Blog takeover...

I am attempting to make up for time lost on the blog....not trying to bomb you all with post after post. "LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!" haha. Patrick's comment in class yesterday about career teachers hits on many feelings I've had before on the same issue. I was telling some folks at lunch that a lot of times I walk into meetings and hear teachers complaining and just want to say, "Shut up. Do your job." I truly believe that the fact these teachers have never had a "real job" spoils them. Now, I come from a family of teachers. My mother is an elementary music teacher, and has been for 25+ years. But, she's also had many other jobs over the years. My sister is a 4th grade teacher, and my Dad has taught college courses on and off for years. No one in our family has ever really complained about how tough their job is. Not to sound like a grizzled, self righteous, "I walked five miles in the snow, uphill" type of person, I'd just like to say that I got my first job at 15. I worked at a chicken farm. My job was to do whatever manual labor needed to be done that day - for minimum wage. My boss was so cheap that she demanded that we could not submit the time it took to walk from one location to the other in our time card. Example: gather eggs in the chicken houses, then walk the 3/4 mile to the horse stalls and muck stalls. "I am not getting paid for this 20 minute walk". I worked through college on every single locally produced television show produced in Valdosta, GA. Making commercials saw 60 hour weeks through the months of October and November. Again, not to draw attention to me - I know there are other folks in our class that have worked harder, longer for less recognition. Props to you. At the end of the day, those of us who have the experience to compare a hard day's work to a day of teaching know that we are coming out ahead by working in the classroom. So, I offer two things to be posted on the teacher's lounge bulletin board. "Shut up. Do your job." - or - "Get a real job."