I want to thank Megan for such an informative article in last Monday's Citizen.
Once again I am aware that people are expressing their negative comments towards our teachers!
Will this ever end? How many people actually really know and understand the amount of unpaid hours a teacher puts in? Most of us go to work for our 8 hour shift and when we come home, we are finished. Most teachers come home from putting in their day (teaching and supervising our children), and then proceed to put in many unpaid hours in the evening, preparing lessons for the next day, marking papers or doing any of the million things needed to be done after their students have gone home. Check the school parking lots the next time you drive by at 7:00 in the morning Monday to Friday, or evenings or even weekends. Teachers are there - putting in unpaid hours for your kids.
Most teachers I know don't complain about these extra hours, but just because these keen teachers want to do the best for our kids, should they have to put up with our disrespect including verbal or printed abuse .
Yes, teachers have the summers and stat. holidays off but they are not paid for these days. They are paid from September to the end of June. Teachers get one discretionary day a year , which often they use to attend one of their own children's school functions. Teacher's cannot leave their class unattended, to "duck out" and attend other events in the day, as many of us can.
Please, before you "come down" on teachers, take the time to find out and think about the job our teachers do. Think about how important they are to your children. Your children spend many hours of their early life with teachers, let's give these same teachers the respect they deserve. Let's stand behind our teachers as they once again try to make our classrooms a positive learning experience for all of our kids.
Helen Matson
Prince George
