Reasonable

I am wondering at what point things are unreasonable. It is certain I will have to teach the 4/5 combo in a dual language school. For those not in the know, that means I will be teaching 10 different subjects. Fifth grade English Language Arts, then fourth. Fifth grade Spanish Language Arts, then fourth. Fifth grade science, then fourth. Fifth grade math, then fourth. Even high school teachers don't have to plan for that many subjects. Its not like working a job where you get a project and you put in crazy hours for a few weeks, maybe a month or two. Its non-stop for 180 days. Sure, I get holidays, right. Yeah, as if. I'm not a lawyer, I don't make 6-figures. I get summers off, you say. Fine, that's the perk. There are no bonuses, no promotions, no commissions, raises every year if you happen to be at the right point on the scale.

So, what's reasonable? I obviously don't love it enough, you say, or I would be dedicated to a fault to those kids. Is that the measure of a good teacher? In order to be that, I give up all else? I'm just spoiled, right? I've been able to have leisure time apart from my job. But here's the thing, I'm not getting paid more money to do more work. Its just expected. Is that reasonable? Is it reasonable to think I should just suck it up and do it because there are no other options? The amount of support I got this year does not lead me to believe that I am going to get the support I need to do such a challenging job. Ooo, an aide, perhaps. If I'm lucky I have to spend extra time preparing resources for them to do their job. Not helpful. A resource teacher part time. If I am lucky that they know more than me, they tend to be mired with data entry and mandating people to put up their walls in accordance with Reading First grant bullshit. Also completely useless. So negative, you say, well, its my blog, so you can quit reading anytime. This is so utterly frustrating. So quit. Yeah. The question is how. I'd be breaking contract (I think) and that does not put me in good standing with staying in education, which is still what I would ideally like. Take a year off, figure stuff out, substitute teach, work nights somewhere. Also a possibility.

Its the commute, you say. Well, yes. And no. At this moment I could give up my relationship, move closer to school and probably be just as miserable. My one saving grace all year was that I would spend my weekends in a quiet lovely place with someone I deeply care about. He could move too, yes.

Reasonable? Heh. I want to teach fourth grade for one more year (not combo,) study for my GRE, and go back to school either full or part time. This was not in the plans. This was not something I agreed to. This is not reasonable - kids, parents or teacher. This is just bulls$%# and they will never find a teacher willing to take on this job, so I guess that means I should quit. Sure, teachers do combos all the time, even I have done one previously (it sucked,) but its about the worst decision a school or district can make. It would NEVER happen like this in a school district with a lot of money. Parents would have a conniption.