A few comparisons

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

A few comparisons
I am sorry, but this is going to be a bit of a jambled ramble. It is late and I need some serious sleep so I can decide what to do tomorrow.
A few thoughts.. fun and otherwise:
I wonder what it is like to be a doctor. I really don't think it is much like ER.. and even less like Scrubs. Fun shows though. I've been to doctors, some years more often than others, yet I still don't know what they do for other people. I can make some vague guesses about their long hours and difficult patients. I'm not going to presume to know what it is like to actually be a doctor.
Most of us have had teachers too.
I was talking with another teacher-friend the other day and she asked, "I wonder how many of them have thrown a birthday party?"
That got me to thinking.... Let's imagine, shall we?

Your child is celebrating another year around the sun. Time for a party (I love a good celebration). You throw a party for your darlings and his/her friends. Most parties end after 2 hours. Yours will be 7.5 hours long. Instead of 10 guests, there will be 28. Instead of choosing the guests, they will be assigned to you. Some will come half an hour late and others will leave half an hour early. Instead of hiring a clown, you will be the entertainment. When they leave the party, they need to have memorized the math standard and be able to explain the learning target to a family member. You get two half-hour breaks, one of planning and one for lunch. No bathroom breaks outside of those times for you.

In Grad school, someone passed around a letter from a dentist. I liked that one too. It was one of the first times I really thought about teacher evaluation systems. I remember it said something like, "What would happen if Denstists were rated on the health of the patient's teeth? Genetics didn't matter, nor did eating habits. What they did outside of the office is up to the patient. The dentist is responsible for the quality of those teeth."

I am not one for imfamitory rehetoric. I want facts... not pathos. Both sides seem to feed us just enough information to rile us up.
Tomorrow is going to be interesting. I honestly do not know what I'm going to do. Do I side with my law-breaking union and many fabulous co-workers that love and trust because I do believe this strike is right... or do I abide by the law?