It's been an eventful week, and I swear I will do a real post tomorrow, but I was scouring my archives and I discovered this... only about 3 people have read it, but I think it's better than that, and, hey, the internet is to share...
Enjoy!
Think of your teacher as a manager....
It just occurred to me…
That I supervise over 150 students in the course of a day. That’s the size of a small company. Wow—that should be easy enough, right?
After all, I have a degree in management… wait, no, that’s a degree in English.
Oh. Well…
I can fire them for being late, like a regular boss, right?
No—I can fill out scads of paperwork that will be ignored, and my employees will continue to be late. Oh. Well…
I can evaluate my employees on their performance, and that will affect their lives, right? No—I can evaluate my employees on their performance, and they can go to an easier, shorter job in the summer or somewhere else, where their performance will remain the same, but they will get better evaluations. Oh. Well…
I can fire them for insubordination, defiance, and cruelty to managers, right? No—I can send them out of my room, where they will be slapped on the wrist, commiserated with by their parents, and sent back to my room with their attitudes intact. Oh. Well…
If my employees perform well, I get some sort of bonus, reward, stipend, pat on the back, attagirl, right? No—but if they perform badly, I get the same, so I guess that’s okay…
If my management skills are superb, I get to increase my revenue, update my resume, and improve the status of my company, right? No—if my management skills are superb, that means I can manage without textbooks, materials, feedback from my own boss, or training to do the job I was paid for that has nothing to do with management and everything to do with that degree I almost forgot I had, and yet my employees are still unappreciative. If I do my job really well, my bosses will assume I don’t need any of these necessities to do my job, and I will never get them again. If I let my lack of support affect my performance, my “incompetence” is broadcast in every major newspaper in the state, along with headlines asking why people in my position can’t get our collective shit together.
Well (*sob*)… at least I get paid on a management scale, right? Ha ha hee hee ho ho ho ho ho ho ho… (*hiccup*) That’s a good one… oh, well..
So, why do I do this again?
I do this because employees who have moved on to other corporations have come to me and said “I wouldn’t be here if not for you. Thank you.”
Wow. Does my corporation suck. But my employees pay me very well, so I might just stick around...
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1 comment:
so your employees give you a pat on the back - I remember a post where you said you got thank you cards... that counts. Seriously, we need teachers like you. Teachers who care about the students. I don't know you almost at all but I am sure you do an awesome job and should keep doing the awesome job that you do.
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