Has anyone participated in a grade-in yet? We are doing one here next weekend and I am going to go. Pretty exciting. They are actually doing one in all three local malls.
http://www.njea.org/news/2011-03-23/members-stage-grade-in-at-deptford-mall Here is an article about one they did in Jersey recently. Instead of trying to prove how much we do by "working to rule," teachers are getting together in local spots and doing their planning and grading so everyone can see how much work they do after hours. Mall food courts have been popular spots to stage these. There will three going on simultaneously at different malls around here next weekend. I love the idea. I know the one we are doing has asked that we make sure we buy food so that we are not affecting the businesses in the food court.
I like it. I have never participated in a grade-in perse, but I take schoolwork to the book stores and coffee shops from time to time. I tend to focus better away from home and its distractions.
I do this too, but I am excited to have several union members with us. I think it will be really powerful. And now when I grade in public, I might bring my little sign with me. It says "I teach at _____. Ask me what I am doing."
I don't think it sends the right message and could actually backfire. As a primary grade teacher, I don't really have a lot of "grading" to do. But I often work 10 to 12 hour days in my classroom, hanging, straightening, rearranging, cutting, pasting, preparing, copying, etc. I often envy the upper grade teachers who have minimal work to do in their rooms but can take off to Starbucks to do their grading. I think a lot of people would see a "grade in" and think "gee, must be nice to be able to take off and go do your work wherever." Keep in mind that many of us are teachers precisely because we can leave work in the mid afternoon and have the flexibility to beat the traffic and spend time with our families.
I think the point is that much of the public sees us in just that light, able to leave work in midafternoon and summers off. What they don't realize is that quite often the work follows us home. Unlike those who can clock out at 5:30 and call it a day, the day for many teachers does not truely end until they go to bed. Even then, the in box doesn't empty until the last days of the school year (and that is was almost no one outside of the education world realizes.)
