So what exactly does an Industrial Arts teacher do?

Ok, so people wonder why 'work' needs to be done in the holidays & often one of these people is my wife... So here's some things you may or may not know or understand about teachers & also the massive additional workload pressures associated with teaching Industrial Arts subjects.

There's maybe three types of teachers
* The really diligent ones that plan work, create assignments,  tasks & projects, mark work promptly, provide feedback for students & regularly engage parents in communications
* The good ones, that get the job done, work their hours, go home when school finishes & enjoy their well earned holidays
* The handful that struggle to deal with kids and probably are in the wrong profession

... and then there's Industrial Arts teachers.

First and foremost, we still fit in to the categories above, but responsibilities associated with our job (and doing it well) include

* Maintaining tools, machines & workshops
* Managing workplace health & safety training, registrations & ongoing risks
* Ordering materials, consumables & resources
* Preparing timber and metal stock for student use
* Managing appropriate storage, assembly & finishing of a large number of student projects
* Managing money, ensuring fees come in & subsequently preparing orders and units of work based on finances and fees

And there's probably many more responsibilities too!

Now before I make the next few statements, please note, I have a massive amount of respect for all our teachers and the work they do (no matter what subject area they teach) but soooo many people in our teaching profession & wider community probably don't understand the work behind the scenes that goes on in 'our'  line of work. So here's some things to consider.

English, Maths & HSIE subjects are primarily literacy and numeracy based subjects. In other words, pens, pencils, text books, tests, assignments, essays, etc. etc. So these subjects are lucky enough that they don't have to manage all the physical resources we do.

PDHPE have balls & bats & singles & shorts & stuff to manage, & sometimes I feel sorry for these teachers as they are often unappreciated for the efforts they put in, but that's a story for a PDHPE teachers blog :-)

Science & Food Tech teachers DO manage practical resources & practical environments, even if they aren't as greasy & dusty as ours, but they are also lucky enough to have a kitchen & lab assistant to help manage their resources & prepare before practicals & assist with clean up, etc. etc.

But do Industrial Arts teachers get similar luxuries? No.
This leads to one of two things.
'IA' teachers busting their butts for the good of their kids, classes, faculty, school & community or disengaged teachers struggling with workload pressures & ultimately losing control of their kids, classes, workshops, etc, etc.

Now it may just be the fact that I have two of my staff out of action at the moment & am filling a 3rd position with an untrained temporary staff member, but I'll be honest, I'm feeling the pressure & wish I knew the answers on how to make things better. And this happens in every school!

Right now the answer is unsustainable.. that answer being working, myself in to the ground working 60-70+ hours per week to make sure all my kids, classes, teachers, rooms, etc, etc. are provided with the best possible opportunity to succeed, but in my pursuit of xonential perfection, I'm always looking for better ways of doing things & would welcome yur thoughts & feedback...

But to finish with the good news! I'm still loving life, love my job, love the time I get to spend with the fam, friends & playing sport & if you were to ask me, "What's your dream job?" I'll still tell you, "I'm living it!"

E=R :-)