And so it has come to this. Let me fill you in on a few details. The Nova Scotia Teachers Union contract expired back in the spring of 2015, and Teachers in Nova Scotia have been working without a contract since then. In the last few months negotiations with the government have not gone well. Well that is a bit of an understatement, they have been a disaster. I will spare you the gory details of it all, but what matters is that there is an impasse with Teachers and the current government. From all of this, teachers have voted to be able to do job actions, and the first that will begin on Monday December 5th is "work to rule".
This means that Teachers will be doing only what is outlined in our contract. Nothing more, nothing less. We will still teach, but no extras, no sports, no clubs, no holiday concerts, and the list goes on. It also means no extra time to prep, doing extras like answering emails, phone calls, or other clerical work on non-school time. It means arriving 20 minutes before school, and leaving 20 minutes after.
This will be hard. No, this will be awful. No, this will be a disaster. No, it will be worse then all those things. I don't have any polite words to describe what I am feeling and the impact I feel it will have on students.
I teach, I coach, I do lots of extras to make my day and the day of my students' exciting, fun and educational. Now I am being asked to limit myself, to prove to the world that Teachers work hard and should be valued.
I find that sad. I find it sad that I need to prove to people that Teachers work hard, that we are valuable and that the work we do is demanding, time consuming, and growing more and more challenging by the year.
I find it sad that my government does not seem to appreciate teachers, and are playing this cat and mouse game with the union, students and parents.
I find it sad that on the eve of my Sr. Girls basketball team's first game that we had to lock up the gym and say, "sorry, I can't coach you anymore".
I find it sad that I will not be able to Tweet and share what is happening in my classroom. I will not be able to "like" or "retweet" what is happening in your classrooms. I will not be able to take part in my own Twitter PD, and I will be missing out on conversations and relationships with great teachers from all over the world, especially those in my PLC's of #xplap, #learnLAP, #5thChat and more.
I have given my time, my energy, my money, my heart and soul to this profession. I have been greatly rewarded by success of my students, by attending great PD, by being able to lead PD for other educators. I am happy each time I can see a student out in the community and they wave and say hi, or even just smile as I go by. I don't want to hear from anyone that my job is less then what it is, that I don't deserve anything, or that I am greedy.
I want my government to feel and show that Teachers are valuable. I want my Union to present reasonable and attainable asking packages.
I want to teach. I want to be excited to share what I do. I want to see what others are doing in their classrooms. I want to learn and grow.
I am hopeful that this job action will lead to a positive outcome, that both sides will sit down and talk.
Until that time, I must sign off and log out.
Here's hoping that there is light at the end of this dark tunnel.
This means that Teachers will be doing only what is outlined in our contract. Nothing more, nothing less. We will still teach, but no extras, no sports, no clubs, no holiday concerts, and the list goes on. It also means no extra time to prep, doing extras like answering emails, phone calls, or other clerical work on non-school time. It means arriving 20 minutes before school, and leaving 20 minutes after.
This will be hard. No, this will be awful. No, this will be a disaster. No, it will be worse then all those things. I don't have any polite words to describe what I am feeling and the impact I feel it will have on students.
I teach, I coach, I do lots of extras to make my day and the day of my students' exciting, fun and educational. Now I am being asked to limit myself, to prove to the world that Teachers work hard and should be valued.
I find that sad. I find it sad that I need to prove to people that Teachers work hard, that we are valuable and that the work we do is demanding, time consuming, and growing more and more challenging by the year.
I find it sad that my government does not seem to appreciate teachers, and are playing this cat and mouse game with the union, students and parents.
I find it sad that on the eve of my Sr. Girls basketball team's first game that we had to lock up the gym and say, "sorry, I can't coach you anymore".
I find it sad that I will not be able to Tweet and share what is happening in my classroom. I will not be able to "like" or "retweet" what is happening in your classrooms. I will not be able to take part in my own Twitter PD, and I will be missing out on conversations and relationships with great teachers from all over the world, especially those in my PLC's of #xplap, #learnLAP, #5thChat and more.
I have given my time, my energy, my money, my heart and soul to this profession. I have been greatly rewarded by success of my students, by attending great PD, by being able to lead PD for other educators. I am happy each time I can see a student out in the community and they wave and say hi, or even just smile as I go by. I don't want to hear from anyone that my job is less then what it is, that I don't deserve anything, or that I am greedy.
I want my government to feel and show that Teachers are valuable. I want my Union to present reasonable and attainable asking packages.
I want to teach. I want to be excited to share what I do. I want to see what others are doing in their classrooms. I want to learn and grow.
I am hopeful that this job action will lead to a positive outcome, that both sides will sit down and talk.
Until that time, I must sign off and log out.
Here's hoping that there is light at the end of this dark tunnel.
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