Educational Rant- TIME

It is Friday about 3:30 pm. The students ran out of here at 2:42 when the bell rang. I am sitting at my desk trying to get some work done. I am finishing my lesson plans at the same time I am putting grades in the computer. I have some music on to help me focus. The janitor has been in and my floor s clean. I have no idea what the weather is like outside. But I want to get this work done because I have a busy weekend and I know I won’t be able to finish these plans on Saturday or Sunday. So, I stick around until I am done.

I am not complaining…not yet. I had planning or prep periods this week. I have 4 of them- 3 days a week I get 52 minutes and one day I get 94 minutes. SO, I get a total of 250 minutes per week to get my work done. And what is the work I do? Well, let me tell you!

I have to grade stuff. IF I assign it, I need to grade it. Let’s do the math. I teach 151 students. So that is 151 things that need to be graded. And that is assuming there is only one assignment for that week. IF I use the 250 minutes to grade that gives me 1.66 minutes per assignment. Better be an easy assignment to grade. OK. I am required to put in 2 grades per week. So, I need to find another 250 minutes. BUT, I am also required to submit lesson plans every week. It takes me at least an hour if not more. Last year I spent every Sunday doing lesson plans. I spent about 6 hours on Sundays. That is 160 minutes more than I get during the week.

Now, I don’t only have to grade and lesson plan. I also have to reflect on whatever topic I am told to reflect on and I meet with people. I have to read books and information. I have to do this thing called a PDP or Professional Development plan. BUT, wait there’s more! I have to make sure that I am meeting all the criteria for my evaluation. This evaluation has 4 domains, and I have to make sure that I am at the minimum meeting the requirements for an effective teacher. Within each domain, there are about 6 different Elements that need to be addressed. These aspects of my evaluation take a lot of time. I have to write about them, reflect on them, gather documentation and artifacts to prove I do my job.

Oh yeah…and I teach. I teach kids. I get to work with them and help them and get them to sit and pay attention. I need to know them and know what they need in my classroom. I need to work with them and help them, I like this part. It is the real work part of my work. And it should be where all my energy goes. It should be the part that I focus on.

You may say, well lesson plans make you focus on kids. And grading makes you focus on kids. And yes, it does. It is part of the job. And essential for me to have success with my kids. But, how much success can I have when I do not have time to plan well and grade work and give good feedback?

Time. I need time.

I was talking to a woman who is running for office nearby where I live. We were talking about education. She is supportive of teachers and wants to help educators in her community. She said she wants to bring more professional development into the community for teachers. I sighed. All I could think of is more professional development will take more time. And I need more time to be able to do a better job in the part of my job that matters most- working with my students. Giving them feedback. Creating engaging and fulfilling lessons.

I packed up my stuff, my computer, my lesson planning materials, etc. because I got grades done, but not the lesson plans. It was after 5:00 pm. I decided it was time to go home and see my own kids. I figured I was the last one to leave. I saw a colleague’s classroom door open. I stopped in to say goodnight. She was working too. She was also going to take Monday off of work. You know why? So she could get her work done.

I walked to my car thinking about how ridiculous it is that we do this. We take personal leave to get our work done. I have done it. She did it. And here’s the kicker. In my state of New Mexico, if we use more than 6 days of our 10-14 days of leave, we get marked down on our evaluations. And here we are, taking leave to do our work.

Time. Give us time. Time costs money. Teaching takes time. Our kids deserve it. They deserve our time. Just let us do our jobs and do it well. For them. For us. Just give us time.