Be All That You Can Be… In The Classroom

I have no idea how long ago it was, maybe 20 years by now, when the U.S. Army used the following slogan:

We do more before 9 a.m. than most people do all day.

I remember thinking, “That’s a selling point?” But then again, upon reflection, the Army wasn’t necessarily looking for me at that time.

Now comes a clip from The Teacher Salary Project, which is piecing together a feature-length film showing the real life of teachers. Below is a real-time split-screen comparison between the morning of a teacher compared to that of a real estate broker.

“We’re trying to make the book Teachers Have It Easy: The Great Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers into a documentary,” said author Dave Eggers. “Because it would be even better illustrated on film.”

When the book hit the shelves a few years ago, Rafe Esquith of the Washington Post wrote, “The authors have made several wise decisions in presenting their arguments. Rather than rely on theory, they support their premise by going to the front lines and telling tales of actual teachers, who are refreshingly frank in discussing their successes, failures, joys and disappointments. In addition, rather than merely being a forum for complaints, the book offers solutions.”

And Eggers himself is fond of instruction. He founded 826 Valencia, which has become 826 National, a non-profit tutoring, writing and publishing organization located in eight cities across the U.S. The goals are to help teachers engage and excite their classes about writing and to work with students to hone their writing skills.

Anyway, behold today’s “Do more before 9 am….”