Teachers here work 181 days per year [not including school trips, sabbaticals, free periods, etc]. That’s roughly six months a year, not 9, 10 or 11.
FYI: 181 days / 5 days per work-week = 36.2 work-weeks.
I have no "free periods." I do have a conference period, which is when I run papers, visit with my principal or the counselor about various individual student's situations, make parent phone calls (when there are parents), etc. I have students who have been abandoned by parents. (I ask God's blessing on the uncle who took in his niece and nephew.) I have a student whose mother was killed by a DUI, so her grandmother took her in. Then, her grandmother died in November. She's angry at the world, her aunt and uncle (new guardians who, I'm sure she thinks will die on her) and me, in particular, for being her teacher. I have a little gang-banger who is trying to take over my afternoon classes. This year, alone, I've been called an f-ing bxtch by both a 6th-grader and a 7th-grader.
We also have a planning period. [We have to sign in, and we have to be there to discuss curriculum and lesson planning, TAKS preparations and outcomes, etc. TAKS is the test that converts kids into bits of data.] I come in at 7 AM in the morning every morning, although class does not begin until 8:05. I'm at school until 4:15 at least. Frequently, it's 4:45 or 5:00.
At school I do school work. I don't socialize, I don't exercise, I don't snack, I never leave during the day-- ever. My cell phone is off. I'm there every day, which is why I've accumulated 120 days of sick leave which I will lose when I retire.
I spend at least 4 hours per weekend writing lesson plans online, and 2-3 more hours grading student work.
I earn my pay.
[On the bright side, in the morning, I have the pleasure of a class of students whose parents are raising a wonderful crop of kids. They are concerned about their grades, and their parents expect their children to do their best. This particular class, which I have the honor of teaching 3 periods a day, is, by their attitude, the best class I've ever taught in 22 years of teaching. [Of 25 kids, 4 are black, 2 are white, and 19 are Hispanic. Only three of these students could be called gifted. Most are just high achievers.]