Comments on: Wherever You Can Find It

By: dy/dan » Blog Archive » This New School Year

dy/dan » Blog Archive » This New School Year — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:46:26 +0000

[…] wrote some commentary recently to the effect that I have never been prouder of any school’s administration or of any […]

By: Darren Draper

Darren Draper — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 01:16:04 +0000

Dan - I guess it's better to be shrewd than to be Schrute. :) Dina - I don't think your comment is tangential to Dan's post at all (or at least not to this comment thread). And hazard pay? I seriously don't see why we don't fight for that more. We work in a bona fide petri dish and for $3.35 an hour. Hazard pay indeed, laced with a dose of worker's comp and a side of "Wow, I'm sure glad that freak with the switch-blade isn't in my class." Just one more reason to head out to Philly and start working for Chris.

By: Dina

Dina — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:02:58 +0000

This is quite tangential to your post, Dan, but I’ve been kicking around simple (SIMPLE) ideas about how to beef up teacher salary. Seems to me that a general raise competitive with cost of living is only the first step. What about

a) Overtime. Seriously. I mean, if you’re going to buy into the blue-collar model of employment for teaching via unions, shouldn’t we be buying into the entire model?

b) Hazard pay. Do you know how much deep-sea oil drillers make? Or how much my engineer friend was offered to work for 2 years in Baghdad? There’s at least as much danger in some of the crime-ridden sections of Rochester, much less San Fran.

By: dan

dan — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:37:39 +0000

Vicky, that's a really great idea, observing middle school math classes. Thanks for the inspiration.

By: Vicky North

Vicky North — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 04:27:13 +0000

Dan,
Let me tell you how much reading your blog has meant to me. The work we do each day in the classroom is only a fraction of what we do. Working with colleagues, parents, involving ourselves in professional development are all part of the profession of educator. I enjoy and fill enriched by each and every part of this job. Okay, that is stretching it to include the parent conferences. But reading your blog has helped put what I do in perspective. I teach first grade. Those of you who teach high school will eventually have my students in your classrooms. They come to me with full imagination, confidence that they will succeed, and no understanding of what they are incapable of achieving. I build on that confidence and encourage their curiosity. Between your high school classrooms and my first grade classroom something happens. Life experiences, including many classrooms, good and bad. I read your latest blog about observing other classrooms in your school. Have you ventured into a middle school classroom, or even an elementary classroom. I find it very interesting whenever we work as a staff, K-5th, to articulate a subject or standard. Where our kids come from to where they need to go gives me both affirmation and guidance. I feel better about my part in the spectrum of a child’s education. This knowledge helps get me through those days when I feel all I do is manage behaviors. Anyway I hope you keep blogging, you do a great job getting your ideas out there, and keeping your sense of humor. As I often tell my principal, if I didn’t have fun doing this job, why would I work so hard. I have never had a job in my life that I did not consider fun, this one included.

By: dan

dan — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:14:39 +0000

Shrewd stuff there, Darren. For whatever it’s worth, though, this isn’t just about teaching’s low base salary. It’s about:

a) teaching’s low base salary,
b) teaching’s undifferentiated salary (I don’t know how not to feel weird making the same [or less] as teachers who phone it in),
c) teaching’s stagnant career trajectory.

I’m less concerned about (a) than (c), which you seem to have resolved with your hybrid tech / teacher role. That’d buy me off for a long while (though not in tech where I have neither the skill or the interest). I’d gladly hop into the role of a teacher / data analyst, a teacher / instructional coach, or a teacher / curriculum designer. Just some position where I can differentiate, distinguish, and more importantly to me than anything else I’ve written in this post, challenge myself.

By: Darren Draper

Darren Draper — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:12:52 +0000

Oh, I won’t – don’t sweat it. It’s just that he’s the one that has at least some power to pay you more – but that always comes with more responsibility.

When I began my teaching career I was amazed that a person could ever bring in over $1,600 a month. 16 hundred bucks! Cha-ching!

A year later and a house mortgage under my belt and I realized that this kind of gig wouldn’t last at the salary I was earning (color me quick). So I went to my principal, made my case and he gave me additional after-school assignments that helped to increase my pay. Eventually a Master’s Degree came along (all paid for through a state grant – which my principal helped me to get), and then an assignment to be the school tech (teaching half time and tech-ing half time). The pay still stunk but I was able to get by.

The truth is, I was happy because in that time I realized that A) I was good at teaching, B) my students actually needed me, and C) I was in a career that could pay the bills without spending my life chasing money.

My point here is that if you really want to stick it out in teaching, your principal can be the key to a higher salary. Playing the game by earning a Master’s doesn’t hurt either.

For what it’s worth. Best of luck, either way.

By: dan

dan — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:06:05 +0000

No. Don’t tell him, okay.

By: Darren Draper

Darren Draper — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:28:52 +0000

So Dan,

Have you spoken to your principal about this?

By: Kelly Christopherson

Kelly Christopherson — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:49:49 +0000

Dan, if you love what you do and you are doing what you love, then there shouldn’t be a problem. Money won’t buy you happiness or even rent it for very long. Yes, you’ve had to work hard to do all the things you do but, if you aren’t satisfied with what your return is, then maybe you need to reevaluate what it is you are doing. As you say,” I’m not burning out. I’m doing the most satisfying work of my career. No resistance from kids. Total support of my administration. Even my stubborn, recalcitrant department is making huge strides towards collaboration.” and you aren’t happy, then get out because it won’t get any better. To be a change agent, you have to be willing to put in those long hours, do the things others don’t/won’t do, question and push, learn, reflect and change because it is what you want to do. 20 years ago when I started, I hated the job but I put in a few more years. It took some twists of life for me to decide that making money wasn’t going to drive what I did.
Today, I spend quite a bit of time trying to create lessons that pull my students beyond the mundane, helping those who need help, questioning those who seek for easy answers and exploring a world that is bristling with activity. I differentiate for those who need it, track how the students are doing and try to make learning more than showing up and being spoken at. At the same time, I coach all year long, I sit on various committees, I work on different projects at the school and division level and all while leading a staff of 25 to embrace the changes that are taking place, dealing with the students who are having behavioural problems and doing the managing work needed to run a school plus supervising 6 new teachers and mentoring a new vice-principal. Are there days I feel tired and don’t leap out of bed to face what is coming? You bet. But, if I didn’t truly draw satisfaction from what I do each day, I’d be out in no time and employed the next day. I don’t wear any of what I do as a badge of honour or want someone to hand me a stupid superman cape because I usually don’t list the things I do as I’m not looking for any sympathy. I don’t complain about it because I chose to do it and I’m a big boy so I know what the ramifications will be for the decisions I make. There are times of frustration and days I want to walk away but that comes with any job.
I’m a husband and a father to 7, soon to be 8, children and try to attend as many different functions as I can. I’ve learned that quantity is not quality and moments around the supper table are as precious and vital as those expensive vacations to somewhere else – I’ve experienced both. It’s what you do with the time you spend with the people that makes all the difference.
There have been those who advise you to buck up and stick it out and take care of yourself or that administration isn’t doing their job if you aren’t being taken care of. For all that, you know what the costs are and what it takes so, make a decision and then, once made, get on with life. Too many people spend too much time bemoaning the fact that they work too hard and don’t get paid enough, not just teachers.
I wasn’t called to this profession either and didn’t get into it to save the world or be with children. I really didn’t expect to actually do any teaching. Today, after much hard work, long hours and dedication I am a good teacher, a good administrator and a great father and husband. But I chose this knowing all along what it was going to cost because I know what type of person I am and what I expect from myself.
A while back, you made some pretty interesting remarks about what kind of administrator I must be and we’ve traded jibes on various occasions. I’ve 20 years in this game and been in all types of classrooms and taught at a variety of grade levels. In the past five years, I haven’t taught the same subject twice but that doesn’t mean I don’t do my absolute best because that is what I would expect from someone else.
You know the price and you know what you will expect from yourself. Only you can decide if it is worth it. But, once you make that decision, then live with it and do what you are comfortable doing and will allow you to look in the mirror in the morning and be satisfied with the person looking back. If that isn’t happening, move on.