We have all had teachers.
Some we loved, and some not so much.
Many we learned from, and some we learned about life from.
Some were fun, and some put us to sleep.
Those who don't know any better think teachers have a pretty cushy job and that all they do is sit at their desks all day and then collect their paychecks which some believe are written for A LOT OF MONEY. Basically, they believe that a teacher is just an over paid babysitter. They couldn't be more wrong.
The following may give you an idea of what a teacher's life and job really entail.
Many teachers are up before dawn, some get their kids ready for school, then they try to get ready before dropping the kids off at day care or at school.
They may have been up late grading papers after cooking dinner, bathing the kids and putting them to bed, but it doesn't matter. They still have to get to work on time.
They rarely get a full lunch because they have to do cafeteria duty, or recess duty, or cover detention, or another teacher's class.
On some days it's difficult for teachers to teach the material because one or two students act up in class. The teacher disciplines the students with detention, perhaps, and gets a call the next day from a parent telling them off.
Although teachers are given funds to buy teaching materials, it is mainly for the basics; paper, pencils, crayons, etc... Anything additional comes out of his or her own wallet or purse.
They stand on their feet most of the day, although they have desks and chairs. Teachers have to talk all day, so sometimes they go home with a dry, scratchy throat, in addition to the sore feet and aching back. If the day was particularly stressful, they might also have a headache.
If they sponsor an after school activity they probably have to stay after for at least an hour, most of the time it's more. They get home in the evenings and the cycle begins again.
This is not to say that a teacher's job is predictable, or that they do the same things over and over, year after year (okay, maybe this is true for some). A good teacher, however, is creative and innovative, so as to make learning a new adventure. They order materials from catalogs, they buy games, and they make up special activities. After working in the school system, I can tell you that Boone County has many good teachers.
West Virginia teachers are 47th in the nation for salary, although they have just as high a percentage of students taking and succeeding in advanced placement classes.
To add insult to injury, their insurance rates jump every time they get a raise, so that most or all of the raise is lost in premiums.
If West Virginia doesn’t give its educators more respect and recognition for the hard work that they do, we may lose all of them.
Who, then, will teach our children; our most important resource?
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