A Teacher's To-Do List

I recently wrote an article for staffing managers on Why You Should Hire a Candidate with Teaching Experience, and while I did my best to convince readers of this point, I realize that those who have never taught don't have a reliable frame-of-reference for everything that modern teachers are held responsible for. Most people outside of the professional world of schools still have a vision of teachers trudging through lectures while obedient children sit quietly at attention (or at least pretending to be), grading a few papers, and talking to parents twice a year if they show up to conferences. It was never an easy profession, but now that people are taking more of an interest in improving the public education system (which is far overdue, but quite problematic when approached hastily or incorrectly), teachers are given more duties than almost any one person could handle properly on their own, particularly when first starting out. This is not to complain, but to illuminate something that many people don't have insight into, a macrocosmic explanation of what is really expected of their child's teachers. 

Good teachers (it's true that they do not all deserve this distinction, and I refuse to say that they do just by having the title) care for our children and prepare them for the world, not just by instilling them with knowledge, but by giving them responsibilities, consequences, the satisfaction of accomplishments won through hard work and dedication, and the ability to grow into happier, healthier adults who can conceive of becoming someone amazing someday, instead of allowing them to feel helpless or indifferent to their own destiny, letting them wither away because they were never given the support and guidance to find their potential and discover ways to actualize it; this is an incredible undertaking that stems almost universally from the heart-- as it requires far more work than even a decent paycheck and a summer “off” (a misnomer to say the least) could justify-- and those who dedicate themselves to it deserve respect, appreciation, and understanding. Many folks seem to think that teachers are being unfair, lazy, indifferent, or incompetent when complications arise, but the truth is that most are trying their best to work within their limitations: I hope this list will show people why it isn't always easy (or even possible) for them to do exactly what you want them to do or say what you want them to say.

Again, before we begin, PLEASE keep in mind that this is not meant to be a list of complaints, or venting, or judgements, or anything of that sort; it's simply meant to illustrate just how much a teacher has to think about on a day-to-day basis, and while it's factual and is based on firsthand experience, observation, and research, it's also meant to be funny (or at least amusing) in some parts. That being said, there are some very unfortunate topics discussed with attached examples that may sound “exaggerated,” but they are based on true events (in my own experience or others’ that I’m aware of), and are solely meant to illustrate the point, not to make fun of students who are struggling or make light of their circumstances, no matter how it may be phrased-- I do not find such issues comedic in any way and would never want to promote that kind of humor, inside or outside of an academic context.

Anyway, without further introduction, here is an exhaustive list of what teachers are expected to do, generalized to the best of my ability to accommodate common topics across the pk-12 spectrum of general education (in no particular order):

1. Learning every child's name and face
2. Taking and submitting attendance for all classes, including class counts, names, and tardiness
3. Making seating arrangements
4. Rearranging the seating when it turns out Sammy and Kelly are best friends and will talk all through class if you leave them with 5 desks of each other
5. Calling or e-mailing every child's parents at least once solely to establish contact, which can mean reaching out to upwards of 180 sets of parents and guardians (possibly more in the case of divided families with joint custody, etc.) if you're in a school with maxed-out student-to-teacher ratios (oftentimes, if they don't respond, you are also supposed to keep trying until you've had some kind of mutual correspondence, which can takes weeks if their contact information isn't up-to-date, they don't have an e-mail address or a voicemail box set-up, and etc.)
6. Calling or e-mailing parents every time there is a problem (not doing homework, misbehaving in class, failing class, etc.)
7. Not calling or e-mailing home every time there is a problem, because you're supposed to be able to handle “that stuff” in class
8. Figuring out which parents not to contact EVER-- because they will come in and demand that you be brought into the office in stocks to face them while everyone lines up in the hall and throws rotten tomatoes at you-- if you say their child is having any issues, even if it's something the child has to do him/herself to fix (like completing and turning-in assignments) or something that the child can't do him/herself to fix (like being tested and possibly getting help for a problem like dyslexia which, you suspect, may be at the root of the problem) 
9. Figuring out how to “fix” the issues facing children who won't do their work or take care of other personal responsibilities when they have parents you are not supposed to contact, since you will still be held accountable for the child's failure whether it's something in your control or not
10. Learning about students individually in personal ways, not just academic ones, by doing things like taking an entire precious class period for them to fill-out personal questionnaires or asking to sit with them at lunch (even though it often creeps them out)
11. Not getting too interested in or “friendly” with students because it puts you in danger of compromising your objectivity when evaluating their performance in class (because they're a “favorite” or you feel “sorry” for them) and/or makes people think you're a weirdo
12. Helping students feel comfortable approaching you and talking with you about personal matters since you may be one of the only consistent and trustworthy adults in their life
13. Not letting students get too comfortable with you because there is an awkwardly thin line between what is appropriate and what isn't, and this is especially hard for young people to understand (the difference between being one of their “friends” and being one of their “mentors” isn't always apparent to them)
14. Creating and submitting for review (usually a week in advance) an individual lesson plan (or multiple lesson plans if you have more than one class) for each of 180 days, full of information, visuals, and interactive activities designed with multiple learning styles in mind (because a pure “lecture-style” lesson plan isn't acceptable anymore)
15. Creating assessments
16. Creating assignments
17. Producing and organizing the physical materials for lessons, assessments, and assignments (designing, copying, printing, grouping, stapling, sorting…) 
18. Creating separate lesson and assessment materials for students who require mandated accommodations and modifications, such as modified exams with fewer questions on them than the ones that are given to students who are part of the “general” population
19. Creating different lesson materials and activities based on your students' interests because you are responsible for making them become engaged in your lessons, not just getting them to do the work or stay conscious through an entire class period
20. Classroom management (on which there are hundreds of books detailing the subject), which basically comes down to keeping children at a reasonable enough level of behavior to be able to “run” your class effectively
21. Getting students to participate (not just stare and listen/pretend to)
22. Keeping students “on-task” after they do start to participate, as it's not enough to have them involved, because, again, they must be engaged the whole time
23. Keeping students from texting all through class, even though there are many people who insist (and sometimes not very politely) that children be allowed to have it on them and turned-on at all times, even when they’ve been told it’s interfering with the child’s work, making it impossible to confiscate it and leaving you with no consequences to give for abusing the privilege
24. “Writing-up” students who break the rules, which sometimes requires keeping a paper on file that is meant to track the original infraction and next three times the child breaks the rules before administrative action can be sought
25. Not writing-up kids “too much,” regardless of what rules they're breaking and how often
26. Ignoring rule #25 because you've been told to write-up kids every time they break rule X, but by “always” they mean sometimes, depending on how many times the kid got in trouble earlier this week, who their parents are, and how many other children broke any rules at the same time because the office won't/can't handle having too many kids sent to them all at once 
27. Being consistent about who you write-up/send to the office and when
28. Sending children to the office when you CANNOT get them to stop disrupting long enough for you to get through a lesson
29. Not sending children to the office when you can't stop them from disrupting because they're your responsibility during class time
30. Monitoring the halls between classes and enforcing rules using guidelines similar to numbers 23-29
31. Distributing lesson/activity materials (it’s amazing how directionally challenged a group of sophomores can be when you give them more than two directions while handing-out papers)
32. Handling homework: collecting it, sorting it to grade and after being graded, handing it back, collecting again after it’s been corrected, and doing it all again
33. Grading assignments and assessments (simpler with certain technologies regarding multiple-choice questions, but try to imagine reading all of the short-answer responses and essays)
34. Keeping track of every grade for every child and figuring out the averages and letter/points equivalents for each (which, with just one grade a day for six weeks would equal about 30 for each child per grading period, meaning 180 grades per year cumulative, resulting in possibly 32,000+ grades to track over the course of a year for all of your students combined!)
35. Creating review material and activities to work into lesson planning without disrupting the flow of new information moving forward
36. Reviewing material that the kids aren't getting over and over until they get it
37. Stopping the reviewing even though the kids still don't get it after repeated revisions to the material and activities, because if you don't move on soon, you'll fall too far behind in the overall progression and throw the entire remainder of the year off
38. Review somewhere between 30 and 100+ state standards and somehow work all of them into your lessons with targeted objectives throughout the year until students have mastered each of them
39. Prepare kids for state tests (the standards for which aren't always synonymous with #38)
40. Prepare kids for national tests (the standards for which aren't always synonymous with #38 or #39)
41. Teaching children how to acquire mastery of grade-level material even when they are collectively 8 or more grade levels behind (TRUE STORY)
42. Going back and trying to fill all of the gaps in knowledge and skills from the grades they are behind in which are needed to master grade-level material (Why didn't you turn your book report in, Jane? "Because I can't read the book." Oh... okay, well, go take your seat for now, and we'll talk about it after class.)
43. Not passing students who didn't earn a passing grade, and dealing with the aftermath
44. Figuring-out how to pass an “appropriate” amount of students, even if they aren't doing their work/turning-it-in, or don't have the knowledge and skills to do the work that they're given at grade-level proficiency, because when you're classes are already over-populated, the school can't afford to hold back too many students each year
45. Deciding when and if to “round-up” when trying to pass that acceptable number of students when you're nowhere close (Do I bump them up from 2 points below the line or 13?)
46. Keeping objective (a.k.a. not playing “favorites” or â€œnot favorites”), even when certain kids do everything they can to make you crazy and other kids try everything that can to make you feel better
47. Balancing being sympathetic (How can I expect a single teenage mother with a night job to focus on her math homework when she can barely stay awake through class?) and holding kids reasonably accountable for their schoolwork (If I don't find a way to get her to do her homework, I'll have to fail her, and even if I fudged the grade, it wouldn’t help her in the long run because she won't have earned it by acquiring the basic skills she'll need to get a real job after graduating...)
48. Getting certified (often requires 100+ hours and thousands of dollars’ worth of education/training, which many schools can’t or won’t pay for
49. Maintaining your certification (more hours and dollars)
50. Attending ongoing professional development trainings
51. Attending meetings
52. Attending school functions
53. Sponsoring a club and/or coaching a team
54. Holding parent/teacher conferences multiple times per year
55. Figuring out how to communicate with students and parents who don't speak the same language as you or who have limited comprehension
56. Filling-out and filing special populations (students with physical disabilities, mental/learning disabilities, language deficiencies, socioemotional issues, Individualized Education Plans, Individualized Behavioral Plans, etc.) paperwork throughout the year, which includes tracking all specified modifications and accommodations on assignments and assessments and how well each of the students in these groups are doing/what you've done differently to improve their performance (note, although many people would think “special” populations numbers would be a small percentage of students, it can often be incredibly high—the term is no longer as “reserved” as it had been in previous years)
57. Collaborating with other officials who are part of the “team” involved with particular children (special education aids, counselors, parole officers, etc.)
58. Attending specialized family update and intervention meetings for students who need them (behaviorally challenged students, etc.) 
59. Updating and getting materials to children who have been absent, approaching them if they make no effort to get the information from you on their own
60. Catching students up when they've already missed several weeks of school (such as children from migrant families who don't always make it back in time for school to start or girls who have been out of school on maternity leave)
61. Creating and distributing informational material about classes and assignments/assessments, such as syllabi, calendars, reminders, etc., both in print and online
62. Working technology into all subjects and classes using apps, websites, mobile devices, etc.
63. Learning how to use all of this technology yourself so you can create materials on it and design lessons around it
64. Somehow procuring the items needed for technological integration when you don't have a class set (i.e., reserving the computer room in the library and walking your class there and back during their period)
65. Not relying on too much technology in classes because of the fear of children being over-saturated by it
66. Deciding when to let children use the restroom and figuring out how to “fairly” balance out the allowance when you have students with medical issues or whose parents will get angry if you don't let them go as often as they want to
67. Creating and enforcing classroom rules that are acceptable to the school (not as easy as it sounds)
68. Budgeting your allotted class funds and materials wisely to last you the entire year
69. Paying for items out-of-pocket that aren't allowed through the budget or after your budget has been spent
70. Getting school supplies for children that don't have any or won't bring any
71. Working with sometimes painfully outdated or dilapidated resources (There are two chapters torn out of this history text book and the last president they mention is Ronald Reagan...) 
72. Maintaining state ratios, even when you don't really have the staff to do so or you have an emergency, accident, or other urgent matter to attend to (I've had to pee for 2 1/2 hours, and I can't get anyone on the intercom to come down here! , Oh, why did this week's theme have to be "Splish Splash?!") 
73. Feeding children and taking health/safety precautions while doing so (Is that peanut butter or Sunbutter in Maria’s bag? The difference could mean one of my kids going into anaphylactic shock, so I either need to call Mom or throw her lunch away...)
74. Providing basic first-aid when needed, but only within your certification limits (did you know that removing splinters is considered surgery, meaning that teachers aren't generally authorized to perform the “procedure” themselves?) 
75. Starting and stopping class on time, meaning getting everyone settled and in “work mode” at the first bell and stopped (activities done, classwork collected, homework distributed, instructions given) at a logical place before the next bell
76. Throwing your clothes in the wash and showering right immediately work, in addition to popping vitamin C in any form you can get throughout the day in an often futile effort to avoid getting one (or all) of the latest strains of flu and/or this year's new super-virus
77. Not coming to school sick when it does happen (and believe me, it will) because you risk getting everyone else sick
78. Coming to school sick because you're under-staffed and they can't have you out today
79. Creating a substitute folder with instructions on how to run each class and do all of the things listed above and below in your absence when you literally cannot drag yourself out of bed (or you don't have the upper body strength to pull yourself up into your car after you managed to drag yourself to where it's parked)
80. Being culturally sensitive and finding ways to accommodate those with diverse beliefs even if they conflict with yours or the school's (I’m aware that Miesha's grandparents don't want her to go to any college that's not local, but I know she could get into Harvard and earn a full scholarship if she wanted to, so should I discuss this option to her, or should I respect her family's wishes and not mention it to her without being asked, or even if I am asked?) 
81. Balancing your beliefs with those of the school when they conflict (Principal Schmidt says to give the football players extra time to do their homework during the season, but I don't think that sends the right message if I don't give other students the same opportunity...) 
82. Being a “mandatory reporter” and deciding what constitutes legitimate concerns to report a suspicion of abuse/neglect, as well as how to proceed when/if it does occur (small children fall and bump into things often, so when they have bruises or marks, it can be very difficult to figure out if they are from innocent play of if they are the result of something inappropriate— this is a very tough situation to be in when the cause is unclear and, even when it is clear and you do properly report it, it’s still a very emotion situation that you have to handle with care and leave the law to handle after they have been notified, despite your urge to personally get further involved in an attempt to protect the child during a lengthy investigation or after a case is brought to an unsatisfying close)
83. Balancing how, if, and when to intervene when an important "out-of-class" learning opportunity/need presents itself (I know I teach art, but should I ask Mikey to stay after for a minute to discuss some of the negative things he was saying to his friends about women before he came in for class?)
84. Handling information confidentially according to the law and school policy
85. Being a “role model” in and out of school, sometimes to the extreme (plenty of teachers over the age of 21 have gotten into trouble for holding a glass of wine in a Facebook photo)
86. Policing your social media to accommodate the demands of #85 (Did my friend really just post that on my wall?!)
87. Filling-out very detailed incident forms, with options that include check-box choices like “child missing,” “blow to the head,” and “death” (very disturbing) 
88. Getting important paperwork to parents
89. Getting parents to sign that paperwork and then getting it back somehow
90. Acting as an academic advisor to a number of students (usually 20-30) who are assigned to you
91. Supervising the hyper kids who get to go on the field trip
92. Supervising the angry kids who don't get to go on the field trip
93. Cleaning your own room (the custodial crew can-- or will-- only do so much) and keeping things workably organized 
94. Sanitizing everything in your room, with approved chemicals, repeatedly
95. Finding a way to appropriately explain things like the difference between â€œgood touch” and “bad touch” for little ones, and... um... let’s say, “protected touch” and “unprotected touch,” for older ones (relevant if you're in the health science field or just happen to be that special teacher all the kids feel like they can come to with “adult stuff”)
96. Finding a way to make kids not hate subject X, Y, and/or Z
97. Figuring out what on Earth the curriculum is talking about sometimes (Aren't the guys writing this supposed to know something about education? How do I tell my students they're wrong when they say 5x3 is equal to 5+5+5?) 
98. Learning how to separate what's actually “serious” and what's “not serious,” and how to treat a situation as such
99. Worrying about your kids incessantly-- yes, even the ones who make you insane (believe it or not, we actually tend to worry about them more)

... And here, the one I naturally saved for the last,

but,  that I hope you know,

is absolutely not the least... 

1. Loving your kids with all of your heart, and accepting the risk of heartache in doing so.

There it is, 100 responsibilities taken-on by the modern teacher. (If you think of one I missed, or have something else to say, please add it in the comments section.) I hope you enjoyed the article, or at least feel more informed about the subject. Oh, and if you or your child has a great teacher in their life, please thank him/her the next chance you get-- It will be appreciated more than you could ever know! Thanks for reading!