My official job is to teach students new things according to the state standards, right? I came up with a list of occupations I was not trained for in college but have quickly learned because teachers have many more responsibilities than one would think. Teachers are also:

• Doctors/Nurses when there is a stomach ache, sprained ankle, bloody nose, or paper cut
• Police Officers when children decide to swing fists at one another
• Counselors when friends are fighting or talking about each other
• Meteorologists when students don’t watch the news
• Nutritionists when students decide that breakfast should be cookies, doritos, and Mountain Dew
• Janitors when the room is left a hot mess at the end of the day (which happens frequently)
• Technicians when the computer won’t turn on or the projector doesn’t work
• Zoologists when the class pet gets forgotten
• Personal Trainers since the Physical Education Laws were passed
• Photographers when we do exciting activities
• Celebrities when we go anywhere … seriously! Children I don’t know get so excited to see me in public
• Volunteers when any event happens at the school … it is not a choice
• Entertainers 24/7 … teachers have to compete with the world around us to catch the attention of students. If we aren’t more exciting than video games, cartoons, and computer games, forget trying to get students to listen!!
• “Experts”all the time … DUH! Teachers are supposed to know everything!

After my extremely loooooong day today, I got to thinking about my salary vs. the number of hours I work. Granted, I work many more hours than I should because I am a first year teacher and a perfectionist but the numbers are ridiculous! I make approximately $6/hour to “inspire children” and “change lives.” That has got to be worth more than $6/hour… I made $11/hour to smile and say “Welcome to Verizon” and I didn’t have to do lesson plans, call parents, grade papers, etc. etc. etc.

Today I put in 14 hours … that would have been worth $154 on my Verizon salary but only worth $84 on my teacher salary. I started at school at 6:30 am, left school at 3:40 pm to attend professional development, then headed back to the school to sell concessions for our *Spring Fling* until 8:30 pm. When I finish this, I will sit down in front of the TV and do report cards.

Teaching is not a 7:30 – 2:30 job and it makes me so mad when people say “Well, you only have to work until 2:30″ and “you don’t even work that hard … all you have to do is babysit.” At least babysitters make more than $6 an hour …