Why I Quit My First Year of Teaching | Advice for New Teachers
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- Hi! Thanks for watching my video!
Sorry for the crazy camera angle changes. I'm pretty new at this.
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I’ve been watching “Why I Quit Teaching” videos for the last hour or two as I struggle with my own decisions about my teaching career. I’ve been having the worst few months of my life in my first year teaching and my mental health has declined so severely that my friends and family are worried about me. I’m at a loss for what to do and have been wondering if I should quit mid-year. Your video gave me some useful insight that I hadn’t heard yet, so I appreciate you for having posted this.
What decision did you make?
@@frugalminimalist4502 I actually ended up leaving at the end of the term (a week ago). It has been really good for me so far and I’m feeling hopeful about finding a job that better suits me!
Can you explain why you quit mid-year? I'm thinking about it, too. Everyone keeps saying "Give yourself time. It's your first year". I don't know if I should leave in December to save myself a full school year, stick it out, or quit immediately.
same boat here for 21-22 school year
@@macy1225what did you end up doing?? I’m in the same boat
I'm a new teacher. I've been teaching since the summer. I quickly learned that you just have to be able to read the room and learn which battles to fight.
Now that I'm in year four, I definitely believe this is SO true. Glad you're learning this early!
It should not have to be that way in the first instance. It about education, not unhealthy toxic environments where things can errupt at any moment.
oh.....
glad you have it all figured out!
and in your first year, no less.
good job.
This is a thankless profession! I regret the day I filled in those training application forms. My life is so negatively impacted in too many ways, I am totally burnt out and realise I will eventually need to make a decision for my sanity and future. Money isn't everything so whatever I do should be enough to put food on the table etc. I feel like a failure after 30 years of giving up my soul and neglecting my own kids in favour of the evil demands of this job. I love the kids (they adore me and think I'm THE BEST teacher) but the rubbish bureaucracy and toxic environment of school life where so called friends turn on you and women are as vicious as ever - NO THANKS! I often fantasise that when I win the lottery I will give the administration 24 hours notice of QUITTING ...
Honeymoon, are we the same person? Oh my goodness! I feel exactly like you do!
Vent post like these make me so sad. 🙁
Thank you for this. I quit mid year last year. I was not in a good place mentally, and wanted to take a mental health break. My admin basically said, “resign or come to work” so I resigned. I have worked on myself and have been considering going back, but I’m terrified! Nice to know it might work out.
Thank you for this post. I'm a first year teacher and decided to give my two weeks notice. It was hard to make that decision because I had such high hopes for this job. But it's affecting my health, don't get much support from admin and lately I've been feeling apathetic... it's not fair to me nor my students if I stay. I do plan on going back to teaching, but for now I just want to focus on myself and work as a sub.
Sorry to see this so much later- but I'm so glad you found this helpful! How did things end up for you?
I was a permanent substitute teacher and found it easier than day to day subbing. Administrative support also factors in though. As a permanent sub, I actually got a lot of administrative support.
Did you get a sub job?
Are you still teaching?
My friend told me, "Teachers don't do anything". I said, "Teachers don't even stop after been clocked out. There's grading and lesson planning". She responded, "They have a lot of vacations". Do we now? I almost had a heart attack. I died inside a little.
Wow, I'm really sorry that your friend said that. It sounds like there is a lot of disrespect in the way that she spoke to you. Not okay. :(
@@spokenwordpoetries thank you.
Challenge your friend to substitute for a few days and then get her perspective. Of course subbing won't give her a glimpse into the "hidden" hours of teaching but it will help her to understand much more about the world of education.
You're spot on, especially about the growth mindset. I did the same thing you did--quit midyear, thought I wasn't cut out for teaching and was a complete failure, took some time to learn more and now have a teaching job I love. Thanks for sharing. This is great advice for new teachers who are thinking of quitting or have done so. You're not alone and don't write off the profession forever!
Are you teaching in same district you resign from or did you had to apply out of the district?
@@glendymarquez6165 New district.
Roxanne Cornell I too resign my first year of teaching because it was so stressful that I got sick. Sometimes I think about going back to teaching but the fears of going through the same experience freaks me out. During the time I was teaching I couldn’t stop thinking of everything I had to do and freaking out that my kids were not improving academically. The idea of dealing with 24 students, admin, parents, and having to take credits in order to get a salary increase stresses me and the thought of not having a contract renew every year it freaks me out. I feel like a failure because I went back to work as a school custodian making less.
@@glendymarquez6165 Maybe you could try what I did. I worked myself back into teaching by continuing to tutor for many many years. Don't count yourself out of the game. Teachers are needed and your experience and the wisdom and confidence of age are valuable commodities in the right school district. Keep trying if you think this is what you want to do with your life. In terms of dealing with parents, nothing helped me more than having my own kids and seeing things from a parent's point of view.
I am a middle school sped teacher. Your story is mine. I quit after one week of my first year, then subbed for 3 years and that made all the difference. I went back and am now on my 8th year of middle school special Ed. I love it now. You have to bulldog through it, forgive your mistakes, learn and move on. Everything you said is 100 percent correct in all you said! It’s nice to find someone cut from the same cloth!
I'm guessing you struggled with the decision to post this, but I think it's great that you did. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Sorry I didn't see your comment until now, but thanks so much! It was a hard decision but I love sharing my mistakes and how I've grown!
Welcome to the world of teaching in the United states! First off, first year teachers go through a process similar to hazing. They pack your class with the behavior kids. It's a bad cycle. Second, the admin. Cant put in evaluations saying everyone is great or mediocre. They have to have a few bad ones to put on probation and say they are fixing them. They have extra lesson plans, 2 or 3 times the amount of observations, etc. There is no backing for those who try to get their behavior kids under control. In fact they get blamed! Most teachers who make it through this process have figured out a way to curb the behavior (which would get them in trouble if it came to light) or just deal and push through. Eventually, getting a little bit better class as the newer teachers come in and get their class packed with all the behavior problems. You wonder why so many districts are having to higher 400 plus new teachers every year and also try to pull in foreign teachers. It's a mess. Nobody wants to hold the parents and kids accountable anymore. Teachers have no power. My many years of experience!
John Smith this was the most real comment I have ever read. This was my exact experience and you could not have said it any better
Yes! That’s exactly why I quit my first year! I never signed up to be in a sorority so why do I feel like I’m being hazed for a paycheck?!? I didn’t have any classroom management problems and test scores always advanced. It was something else at play. So not worth it. I moved on to just subbing.
I’m on my 12th year of my class packed with the behavior kids. I am structured and strict, and I know how to motivate students to work. The problem is the toll it has taken on my health. I am now very very over it all. Plus, these post Covid kids… out of pocket. As I move into my 30th year, I can honestly say thank you God the end is in sight.
Not having a curriculum to work with was a big barrier to overcome as a new teacher. Being new to teaching is very , very hard. Glad you found the joy in teaching, it can be very fun and rewarding.
Thank you for this! I am a first year teacher and I feel the exact same way you felt. I could not let myself quit but I am gaining hope for my next group of kiddos. I know what I want to do next year and am ready to have a better year next year.
It's refreshing to see someone discussing the challenges teachers face when transitioning careers. Your video provides valuable guidance and encouragement. Keep up the excellent work!
I'm glad you said it's ok to leave. So many teachers will stay at a district that they hate. You have to mesh with your bosses just like any other job.
Really admire you for taking that needed step back and then returning to the career! That must have taken a lot of courage, glad ur enjoying your job now
I am so glad you stuck with it. On youtube you see the great teachers and the people the just quit but you speak to the middle...you left but came back and learned from your mistakes. They are lucky to have you.
Thank you! That's who I plan to represent. The middle! ;)
Yes, sometimes a change of venue can make a world of difference.
I quit 54 times my first year. Hated it, totally delusional. That was 27 years ago. Teacher of the year 7 times. College taught me nothing about teaching. The kids taught me how to teach. It takes time to learn how. Almost like college. You have to do it for a few years (Like 5) to know what to do, how to react to problems. Love them , let them know you care but wont put up with anything. Things get better.
Did you teach again after quitting 54 times the first year and still continue?
@@Melissa-ht2fp I am in my 30th year. Still love it!!!
@@vincentmccrosky1394 I also want to be a teacher specifically a middle school math teacher. How can one survive on a teacher salary? I am scared I won’t be able to support myself and my parents.
@@Melissa-ht2fp I make less than many starting out teachers in big states. I think it is relative. I teach in Missouri, so I don't make much, but it doesn't cost much to live. Go to some school web sites and they usually have a salary schedule, and I have made extra money teaching summer school, tutoring, taking care of the grounds in the summer. This job will break you, you have to be tough. My kids think I am nuts, but I have a thousand tricks up my sleeves to get them to behave. I have been beaten, defeated, elated, exalted, and everything in between. The kids don't care, you make them care by attitude, being funny, by love, by being an ass. (I can be beautiful or an ass, you (Kids) get to choose. ) Just last October I was teaching a history lesson and the little heifers' would not shut up. I gave them a book assignment (Which I hate and never do) told them if they talked we would do the same thing again tomorrow. Then I pulled out cookies, sat in the front of my room, eating cookies with a big smart ass grin, They have never gave me a seconds problem. When they get loud I just walk to my desk and get cookies and they get quiet and let me teach, because I am more fun than book work. I come to work with a quiz, if they act up they get a quiz. 95 percent of my days are fun, and I have taught in the roughest schools also.
Going through the same thing now. Thank you for what you’ve said here. More teachers need to be prepared for the reality of how difficult it can be, and learn that leaving is ok if your mental health is in jeopardy or if your support system is lacking at that school. I’m currently taking a break with the intention of going back to teaching. I’m using the time to not only keep looking for the right job fit but also to better myself as a teacher.
Your mom is totally right! I'm teaching for five years now and it's a lot easier than when I started. Great video and glad you're still in the profession.
Thank you,
I needed to here your vlog!!!!! I’m currently a sped teacher working within an unhealthy & harmful work environment. All the things you went through is what I’m currently feeling and thinking of myself. Don’t get me wrong I love my colleagues!!!! The students suffer with moderate to severe ( emotional disturbances, bi- polar,...) exceptionalities. It’s just not where I’m meant to be. Thank you for helping me realize that there are other schools and “teachers “ with similar stressful and harmful environments. The goods new is that the school has a new principal and hopefully he will be able to turn things around!!!! It’s too late for me. I want my passion for teaching again!!!! I know it’s possible!!!!! Thank you!!!! I’m sorry if my comment seems more like rambling. I just had so much to say in such to say.
It's my first six weeks in a classroom of students with ASD, ODD & Emotional Disturbance. I'm about to give 24 hours notice bc my director blamed me for the student tearing up my desk and throwing chairs at the wall.
@@nkimberly33 -I hope you are in a better place. That is completely ridiculous and it's downright shameful that an administrator would do that to a teacher. So not only did you deal with the trauma of having a student tear your room apart (because...let's face it-even though we know the student is acting out from a place of hurt, fear, etc.-it's still scary, chaotic, and unpredictable when that happens)-you also have someone blaming you on top of it.
Though things have changed, the stress hasn't. A ton of teachers in the US are flocking to China because pay is great here and pressure is much lighter. Our family paid off $55k in school loan debt while here! Contact me if you're interested in teaching in China. I can give advice and connect you with great places to work
Please share info. I am an interested teacher as well. I am at a very unhealthy school system.
lol yall shouldnt be teaching. You need to be taught. 🤒
Carol Franco n
A teacher who knows how to learn is a formidable force in the world, thanks for sharing
This was such a wonderful video to find among all these "100 Reasons Why Teaching Was the Worst Thing I've Ever Done in My Life" type of videos.
Thanks! I always found those videos real frustrating.
I'm so pleased you didn't give up!! Much in life success is struggling through difficulties, and I don't blame you for leaving a bad situation! The good Lord placed you in a great learning opportunity and now your a success!!
I am a second career Science teacher that worked in research Laboratory for 33 years. I had funding problems and back problems that ended my Research career but I had a Science teaching job opportunity at a Christian high school that I took 3 years ago and the first year was AWEFUL!! I don't know how I made it!! Just completed my 3rd year and I feel like a real Science teacher and o love my students and families and my coworkers!!
Great job and Congrats on making it to your current teaching job!!
Just subscribed! Thank you so much for posting this! My experience was similar to yours. Leaving was a difficult decision to make, but I realized I needed to be in better health physically and mentally. I am in the process of finishing my certification(alternative certification route) and hope to be back in the classroom soon.
So glad we both have found pathways back to teaching!
What is your degree in? I'm also an introvert and I've been teaching for over 10 years at various schools. It is very draining and many times you will want to quit, but the pay gets better and you learn what works for you and what doesn't. To be fully transparent here, I am looking for a way out. Just about any job sounds more appealing than teaching, but right now this job pays the mortgage.
@@toteachperchancetodream8320 Thank you for your response! My ACP offered student teaching, so I took advantage of the opportunity. It was the best decision I made. I was placed in one of the most challenging schools, but I was able to overcome it because this time, I was prepared to handle it. Student teachers are given the chance to sub after finishing student teaching for a month, so I've been subbing on a daily basis at all levels(I took your advice to heart).It's been a year since I first watched your video, and I'm grateful that I did.
I am a high school English teacher in my 1st year. This is my 3rd year in the school system. I felt overwhelmed and stressed out by week 3. I am not sleeping well, menstrual cycle is off, no time for me & my family. I am working 126 hours or more a week due to lesson planning, grading, & grading late work, documenting for behavior etc. I have seen students talk excessively even after talking to them about their behavior ,they cheat on assignments & share work online, make dog whistle sound on computers, leave desk to play talk, immature behavior hitting, running, throwing things, etc. I am over it. My school culture needs improvement. A lot of students want to drop out & hate school.
This sounds like me when I worked in healthcare.
This has bn the most positive video that I have viewed about teaching. Best to you!
Do you think teaching would be draining for someone that is an introvert? I'm not sure that teaching is for me but I don't want my degree to go to waste! I have anxiety when it comes to meetings at my current job.
First year teacher and an introvert. It is VERY draining, particularly in my situation since I do not have my own classroom/space. Having said that, I did a long term sub job and I loved it despite being an introvert. It was nice having two conference periods where I can be by myself.
Just don't teach middle school!
As a male introvert, yes! It more than draining, it is outright exhausting. If you have any other skills, please use them elsewhere. You will be miserable in the class.
Wow, I am SUPER late to your post. I think it can depend. One of my best friends is a fourth grade teacher and a pretty severe introvert. She finds it's different with her kids, though- they don't drain her as much.
I can't help too much with this, becuase I sway way the other side (I struggle being alone!) but Michelle over at pocketful of primary here on youtube has vlogged about being an introvert teacher before!
It depends on each person. I'm an introvert, and find it verrrrry draining, just in terms of management, constantly talking and all the noise.
But there are others who manage and enjoy teaching. If you have the chance to get experience, I'd suggest trying it out (if you haven't already).
I hated middle school. It almost made me completely leave teaching too. I now teach preschool and I’m happy
We need to go back to 1920! The curriculum was awesome. The students handwriting was excellent.
Very true....Hey Can you please tell me about the schools and curriculum in 1980s and 1990s
I am subbing first to see what grades I might be better suited to.
I taught a self contained Catholic parochial 7th grade class right after getting out of the navy where I was a Quartermaster 2nd class/submarines or a navigational watch stander at the chart table in the control room on two different boats. The first thing I noticed about the kids was that the bottom third in both grades I taught math to simply couldn’t do arithmetic beyond perhaps a third grade level which to me was so contemptible considering my background that I lost faith in the entire educational system immediately. But the merchant marine wasn’t hiring yet in the early 1980s so I ended up wasting 7 years on that crap before finally getting into the Seafarer’s Union around 1988. The villain of this piece is social promotion, or the practice of killing these kids with kindness. These same kids were also incapable of passing the entrance exams to any of the local Catholic high schools so it was off to the public school for them for high school. When I was in high school at a public school myself such types were shunted off into industrial arts and took “shop math” instead of geometry and algebra.
Great video! Can we get an update on where you’re at in life and as an educator?
I'd love to see more videos from you on exactly how you get support in your school.
i am going into my first year teaching and I really loved your words of encouragement!
Just realize that all your coursework you did, writing perfect lesson plans, you will use probably 5%. If you have a good administration, count your blessings.
Thanks for sharing your story! :)
This is great! Thank you for your sharing your experience!!💛
Thanks so much! Sorry for my late reply. ;)
What an amazing story!
What are you issues with the admins? I've been teaching of 6 years and honestly the first few just suck in general. My first year was terrible because my lessons and management was bad. I made the decision to focus on management that year and got pretty good at it. My second year, my management was above average so I focused on teaching my content (science). That is something that I'm still changing little by little each year. You get to the point where you don't need much support from administration. I only need them when handling certain parents.
In my first and only year of teaching, someone attempted to bribe me, I was intimidated by administration, groped by a drunk mom, harassed over the phone and email, falsely accused of sexual harassment, and students and even other teachers spread rumors defaming my character. This was only in a span of 9 months because school was shut down in March. I came in to work every day scared of what would happen next. It started affecting my physical and mental health. I had back pain and was falling asleep while at my desk. I came to work angry and left angrier. I have experience substitute teaching in impoverished inner city schools, and the academic and behavioral problems I witnessed simply made sense. Of course they were scared, frustrated, and hopeless -- their lives were spiritually and materially empty because of poverty, abuse, neglect, etc. But this full-time position was in a wealthy community with a reputation and pride in their schools. These were people that had everything laid out for a privileged, fulfilling life, yet they acted nastier than those with real problems. It took a long time to sort out how I could love and trust people again after knowing what people are capable of. I resigned, moved, and started my own business. I am much happier now and my health has improved.
next video on YT i love teaching dont quit!!
I finally had to throw in the towel after 35 years. Fortunately i made it to retirement. I loved the job, but the bullshit never ends and only gets worse.
Great honest video! I have seen this with new teachers a thousand times and very few admit it. They get on CZcams and blame everyone else. You are a born teacher because you are so reflective. Subbing was just such a great plan.
What happens if you quit in the middle of the year as a contracted teacher?
I got hired at a Catholic school last summer two weeks before school, middle school lit/ELA. Worked my ass off for minimum wage. So…
My first year; COVID, first year principal; virtual and in person; difficult class! What could go wrong? 6 weeks in: parent shows up at school complaining student’s grades not yet posted; principal comes running into my room and takes me to task in front of class and then proceeds to have another teacher cover my class while she berated me and threatened to put a note in my file. That was my last day.
I look at this generation of school kids, and estimate will it get better or worse in five or ten years time, once teaching was a life times work, not any more, generations of changes in behaviour is more violent in our kids, self safety must be used to stay or try and carry on, I'm not educated in any way but can read the score which way its going, local they built this 50 million school and it's practically run by viral girl, boy, that puts pressure on decent wanting to learn pupils, it would have been better to have had one for penal kids and the other half decent kids.
I’m a new teacher. How do you leave or break your contract without them holding it against you?
Did resigning affect your possibilities of getting hired? I mean...as far getting a letter of recommendation or having a reputation within the district?
Thank you
Hey, thanks for your comment! I wasn't fired or "resigned in order to avoid termination" or anything like that. My principal gave me a good recommendation and we left on positive terms.
I have not had trouble getting employment since then. :)
@@toteachperchancetodream8320 are you teaching in the same district you resign from?
@@glendymarquez6165 Hi, sorry, I just saw this. I was working at a charter school, not a public district, so there were no other schools connected. I work in the same metro area though.
If my teachers would have protected me instead of letting me getting beat up by both administrators and teachers I would have been ok. Being bullied by other students was one thing but the teachers shouldn’t have been ok with teachers or yard duties hurting kids
Wow first year? The problem is that don't care about our health or mental health and they just get new excited teachers and burn them out too....it is not what it used to be kids.....if your going to college and getting a masters degree I suggest be a consultant - you will make a lot more money
Hello! I resigned a full time job a month a go due to a health problem. But I'm worried that I won't get hired anywhere to sub. Did your former admin tell you they would give you a good reference when you left? I didn't ask mine when I left. But I'm hoping they will. Any advice for me? I want to sub and I'm scared of the mid year resignation stigma.
Teaching isn't about teaching.
Great video!
I was "FORCED" to retire, well really I was forced to RESIGN. Resign or be FIRED. It's gotten so POLITICAL and LIBERAL. So if you're a conservative or especially a Christian Conservative. DON'T GO INTO TEACHING.
Lord! Why are we not paying our educators more in this country???
Nice message.
Hi mamx
killing dreams here.. appreciate it parents
I think you come out of rookie status at 5 years and we can say you are an experienced teacher at 10 years.
My method is teach people how to treat you. I do what I can for I am just a man.
Totally digging this video, I will subscribe
I love teaching. Saudi Arabia is the place to be...
This 'teaching abroad where the money is' is a fascinating issue. It highlights difficult matters of morality i.e. earning a very good living in countries (china and saudi arabia have both been mentioned in the comments) with questionable universal social freedoms whilst leaving behind the failing schools back in one's home country, the country one would imagine, to which one would like to return at some point and which is populated by the soon-to-be adults who the failing schools have err... failed.
Oh God no! Have you attended a beheading? And not if you’re a woman!
Teaching is not for the self obsessed.
@@BryKer1804 You understand it. I am a Dutch teacher in China and love it.
Like most women, feelings and emotions rule and dictate far too much in your life.
I am subbing first to see what grades I might be better suited to.