After nearly 40 years of teaching full time and then substitute teaching I can see, at least in the suburbs where I taught, a massive shift in the demands of the teaching profession. These movements, whether positive or negative, have added the workload of teachers.
In the past, a teacher merely mentioned an assignment or put it on the chalkboard. Parent contacts were few and far between, there was no email to respond to and a single curriculum sufficed.
Not so today. Teachers verbally tell the students the assigned work and then they have to take the time to put it on a computer program such as sharepoint. Today, teachers literally can spend ALL of their preparation time returning the dozens of daily phone calls and emails that didn't exist in the past.
I know there are teachers, due to Special Education and Inclusion, that have three different lesson plans for the same class during the same period. Talk about spending lots of additional hours preparing for class!!
The above just scratches the surface relative to the demands placed upon teachers in the 21st century. Though I retired a few years ago, I can tell you this, I don't see how teachers (and students for that matter) keep up with the mountain of demands and the frenetic pace of the day. I don't think its healthy for anyone.
By the way, for those who think teachers make plenty of money, being a great teacher today with such job requirements, is just nonsense. The vast majority of teachers in America in 2011 make far too little for all the good they do for their students.
Dick
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