Teachers Work 30 Hours Per Week?

What crosses your mind when you hear the word teacher?  Employees who work 30 hours per week, 9 months out of the year?

One 36-year-veteran disagrees.   ”Teaching a first-grade class is similar to hosting a birthday party from 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. What would you do to engage and inform a group of 25 or more six and seven-year-olds for over six hours, day after day, 180 days out of the year?”

Do teachers simply show up for work everyday — no lesson plans, no materials, no tests, no home/school communication letters – walk in and out with their students?

What would we do?  How would we engage a classroom full of students for more than six hours each day?