and learn something before you make such insolent comments.