When I'm not knitting, I'm a middle school teacher. It actually takes up a considerable amount of time. I would about 60 hours a week to prep and grade six different classes (I plan six different hours of work a day). This week, my school's email went down. I spend about an hour a day responding to parent emails. As terrible as it sounds, I'm rather glad that the email went down...

Here's why.

I spend day after day with students and I often explain the same concept 3+ times a day per class. My students should have heard the assignment, read the assignment, and wrote the assignment in their planners before leaving the class. So when a parent emails me asking for the homework, I'm a little irritated that their child either forgot, lied to them, or didn't want to tell them. Secondly, I post my weekly homework online the Sunday before the week starts. Rather than email me, parents can simply check the website. My most common email is about lost work. Of course your child thought s/he turned it in; they always do. However, after going through the backpack for five minutes or less, usually the child or parent will find the assignment. If a child is disorganized and lost the assignment, that is not my fault. My school provided an organizational class and all middle school teachers taught it at the beginning of the year. Therefore, 95% of the emails I receive ask for information that the parents can get in another way.

This tells me a few things about modern parents. They have tons of resources, but they are lazy, much like their children, and contact the teacher, giving teachers more work on their "off" time. Parents don't help their children stay organized. And lastly, helicopter parents believe that the more they check their child's grades and email the teachers, that their children should get A's in the class, regardless of natural intelligence.

So at the end of the day, it's really nice to not have to repeat myself to the parents, teaching them via email what I taught their children in class. Now I can spend more time grading and planning during my "off" hours.

Or more time knitting :D