Is My Club Beating Me to Death?
According to my contract, I am a high school social studies teacher responsible for teaching those subjects (World History, U.S. History, Psychology, Sociology, Government, and Economics) and for sponsoring the book club. Missing from that contract is all the other things I do on a weekly basis. I am the class of 2011 sponsor, an assistant director of the fall play and spring musical, an assistant teacher of theater arts, the National Honors Society sponsor, and a general counselor of students.
Some days it seems like all those extra responsibilities are beating me down. Other days everything works together. Of course, like many other schools, I do not get paid extra for any of these responsibilities. Yet I do them. Why do teachers do so much extra without compensation? I think it’s a flaw of our personalities.
For many of us, teaching is not just a job. It’s a career, a life calling, a ministry. We give and give and give without getting many tangible rewards. For many of us, a smile from a student or a excellent completed project fills us allowing us to continue on the next day.
I have been known to spend 12 hours a day at school, especially during fall play and spring musical time. It’s become a joke among the students that the teachers live in the classrooms. Being in a modular unit, I joke that I have a trap door under my desk that leads to a compartment with my bed and personal belongings. Some days it might actually be easier to sleep in my classroom and traverse back home.
What is the acceptable level of commitment for teachers? Many would argue that the ones who give their all are the best, but I disagree. We each have our optimum level of performance and commitment. For example, our chemistry teacher does nothing beyond teach. He does commitment himself to after school tutoring if the students ask. He even went to a student’s house while they were recovering from surgery so they could work on the assignment. That is dedication. On the other hand, I do almost everything and teach. I am not saying I am a more amazing teacher than the chemistry teacher, but I am involved on a large scale, and somedays I wonder why.
Some days I really wonder why I give so much. Some days I want to just go home at 3pm and not do anything or think about anything school related. And then other days I would gladly stay an extra 4 hours working with students on a project. I don’t know the optimum level of commitment and extracurriculars. I will continue will all the crazy things I do around here; some days loving it and other days feeling like I have been beat over the head. All in a week’s work as a teacher.
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