Sisyphus Redux

I'm ruminating on my choice of profession just now. It's summer so I'm not being paid. I'm vaguely listening to the events going on around me in the distance and wondering if this is worth it.

Have you ever seen that commercial where someone asks for a latte and then, as the "barista" turns to go make it, the customer says, "Excuse me. Where's my latte?" That's what my employer is demanding of us. We are expected to walk cold into a room of 34 (or more) children and teach from Min. zero and then leave when they leave. No time to get settled in the room. No time to score or grade student work.

It is true, we have 4 periods of "prep" spaced throughout the week. That's less than 4 hours of preparation and grading time for every 31 hours of time with the students. Now, thats about 6 or 7 Min. of planning and grading time per hour of teaching time. Looked at another way, that's less than 6 Min. of preparation and grading time for each student. Not enough time to score a multiple choice test properly, much less evaluate an essay or complete a report card. Would you like to talk tome about how your child is doing in school. Sorry, times up.

Lets compare to our most threatening competitor in the news... China.

I'm in the middle of an unpaid training where one of the presenters is a teacher who shared with us what she learned about teaching in China. She was actually there on some sort of exchange program. In China a teacher works a full day in which they have 2 hours of teaching time and 5 hours of preparation and grading. Imagine the kind of education we could have if we cared as much about our kids education as much as the Chinese care about theirs.