West Virginia Teachers on Strike, still make sure hungry students are fed

[Cecelia]

Here you are saying not to make assumptions, and then in the very next breath making assumptions about how much work your teachers did growing up.  First of all, free periods aren't free.  We use those periods for planning (I only get one every other day btw) and for catching up on grading.  Of course those periods only help a little when we've got 7 classes to plan and grade for.

I can tell you that most days I come home from work, and spend roughly 2 hours each night working on grading/planning.  Usually it's a little more.  (Grading by hand takes quite a bit of time, especially since I have more than 100 students.  Then I have to put the grades in the gradebook, as well as into the computer) Then I spend a couple of hours on the weekend finishing up any leftover grading that I didn't have time for in the week.  How much depends on how busy the week is.  Early in the quarter it's not too bad usually.  Later in the quarter it can be a nightmare, and I can spend all weekend grading 3-5 page papers written by a large number of students. 

I'm not complaining, fwiw. I know that other people have tougher jobs. But people often underestimate just how much work we teachers do. There's a lot more to teaching than just going by the textbook.

Hear, hear! One thing I learned in the early '90s when I was unemployed and taught as a substitute on call (which meant I had better be paying attention to the phone in the morning if the school district called me) was to get together with the math and physics teachers so that the continuity of their classes would be there if they had to take time off for being sick. Between my time as a Petty Officer in the Navy, and my training as a BSA leader, I had the crowd control stuff pretty well down. If the kids tried to derail the class into hearing "war stories" from this sub, I said that they could talk to me at lunch time. No takers. ...and I can "wing it" in either a math or physics class. I've had enough of both that I can run circles around a high school student. I actually liked teaching Advanced Placement classes, because the students were motivated...whether by parental threat or of their own accord, because they just eat up what is offered, and ask a ton of questions. I got a great sense of satisfaction when the students asked a question that made sense- it meant they were getting it.

I've definitely had a mix of subs.  When I went on maternity leave both times the sub did a wonderful job.  I don't take too many regular sick days myself, but on the few occasions I've had to for a funeral (like when my mother-in-law died) I've had mixed results.  Some are great, and have no trouble with students.  Others are good substitutes, but have some trouble keeping the students from eating them alive.    Once in a while I'll get a 'movie sub' who just puts on a movie.  (Which is fine, as long as the movie is tangentially related to the material.)  Usually I'll leave my lesson plan, unless I'm just totally out of it.  Their job is hard enough as it is.

Also you'd have had some takers at my school lol.