Gothamist: Conducting Orchestra Instead of Teaching Classes

M. C-

Fri, 19 Aug 2005 13:33:24 -0500

This is definitely a classier second job than former social studies teacher Matthew Kaye's wrestling gig Classier, yes, but probably not as fun as former phys ed teacher Jeffrey Dion Bruton's, um, moonlighting gig, shall we say.

Jack

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 15:34:14 -0500

CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) is actually not as vague and nebulous a condition as some would think. I personally was diagnosed with it a few years back and laughed a bit. But it is real. Thank you dot-com boom and unhealthy life patterns! The reality is that you run your body down to the point in which you basically are very susceptible to diseases such as mononucleosis and such. And in the case of mono, the reason you're fatigued is because your liver is basically damaged by the virus and you just naturally become sleepy. Mono is not the only cause, but it's the most common version. Once you take care of yourself and allow the body heals--and the mono goes away--you're back to normal. In this case, the CFS really sounds like a load of hooey. Nobody who truly has CFS simply 'bounces back' after a few days in a different environment. That said, why is this shocking? NYC Board of Ed... Ooppps... 'Dept. of Ed' staff have notoriously ripped off the system. Not all of them. But it's been happening for years.

Max

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 11:23:14 -0500

Boo-freakin-hoo. Try working construction. That she is not already fired is a true sign of the problem with the teacher's union. CFS is an excuse 90% of the time and (IMHO)is a real red flag. What little I have seen of the condition/desease/whatever you want to call it, is that it is permanent, it doesnt turn on or off depending on one's temporary circumstances.

schoolmarm

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 11:01:52 -0500

What she did was WRONG, but I can tell you that teaching takes a LOT out of you. It screws with your immune system and exhausts you. My typical day was--walk/subway ride/walk to high school in the Bronx, carting a 20 lb. backpack of graded journals the whole way, teaching five classes in three different classrooms, running around from meeting to meeting, grabbing a 5 minute lunch while standing at the computer checking my email, staying after 2:30 for three hours grading work, prepping lessons for the next day and making photocopies on the one xerox machine. Then home again, carting a pile of stuff that won't get graded because I will pass out in my clothes after eating a bowl of cereal. Then waking up at 6:30 to do it all again the next day. I know, I know, poor me...and it does get easier now that I'm in my third year of teaching...and we do it because we love it...but sometimes it's just draining, physically and spiritually. I do sympathize with this teacher's desire to get away from the source of her stress...but it also seems to me that she should just stop teaching, because this pattern of behavior just points to the fact that she's burning out.

Dave H.

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 08:52:18 -0500

So what, this is like Mr. Holland's Opus in reverse?