Last night I had the good fortune to view a newly released film, American Teacher, which documents the lives of a number of teachers in different parts of America. The film tackles some of the myths about short workdays and endless summer vacations. The stories told also look at the social and emotional toll that the profession takes on its teachers.
Relative to the myth of short workdays, there is no denying that most school children aren't in classes for eight or nine hours however, the same cannot be said of kids instructors. The film followed teachers who arrived at school at 6:30 or 7:00 am until they left at 5:00 or 5:30 pm. Hardly, a short work day. The film went on to discuss the many evening and weekend hours devoted to schoolwork.
Depending on family matters and the pay that teachers receive, a good many of America's teachers aren't on endless summer vacations. The film illustrated that many teachers take on second jobs in order to make ends meet.
Today's teachers often face classrooms of students who enter the building with a number of issues which impacts their ability to concentrate and learn. The film made clear that handling literally hundreds of social and emotional student issues is paramount to successful teaching.
In the coming days, I will share some additional facts and insights from the film and book, Teachers Have It Easy. Don't let the title of the book fool you, nothing could be further from the truth!
Many thanks,
Dick
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