stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2026-03-19 09:04 pm
stevenpiziks) wrote2026-03-19 09:04 pm
Entry tags:
Extra Work? Extra Pay!
I posted this as a comment elsewhere, but it's worth repeating here:
I taught school for 30 years, and it was ingrained in the culture that we would have to work outside the school day because there just isn't enough time in a 50-minute prep period to make lesson plans, grade papers, contact parents, and do all the zillion other non-teaching jobs teachers do. This attitude is absolutely fomented by the districts as a way to get free labor. ("Everybody runs a club after school. It's just part of what we do. What do you want to run?")
It made my first few years teaching an exercise in exhaustion. I was making new lesson plans from scratch. And then, in my second year, the district announced it was adopting a new curriculum, which meant my first year plans were worthless, and I had to start all over again. Additionally, I was coaching forensics after school and on Saturdays for peanuts. I spent five and six hours a day on Sunday trying to get caught up.
As I got more skilled and had more previous planning to draw on, I was able to reduce the amount of time I spent working at home. I used to give at least two writing assignments a week and a major essay every three or four weeks. Those had to be scribbled on and graded. I had my students write journal entries three times I week, and I read and commented on them. I read every worksheet. I checked every assignment. Because that's what Good Teachers do. When the district announced that English teachers would have to give a district-wide essay each card marking on top of everything else, I decided I'd had enough. I cut back on EVERYTHING. No more journals. Worksheets and quizzes were trade-and-grade in class. No essays on tests. I also stopped coaching and refused to run after-school clubs. My god, life got easier.
Nowadays, new teachers are pushing back against this culture. When the teacher who ran the student council (a very heavy after-hours job) retired, a young teacher of my acquaintance was asked to take the job. At first she agreed. Then she talked to the retiring teacher and found out how much after-hours work was involved. She told the principal, "Sorry! Not interested after all." The principal was pretty pissed off and tried to pressure her, but she shrugged and said, "I'm not doing all that work for free." Go her! More and more teachers are adopting this line of thinking. If you want extra work, it'll cost extra pay.
As it should.
I taught school for 30 years, and it was ingrained in the culture that we would have to work outside the school day because there just isn't enough time in a 50-minute prep period to make lesson plans, grade papers, contact parents, and do all the zillion other non-teaching jobs teachers do. This attitude is absolutely fomented by the districts as a way to get free labor. ("Everybody runs a club after school. It's just part of what we do. What do you want to run?")
It made my first few years teaching an exercise in exhaustion. I was making new lesson plans from scratch. And then, in my second year, the district announced it was adopting a new curriculum, which meant my first year plans were worthless, and I had to start all over again. Additionally, I was coaching forensics after school and on Saturdays for peanuts. I spent five and six hours a day on Sunday trying to get caught up.
As I got more skilled and had more previous planning to draw on, I was able to reduce the amount of time I spent working at home. I used to give at least two writing assignments a week and a major essay every three or four weeks. Those had to be scribbled on and graded. I had my students write journal entries three times I week, and I read and commented on them. I read every worksheet. I checked every assignment. Because that's what Good Teachers do. When the district announced that English teachers would have to give a district-wide essay each card marking on top of everything else, I decided I'd had enough. I cut back on EVERYTHING. No more journals. Worksheets and quizzes were trade-and-grade in class. No essays on tests. I also stopped coaching and refused to run after-school clubs. My god, life got easier.
Nowadays, new teachers are pushing back against this culture. When the teacher who ran the student council (a very heavy after-hours job) retired, a young teacher of my acquaintance was asked to take the job. At first she agreed. Then she talked to the retiring teacher and found out how much after-hours work was involved. She told the principal, "Sorry! Not interested after all." The principal was pretty pissed off and tried to pressure her, but she shrugged and said, "I'm not doing all that work for free." Go her! More and more teachers are adopting this line of thinking. If you want extra work, it'll cost extra pay.
As it should.