The other day I came across this blog post. It is from 2009, so it is on the old side. But I was still shocked when I read it. You would think someone who claims to be a teacher would have more respect.
As long as I’ve been teaching I’ve heard the worst comments about Kindergarten and the teachers who teach it. Here are some good ones:
A trained monkey could do it.
Really? A monkey? This one is down right insulting.
We are just glorified babysitters.
Oh, man. Clearly you don’t know what babysitters get paid these days! If I got even just $5 per hour per kid I’d be making $900 a DAY. A DAY. That would be more than $160,000 a year before taxes. I will gladly babysit 25 children if I can earn that!
It must be so easy because you don’t have papers to grade.
Before I taught Kindergarten I taught 3rd grade. So yes, I brought home stacks of papers to grade at home. I hated it. But now I bring home journals to grade, pumpkins to cut out, projects to pre cut. I am certainly not lounging at home eating bonbons while my upper grade coworkers slave over papers.
Oh and you have rest time too? Sounds like the life.
This makes it sound like they sleep for 2 hours. I wish. It is 25-30 minutes of “quiet” (how quiet can 25 five year olds be? Not very). My kids can’t read. So I don’t get DEAR time like the upper grades. And my kids tend to have accidents (which then I have to clean!!) if I don’t schedule in bathroom breaks. My kids don’t go to band, or strings, or chorus. So it isn’t a vacation time for me.
I am used to hearing teacher bashing from parents, and other non-teachers. But when I hear it from other teachers it really makes me mad. You KNOW how hard this job is. But becasue Kindergarten is so fundamentally different they assume it must be EASY.
HA.
Ask any 4th grade teacher …
How many temper tantrums they had to deal with? Probably zero.
What about bathroom accidents? Probably zero.
Do you have to tie their shoes? Nope.
Wipe their noses? Nope.
Wipe their …… ? Nope.
Guess who has two thumbs and does that EVERY DAY?? This girl.
I also can’t count how many times I’ve heard how easy my job must be. Blocks, painting and house all day – right?
Um, yeah. NO.
I do mini lessons, I do reading groups, I do remediation and intervention and extension. I assess every unit. All without bubble sheets or tests because my students can’t read yet! I spend 2 whole months doing standardized testing, out of the classroom with every student.
I teach 25 babies how to sit still, listen, follow directions, and not kill each other. All while teaching them the content that goes above and beyond what I learned even in first grade!
I am constantly judged. Either parents that have unrealistic expectations about content. I’m either too tough or too un-structured.
And lord help you if you are young. Never start teaching K as a 1st year teacher, they will eat you alive.
At the end of the day I KNOW I am a good teacher. I have learned you just can’t make everyone happy. So you do your very best. Every day. No one could ask more.
