Teachers have too much time in the world

[lightning]

Do teachers have lots of free breaks and a 7am-1pm job?
Are they that free?

some people say primary school teaching is a no-brainer job. How true is it?

Any unreasonable demands made by demanding parents? Or shocking things pupils did but are covered up by schools?

[agasthini]

Teachers dont really have that much free time during the terms. We need to see to the following : prepare lessonplans, plan activities, CCAs to carry out, remediation/supplementary classes to conduct, enrichment programmes, our department needs such as reports, statistics to prepare, our personal work reviews, meeting up with parents and of course, setting of the exam papers and marking of the tons of books/worksheets. :cool:

The holidays we get is not to the full too... We have workweek where we tie up all the loose ends... so it's a Challenge Being A Teacher In this Century, especially if you have a family back home too..

Nevertheless, the Satisfaction of seeing your student pass an exam or greet you in public, makes up for all the time you devoted into the profession. :)

[Kosmicheskaya]

I don't think being a teacher is being very free. In fact, it's pretty stressful. Not only do they have to

a) teach lessons
b) plan lessons schedules
c) mark papers
d) coordinate CCAs that they're in charge of,

they have to answer to parents' every demand and appease them somehow. It's not all a cakewalk.

[tadaxp]

my wife - a teacher - used to complain that i spend more time on the computer than with her, so i've changed...but now, i'm complaining she's spending too much time marking, do lesson plans, this and that, and sometimes into the wee hours...

teacher? free?

that said, well, it also depends if the teacher is a bit less professional in the approach, then that teacher would probably has slightly more free time...heehee...

[ton_malchance]

i dont htink teachers are that free...infact they have jobs that they have 2 carry home and its not a slight job enlightening students:)

[acidboy]

teachers are quite busy. holiday is the only break for them. and sometimes they cannot rest well too. still got other stuff to do in sch and workshops. no leaves.. not really that good.

[princemousey]

Anyway, most teachers are in it not for the "good life", but rather, knowing that you have made a positive impact on a child's life is seriously one of the most satisfying things in the world.

[Ubergurl]

The thing is people who aren't teachers, or don't have close relatives who are teachers, often focus only on the 'holidays'.

They forget that there are camps, workshops, committee meetings, schemes of work to prepare, lesson plans, (the list goes on and on.)

Most people have 9 am to 6 pm jobs. At 6 pm,they can waltz home and not think about work.

What about the teachers? They bring work home to grade.

Plus often, schools are so result-driven and certificate-obsessed that the management sometimes forget the purpose of having schools in the first place - the students.

But sadly, schools don't see the students as their focal points. Rather, it is attaining that one more logo to be placed on the letterhead of the school.

So the teachers are stuck in the middle- trying to help students,while 'helping' the schools build up whatever portfolios the managements want.

Parents these days are also absent in homes. Primary caregivers are not able to be there because both parents need to work in most cases. So when things go wrong, the teachers immediately get blamed, because to the parents the teachers are now the ones supposed to lead and care for the kids.

Sad. But it is a reality of life.

I don't think every occupation is easy. But I do feel teachers are an oft-maligned lot.

[lightning]

yah man,i agree with all. hate it when ppl go "wah, teacher ah, so gd got holidays! After 1 can go shopping!"
feel like flipping a middle finger at them man..

[fino]

I know many friends who are teachers and seriously ... they are well occupied with their jobs 24/7 .... even during the skool hols they need to go back to their skools for some assignments ...

[audreeex]

I come from tupperware Junior college. And some of the class teachers I get just, aren't into being a teacher. They step out of school before the day ends, and most of the time, they arrive in school later then the students. Maybe its just these few, and that my class is unlucky. Sigh but i seriously adore the teachers from my previous schools. So not all teachers are that busy, and ... good .

[lightning]

oh yes, i agree fully that some teachers really cannot make it. It makes me wonder why they join the profession in the first place.
I feel that in general the public has misunderstood the profession. It has a low-social status as the impression given to me by some parents as well as friends. Particularly, Primary school teachers are typically deemed not as good as JC teachers. People go "wow.. you are a JC teacher!" vs "oh, u teach primary school?"
Do they even understand that it is the kindergarten & primary school teachers that contributes most because they are basically teaching from nothing! from zero foundation and knowledge.
The knowledge and educational qualifications of a primary school teacher is no less than that of a JC teacher. Some teachers i know actually hold masters or even phds but request to teach in the elementary level for the love of children and for the passion of imparting knowledge in the easier method for the children to comprehend.
Why is the ministry protecting parents instead of the teachers? No wonder the kids can arrogantly speak against teachers "u cant do anything to me, I'll tell my father to report you to MOE". & this is coming from a defiant kid with pampering parents.
It is no wonder why the public see teachers as wimps. Teachers who always receive complains.
Sometimes, before the public makes any comments or before the ministry pass a guideline or policy, they should consider EVERYTHING that teachers at the frontline face.

I think some parents should just come and teach in the school for a week or 2. They will know how bz it is and how difficult is it to cope. How difficult it is to teach a simple concept and make the pupils fully understand. DO they really understand the teachers?

[zafira]

teachers or no teachers.... all are the same - that is... all have responsibilities to do and carry... when you use money as a yardstick in any profession, you can never find a satisfying, equal and fair answer....
professionals - teachers or otherwise - have job satisfaction and passion in their dictionaries....

[lightning]

it would be good if teachers is given more recognition by the public & more understanding from parents.

& also, less people join teaching for the wrong reasons. So many ppl I knew or heard friends complain about, joined teaching as a time out to work out future career plans (not in Education of course) or pick up another degree. What passion is there to speak of? *argh*

[justinification]

I suppose it really depends on the commitment of the teacher to his/her job. And also, the subject and level they teach also affects their "busy-ness"

Secondary school teachers appear to have the most work to do, marking history essays and deciphering students' messy handwriting in maths assignments, CCAs...

Primary school teachers seem to have slightly easier lives, marking less complex scripts, less CCAs to worry about...

JC teachers. Hmm. Homework is in the form of tutorials, so no need to mark anything. During lectures, only the lecturer needs to be present. Hmm, maybe that's why they appear in the canteen so often...

Hmm, that's from the eyes of a student. So... I could be wrong.

But I don't think they are that free either, with loads of courses to attend over the holidays. Hmm, everyone's busy in the end. :D

[deranged58]

Sometimes, it's the immature people who think that teachers have a lot of free time. Maybe last time it is true, in the days of no CCAs, but now, it no longer holds.

[gillian_2106]

teachers are quite busy. holiday is the only break for them. and sometimes they cannot rest well too. still got other stuff to do in sch and workshops. no leaves.. not really that good.

yeah i agree....and evn during the hols i still have to go bak to set up the clasroom...get the daily or weekly lesson materials in order etc etc... like now, start preparing for the year-end graduation concert... and not to mention that we have to attend wkshops n all during the hols..

so tell me..where is the time to rest? lol:D

[yyyingy]

teachers have a lot of free time? no way. my teacher always complains to my class how she always have to mark our assignments until morning and have only 2-3 hours of sleep. shw have to spend after-school hours and recess break to coach sec 4 students for their 'o' lvls. teachers only have holidays during the school holidays and dun forget, they have to come back to conduct extra lessons even then. so they hardly get any holidays or have much free time

[xiang]

yah man,i agree with all. hate it when ppl go "wah, teacher ah, so gd got holidays! After 1 can go shopping!"
feel like flipping a middle finger at them man..

hey, are you teacher? so free ah, got so many posts by you :p
nonetheless, teachers nowadays are powerless, cuz moe are so protective of the kids, and parents are pampering their kids so much.. kids nowadays are simply spoilt!

[serious_thinker]

being a teacher is hard work

[jazzxt]

i dun think teachers are free, because my teachers always stay till evening to do their work, unless those bo chap teachers, den i bo wei gong..lols

[kennylkl]

hmm..
i must say some teachers have tons of free time.
Some are so busy they dun have time for an hour's lunch time.
Respect to the teachers who give so much up just to give the kids a better future.

[chopinish]

I think Secondary school teachers are one of the most poor thing if you compare them with pri school and jcs. In my sec school I think i am blessed to have real good teachers. They are serious with their work, they have to hear out our problems try and counsel us but like a friend, help us with our school work that we are unsure of, stay in school frm 7 in the morn till evening if theres cca. Even if theres no cca they have to stay for meetings and mind you long draggy meetings. Other times during june holidays plan for the upcoming semesters events, plan for lesson plan. December holidays not spared from department meetings, planning for the next years lesson plan, holding camps getting prepared for next intake. My teachers even treat us like their foster kids, chatting with us ( not that they are very free) when i was depressed my teacher would show me the light, when i got questions also ask them online and really they would help selflessly. I believe they have a 24/7 job. So whoever thinks they are v free go and try it out. BUt in Jc maybe they are more free. Just go give lectures once in a while mark lecture tests, get to go home early tutorials don't need to mark. Bleah.

[lightning]

hey, are you teacher? so free ah, got so many posts by you :p


Hey i only got this last week for hols leh! The 1st few weeks taken up by courses, workshops, supplementary, CCAs, lesson planning....etc...

Not reallly that free, but can create free time. Time management mah

[lightning]

Like Kennylkl has mentioned, the teacher determines how much time he or she want to spend. I've seen teachers slog like there's no tomorrow and I've seen teachers who disappear the moment bell goes.

[tiaotiaohu]

Teachers definitely dont have too much time in the world .... they are expected to multi task, always keeping a look out to upgrade their skills and be able to look after the welfare of so many pupils ...

Part of the holidays are also spent in planning programmes and preparation for the new term.

:)

[happiness]

not only teachers are so busy with marking papers and stuffs, they have a limited social circle. i mean, let's say you teach in a school for like 10 years. how often do you see new colleagues? that is why my dad (retired teacher) says that being a teacher hard to get married. lols. unless you got your significant half before you join the teaching workforce. x)

[freshair]

Too Much Time? u must be kidding.

Primary school teacher morning session 7:30-1:00 = 7 am must be there, 5-6 pm go home at least 3 weekdays, maybe 1 day lucky u can leave at 1pm, then 1 day at 3pm.

All sort of course , cca, extra work you have to do will keep you busy. Reach home at 6pm u think that's the end? Still have to finish all the marking, and all kind of other brain stressing work like setting exam papers, test papers and even parents call your HP at 10 pm!

Sat maybe have to back too, Sunday if u slack in the daytime, then nightime have to work late to finish marking or other work in order to submit them on monday.

Have u seen a 9-mth pregnant teacher who can deliver her baby anytime still have to stand under hot sun to make sure the house practice is still going on.

And btw when "THEY" give you 3 months of maternity leaves, it is not the 3 MONTHS that u think it is. MOE says 3 mths = 12 weeks. on average 1 mth is almost = 4 1/2 week, so according to MOE standard, you tio eat 1 1/2 week so dont too happy and think your 3 Months = FULL 3 MONTHS. knn cannot afford to give 3 mth dont yaya say until so nice ma, in the end feel like kana con.

[Bored_Dad]

Those who say teachers have too much time and too free, only shows that they are not well informed or misled, misinformed, false thinking or wrongful assumption.

They should become teacher and live a life of a teacher for just one semester and see for themselves whether teachers are too free and too much time.

Primary school teacher is no brainer job? Those who made such remarks are truly the no brainer. They seem to forget that teacher got to prepare before they teach, teaching materials, notes, exercises, delivery of lesson, stories and examples to prepare, how to deliver to capture the forever hyperactive children, how to coach the children, how to improve the children, how to care for the children, even to counsel the children, many many many many many many many more.

Teacher too free and too much time? Duh...

[freshair]

There is an annual grading system to grade how teachers perform, A-D.

Last time A = super solid teacher, B = Good teacher, C = average teacher to abit buay zai, D = hopeless teacher, super bo chap, complain alot and wait to be kick out.

Now they change the way they say. A = Super solid (can be principal type), B = Solid ( At least HOD standard), C = Very good Teacher, D = Average.

what do u mean by average? average means a good teacher who teaches his students well, mark all books in time, take out 1 cca activities, no complains BUT DID NOT do extra task. So if u think u are being a good teacher, by doing those few above that i have listed, sorry u are just average and a D-grader. And you will take a longer, much longer time to promote to the next salary scheme.

And if you happen to be an eye-sore in the eyes of your Principal(******* nang type), sad to say that even he tekan u and give u a D, he can still use D = average teacher as a reason to kill your teaching career. Buay song? what can u do? complain? to who? quit? no need to eat meh? Change job? dont be mislead by all the reports about the job opportunities by our media.

So if you think a teacher can have a lot of free time, maybe he really will have a free time soon when the principal gives him a golden handshake.

[tiaotiaohu]

not only teachers are so busy with marking papers and stuffs, they have a limited social circle. i mean, let's say you teach in a school for like 10 years. how often do you see new colleagues? that is why my dad (retired teacher) says that being a teacher hard to get married. lols. unless you got your significant half before you join the teaching workforce. x)

Well, I'm a primary school teacher. Many think that teachers are probably single but most of my colleagues are already married. Most of them are very young - in their 20s or early 30s. There are a few pair of married couples who teach in my school too. They got to know each other in the school itself.

Interesting, right?

[tiaotiaohu]

Too Much Time? u must be kidding.

Primary school teacher morning session 7:30-1:00 = 7 am must be there, 5-6 pm go home at least 3 weekdays, maybe 1 day lucky u can leave at 1pm, then 1 day at 3pm.

All sort of course , cca, extra work you have to do will keep you busy. Reach home at 6pm u think that's the end? Still have to finish all the marking, and all kind of other brain stressing work like setting exam papers, test papers and even parents call your HP at 10 pm!

Sat maybe have to back too, Sunday if u slack in the daytime, then nightime have to work late to finish marking or other work in order to submit them on monday.

Have u seen a 9-mth pregnant teacher who can deliver her baby anytime still have to stand under hot sun to make sure the house practice is still going on.

And btw when "THEY" give you 3 months of maternity leaves, it is not the 3 MONTHS that u think it is. MOE says 3 mths = 12 weeks. on average 1 mth is almost = 4 1/2 week, so according to MOE standard, you tio eat 1 1/2 week so dont too happy and think your 3 Months = FULL 3 MONTHS. knn cannot afford to give 3 mth dont yaya say until so nice ma, in the end feel like kana con.

Hi freshair,

so you are a teacher too?

[tiaotiaohu]

Those who say teachers have too much time and too free, only shows that they are not well informed or misled, misinformed, false thinking or wrongful assumption.

They should become teacher and live a life of a teacher for just one semester and see for themselves whether teachers are too free and too much time.

Primary school teacher is no brainer job? Those who made such remarks are truly the no brainer. They seem to forget that teacher got to prepare before they teach, teaching materials, notes, exercises, delivery of lesson, stories and examples to prepare, how to deliver to capture the forever hyperactive children, how to coach the children, how to improve the children, how to care for the children, even to counsel the children, many many many many many many many more.

Teacher too free and too much time? Duh...

Yeah .... :) thanks, Bored_Dad .... At least there are some who understand us ... I've ever heard a taxi driver commenting that teachers dont require 'brain' to carry out their duties.... how insulting ...

[spongebeans]

too much time? hmmm..gotta be kidding right..i dun think they have all the time in the world.. apart from the normal classes and marking of assignments and all, they still have meetings and ccas and stuff..

and unlike other professions, i dun think teachers can take leave for the sake of taking leave right? apart from the sch holidays, its like work work and work.. right?

[truthbetold]

.........maybe he really will have a free time soon when the principal gives him a golden handshake.
The principal is not the employer, MOE is! (The perm-sec sacks you.) If you receive the handshake, it's hardly golden (unless you are in pensionable service, which stopped some 25 years ago!) :D

[freshair]

Hi freshair,

so you are a teacher too?

No, and lucky i am not. Just some family members and friends are teachers and i can see how they are suffering. Most of them suffer alot of injustice and yet nothing they can do about it. Especially alot of Principals nowadays want to do extra stuff to excel in the eyes of MOE, speeding up their promotion at the expense of the teachers, or i would say teaching machines in their eyes.

[truthbetold]

People are generally blessings innumerate; they just dun know the precious benefits they have and gripe mindlessly. Where in the world, except schools, do you find so many graduates in the service of kids? Does anyone care to know that in a secondary school or JC, almost everybody is a postgrad (counting PGDE as postgrad), serving totally unappreciative kids day in and day out for years? If you just compare the payroll of a secondary school where almost everybody is a postgrad and that of an average company with the same staff strength, you will realise how much we are investing in education! But is anyone appreciative? People would rather complain about the measly school fees they have to pay and then proceed to spend huge fortunes on fly-by-night unqualified tutors! :cool:

[tiaotiaohu]

No, and lucky i am not. Just some family members and friends are teachers and i can see how they are suffering. Most of them suffer alot of injustice and yet nothing they can do about it. Especially alot of Principals nowadays want to do extra stuff to excel in the eyes of MOE, speeding up their promotion at the expense of the teachers, or i would say teaching machines in their eyes.

Hi freshair,

thanks for sharing ... :)

[Darksoth]

I feel most teachers nowadays don't put in effort to teach in school & will only put in effort after work, which is their moonlighting job as a tuition teacher. They earn more that way.

[tiaotiaohu]

wah.. seems like being a teacher also not so glam wor...

on-top of preparation, marking, ensuring their students passes w/o failing itself as a teacher who cant seems to bring the best out of them. dealing wif their mischiefs...

;)

I think it's really a challenge to work with children nowadays cos many are hyperactive and some are over-protected by their families. I have ever received a sms from a parent near midnight in Dec asking me who will be her daughter's new form teacher. Even though I don't understand why must she message me at that timing (what's more in Dec), I replied her.

Last year I received another sms from an unknown number asking me a grammar question. Then the person identified herself as my ex pupil's mum. I taught that boy in 2003. The boy's mum actually transferred him out from the school I'm teaching in 2004 and she actually kept my hp number and took me as some sort of 'free access' tutor, hoping I will answer her question related to grammar. I did answer her question but was so tempted to change my hp number.

Now I stop releasing my hp number to parents.... it's my personal hp line and I dont wish to be disturbed by these pple.

Some really regard us as free tutors, free counsellors, free maids ....

Pleaseeeeee .... give us a break.

[winniesoo]

Teachers have too much free time?

Maybe those who think that teachers have too much free time should try being a teacher for a period of time. Maybe then they can better comment if teachers really have too much free time.

Right now, I think only teachers or ex-teachers know how insufficient our 24hours can be.

[tiaotiaohu]

Teachers have too much free time?

Maybe those who think that teachers have too much free time should try being a teacher for a period of time. Maybe then they can better comment if teachers really have too much free time.

Right now, I think only teachers or ex-teachers know how insufficient our 24hours can be.

I agree, Winnie... :)