Hi Bob,

Correct me if I am wrong, but I actually think we've talked before on twitter, an exchange of course frustratingly limited to 140 characters at a time.  I am really happy that you decided to join our converstaion at leadchange.

Perhaps maybe we should talk about what it means to work hard.  In your comment you equate hard work with simply putting in long hours.  I think hard work can include long hours, but that is not the whole idea.  I could dig a hole from 8-3 Monday-Friday for 9 months and I think you would agree that I am working hard for that amount of time.  I may or may not earn $50,000 for that task, but that is not the point.  That work is hard and I am more than willing to give props to all those that work hard in this way.

I could also work hard at another job, say writing a novel from 8-3, Monday-Friday for 9 months.  This is not physical work, but it is hard work in another sense.  It is intellectually challenging and requires meticulous attention to detail.  Again I give props to those who work hard in this way.

I hope my post suggested that if you are working really hard, that you think about whether you could change how you think about work.  When the work is something you love, something you can commit to because it is something you believe in and support, it makes the quality of our work better and the negatives easier to deal with.  And because most of us  work collaboratively or at least cooperatively, this change in focus is witnessed by others and contributes to the overall culture of the workplace.

In the end I have a suspicion that one thing you enjoy is stirring the pot.  I can leap to the defense of myself and teachers as a whole, but just as I hardly know you, you hardly know me, and unless you have actually been a teacher, I think the debate is pointless.

I will mention only this.  The future of education and our youth lies in the hands of those teachers you distain.  Perhaps you will consider that as you tear them down, showing even the best of them equal disrespect.  If we do nothing to build them up, nothing to repair the damage done by sweeping, callous statements, we leave our educational system and our youth with nothing but broken pieces.

I thank you for you comments, for all criticism is an opportunity to learn.