Teaching is a 24/7 Job

First, this is the first time I'm posting on my Droid (I did one on my BlackBerry awhile ago), so it will be brief.

Just wanted to share this concept with y'all and get your thoughts...

So there is this guy I went to high school with, and he texts me relentlessly. Re-freaking-lentlessly. If I text back saying, "I'm busy" or whatever, he then starts in with texts like "I'm sorry" and "R U mad at me?" and such. Remember this post?

Yeah, needy and borderline passive aggressive, I know. Despite my evidently perpetually single existence, I'm not interested here. I've been on the mind fuck roller coaster, and I'm never getting back on.

But beyond all that, he seemed to be honestly flummoxed when I explained that I was too busy to have an extensive text exchange because I'm working. A teacher working in the summer? I honestly believe he thought I was making excuses.

It was no excuse.

I am teaching summer school, which involves extensive planning (and usually a beer to recover from). I am writing curriculum for two courses, one of which I've never taught before. I'm trying to help one of my former students do some credit recovery over the summer. I'm planning lessons and activities and classroom norms and stuff. I am on committees and focus groups that meet during the summer.

I could go on, but I assume you get the point. Teaching is a 24/7 job if you do it the right way (I tend to get my best ideas in the middle of the night)

I've had jobs where you go in, work eight hours, and go home. When you're not at work, you don't even think about it. There are days--few and far between, but they do exist--that I look back fondly on that concept.

I wouldn't change my career (unless it was to write full-time ;)), but I get really annoyed sometimes by the lack of understanding of the many faces of a teacher.

Particularly when you don't get why twelve texts in a one minute period when I'm trying to work is just far more annoying than it is endearing.