So You Think I am Overpaid?

Lately I have seeing a curious trend in the popular opinion about teachers. The idea that I keep seeing expressed is that teachers are actually overpaid. This doesn’t surprise me since I have seen my profession become less esteemed and more and more degraded every year since I became a teacher.

The theory about us being overpaid is that we are paid all year long for a part year job. So I decided to run the numbers to see if that is really true. Most jobs run on a 40 hour work week. Between holidays and vacation days I figure most people work 50 weeks a year. This means that most people work on average 2000 hours a year. Let’s see how teachers compare.

My contract is to work 187 days a year. My official work day is 8am-4pm which is an 8 hour day. Most teachers arrive to school at least ½ hour early and stay at least ½ hour late which brings it to a 9 hour day. Add to that a minimal 1 hour at home to grade papers, lesson plan or call parents and that means we typically work at least 10 hours a day. So 187 x 10= 1870 hours a year. However, I am also required to earn 150 Professional growth hours every 5 years so that breaks down to 30 hours a year. So now we are up to 1900 hours a year. I have to turn in progress reports every 3rd week and final grades every 6th week. Each time that adds about 2 hours of extra work as I work with students to make up work, make additional parent contacts and work with our annoying grading software that the district uses. This adds least another 12 hours. So now I am at 1912 hours a year.

If I sponsor a club, attend school sporting events, plays and concerts, volunteer for school improvement committees, keep up to date in new teaching practices, go to required open houses, an annual lighthouse event, department meetings, faculty meetings (which I do) I will easily spend at least a conservative 40 hours a year fulfilling additional duties.
That brings me to 1952 hours. Which means I work 48 hours less than my professional counterpart? But oh, wait, the state has changed the state standards for the subject that I teach so I need to rewrite my curriculum, or my principal asks me to teach a new class, or I decide to film each of my lectures at home so that absent students can watch them and not get behind. Plus, I decide to create a class website where they can get additional help for their homework and a class Facebook page so that I can keep them informed with due dates and upcoming tests. Then my school tried to save money by getting rid of two of our copiers so I either have to arrive super early to school, stay late or come in on the weekend to make my copies. So those 48 hours? They are gone and then some.

Ok, so maybe I work as many hours as a typical professional, but at least I have the luxury of a long summer, two weeks off for Christmas and an Easter break. I do not deny it, and I am grateful for those breaks. It would be hard to be a teacher without those times.

However, even with those perks please remember that I have a job that no matter how hard I work, no matter how much I care for and love my students, no matter how many extra trainings I attend to be a better teacher, I have no possibility of promotion or external recognition. The only “promotion” would be if I got my administrators credential and left the classroom. However, why is the reward for being a great teacher to take me out of the classroom? I became a teacher to teach and I love to do it.

I don’t expect a pay raise any time soon, but I do want people to stop demeaning the efforts I make every day by telling me that I am overpaid.

Graduation

I have a few hours left of my summer vacation. I spent my last free weekend in Beaumont, TX at my graduation with my family. Sitting with the other master degree students, waiting for my name to be called, I realized that not being a student leaves a vacuum in my life.

Since finishing my last class I have been throwing myself into learning new things. I've even tried creating a few android apps.

I love learning new things and it took going back to school to remind me just how much.

Star Chart Presentation

Concepts of Educational Technology Assignment

Digital technologies are changing the world. If we are to prepare our students adequately to meet the global, technologically advanced workplace of tomorrow, we must change many of our antiquated teaching methods. The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology is an ambitious plan to bring Texas schools, teachers and students into the digital future by 2020. While it is divided into four sections, it is the first, Teaching and Learning, that needs to be addressed.

Ideally by the year 2020, our classrooms will have undergone a significant shift. The teacher will be learning alongside his or her students, becoming a facilitator and a mentor to the students. This is an essential transition as we can no longer allow our students to merely consume information given to them. The vast amount of information on the internet, both true and untrue, means that our students must learn how to find, evaluate and apply information for themselves.

According to the Texas Star Chart, a tool for assessing the progress Texas Educators are making towards the four goals of the plan, Mesquite High School is among the 69% s Texas schools which are at the “developing tech” level in Teaching and Learning. This means that while we are using technology in some of our classrooms, instruction is still being directed by the teachers, rather than being student centered.

In order to reach our target goal, teachers must search for professional development opportunities to increase our understanding of ways to use technology in the classroom. We also must realize that the students themselves have much to teach us as well. If we are willing to learn, they can show uses for technology that we could never imagine.

Happy 4th of July... a few days late

Now I see it

People have been telling me for several months how much Maddie looks like me but I haven't been able to see it. Today, my Dad brought over some pictures of me and my sister Tracy as babies and I can definitely see it now. What do you think, does she look like Spencer or me or a combination?

Maddie

Spencer

Spencer

Me

Me

Me

Me

Tracy

A Hot Day at the Dallas Arboretum

We went to the Dallas Arboretum with some friends from work today. Man oh man, was it hot! I did get a few cute pictures of Maddie though.

Some very baby wise friends let me know that Maddie is old enough to have a cracker now. This is a picture of her very first one. She took to it like a pro and knew exactly what to do with it.

Of course, this new skill has led to a whole new level of messiness!

We went to Houston to visit Spencer's brother and family last weekend. This is Jackson, he is about three months older than Maddie. I already know that they will be great friends.

Of course, friendship doesn't always go smoothly.

By popular demand

I've been told to put up some more pictures of Maddie ASAP, so here you go Mom!

How to Be Adorable | eHow.com

I wrote this just for fun. Enjoy!

How to Be Adorable | eHow.com

Shared via AddThis

Before and After

The other day I was going through some of Maddie's old clothes and I cam across her preemie outfits.  It is hard to remember that my chubby little baby was ever so tiny.  To show the contrast I made up a short slideshow of pictures from her first few months and recent pictures.

Writing Update

Somehow I think I missed April.  It just flew by and I don't know where it went.  I didn't get as much writing done, but I was able to write about 12 articles on Helium.com.  I need to make sure that I don't slack off.  My goal is to write a minimum of one article on Ehow and Helium every day.  

This is a screenshot of my ehow.com earnings.  So far I have 29 articles written and have earned about $35 on them.  I made $19.86 in April, but the cool thing is that I didn't write any new articles in April.  This is what I love about writing for the web.  The articles I write now will make me money for months to come.  I am constantly learning what kind of articles earn the best, and how to optimize them for the search engines.  Eventually, I hope to have several hundred articles which are making me a few hundred dollars a month with little additional work.

This is a screenshot from my Helium account.  I've only earned $5.63 in views, but I have earned $80.00 in upfront payments and marketplace sales.  Basically, I earn $1.50 for each article I write, plus a share of the site revenue based on my page views.  I have also sold four articles to the Marketplace for $10 each.  The marketplace is where publishers request articles on specific titles and indicate how much they are willing to pay for them and how many they are willing to buy.  I am getting a lot of experience writing for them and am building up my portfolio at the same time so I can start getting freelance work on my own.  I have two other articles I wrote for Marketplace that I haven't heard back from.  If they are selected, I'll earn another $50.

So far, my progress has been slow, but I kind of see it like a snowball.  I really think that it will keep building until it will finally become large enough for me to stay home with Maddie.

Selling Out to the Man

You may have noticed a few changes to my blog, especially the new ads for Amazon on the right hand side.  This is another step in my SAHM quest.  Basically, I get a small referral fee whenever anyone buys something after using one of my links to Amazon even if it is a different product from the one they originally clicked on.  So, in other words, if you need to buy something from Amazon, use one of my links and help a sister out!

1st Annual Bluebonnet Pictures

In case you didn't know, I must inform you that the state flower in Texas is the Bluebonnet.  Every year, in early April, the sides of the freeways, empty fields and such are filled with beautiful blue flowers that indicate that Spring is close at hand.  It is kind of a tradition for many families to take a yearly picture of the kiddos with the bluebonnets.  Well, I don't want to be accused of not being a true Texan, so I put Maddie in her Easter dress and took her to an empty field to take her first bluebonnet pictures.  Of course, she fell asleep on the way there and I had to wake her up to take t he pictures, so she isn't smiling too much in any of them.  I think she looks pretty cute anyway.

'Twilight' series pulled from Deseret Book shelves

'Twilight' series pulled from Deseret Book shelves

I'm sorry, but this is just ridiculous.  I am sure they made this decision after a few "well-meaning" busy bodies complained about the inappropriateness of a book about vampires being within a stones throw of books about prophets.  But, seriously?  Just don't read it if you don't think it is appropriate.  I mean, the Bible has way more inappropriate sex and stuff going on than Twilight does.

What do you think?

Before and After

Shots? Three of them? Cool... umm what are shots? Are they some kind of toy? I like toys!

What just happened? I trusted you Dad!

Maddie's Trick

Pleas ignore the double chin and focus on the cutest baby in the world!

Maddie Laughing at Daddy

Spencer really is the best Daddy in the whole world. Maddie just adores him. He can always make her laugh and she loves to fall asleep in his arms as he plays video games.

Keys to a Successful Relationship

3 of 53

Keys to a Successful relationship

"I'm just no good at relationships!" It was after midnight and I was on the phone with Sarah who had just suffered a very nasty break up. To be honest, I was only half listening because this conversation was almost word for word the same as half a dozen late night phone calls over the years. I could almost mouth the phrase... 

click here to read more

PS names have been changed to protect the innocent on this one.

Qualities to look for in a neighborhood

This article was #1 for a while, but now it is #2 out of 85

Qualities to Look for in a Neighborhood

Choosing the right neighborhood to live in is not unlike choosing a future spouse. Of course you need to feel a physical attraction, but there is much more to living happily ever after than just good looks. Don't just rely on a few short visits with the Realtor in tow to know if a neighborhood is the right fit for you and your family. Instead, investigate it thoroughly. Here are some things you may want to look at before making one of the biggest commitments of your life.

Crime
You need to feel safe in your home, so it is important to know the crime rate of the neighborhood you are looking at.  To read more click here.