So tomorrow I go back to work after having nine days off.  People often says that teachers really shouldn't complain about their pay because they get so many holidays.  I don't know how to tell them that we need those breaks because we are utterly at our wits end.  The kids are crazy and by this time of year, the parents are over it too.  Then, it's testing time.

For example, we already take work home with us or stay extra hours at work but this week, we have book studies.  So not only did we have to work at home on the book study, but now we are required to stay after school and present/listen.  Plus we have to meet for three hours to plan for tutoring that some us are even doing.  And, that means we aren't teaching...but we'll get the blame on the state test when scores aren't what they could/should be. Most of us work 10-12 hour days which is nothing exceptional, a lot of people do that or more. We however, never get to leave once we are at work.  We are with the kids...even at lunch.  Our planning time, which people consider our break, can be taken away from us without warning for meetings or parent conferences.  That means the work we could have been doing now goes home with us.  I wish that all the crap would just go away and we could teach.  I don't mind the planning...that's when you find those thought provoking, challenging and fun activities for the kids to do and learn from.  I talking about the meetings for no real reason except a paper trail or to impress others, paperwork that is a joke and probably filed somewhere, and not getting support from parents and others!

Okay....vented enough!  I must say that I love to teach, and enjoy being a teacher. I just wish!