Hi Amy, I'm not a teacher, but the other thing that people don't understand is that a teacher has to be ON the whole time they are with students. As a writer, I have a tremendous amount of flexibility in my day. I imagine that teachers need a few months away from the schedule grind to recharge.

Hi Nimble Press, Thank you for your comment and you are, indeed, dead on! Recharging only seems to happen when there are no kids around. My gripe is that there appears to be an understanding that teaching is inherently an "easy gig" with too many days off.

I love that the teacher is using YouTube - I have found many things on there that I would love to use, but it is blocked in our district! I wish I could figure out how to save some of those videos onto a CD or DVD so I could play them to my students.

Kathy, Why oh Why is YouTube blocked!? That's ludicrous. Does your school subscribe to this site? There are a rich assortment of educational videos here too. www.streaming.discoveryeducation.com/

Kathy, Check out www.keepvid.com. This site allows you to download videos from sites like YouTube and Google, among others. So, you could download a video at home, burn it to a disc or copy it to a USB flash drive, and then play it for your students. Best of luck!

Michael, Thank you for the link - I never heard of it. Have you used it in class?

Hi Amy, I could not agree with you more! Anyone who wants to perfect their craft plans, practices and imagines new possiblities. An athlete doesn't lie on the sofa between games; he practices. A magician doesn't limit himself to one played-out trick, never trying anything new. When someone makes a comment about teachers like the person at the dinner party did, it speaks of what kind of teacher THEY would be!

Kate, Funny - for years I've heard people say how teachers have it so easy. Most times it came from men whose work was 9-5 with 3-6 weeks vacation a year. Now I am hearing more and more women say how lucky I am to have summers off. It's so, not about the days off. And in my mind, the days off do not out weigh the energy given to each and every student every day. Is it just me who has heard these innuendos????

Hey all! Like all of the other teachers out there, I have heard the same stabs at our summers. Now, I teach children with severe autism, and I must say that I didn't have "recharge" time, I couldn't do my job. Needless to say I have come up with an inarguable response that I felt is worth sharing. I always respond with "we all make decisions in life, and you were aware of the teaching schedule when you went to college" I thought that is worth sharing since that always seems to end the conversation! Happy planning!

Thanks, MissB, for the response. I always say, there will ALWAYS be haters :)