“Teachers want time. Time with students and time to actually teach.”
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Over 300 teachers filled out our Teacher Happiness Survey, and you guys had a ton to say! In this video we’re going over the results about what’s working in your classrooms and what is dragging you down. Each day, as teachers, we’re balancing dozens of roles and tasks. Let’s see how it’s affecting our happiness.
The video offers a general overview of the results; however, if you’re looking for specific numbers, please click here to view the detailed numbers in PDF format.
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I’d love to find my happy place! I’m a third grade teacher in California. I’m in an excellent district, teach at a school with fantastic colleagues, and I’ve been teaching for 19 years. I’ve had years with super supportive parents, years with super engaged students, but I’ve had years with never seeing parents, and students that are on vacation all year long. I don’t want to quit teaching, but I’m very unhappy with the direction that we are headed with Common Core. I’m unhappy with being the scapegoat for kids who won’t even try and get poor test scores. I’m really tired of teachers being judged by kids test scores and see that becoming even more of a problem with the implementation of Common Core, especially since our kids are not expert typers. I want to just teach. I want curriculum that isn’t ambiguous. Curriculum I know I can trust to be GOOD for my kids and their future. I want my kids to bee confident, proud of themselves, and to know that they are valued. I’m not a person who fights every new thing that comes along in education….mostly it’s just reshaping, reintroducing and improving what we’ve already been doing. I like that. I like fresh and new. I like getting excited and exciting my students. But, there is something sneaky, hidden and malicious in Common Core. I can’t trust it. It gives me bad feelings in my heart, especially when I see some of the books that are recommended or mandated reading, when I see the kind of passages that ask our kids to judge their parents, or society, or themselves…value judgments that they aren’t ready to and shouldn’t be expected to make. Another teacher likened what’s happening with testing and test scores to the Hunger Games. That made sense to me. We’ve had standardized tests forever. I guess that’s just a normal part of education…the state wants to see results of where it’s money is going. I get that. But, they don’t get that our population changes, sometimes monthly, in our classrooms depending on the geographic area in which you teach. More and more emphasis (and blame) has been put on teacher performance….regardless of the “material” we are working with….and the background, experience, and burdens that our “material” carries on their shoulders. We can’t fix the world. That’s not our job. I feel my job is to instruct, support, inspire and help a child find his path…the path that will enable him to succeed and flourish.
I totally agree with you! Your job is to instruct, support, inspire and help your students see their light. As teachers, we have the power to change all of this. It starts with us. We need to be strong and not let all of the “core drama” drag us down. I feel the same way about everything that is happening and I firmly believe in focusing on my personal happiness, and making sure I am strong, so I can help my students be strong. That is our goal with Extraordinary Teachers. Helping teachers come together and feel inspired so we can move forward and help our students shine their lights! Thanks for your awesome comment!