A friend sent me this email forward. I guess it has been floating around the Internet for a few years, but I had never seen it until recently. It made me chuckle because I used to be a super fan of the show Survivor. But seriously, it is a provocative idea for a reality show…
Next Season on Survivor…
Have you heard about the next planned Survivor show?
Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for one school year. Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district’s curriculum, and a class of 25 students, no aide.
Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.H.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three students will be labeled with severe behavior problems.
Each business person must complete lesson plans at least three days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences. They must also stand in their doorway between class changes to monitor the hallways.
In addition, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and the drills for shooting attacks each month. They must attend workshops, faculty meetings, and attend curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and strive to get their non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the tests. If they are sick or having a bad day, they must not let it show.
Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times. If all students do not wish to cooperate, work, or learn, the teacher will be held responsible.
Lunch will be limited to twenty minutes, which is not counted as part of the work day. The business people will be permitted to use a student restroom, as long as another survival candidate can supervise their class.
If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials before, or after, school. However, they cannot surpass their monthly limit of copies. The business people must continually advance their education, at their expense, and on their own time.
The winner of this Season of Survivor will be allowed to return to their old job.
Pass this to your friends who think teaching is easy, and to the ones that know it is hard…
Bahhhahhahahhh Oh my gosh, that is funny! 🙂 This made my day.
There should also be a paragraph about maintaining our credentials…taking classes to update or maintain our teaching certificate. Also grading homework/projects takes a lot of time!
You also forgot about the sometimes lifetime benefits, matched retirement, extreme time off and limited schedule of working during a whole year. If you are so unhappy about teaching, GET OUT of it. We all have a choice to do what we want in life and bitching because you don't like the situation you are in just makes it harder on those who are happy in that place for both the goods and bads.
Whoa, Anon, you presume a lot here…
I suspect that others would join me in wishing this could somehow happen–maybe in a Bizarro-world alterverse–as the lessons learned by the "contestant" and the viweing public would be immense, but we cannot let those without actual education preparation loose on a group of children; there is too much at stake to sacrifice any in the interest of an experiment of this nature.
well I found it funny and thought provoking. and no, i don't think mrs q is gripping but as with any job/career there are always things that make you think and laugh and it helps to get through your day when you might need that lift. keep up the good work mrs q – it only helps me to work that much harder on our planned activities for teacher/staff appreciation week in may!
I think anon missed the point –this is not griping about jobs, this is griping about how people who know nothing about the job are trying to control how it's done and how it's compensated.
I don't imagine a bank manager would want me (no experience in banking) to tell her how to do her job or decide what her skills are worth in compensation. As a teacher, I don't want the bank manager telling me how to do mine.
Have you read this?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gregory-michie/education-reform-innovation_b_844137.html
I'm a teacher, I thought it was hilarious!! And no, it's not bitching about the job, it just sucks that people think it's a cruisy job with lots of holidays! I'm in Australia, and this is our last week of school before 2 weeks of Easter holidays. I'm running around trying to get next terms program done so I CAN have a holiday with my kids. I won't get it all done though, so there'll still be a weeks worth of working nights! No problem, I love my job and the (hopefully) positive impact I have on my kids, I just dislike that people think I work 9-3 40 weeks a year…I don't!!
Great post and great blog Mrs Q!!
Kristy from Oz
Now that's a reality TV show that I would watch!
This did come across a little snobby to me that being a teacher is harder than being in the business world. One of those business men or women could write up their day/week/month/year and it would probably be just as busy and difficult with way less time off. Grass is always greener…
It's a joke! It's supposed to be funny! 🙂
Blink–that's easier than I had it! I love it! You rock, Q!
Interesting perspective! However, I'd like to point out that as difficult as a teacher's job may be, every job has it's difficulties. I have to agree with Megan K, in that many other jobs are much more stressful and, to be honest, more difficult. I respect teachers. However, when I compare their level of work (and I have some friends/family members who are teachers, so I am familiar with the lifestyle) with the level of work that I perform in my career, I can't help but feel that they are appropriately compensated.
As a reality TV hater, I would tune into this show! More people need to know what the average school teacher faces in order to TEACH students.
And to top it off, students will be fed Windex blue colored slushies at lunch. This will result in a small % of the bouncing off the walls in afternoon class making it even harder for the teacher to teach and the other students to concentrate.
I don't think teaching is easy. But like any job, there are some people that are good at it, and some that aren't.
What I don't see – like in most other jobs – is that the ones who *are* bad at it, get culled out of the herd.
At least not where I live, where the Teacher's Union runs the city practically.
I think they should make all school board members and candidates do this before they can get the job.
I think a reality teaching show would be great for the general public. I know I didn't fully appreciate or understand what went on in restaurant kitchens before watching some of the restaurant/chef reality shows. It has increased my appreciation for what they do on a daily basis!
Ms. Q is this s joke or is this for real?! It would be an interesting show though.
As for Anonymous#1 everyone has a bad day, don't you?