One of my 2 readers pointed out that paid vs. unpaid hours is a very negative way of looking at things, and I have to agree. I will start referring to contract hours vs. non-contract hours.
It's not that I expect a 7.5 hour workday. I think 9 hours is reasonable. I don't think that more than 9 hours combined with work on the weekends is reasonable - not for what I'm being paid, anyway.
One of the things I am after is finding out exactly how many extra hours pile up during the school year. Are they enough to make up for 2 months of vacation? If I average all the hours out at the end of the school year, how many 8- hour workdays will there be? That is one of the questions I want to answer.
All that being said, I am not unhappy or bitter. That is not why I am keeping track of my hours. I tried like crazy to find a job in the public sector this past summer. It didn't work out. I was so dreading going back, and I find that I'm quite happy to be back with my team and spending my day with kids again.
I can enjoy the good parts of teaching and distance myself from the parts that are frustrating. Part of letting go of my anger at all these extra hours is keeping track, so that at the end of the year, I can find out if my anger was justified. In the past years I have really been frustrated and angry at the end of a really long week. Putting it down on the blog and seeing it in writing helps me look at it and say, wow! That's a lot of hours! Then let it go.
Now, I have spent all morning farting around instead of working on my seating charts. Maybe I'll just pile the desks in the corner and have them sit on the floor. haha!!
It's not that I expect a 7.5 hour workday. I think 9 hours is reasonable. I don't think that more than 9 hours combined with work on the weekends is reasonable - not for what I'm being paid, anyway.
One of the things I am after is finding out exactly how many extra hours pile up during the school year. Are they enough to make up for 2 months of vacation? If I average all the hours out at the end of the school year, how many 8- hour workdays will there be? That is one of the questions I want to answer.
All that being said, I am not unhappy or bitter. That is not why I am keeping track of my hours. I tried like crazy to find a job in the public sector this past summer. It didn't work out. I was so dreading going back, and I find that I'm quite happy to be back with my team and spending my day with kids again.
I can enjoy the good parts of teaching and distance myself from the parts that are frustrating. Part of letting go of my anger at all these extra hours is keeping track, so that at the end of the year, I can find out if my anger was justified. In the past years I have really been frustrated and angry at the end of a really long week. Putting it down on the blog and seeing it in writing helps me look at it and say, wow! That's a lot of hours! Then let it go.
Now, I have spent all morning farting around instead of working on my seating charts. Maybe I'll just pile the desks in the corner and have them sit on the floor. haha!!
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