In the last year of primary school, our day started the same way every morning.
We said prayers. If gale force winds were blowing, we prayed to Our Lady Queen of the Sea taht all the men in boats would find a safe harbour.
If it rained, as it did more often tha not, at harvest time, we prayed for a break so that farmers could get the grain dried and off the fields.
If there was an explosion in a coal mine , we prayed for trapped miners.
Black babies in Africa and the missions were always in our prayers.
We prayed four times a day.
Ten mental arithmetic problems, written in chalk on the blackboard was the second task of the day in that last year.
Previously, religious instruction was the priority. We still had it in the last year but it came second.
Primary school was six years; three years in secondary school.
Five years or earlier, depending on birth date, was starting age. Fourteen was leaving age.
There was no pre-school.
Learning in earnest started on day one .
Leaving school without knowing how to read and write was not
an acceptable result of education.
Toronto school teachers are withdrawing services to-morrow.
I want to share a mental arithmetic exercise.
Schools are closed nine weeks in summer. The last week of the school year no teaching happens.that's ten weeks of no learning.
Minus ten weels in summer;reduces the school year to forty-two weeks from fifty-two.
Christmas and March break take three weeks.leaving thirty nine weeks.
Statutory holidays probably another week: thirty-eight weeks.
Professional development and sick days likely average at least another week; thirty -seven weeks. in the school year.
The school week is five days of seven .That reduces the classroom year by seven more weeks. .
We are down to thirty weeks.
The school day is one third of an ordinary day. Down again to twenty weeks of actual teaching in a year
Teachers in Toronto have decided to withhold service. .for yet another day. To protest the unfairness of the system. .. to them.
D'you see where I'm going with this.
Do you think as I do it's odd that no-one even mentions teachers salaries and benefits for twenty weeks of teaching a year.
School board spokespersons speak of "inconvenience" to parents.
while schools are closed.
Nobody talks about kids and taxpayers being short-changed.
The Auroran poll was interesting. this week.Sympathy is not with the teachers.
I wasn't surprised. At Christmas I heard it said, the government should do what Ronald Regan did with air traffic controllers. Fire them and make them apply for their jobs without the protection of a union.
No doubt there will be a hefty fine for illegal work stoppage.
Teachers don't have to worry about that.
Union coffers have more money than the Province .. And it all came out of the same pockets initially.
This is just another in a series of disparaging posts. Why do you have such disdain for university-educated, professionally-qualified people?
ReplyDeleteI have seen this Mental Exercise before. People use it to try and find justification that people don't work enough time.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I am not a teacher nor employee of the school boards.
The logic of this exercise fails when statements like:
"five days of seven" & then "reduces the classroom year by seven more weeks"
and then of course
"The school day is one third of an ordinary day. Down again to twenty weeks of actual teaching in a year."
The logic fails because there are no jobs that are 7 days a week and 24 hours a day - for a full year.
It is mathematical hocus pocus.
I do agree that there is no sympathy for the teachers. The only winners are the private schools and the provincial opposition.
ReplyDeleteIn several American states and in a few larger cities teachers are graded.
The performance of their students makes up three-quarters of the grade. The rest is divided between meetings with parents to discuss a particular kid's problem(s) and interactions with other teachers, including extra-curricular activities.
The program has been deemed a great success by all and is spreading.
Wer should be doing the same in Ontario.
And we can without plagiarist school board heads.
I know what you are trying to do in getting down to the actual weeks worked (or weeks in front of students) but you lost me after the 37 weeks.
ReplyDeleteWe do need to compare apples & apples.
The idea of subtracting weekend time doesn’t work when comparing to other work period (as no one really counts a work week as 7 days). And that includes “The school day is 1/3 of an ordinary day” getting it to 20 weeks. In fact by your math the 30 weeks would then be 10 weeks. So you are now comparing apples & oranges in your timings.
One way to look at it is that the average worker out there has 52 weeks of the year – less 2 weeks holidays, less 2 weeks statutory holidays, less perhaps 1 week sick days (I bet most people don’t know that paid sick days are not mandated by the Ontario Government). So to compare to your numbers, the average worker would be working 47 weeks. This is the maximum number of weeks that an employer can expect the worker to be available to work.
The real difference between your numbers (37) and the 47 above is the summer. (and no… I am not a teacher). What everyone may look at is “How much more do teachers work in their 37 weeks to warrant them getting the summer off?”
Right now the teachers are being made the scapegoats of the day from our bungling provincial government while everyone (perhaps to the Liberals delight) forgets about Ornge, E-health, cancelled gas-fired electrical plants, etc., etc.
Come election time (which will be sooner than later) who will lead out of this provincial mess?
I know what you are trying to do in getting down to the actual weeks worked (or weeks in front of students) but you lost me after the 37 weeks.
ReplyDeleteWe do need to compare apples & apples.
The idea of subtracting weekend time doesn’t work when comparing to other work period (as no one really counts a work week as 7 days). And that includes “The school day is 1/3 of an ordinary day” getting it to 20 weeks. In fact by your math the 30 weeks would then be 10 weeks. So you are now comparing apples & oranges in your timings.
One way to look at it is that the average worker out there has 52 weeks of the year – less 2 weeks holidays, less 2 weeks statutory holidays, less perhaps 1 week sick days (I bet most people don’t know that paid sick days are not mandated by the Ontario Government). So to compare to your numbers, the average worker would be working 47 weeks. This is the maximum number of weeks that an employer can expect the worker to be available to work.
The real difference between your numbers (37) and the 47 above is the summer. (and no… I am not a teacher). What everyone may look at is “How much more do teachers work in their 37 weeks to warrant them getting the summer off?”
Right now the teachers are being made the scapegoats of the day from our bungling provincial government while everyone (perhaps to the Liberals delight) forgets about Ornge, E-health, cancelled gas-fired electrical plants, etc., etc.
Come election time (which will be sooner than later) who will lead out of this mess?
Your average teacher who wants to teach is between a rock & a hard place. The Unions Reps, who seem to be appointed , threat $500. fines if a teacher is in school before a certain bell in the morning or after another in the afternoon. Now the province wants $1000 fines for those who comply with the Union. It is a real can of worms.
ReplyDeletePlease note the head of the Toronto District school Board express regrets at his cribbing notes from others while the Province renews the contract for services that exceed normal fees for the same board.
11:54 AM
ReplyDeleteIt is you who disparage Evelyn by trying to put all of her posts into one neat little basket. That won't work because it simply is not true. Her topics are all over the place and cannot be stereotyped as you suggest.
I do hope no one is suggesting that a Conservative provincial government would make Ontario whole. The Harper leadership has been dismal fiscally. Basically Canadians have had it with entitled ' leaders 'of any stripe. Into that pot you can toss Unions leaders & any others available. Aurora has not demonstrated much in the department either.
ReplyDelete8:40 says "The Harper leadership has been dismal fiscally."
ReplyDeleteCurious as to why you didn;t include McGuinty in your comment. Have a problem with Conservatives only?
I'm not 8:40 PM, but perhaps like Cllr Buck says, 10:39 PM, "only the stupid ones."
ReplyDelete10:39 PM
ReplyDeleteMcGinty does not need to be included. He is obviously in the mix. Can't connect all the dots for you.
Having raised our kids in the country where reliance was upon school buses, I find this panic over a few lost day's of class bizarre. Already to the north of Aurora, there have been ' snow days ' called by the bus companies because of feared safety on roads without sidewalks pr proper paving. Those days were never wasted and now with the internet there is no excuse for losing a chance to spend the day differently.
ReplyDelete