Teachers get it handy!

[JimStynes]

Handy wee number alright!!

[AZOffaly]

Lads, I'm not a teacher, but I'm a coach, and I think that anyone that thinks teaching a class of either teenagers or younger children is a handy job is mental.

[theticklemister]

Average week for me.

7-5.15 each day. Maybe a bit earlier on Friday.

These above hours do include marking books. English and Maths need to be marked each night. 1 1/2 hours per set of books. I dont get this done daily as it is too much.

So say 10 hours a day x 5 and then a couple of hours at night marking. Say I dont mark every night , so I'll bring it Down to 6 hours.

Someone do the Maths as apparently we're not skilled enough.

[theticklemister]

Oh yeah and keeping 30 kids motivated, disclipined and educated all by yourself with no help.

Forgot about that one Offaly.

[redzone]

Average week for me.

7-5.15 each day. Maybe a bit It earlier on Friday.

These above hours do include marking books. English and Maths need to be marked each night. 1 1/2 hours per set of books. I do t get this done daily as it is too much.

So say 10 hours a day x 5 and then a couple of hours at night marking. Say I dont mark every night , so I'll bring it Down to 6 hours.

Someone do the Maths as apparently we're not skilled enough.

Your obviously a rubbish teacher if you have to do all them hours. That's the big problem I see. To many teachers that haven't a clue what they are at

[AZOffaly]

Average week for me.

7-5.15 each day. Maybe a bit It earlier on Friday.

These above hours do include marking books. English and Maths need to be marked each night. 1 1/2 hours per set of books. I do t get this done daily as it is too much.

So say 10 hours a day x 5 and then a couple of hours at night marking. Say I dont mark every night , so I'll bring it Down to 6 hours.

Someone do the Maths as apparently we're not skilled enough.

Your obviously a rubbish teacher if you have to do all them hours. That's the big problem I see. To many teachers that haven't a clue what they are at

`

Class

[theticklemister]

Average week for me.

7-5.15 each day. Maybe a bit It earlier on Friday.

These above hours do include marking books. English and Maths need to be marked each night. 1 1/2 hours per set of books. I do t get this done daily as it is too much.

So say 10 hours a day x 5 and then a couple of hours at night marking. Say I dont mark every night , so I'll bring it Down to 6 hours.

Someone do the Maths as apparently we're not skilled enough.

Your obviously a rubbish teacher if you have to do all them hours. That's the big problem I see. To many teachers that haven't a clue what they are at

Je, that is a shocking response!

[muppet]

Lads, I'm not a teacher, but I'm a coach, and I think that anyone that thinks teaching a class of either teenagers or younger children is a handy job is mental.

Couldn't agree more. There are good teachers and there are poor ones, just like any job. There are also some fantastic people who couldn't do enough for kids that aren't their own and go way beyond what would reasonably be expected of them. Particularly in bad areas of Dublin for example.

[Farrandeelin]

Teachers should be put to work for their 3 months holidays.

It would be interesting then to see how many people would be clambering to take it up as a career option.

I dont see too many clambering to join it as it is...

Are foreigners who are qualified teachers, allowed to teach in Ireland?

If they do the SCG - an Irish exam, then they can teach primary yes.

[Farrandeelin]

Teachers should be put to work for their 3 months holidays.

It would be interesting then to see how many people would be clambering to take it up as a career option.

What about farming?

[JimStynes]

The thing about teaching is that it varies from school to school and you get paid the same no matter where you are. My last school was in a lovely wee country area. Handy number. In at 8.15 and out the door at 4.15 and only the odd night of marking. Children were great and parents were supportive and all the rest.  My current job is in a very rough area, a complete kip in fact. It is a very stressful job, with unreal amounts of paper work. I feel like I am a social worker, admin officer, child psychologist and a bit of teaching thrown in somewhere as well. A good portion of the paperwork (that doesn't benefit or help the children one bit) is done to please people whoever might come into inspect us at some stage. I have work to do every night but I don't mind it. The pay is not worth the responsibility but it is still decent enough money, though you will never be rich. Great job but definitely not an easy one. The holidays are a perk but if you were in my current job for the wrong reasons then you wouldn't last a year.

I've worked in the health service before and finance jobs over the summer months! Now they were definitely a gift of a job!

[delgany]

Teachers should be put to work for their 3 months


There Are a few people on here slabbering  Abt  teaching.. 
Teaching   today is nt like it was in the past.
The level of accountability is incredible
The ability to teach isn't  determined  by the amount of holidays or pay. It is a highly demanding job  that is undervalued and underpaid .
Experienced and highly skilled teachers should be paid at a much higher level.  At least 20k  more

[Estimator]

Seen this article a couple of days ago...


Then I had my exam analysis review meeting. They're not much fun these things. I have a good reputation in school: kids like me, colleagues respect me; the head, who is also my line manager, tells me I'm doing great.

They always start with the usual: "Thanks for your comprehensive analysis. You have made a detailed report". The mood is sombre and darkening by the second. "Your results have improved but not enough. You are one of the best teachers in school but your results are only average.

"If Freddie can get a C in English, why did he only get a D in your subject? And why was that lad half a mark off a B? Do you actually challenge your pupils or are you making it too easy for them? Why do girls outperform boys?" I sat there aghast as he continued: "Why did the pupil with 54 per cent attendance not get his C?"

Are you all out of magic wands now?

But it carries on: "Personally, I don't understand these figures. I don't understand why your pupil premiums are so low but students with special educational needs do so well. What is your strategy? Why didn't that kid who was underperforming come to your revision club?"
It was because you told me I had to let him go to maths because it's double weighted.

"Then why didn't you run a weekend session?"

I was already doing weekday evenings until 7pm and gave up all my holidays after Christmas for free and provided all the food and drink because you slashed the catering budget to zero and I wanted a good turn out. I was up two nights making 50 sandwiches until after midnight during one of our plentiful and decadent holidays that parents still mistakenly think are wholly ours to enjoy.

So here we are. On the surface, it was a cordial and professional meeting about data but I put my heart and soul into my job and I was gutted that four students had underperformed. But all they want to do is talk about residuals and progression and turning water into wine.

These are human beings. They are fallible and make mistakes – for teenagers, making mistakes is in their DNA and their job description.

The ones who worked hard did well. The high- and low-ability students made over expected progress. The middle ability were less consistent. The kids who didn't revise, didn't appear to revise after study leave, lost their books or were too disorganised, oddly enough didn't do so good whilst the ones who worked hard got what they truly deserved.

But that's not enough. Lazy kids, apathy, missing a grade boundary by half a mark that had already been raised by three this year, apparently it's all down to me.

The bit in bold is where its at. Regardless of what teachers have to work with, the expectation is on ever improving results, which isn't possible, as every year you are dealing with a completely different set of students. But the blame will always sit firmly at the feet of the teacher.

[muppet]

Teachers should be put to work for their 3 months holidays.

It would be interesting then to see how many people would be clambering to take it up as a career option.

I dont see too many clambering to join it as it is...

Are foreigners who are qualified teachers, allowed to teach in Ireland?

If they do the SCG - an Irish exam, then they can teach primary yes.

So they have to learn Irish?

What about Secondary?

[armaghniac]

The ability to teach isn't  determined  by the amount of holidays or pay. It is a highly demanding job  that is undervalued and underpaid .
Experienced and highly skilled teachers should be paid at a much higher level.  At least 20k  more

The problem is that in the present 26 county dispute, there isn't much interest in what teachers do as a group, never mind what they do individually. That is the problem with the public service generally, it is regarded by government and detractors as single entity, when it has all sorts doing all sorts of jobs.