These were the words on our school sign (and on the signs of many other signs throughout Sarasota County) today. Over the years I've been bothered by the title of Professional Day. It means (for those of you not "in the know") a day for teachers to use to grade papers, finalize grades for a grading period, plan lessons, write lesson plans, attend trainings, clean up the piles that have accumulated on the desk (oh, wait...that's probably just me!), and any one of a hundred other such tasks. My first reaction to the title is always, "What? I'm only a professional on those couple of days a year that the calendar says I am? I'm not a professional on the other days of the year?" I believe I am a professional all of the time. After all, I have two college degrees (a Bachelor's and a Master's), additional classes toward Gifted Certification, a couple of thousand hours of Professional Development tranings, National Board Certification, a very good command of proper English, and 28 years of classroom experience. And, I can conduct a meeting with other teachers and administrators, talk to parents and students, speak in public about my personal philosophy of teaching, and plan and run awards programs (and many other types of programs). Yes, I believe I qualify as a professional - I'm certainly not an amateur! In some places, this type of day is called a Teacher Work Day. Oh, yes, THAT'S better (she says with a touch of sarcasm). That implies that we only work on those days provided for that. Because teachers don't really work that hard, right? I'll hold off on that soapbox until another day.
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