Seeing that it is “Back to School” time, when my friend Jenn pitched the idea for this post to me, I jumped on it! Enjoy a bit of comedic relief from her in this season of back to school craziness!
Just a few of the wonderful things said to teachers that drive us nuts! Are you a teacher? Share your “Just Don’t Say It” Moments!
1. I couldn’t do your job: Well you could, you might just happen to kill a kid, pull your hair out, or lose your mind. Although we do this job, it doesn’t mean that some days we don’t want to pull our hair out…trust me, we do.
2. Teachers are in it for the love of the kids, not the money: This is political hogwash that is thrown out there to justify not paying teachers what they are worth. We teach the future of America and we are worth $0.23 per kid, per hour. A daycare gets paid $400-$600 per week (conservatively) per child for care, and at the rate public education is going, we are just a big day care.
3. A spin from that is: “You should budget your money better”: Really? Women with two or three kids need to either take public assistance or need to have a doctor for a husband in order to put food on the table for kids.
4. Teachers have it easy. They get off at 3pm and have a 2 month summer break. Puh-lease…I have done something for my classes almost every day this summer. I spent three days in seminars and I get to get trained on a new program so I can then go train my co-workers. I have to move classrooms and continue to help students regardless of the fact I am not in school. I help keep students spirits high when life at home is in the pits. Our job doesn’t end at 3pm or June 7th.
5. Teachers are lazy: They say those who can’t do, teach. Well those who CAN teach because we know that we are training the future of America! The future, people, if those who can’t do teach, then I dread seeing the product they turn out.
6. I can’t believe our teacher is giving us another test/project/essay/etc. I tell my students that the first class we take as teachers is “How to make your student’s life miserable: 101”. They think that I do this just to make them have busy work, and that in no way does anything I do prepare them for the real world.
7. You really should make learning fun: Really? like I try to make lessons that are boring, irrelevant, un-engaging, and mediocre. I want my students to be bored out of their skulls…we even go through a class on how to torture our students via boredom.
8. What gives you the right to judge my child?: This fun statement tends to happen when teachers call parents letting them know their student is slacking. I’m not judging your child. I’m here to help your child. If I say your child isn’t focusing daily in class it is because evidently something is distracting them and keeping them from being the best that they can possibly be. The more experience we have in the classroom can at times heighten this awareness of problems.
I’ll leave you with this awesome “…said no teacher ever” video! Have a great school year everyone!
Just two crazy college friends!
Jennifer Mullis is a 2009 graduate of Belmont Abbey College. She currently teaches Marketing and Business Education to high school students. She is from Morehead City, NC but resides in Kinston, NC with her cat, Bella. She also never gave Amanda a picture to put here, so Amanda reserved the right to pick one of her own! Haha!
