I want to write about all the extra stuff that no one tells you about teaching. I am HIGHLY encouraged to enter culinary competitions and to do caterings. The thing that concerns me is that these things do not offer any form of compensation or I feel like I cannot charge for them. I stay after 3 days a week to practice for competitions until around 5:30 (3 hours after schools lets out) and then do at least 10 hours every 2 weeks in catering. I show up 1/2 an hour early each day to get tea ready so that we can make money to cook with. That averages out to at least 15 hours extra a week and that is definitely on the low end. My concern is that I will burn out quickly and still be poor. I do not know how to handle this especially in these tough economic times. My direct boss has encouraged me to pay myself for caterings but if I do then the price goes up about $300. The problem is that people are already tight with their budgets and I fear that they will not use us and then we will not make money to cook with.
Does anyone else deal with this type of thing? Maybe I am just being ungrateful but I went many of years doing extra work in the restaurant industry and I always left those jobs. I plan to teach until I am ready to retire and am not sure how to do this balancing act.
I hear you Ginger. It can all be overwhelming. I wish I had a solutuon for you. I find myself putting in lots of extra hours, paying for Hosa items, taking students to competions on weekends without any personal compensation. I do not know if we get another pay cut, that I will be able to financially continue. Have you applied for extended day pay thru state extended day? I have been told I will be required to do this, but have not had the time to reseach it yet. I know a lot of teachers who put in alot of extra hours. Bottom line- you need to do what is best for you & your family
ReplyDeleteI agree. Most times people we work with don;'t realize we have lives to.My automotive teahcer next door has a constant stream of people in his face. Sometimes I wonder if he can follow curriculum at all.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGinger, I believe that no one can prescribe to you how you should deal with your situation. Perhaps you could hear what others are doing and learn something from them, but nobody has a right to tell you exactly how to cope. This is something, I guess, that comes with experience, dedication, reflection, consultation with your family, and eventually deciding which is best for you. But your efforts are certainly appreciated. Personally, I believe that teaching should give you something that no other job can give you - something indescribable, something that makes you eternally happy and satisfied to see people you have taught become something worthwhile in life right before your eyes. Money does not give that kind of satisfaction. It does not come from riches. It comes from another universe which I really cannot describe. But I know the feeling when I get it.
ReplyDelete