Nobody asked me questions.
You didn't ask how long I've been doing it. You didn't ask what my classroom looks like or what my lessons cost me in time and thought and energy.
You just came.
For the record: I'm not in a union. I'm conservative. I work hard for my students — not because anyone is making me, but because they deserve it. I build lessons that are actually good. I show up early. I stay late. I care about whether they learn.
None of that mattered to you. You saw "teacher" and you already knew everything.
But here's what you actually showed me today.
You showed me why my students walk in the door the way they do. Reactive. Certain. No questions — just conclusions. Ready to attack before they've read a word.
They learned it somewhere.
Now I know where.
Everyone loves to remind teachers about summer.
Fine. Let's do the math.
This week I worked nearly 60 hours.
6:30 arrival. Unpaid lunch with kids in my room. Covered PE — I teach Spanish. Graded vocab tests Friday night. Graded a children's book project on Saturday. Turned one into a movie and posted it for the class. Five hours of lesson planning today.
The standard work week is 40 hours. The extra 20? Unpaid.
Some weeks, the grading is lighter. Some weeks it's worse. This is not the worst week I've had.
But yes. I get summers off.