Tag Archives: teachers

Teachers: I’m Just About Fed Up! -By Karla

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 Stacking Up

August 2, 2018 began my 27th year in teaching. Most jobs in our world today pile on more and more work for about the same pay. Being a teacher is no different. Task after task, stacks of paperwork keep heaping up. I will be one of the first to admit, many tasks are needed, but there is a limit to what teachers can take. I’m just about fed up!

I did some reading this week. (Research gathered from the following: factretriever.com, herelearningclicks.com, dosomethingright.org, and teacherhub.com),

Did you know that the average teacher works a 53 hour week! The daily in-school breakdown is interesting:

  •    5 hours of instruction
  •    36 minutes of supervision and discipline
  •    45 minutes planning, preparing, or collaborating
  •    36 minutes of grading, documenting, or analyzing student work
  •    15 minutes of communication with parents,
  •    23 minutes for lunch

This may be hard to believe if you do not have a close relationship with a teacher, but we work about 400 hours of overtime a year! Adding to that stat is the fact that 78% of us only get five to seven hours of sleep at night. For me, as close to seven as possible—I get a little grouchy without it! I need eight or nine!

Some say, “Well, they get all those holidays and the summer.” I’m going fess up for teachers all across America. First, we sure don’t get the lengthy summer that we used to get as kids! When you look at all the extra time we put in, you will realize we work the hours!

Pay Up

Let’s talk money. I read that the average teacher salary has only increased 1% in the last 20 year factoring inflation. Twenty to thirty percent of teachers have second jobs! But when asked about the most difficult things about being a teacher, our salaries were not in the top ten issues. Instead, we often put up money for our students’ field trips, lunches, coats, or Christmas presents.

In fact, surveys revel the average teacher spends around $500 on her classroom or kids out of her own pocket.

More and More Time Is Used Up

Times have changed so much in these 26 years. I hear the words, “I was beat up,” more and more. Fewer and fewer hands go up in curiosity. Sadly, I hear less and less of how the powers that be back us up. More of my time is spent cheering up kids and teachers, who both need an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, and a hand to pat them on the back. I spent countless hours during the year trying to come up with meaningful activities to build them up. I follow up with kids more often today than in the past because they need more people to show they care. Perhaps, this is because we are quickly moving away from a “what’s up” society to the isolated earbud land.  

As I have gotten older, it is getting harder and harder for me to wake up and get up for school. Recently, I was written up for the situation. Honestly, I own up for my imperfections. However, I am here to say, their requirements for being an effective teacher can take the wind out of you sometimes. Eighty-eight percent of people say a teacher had a “significant, positive impact” on their life. It has been reported that teaching is the second most important occupation contributing to our society’s well-being. The average teachers impacts the lives of about 3,000 students in their career! It is any wonder we are tired?

Giving Up

Maybe you’re thinking I’m too old and too tired to do my job anymore. Maybe you think, there are plenty of young teachers out there ready to take over. However,

  • Thirty-three percent of teachers quit the profession, within the first three years.
  • Forty-six percent had quit by their fifth year! They are giving up too quickly.
  • Only fourteen percent of the outflow in teaching is a result of retirement.

Sadly, I don’t hear many teachers or society in general public encouraging them to stay.

Less Back Up

Something has got to change! In the good-old days, most parents backed up their child’s teacher. (Social media is definitely not the place to vent about teachers. When a parent has concerns, they should talk to the teacher to learn the rest of the story that a child sometimes forgets to share at home.)  Help that trend begin again. We need your prayers and your words of encouragement. Yes, we need accountability, but we need respect as well. We need the higher powers to truly acknowledge the job we already do, encourage us, and offer assistance. (Yes, I am going to say it…and not pressure us with the threat of getting test scores up!)   

Field Day 2022

Please don’t think of me as unhappy in my profession. I am not. I love my kids, over 2,500 of them! Of all the ups I have mentioned, the most important one is this, Teaching and inspiring my school kids fill up my soul!

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Role Model: More Than A Teacher -By Karla

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About a week ago my two older sisters and I had the privilege of visiting a special lady.  She is loved by many as a teacher and a Christian lady from home in Fannin County, Georgia.

As a Little Girl

In elementary school, I was amazed by the fact that Mrs. Buttram taught Mom and Aunt Annan during her first year of teaching. Mrs. Buttram was also our neighbor. Mom would send me down to her house to fetch a cup of sugar or flour when baking. I would run through my yard and stop at the huge retaining wall that formed a barrier between two yards. With all my might and courage, I would talk myself into jumping off the wall, taking the shortcut to her house.  Greeting me at the door, I always noticed her sweet voice and smile.

Several years later we had moved from right above her house, down the hill on the other side of her. Riding my bike to the end of the road, I would often meet her, after she had worked the long hours as a teacher. She always waved and rolled down her window for a friendly little conversation.

Now a Teacher for Me

As a junior in high school, I was both excited and a little nervous when I saw Mrs. Buttram’s name on my schedule. What if I did not live up to her expectations? Of course that wasn’t the first time I had been nervous about having a teacher. With two older sisters, it was always a little difficult to walk in their footsteps. As the passed, I quickly settled. She always showed love and compassion for her students. The only time I ever saw her upset was when a boy cheated in her room. She handled the situation with such grace and made all 30 of us think twice of ever cheating on anything.

During the days that led to Christmas, she played an Elvis record. My four friends and I had our own little quintet when we joined with the whoo-who-ya-whoo-ya’s in his version of  Blue Christmas! Mrs. Buttram would just smile as us, but we knew she expected us to work in between our serenades.

Developing a Love

It was in her class that I acquired my love for written words. We wrote poems, essays, and personal narratives. She giggled at my adaption of the ever-popular Peter Cottontail when I turned the words to “Little Tommy Turkey Tail trotting down the turkey trail”.

Perhaps more importantly, she took the extra time share the remarks, “Simply beautiful” on a story I wrote. Those comments were written about 34 years ago, but I still remember. The story was something about a girl who was peacefully pondering life. (We were required to illustrate our works, but I don’t draw. So, I cut a picture from a magazine where a girl sat on a mountain ledge. She advertised how easy it was to hike while wearing a pad!)

Teacher, Neighbor, and Church Member

One Sunday about seven years ago, I was at my home church in McCaysville, Georgia. Mrs. Buttram was still singing in her same sweet soprano voice. A lady, standing next to her, lifted her hand in praise to God. I thought how the lady’s hand was probably in Mrs. Buttram’s view of the congregation. I learned something new that day. Mrs. Buttram was not distracted by the other lady’s hand; in fact, Mrs. Buttram lifted her hand in adoration as well. I had many times thought of lifting my hands, but I was too worried about what others would think of me. That Sunday, I realized that it only matters what God thinks.

Last week, we drove Marietta to visit Mrs. Buttram, who now lives with one of her daughters.  Among the stories we shared about memories in neighborhood, we took the time to reminisce about her teaching days.

Then I gave her two magazines, “Good News” Rome editions, containing articles that Donna and I have written. I explained to her how much her encouragement meant to me over the years.

What a blessing it was to hear her say, “I’m so pleased, Karla. May I keep these to read?”

So many years have passed since I bravely jumped off the retaining wall going to her house. That wall that I used to look up to now seems so small. However, Mrs. Buttram will always stand tall in my eyes!

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Not Home Yet. -By Karla

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Gary Chapman’s Five Love Languages is an intriguing read. I learned many years ago that one of my love languages is words of affirmation. My mom was wonderful for me in that area. I don’t imagine she had read the book, but she was always encouraging me to achieve or reassuring me when I was uncertain. In January, I wrote a blog entitled Give Me a K emphasizing Mom as my cheerleader. I hope as I grew older, I gave my mom the same support she gave me.

Being a mom is sometimes a thankless job. Some days are filled with being a taxi service; others are busied as the chef and the bus boy. We run from one event to another to support our children, and there are days in which our pay is smelly socks to be washed. Moms of little ones often get the reward of wearing their babies’ lunch, whether it be before it is digested or after!

Working with sixth through eighth graders, I usually get more eye rolls than hugs, and there are more sighs than thank yous. They don’t really like it when I have to correct them. In Japan, teachers are revered in such high esteem. I tutored a Japanese lady for about five years. It took me forever to help her understand that she did not need to bow to me. She was always thanking me. However in today’s America, gratitude for teachers is not always held in high-esteem.

I don’t mean to complain because I LOVE being a mom and teacher. But, sometimes these two jobs do not always fill my cup in the area of needed love. I give and give until my cup is empty. Pastor Scott recently shared a story that I am holding dear to my heart on days when I get few words of affirmation.

There was a missionary couple who had worked in Africa for many years. As they were returning to New York for retirement, they we tired, had little money, and their health had declined. Soon they discovered that President Teddy Roosevelt was also coming home from a big hunt and was on the same ship.
A band was there to greet President Roosevelt as they docked. Many important people came to welcome him home.
Later that evening, the missionary said to his wife that it didn’t seem right. After all they had done for others, there was no one welcoming and acknowledging their service. He felt his spirit breaking because he had been treated so differently, so unappreciated in comparison. I have served the Lord all my life and have gotten little appreciation. His wife told him he was wrong.
At her request, he went into their bedroom to talk with the Lord. He poured out his heart to God sharing how upset he was for the unfair treatment. In return he heard God say, “You’re not home yet.”

I too think Godly moms and teachers need to remember on those thankless days that we to are not home yet. For when we get to Heaven, our ultimate home, our cups will be overflowing. In the meantime, we should stay close to Him, reading His word and praying to help us persevere.

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Standardized Testing: Oh, The Joys -Karla

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I have a friend who has given some form of standardized test for over thirty years.  During these days some pretty humorous things have occurred.  

 

Top Ten Things Kids Do 

After Rushing Through a Standardized Test

10. Make puppets with their fingers.

9. Move an arm at the elbow continuously, making to sure the joint still works.

8. Yawn repeatedly, attempting to make it wider each time.

7. Move a leg at the knee back and forth, also assuring this joint’s operation. 

6. Examine a pencil intensively to ensure its optimal usage… Even though it’s never used.

5. Watch fingernails grow.

4. Smile at your teacher in 1,000 different (and silly) ways. 

3. Stare at the minute hand, hoping it will miraculously speed up. Frown.

2. Entangle feet into a web with a desk.

1. Extend a shirt collar. Glare inside in hopes the chest has changed.

Need a Kleenex?

Allergy season is in full swing when public schools test in the spring. My friend explains that often she gives several Kleenexes to the sniffling students and places a trashcan beside them. This year she had a student who continued to whisper, “No, thanks.  I don’t need a tissue.”  My friend concluded that the student must have preferred the softness of his blue hoodie to wipe and rub his nose for three days! I will spare you the visual of how it looked by the third day.

Hot Flash! And I Don’t Mean a News Bulletin! 

My friend also shared the horrific event that she experienced this year. The teachers were required to switch classrooms, not testing their own students. In case IT happened, she packed her book bag with an extra large, ice cold water and a small fan.  

Monitoring as instructed, the hot flash engulfed her. She nonchalantly raced to the back of the room and jabbed the plug into the outlet. Nonchalantly, she eased backward on the table, allowing the fan’s stream to cool her. 

Gulping the ice water, she prayed the fire would cease, yet the flames raged. She ripped through her pocketbook but ever so quietly not to disturb any testers. No hair tie was to be found. 

Don’t do it!  Don’t.  Mom said never! But in desperation, she slid open the teacher’s desk drawer in hopes to find a rubber band. She grabbed her hair off her neck and wrapped the tangle-maker around to provide possible relief.

Standing in front of the steady stream of air again, a thought crossed her mind. Perhaps, no one would see if I just sat down behind this teacher’s desk and shimmied off my black leggings.  Ummm, it would bring such relief! 

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