Out of their eight periods, most teachers teach students for six periods of the day, have a preparation period and have a principal’s assignment. In that one preparation period, time is needed to grade, work on lesson plans, prepare for the following periods and much more. For teachers, this time is essential to be able to effectively execute their jobs.
However, as less and less trust is put in students, more and more essential time is taken from teachers. Additionally, the expectations of teachers can, in many cases, take away from the education given to students.
The Mountain Echo believes teachers should have the opportunity to complete the work necessary to manage their classrooms, rather than being required to devote it to “busy work” and other side tasks.
Bathroom duty, hall duty, lunchroom duty. All of these were put in place to assure that students are constantly monitored. Not only does it take away from students’ freedoms, adding to the “prison-like” feeling of school, it also takes time away from the teachers who are assigned these duties. This takes away from the time that they need to spend doing the work associated with managing their classrooms.
While this time can be productive for some teachers, this productivity often does not reach its full potential. When teachers have to take time away from their work to check a student’s hall pass or to make sure they sign into the bathroom, the time they need to complete their work is interrupted. For teachers given lunch duty, their full attention is required to supervise students in the lunchroom. These teachers are unable to use any of this time productively.
All of this being said, the question of why the turnover rate of teachers is so high vanishes. One forty minute class period is not enough for any teacher to accomplish all the tasks being required. Giving teachers more time during the school day to actually work with students and prepare for lessons would be a huge advantage to teachers and keep teachers at Altoona.
In the future, teachers should be relieved of some of these duties, and those who are given them should either volunteer or be given an extra period free from instruction. Substitute teachers could be used on a daily basis for some of the needed jobs or others could be hired. Even designing rotations for the teachers where the jobs would not be every day or last for an entire period would be a step in the right direction.
