Next time you want to blame a teacher for anything, remember this.

If you blame teachers for low test scores, underachieving kids, school discipline, and your tax dollars... remember this. <br><br><br>Next time you want to say, "teachers don't do enough for my kid, they need to try harder," remember this. <br><br><br>Next time you want to say, "I could never be a teacher," remember this. <br><br><br>Next time you want to say, "teachers are overpaid, underworked, and get too many days off," remember this. <br><br><br>I am on campus before 7:30am every day. I am the only one in my department who can interact with our kids with disabilities. While other teachers are in their classrooms getting set up, I'm on the playground. I'm on the blacktop. I'm at the bus stops. I'm helping the kids who need an extra set of hands get their backpacks on and getting extra attention from one of our secretaries or a campus monitor. I patrol the hallways with the principal to make sure the kids aren't using the restrooms for social hour, making sure they're not running down the hallways, making sure the kids aren't in the classrooms without teachers before the first bell. I have to make sure there's a teacher on supervision at every location, and that every kid is safe and where they need to be.<br><br><br>Once the kids are in their classroom and we've had a chance to see if anybody needs extra support, I go back to the staff parking lot to make sure the staff who get there at 7:45am have someone to talk to if they need it. I help people carry their stuff, I help them catch up on the gossip, I answer any questions they may have. I see them off when they go to their classrooms, then I spend a few minutes doing the same on the other side of campus. Then, I walk around campus to make sure the kids who went to breakfast don't get too rowdy in the cafeteria. I make sure the kids on the playground are being respectful of each other and of the staff. <br><br><br>I'm in my classroom by 8:15am, where I get to work on the lesson plans for the day. I check my email for any communication from parents or other teachers. I check our online assessment program to see if any of the kids from my homeroom need extra help catching up on past assignments. I spend about 30 minutes before the kids get there doing my actual teacher work, and then the kids get there.<br><br><br>I still have to interact with the kids who need extra attention. I have to work with the kids who need accommodations. I have to make sure the kids are quiet and following the rules, I have to make sure they're in their seats and not fighting, I have to make sure they're not on Snapchat or Roblox on their phones. I have to do this for 30 kids at a time, while fielding questions from 5 or 6 kids at a time. I have to get the attention of the kids who need extra support without letting them know I'm watching them extra closely, because otherwise it will cause a meltdown. I have to make sure the other kids don't see that I'm helping this one kid a little extra, because that will cause *him* to have a meltdown. I have to make sure the kids who are being too chatty aren't using my extra attention to their friends as an excuse to be even more chatty, and I have to make sure they all get enough attention. <br><br><br>For one hour, I get to be an in-person sub for whoever needs it. This gives them the chance to get their own shit done, whether it be parent communication, updating the grade book, or a quick meeting with the principal. I get to spend an hour interacting with 25-35 kids, and I get to quiet them down enough for the teacher to get their work done on their planning time, then I get to quiet them down again when it's time for them to switch classes. <br><br><br>When lunchtime comes around, I'm on the playground. I have to patrol for kids who are doing drugs, kids who are in some kind of clique war, kids who are doing some kind of sexual activity, kids who are being mean to each other, kids who are getting into the creek. I have to make sure our kids don't leave campus, I have to make sure the kids who are eating lunch in the classroom are quiet and behaving, I have to make sure kids aren't bringing weapons onto campus. I have to make sure kids aren't fighting, and I have to make sure both sides of the fight are split up and go to their correct classes. Sometimes, this means one kid goes to class right away, and the other has to go to time out first. <br><br><br>After lunch, I'm back in the classroom, where I get to repeat all of the same interactions for the afternoon classes. <br><br><br>When the final bell rings, I'm on campus again. I'm on the playground, I'm on the blacktop, I'm helping the kids who need extra support find their parents or their busses or their carpools. I help them find their friends if they're walking home together or if they're all going to the park. I make sure both the kids and the parents follow the pick-up/drop-off rules, I answer parents' questions about which bus their kids are on, I help the parents deal with kids who don't want to leave their friends and come home. <br><br><br>It's *finally* that I get back to the staff parking lot to help the afternoon people say goodbye to the morning people, answer questions about parent interactions, help them carry their things out to their cars, and wish them a good afternoon. <br><br>Then, and ONLY then, do I get to sit at my desk and do my actual teacher work. Grading assignments, updating the grade book, answering parent emails, updating the lesson plans for the next day. Sometimes, I'm lucky if I have 30 minutes to get all that done. <br><br><br>When I'm done with that, I may or may not stick around for the staff meeting at 3:45. Then, I have to do a final sweep of the campus, check all the door handles to see if they're locked, check the doorstop alarms to see if any of them are blinking, and lock my own classroom door. <br><br><br>Then, *FINALLY* I can go home. Then, I can go do my second job. Then, I can interact with my own kids, then I can make dinner, then I can clean up after the kids and pets go to bed. Then, I can work on tomorrow's lesson plans and answer the parents who called me after hours. Then, I can maybe relax for an hour before bed, spend a little bit of time with my spouse, and get a little bit of sleep in before I have to wake up at 5:30am and do it all again the next day. <br><br>Next time you want to say, "teachers don't do enough for my kid," remember this. <br><br><br>Next time you want to say, "teachers are overpaid for the amount of time they work," remember this. <br><br><br>Next time you want to say, "the school system is fucked up," remember this. <br><br><br>We do our best with what we have, and we still manage to get shit on at the end of the day.