Why Teachers Everywhere Are Leaving the Classroom
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- čas přidán 4. 05. 2024
- We get a little serious in this episode about a topic that triggers a lot of emotions and personal opinions around the profession we love so much...
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You know something is messed up in a system when a teacher is finding work so hard that the military is viewed as an easier job by comparison.
It's the sad truth. My daughter's godmother's daughter has a masters degree in education and taught for almost 10 years quit in 2018. I quit teaching in 2017 halfway through my second year. I left for my mental health and started homeschooling my toddler. She left and joined the military full time.
The Army was easier and safer.
So meaning where u could get killed and bombed or something like tht or get hurt it's safer than being a teacher thts shocking if tht is true then 🤦♀️ towards the education department
@@waterdragon55 i was meaning teacher burn out and mental stress. If you look at school shooting terrorism in America the statistics show a child is more likely to die due to being shot at school than a police officer or military person doing their job. I havent looked at teacher mortality rates :( I would attatch references but cant on youtube but a quick google will provide information and statistics. It is horrifying. I feel so bad for every person who has to grow up in America.
Cops have an easier job than teachers. Just ask former cops who have gone into teaching they will back up that claim. 💯
I’m not a teacher but what gets me is that during COVID ( when they had to do online school) I would hear a bunch of parents say that they they had a new respect for teachers because they saw how much teachers were doing and they would never take advantage of them again. How when school started back, in person, they planned on making sure they asked the teachers what they needed and they would get them whatever they needed. Now all they do is complain about the teachers, no wonder teachers are quitting. I definitely understand why they are quitting.
Completely agree, the amount of tiktoks I’ve seen over the panini of parents being just nasty and hostile to their kids because they had zero patience to do homework with their kids. And what made it even worse was seeing people thinking that those videos were funny, like…this person is probably traumatizing their child.
100% this. We went from being heroes to being the scapegoats for all problems regarding the pandemic. And no, you did not home school your children. I schooled them - all I asked of you is to make sure they did their studies - you know, normal stuff.
@@krisdog88 actually some of us (mostly in the South where the panini got real bad but the state didn't act like it was bad at all until it was truly awful) didn't have even the internet infrastructure in place to do online learning, so we really did have to step up and teach our kids, because no one else was going to do it. Unless your family was rich and could hire a teacher or a tutor, or be part of a homeschool pod, we (parents) were completely thrown into the day and life of teachers. Now that we're back to in-person learning (masks optional, no separation, no SDing craziness) those of us who struggled with teaching our own kids the way that our state wanted them taught, value the time and effort that our teachers go to in order to even function in this "new normal". Ever since our kid went back, every PTC I ask the same question at the end, "Do you need anything? Pencils, paper, folders, flash drives, headphones, disinfectant, anything? We know funding just isn't there and we want to help."
@@gardeninggamergirl7761 I truly understand that a lot of parents did a lot to step up, and I'm thankful for that. I'm sorry for generalizing. In my district, I met with each class every day on Zoom - Kids were given laptops and internet hot spots so they could participate.... so yes I was still their teacher giving dailly lessons, assignments, open Zoom time for questions and help. Yet even with all the support and work (making everything I do accessible online was no easy feat), I gave my students all day, every day, parents still complained about having to home school their kids. It was beyond frustrating. Not wanting to go back to in-person learning when we all worried about the health of the kids and our own families, we were called cowards. I literally cried every day. Now, it seems like those same parents expect us to do it ALL. Even the parenting... unless you try to parent - then they get upset and want to sue the district. Thank you for being supportive of your teachers!
I remember hearing this too. This was just the parents gaslighting teachers. They want it both ways. They want the teachers to be responsible for the kids but have no say over anything with little pay and no help.
This episode had me so triggered. I’m not a teacher but I am a mom of a son who has some issues managing his emotions. I worked with his school for 2.5 years to work on that. He was in therapy, we had a safety plan in place, and we just couldn’t get my son to comply and keep his hands off kids. We couldn’t get him to stop destroying the classroom. The final straw for me was when he put his hands on his teacher. I pulled him from school that day. I am a single mom who works full time out of the home and my son now comes to work every day with me and does online schooling. I just want to apologize to all teachers and classrooms that have to go through that and deal with kids that can’t control their emotions, and parents who are dismissive of their child’s behavior.
And school directors who encourage teachers to just deal with it! No accountability on the child l/child’s parents whatsoever! Thank you for being so considerate in your situation
You’re a great parent, I hope you’re told that often enough!! Thank you for putting the well being of your son and his teachers first.
You’re a real life angel, and I wish you relief, peace, and prosperity.
You are an amazing woman and mother! I can only imagine how difficult this was to admit and make this decision. It sounds like the environment may have been too stimulating for your son. You will find the right placement for him and for your heart. Wishing you all the best!
My cousin is going through a tough time with her kid too. She has been left with homeschooling him because of the amount of inappropriate behavior he has in the schools.
I’ve found that there is no grace for teacher’s who struggle with the same issues that the students have - stress, anxiety, depression, panic.
YES! And often times.that panic, anxiety and stress is caused by the students
Yes. I’m one of those teachers 😢
🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯
@@noellefair4373😩😢🎯
Number 1: They are tired of the disrespect from parents and students. Number 2: These kids have totally lost it this year. Number 3: The way these school districts and the state are pushing testing this even though a lot kids are behind is crazy.
Tbh. I understand why they want the testing. They want /need to know how far behind the kids are.
But they shouldn't be pushing as much as they are.
PREACH!!!
4 they are tired of admin being disrespectful and not supporting them
I hate how schools are using testing scores as a judgment for funding. Idk if it’s the same at every school but at my school district, (the we call them Iowa assessments), but we would take a whole week it used to be around November but now it’s in the spring so March or April, to focus on those tests and we’d get cookies and juice it was so dumb. But the teachers really pushed these tests and told everybody to actually try because if we do well we’d get more funding.
And we have spring pictures that we were forced to take and nobody wanted them but we had to take them so we could get funding for the school.
Somebody explain to me why we would get funding for taking a picture that only a few parents actually buy.
I’m a retired teacher and I hated when they started state and district testing for k-2.
The lack of student accountability is exactly why I quit driving a school bus. We can't do our jobs if admin won't discipline the children when they do something wrong and our hands are tied.
I always tell my students that bus drivers have the hardest job in the school system. You have all my respect & admiration for doing it.
I completely agree because I was bullied by a child who had a history of being violent and rude and she only got talked to not even suspended maybe put in ISS once I was almost beaten up by a child because of this other child and I had to apologize the teachers are trying to do something and they are not listen to honestly I think that once you're helping the teachers you're helping the students because the teachers are the ones who really seem to be caring about the students at all
I am in a private school and our busses are white vans, mostly windowless with no stickers or anything driven by migrant workers who live in the school and are underpaid, the students go from K-12 and the older ones smoke, there's not enough seats so most of the time students sit on the floor of the "bus"
@@tyu951 wtf
It's society wide. No more accountability.
When someone told me “it’s okay to love teaching, but hate your job,” it changed my entire perspective & matched exactly how I felt.
That's usually what happens when you're lacking support
That's exactly what I say about my job! "I love nursing, but I despise working in Healthcare™"
@@Mocha_x_svt yup, 100%
How could anyone hate a job that pays you year round for just nine months work? Or offers thirteen paid holidays? Or winter and spring "breaks?" Or "professional days"? Or never having to work nights or weekends? Or BCBS with unlimited sick leave? Or a cop pension? Should I go on? Nah, that's good for now.
@@zephead843 Teachers arrive at work at 8AM and don't leave until 4 or 5PM. So that right there is their 8 hours a day. Does it end there? If you're a teacher who cares about their job, the answer is most likely no. The majority go home in the evenings and do more work. They prep for tomorrow's lessons - and with differentiation and IEPs, they're not just making one lesson per period, they're accommodating for various learners and adapting material so the needs of all their students' needs are met, grading homework and assessments, responding to parent and admin emails, and updating online courses. The weekends? They're usually spent catching up on more work and grading. Teachers, most of them anyway, work during those cozy-sounding holidays. They do professional development courses and seminars over the summer break. Those unlimited sick leave days you speak of? First, I've never heard of it, and second, every teacher will tell you that creating lesson plans for your substitute teachers ends up being more work than if you actually went in to work.
Should I go on? Nah, that's good for now.
i'm a student, but one girl literally had to be restrained by a male teacher because she was about to hit me with a chair after i'd done our entire project and just asked that she helped pay $10 for the supplies. i'm a very quiet person and would never hit someone especially at school, it was terrifying. she got 1 day of ISS and i had to see her back in class, nevermind the trauma that caused me, students are also feeling the repercussions of problematic kids are not getting consequences, the system these days is awful.
I totally understand. You probably won't get any money back. Just be a friend to others and try to stay out of her path
Man, that's crazy!
I dislike when people say teachers who quit hate kids…no…it’s due to the disrespect they get from the students and parents. Also, they’re underpaid. I’m not a teacher, but I have close friends who are teachers, plus my mom was an assistant teacher in a special Ed department.
And we know the kids would probably be less difficult if teachers were given proper funding to run their classes. But the government keeps defunding education and our children/teachers are suffering the long term consequences
Yes, exactly!
Even if that statement was true, wouldn't them quitting be a GOOD thing for everyone?
I don't have kids, but I wouldn't put my cats with a catsitter that hated cats
For real. Teachers who hate kids don’t quit. Why would we quit? Its the optimal situation to torture children. :D
…and because I know the internet doesn’t understand satire, no I don’t hate children. It’s a joke.
Literally never heard this in my life
One of the saddest experiences I’ve had with my mother(a CCL k-5 teacher) is her coming home in tears after her evaluation this year. My mom is one of the only bilingual teachers they have at the school and she would stay after hours helping parents that don’t speak the language understand what’s going on and how to help etc. The amount of time my mom has spent at school working her ass of is ungodly. Hearing that she had to argue to admin about all that she had done this year to be Considered as “effective” is ridiculous.
Hugs to your mom! It kills me when the admin won't give credit where it's due.
Heart breaking. She should have been rewarded
The rubric that is used to evaluate teachers is unrealistic and if your admin doesn't like you or they want to replace you or they are racists or whatever you will be rated as ineffective it's awful!
"Proficient is rock solid" TX teachers know... 😒
I'll be honest with you. It doesn't matter to admin that you are supporting the nom- English speaking parents in the community. Those are generally not the vocal, involved in the board of education's business, involved in town government affairs parents. The parents the school cares about are the ones that can and do influence school politics. That's why all the hard work and effort your mom put in went unappreciated. It didn't help them in any way, so it was like a tree fell in a forest.
I'm a cop but I have a soft spot for teachers. That comment about admin losing touch about what it's like to be a teacher rings really true for us as well. It is so frustrating to feel like your bosses are only out for themselves and their own careers while hanging you out to dry.
I'm a CSI - almost 12 years on (we are all civilian-based Crime Labs in the Midwest for the most part) - and wanted to make sure to comment on this. Thank you for what you do sir and stay safe!
I saw teachers disciplined for physically intervening to stop a fight, and I saw teachers disciplined for not physically intervening to stop a fight - Same admin...
Also, 😮 one time in 8th grade, I played hookie with a boy and we got caught kissing 😂🤷♂️🙈.
We knew it was against the rules and did it anyways. I was expecting punishment, but my school called the cops on us for truancy and in hindsight, we are very lucky that the cop didn't think it was a very big deal. He just carted us back to school and made us clean up the local cemetery for 3 weekends.
A boy in my year fought someone in the gym over a girl, just a little tussle tbh. Again, they called the police and he caught an assault charge 😮💀✋🤔
Like Idk, I feel like its more common for schools to involve police now and I don't like.
Like that guy, is still carrying that charge over his 10th grade girlfriend and I feel like thats very unfair to saddle someone with a felony or misdemeanor record over stuff that is so trivial
People can’t say that teachers are complaining when they’ve never done the job. I’m a certified teacher that refuses to go back into the class room. All of what they are saying is true. You don’t get paid enough to put up with that mess. In Ms. up until this year (2022) with a master’s degree you only make 32k in your 1st year. From that 32k you’re supposed to decorate your class room and bulletin boards. You’re supposed to buy school supplies for the students. Print paper for your students because there aren’t enough books for the students. Then take care of your family and bills. Then when students know that there are no consequences the disrespect is real. It’s insane. So I left mid school year and went back to being a scientist.
That is a national shame.
Oh yes! Me too. Couldn't last the school year. Tried everything to make it work. And I quit to follow my dream back in medical science. Never felt better! Congratulations to teachers who quit the field in order to support their health, happiness, and well being. 😊 (also congratulations to teachers who want to keep teaching and loving it! We need you!)
I want to quit mid year as well. I’ve just been hanging on so I can clear my credential.
@@jess0844 haha, that's an excellent reason to stick it out!
Teachers are overpaid
As a healthcare worker, everything you were saying applies. Such a shame that our most necessary fields of work, deemed essential during the pandemic, are being treated like this.
Thank you for your service. You are all heroes.
I'm a CNA/CMA and I quit my job for that reason. I would work a unit with 30 people by myself
And always have been undervalued.
Right?! Healthcare is ridiculous rn. As an EMT, I make less than someone who flips burgers for a living. On top of that, there’s simply not enough of us. My work makes me feel like I can’t call off because that takes a whole truck off the line. I feel like a failure to my community if I have to call off for serious medical emergencies.
@Meradianstar 42 I highly suggest working a job in the field you're interested in. Work as a medical assistant or CNA and see if it fits before you do several years of schooling to become a doctor. As a pharmacy tech, I see far too many 4th year pharmacy students show up in the pharmacy for their first time. They have no clue what they got themselves into.
one of my high school aged sister’s teachers was physically BODY SLAMMED by a student. He was also the tennis coach and the kid had been kicked off the team for being sexually inappropriate towards the girls and he was so enraged that he ran to the tennis practice and tried to hurt the girls. the coach stood in the doorframe of the tennis court and protected his students, and luckily he is a big guy so he was able to hold his ground, but this kid broke one of his ribs and bruised 3 others. the kid got in his car and drove off, got pulled over for doing 75 in a school zone. but because the kid has an IEP, he faced zero consequences besides being unable to walk at graduation. BUT THEN the local paper wrote a fluff story about the kid and how even though he was unable to walk, he still excelled as a special needs student. absolutely not, the pure disrespect towards this man who was injured greatly by this student makes me sick.
Disgusting but I'm not surprised
And people want teachers to pack heat and fight these students for their fire arms.
@@susanboyd6592 In Ohio it’s left up to each school district.
This happens everyday!
I live in apartment, each building has 4 sections. Got new neighbors they are early 20s and have a baby. The guy supposedly is "autistic" but he is over here having parties every weekend with friends, up all night (they live above me i can heard footsteps) and i am over here asking "so he doesnt work, is "autistic" 😵💫 and had a baby and parties and drinks alot" 😑 humm makes sense. 🤮
When people use mental health as a issue but does whater ever they want. FUCKED UP! i can not wait to move.
There you go. That kid won't learn his lessons. These eips have gotten out of hand. There are kids with genuine disabilities but parents and administrators just give them eips so they don't have to deal with helping these moron students.
My daughter is an assistant principal and has told my about having to help restraint a child who was tearing up a classroom. All I could think is HELL NO. I am in my late 60s and can’t recall ever hearing stories about kids behaving like that. We had real consequences for our behaviors.
I’m not a teacher but I did work as a therapist and did in school therapy and the amount of disrespect I saw from the students AND PARENTS is crazy. Some parents are expecting the teachers to raise their kids but with no form of repercussions for their actions. From my perspective it looks like many parents want free babysitters while they’re at work.
I resigned as a special needs para this year for many reasons. One of the biggest ones was a lack of admin support. 🙁 I do disagree on one point though. Some kids DO want to be bad. Misbehavior is fun for for kids, especially when they know they won't face any real consequences.
My son (now 38 years old) was special needs. He had adhd, bipolar 1 and oppositional defiance disorder. He's also a genius. There was one special needs class for the most hard core kids that I visited to see if it were a good fit for him. When I met with the teacher and her aide the next day, I told her that Daniel would eat her alive. I thought that the aide could handle him, but the teacher couldn't. She was petite, with blonde hair and had a somewhat diffident demeanor. He needed someone with a strong personality.
Ultimately, when his psychosis became unmanageable, I arranged for him to have home bound education with teachers who were better qualified to deal with him.
I believe it’s more mischief that the children enjoy doing not being bad per say. I only say this because as children everything is new in a way and you’re testing all boundaries of what you can get away with and it’s setting off adrenaline and dopamine and other receptors in your brain. Your emotions are nearly impossible to identify correctly everytime therefore impossible to fully keep in check. So if you can get away with throwing things when your upset or hurting others this is what you’ve learned to do because to you it felt good it was your release and other kids may find it funny. Not to mention whatever it is going on at home which adds a thousand and one other factors to why a child may behave/ react in a certain manner. So when this is how you learn to do things in elementary that’s what you do when you go to middle school (junior high) unless you’ve had either structure to change such behavior or the child them self decided they no longer see value in acting that way same thing for when they go to high school and to college if they never have that initial change of understanding and have seen nothing but good things come from their immaturity and mischief then even as an adult that person will indeed seem to want to be “bad” because their whole lives that is what has given them the results they wanted.
@@baileymartin9661 YES 🙌 TOTALLY
That’s the struggle
Very few people want to be bad, especially children. Behavior is communication, any child exhibiting negative behavior is trying to satisfy a specific need, inappropriately because they don’t have the skills necessary to appropriately satisfy the need. There are a host of reasons for bad behavior (attention seeking, behavior disorders involving brain chemistry, trauma responses, self esteem issues), none of which involve an innate desire to be bad. Anyone who thinks kids wants to be bad doesn’t understand basic behavior science.
When my daughter was in pre-K she had a bully who constantly assaulted her. I reported it to the school and to her teacher. Her teacher tried her best and the admin did nothing. This child terrorized other kids and the teacher herself. I tried to talk to the parents but they didn’t care they did nothing. I ended up filing a police report for assault to get this child removed from the classroom. I ran into the teacher a couple years later and she asked about my daughter and actually thanked me for removing this child. She tried so much to get him removed and admin told her that they couldn’t do anything and that she should know how manage him.
Getting the police involved is often the ONLY way to get violent kids removed from school as the admins don't care or their "hands are tied."
I understand classroom management exists however you can only control a child to a certain degree. The kid can choose to not listen or to ignore them the kid chooses those actions a teacher can not control that the kid chooses not to listen
That’s wild the level of escalation you had to go through to protect your child. I can’t imagine how helpless that teacher felt experiencing it.
This is a huge problem in lots of classes because districts are actively discouraging removing problem kids especially if they are a protected demographic. Teachers get blamed for classroom management but these violent kids have not had good parental management. It is totally unfair for the other 22+ kids. And 22 kids in a preK with an aide is still not a good ratio for these babies who need nurturing more than academics.
This is exactly what I’m going through right now. This student has literally hit, scratch, pushed every single student in my class. He has fit me in the face, scratch and hit not o my me but my two aides.
When I was in school as a student, many years ago, I hated the kids that disrupted the class. It seemed that the kids who were quiet and wanted to learn got pushed aside. Even then the squeaky wheel got the grease.
As a Teacher who just finished out their last year after quitting, I think people just don’t realize how much we sacrifice. So many teachers sacrifice their physical and mental health and it’s so not worth it. It’s unfortunate, but teachers are getting tired of pouring from empty cups plus the pandemic expedited the burnout process the most.
I agree with you. My most important student is my daughter, and I am not able to teach her what I teach my students because I am so exhausted each day and on the weekends. I am in the process of making a change after almost ten years in a high school classroom. I am successful, and 90% of my lit and lang kids passed the lit and lang exams, but this came at a huge cost for me personally.
When Covid hit I was working at a grocery store. Grocery workers had the same issue. We were called “super heroes” and praised and thanked for our work. But it didn’t take long for management and customers to go back to treating workers like they’re disposable.
I work at a grocery store too, I feel this completely
I always make sure to thank grocery workers as they do not get recognized for the work they do.
I hate when people try to use other people’s struggles to negate yours. I’m not allowed to draw attention to the suffering of teachers because other people struggle in their jobs. That’s ridiculous! It all needs to be fixed. Teacher exploitation needs to be fixed and the exploitation of others in their jobs needs to be fixed. It is all injustice and it is all not right.
Yes every job is hard in some way but teachers jobs are hard in very unique ways that if people understand they might be more on board with helping teachers make changes to the system and improve it for everyone.
Exactly.
Oh my god yeah, it’s like when people are like “why are we advocating for starving kids in Africa, there are starving kids in America” 🙄
@@corneliastreet2491 actually depending on who is making the comment it could be coming from a logical standpoint of why are we over exerting ourselves helping others (not to say that we shouldn’t help) when we ourselves are suffering majorly. So in this case it’s actually closer to when you’re on a plane and advised to apply your oxygen mask to yourself before trying to assist someone else. If we ourselves have millions that are homeless and hungry and are allowing new generations to be born into such living conditions we continue to increase the amount of people in our country that need our resources so while we send donations of food, money, and people elsewhere those on the inside continue to suffer meaning in the next generation there will be less people qualified to help and donate leaving both countries in dire need.
Once again this isn’t saying that we shouldn’t try to help others because every person on earth is vital to our existence as a human race just when you yourself are in serious need of help sometimes it’s more beneficial to both parties that you help yourself before the next person. Also Africa is a continent made up of a lot of countries some of which are quite wealthy and could be called in to help their neighbors.
@@corneliastreet2491 And, let's be honest, every year Africa receives tons of money since the 90s. If they're still starving so it's because the problem isn't money anymore, it's a big corruption problem that can just be solved by africans themselves.
Also, I'm pro that positioning. Why I have to be helping others? The USA tried to help other countries and we already know how those "helps" ended. Let people and countries be free to care about themselves.
I completely identify with Bri. I retired after 22 years of teaching in an elementary school. I was trying to make it to 25 years (My retirement would have been so much more!), but I finally gave up after being gaslit over and over and over by my admin. I was having serious health problems (high blood pressure, swelling ankles, severe anxiety, etc), and I did not return after spring break. I was going to try to make it to the end of the year, but when I told my doctor, "I only have six weeks left," she looked at me and said, "If you are going to be there for six more weeks, you and I have to discuss SERIOUS medication to get you through the rest of the year." I went home and told my husband, and he said, "Absolutely not. It is NOT worth it. I know you love your kids and your co-workers and your school, but you have to put yourself first now." It was really hard, but I do not regret walking away.
Yeah, you should have hung in there for the other three years; since teachers enjoy a nine month work year it would have been just 27 months of classroom time. Sounds like you left a lot of money on the table. I would understand if you were teaching high school in say, the south side of Chicago or west Baltimore, but elementary school?...Really? How bad could those kids have been?
@@zephead843, congratulations. You have unraveled a whole ball of yarn with your comment. First of all, I find it amusing that you think only high school teachers have a heavy workload or disruptive students, but that’s a whole other subject for discussion on another day. For the record, the children were NOT the reason I left. I LOVED my students. Clearly, you have NO CLUE what teachers actually do, especially if you think we “enjoy a nine month work year.” How is this myth still perpetuated, that the school year is only 9 months? Guess what? It’s not. No one goes to school for only 9 months every year. But even when teachers are not getting paid, they’re still up at the school in the summer. Do you think that teachers just walk in on the first day with the students? Do you think the classroom fairies come in and get our rooms ready? That by some magic our lesson plans are written, our yearly, semester, and monthly goals are organized by someone else? Even though we get paid for working 185 days (in my school system), teachers work many more days than that. We have training we’re required to do every summer. We might get a stipend of $100 or $200 for giving up 2 weeks of our summer for this mandatory training. I’m sure you also think we work from 8:00 am to 3:30. I’m not even going to discuss the 7 am morning duties or the afternoon bus duties until 4:30, the sports teams and clubs that middle and high school teachers are required to sponsor, the dances they have to chaperone. There are the staff meetings once a week after school, the one planning period you get a day that’s somehow always filled with parent conferences, or PLC meetings, or answering e-mails, or filling out paperwork for a field trip, anything but actual planning. So you get to take all that work home to do. And after you get your family taken care of at home, you get to do all that planning. And grade papers until midnight or so. Because if you don’t do that every night, then all Saturday and Sunday are taken up with paperwork, and you miss family time. Also, many high school and middle school teachers have specialties that they teach-ie, math, science, English, etc (that does not mean they have it any easier!). Elementary teachers teach it all, the entire curriculum. Not to mention all of the little goodies that the school board or the legislature (legislators-more people who have no clue about education) decide to throw into your teaching day-20 hours of substance abuse prevention education a year, character education, constantly changing the curriculum every year, making every grade, from K to 12 take standardized tests every year, etc, etc. Honey, you haven’t lived until you’ve had to make 6 year olds spend a week taking standardized tests all day long. It’s unfair to them, it exhausts them, it takes away from classroom instruction (don’t forget all the weeks of test prep, also means missing more classroom instruction time, oh goody!), and worst of all, it DOESN’T PROVE A THING. I didn’t leave teaching because of the children, I left because of adults: administrators at the local and state level, parents who don’t care about their own children’s education or behavior, those “education specialists” whose only job seems to be creating paperwork for teachers to perpetuate their own jobs, and finally, those adults who THINK they know what students need but never ask teachers what the children need. Yes, I left money on the table, but my sanity & my health were more important to me. I challenge you, @zephead843, to go volunteer at your local school this coming semester. Or better yet, go substitute for a week in a first grade classroom. It might help shed those blinders you have firmly placed on your eyes.
@@mdrwallace When I was in elementary school, little 'ol ladies were the schoolteachers. When I got to middle school, I was a bit older and the teachers were a bit younger. By the time I got to high school about half of the female faculty looked like they could try out for the varsity cheerleading squad. Please don't tell me teaching is hard. Teaching is an extension of college, which is an extension of high school. As a teacher, one gets to remain a student for their entire lives. Please, enough with those "sad sack tales of woe." You had it easy.
@@zephead843, yeah, and you’re just a troll, deliberately trying to trigger people. Teaching is a two way street-teachers can teach all day, but folks like you who don’t want to learn, won’t. I notice you’ve ignored my challenge. That’s ok, I knew you weren’t up to it. You’ll have to excuse me now. I’m off to enjoy family time with my grandbaby. This conversation is clearly not worth my time away from her. That’s the nice thing about retirement: I don’t have to put up with Neanderthals any more. (Do you know the meaning of that word? I’m sure you don’t own a dictionary. There’s always Google for folks like you.)
@@zephead843 the pure ignorance of your comment is mind blowing. You obviously missed that mdrwallace has two+ decades of teaching experience and only three left to retirement. It’s painfully clear of your ignorance when you compared your school experience as a young child/student to a professional educator in a different era.
I loved this conversation. As a nurse our professions have so many parallels and I definitely feel camaraderie with teachers. In a woman dominated profession that is under appreciated and under paid, you guys are pioneers in bringing these issues to the Public’s awareness
Absolutely 💯. I work in education as noticed the similarities between education and medicine.
Same as a restaurant worker. I’m to the point I’m so stressed I’d rather kill myself than go back to work. I’m miserable at work. There’s no breaks, so many extra shifts coz no one wants to work, people are rude, the manager doesn’t care, I told them all this and they basically told me to suck it up, I should be happy to be there. I wanna leave so bad but I just can’t.
Nice, a male teacher blames women for the lack of respect & financial hardships in the teaching profession.
He said if the field were dominated by men they'd never put up with these disparities but women tk on too mch, demand nothing, & tolerate things they shd not
First, I was insulted & then I had to admit he had a pt on all accts.
@@onedaybutnottoday63 I’m so sorry that you are so stressed out. I pray that you find a better job soon. 💜
Same here. In retail. It has gotten so bad.
When they mentioned that if you died they would replace you in a second really hit me. My vice principal committed on school campus luckily no student saw him and the principal found him. We were only off the day he died we had no time to recover. The media knew about it before the student did, we never got an email only the parents did. We went back the next day like nothing. That comment stuck with me because they had a replacement assistant principal the next day. They didn't even try hiding it he walked in classes was introduced as the replacement assistant principal.
this is awful. so so so awful. i’m sorry
That's heartbreaking!
That... is just unimaginable... omg 😲 I'm so sorry this happened on all counts
Horrible.
Inhuman!
I had an admin rave about me all through the observation review. She concluded it with “In the future, I want to see you improve by getting more involved on campus with one of these volunteer committees.” I’m a single auntie, raising her nephew, I plan and carry out 2 3 day field trips, assist with awards, tutor on my lunch, and work as an edTech mentor for my peers…and you want to 1st: claim I am not doing enough and 2nd: ding me on my observation for it?! No ma’am. I refused to leave until she removed that remark from my official review. Ding me for talking too fast or not calling home often enough. Not for not volunteering more.
WHY to jobs expect you to volunteer your time then declare you not a team player because you don't want to work for free?
Pretty simple. It’s free labor.
Yup! I teach in Michigan and on our official evaluation we have to comment on how much we’ve done “outside of contract hours”. I said none. Why is it expected??
During a school interview, 2 APs in an over privileged CF school, asked how do you feel abt volunteering, on weekends, for school events.
They impressed upon me that it was part of getting the job....free forced labor.
There's a name for that sl...vry.
This kind of sounds like the reason I was not accepted into Honor Society when I was in high school. I was in dance and Girl Scouts, but they weren’t school clubs, so I didn’t get in, even though I should have. I guess things don’t change any even when you become a teacher in those same cliquesque schools.
My husband is a prison guard. He is trained in those holds and physical control tactics. He gets additional training every year. He has not had to use it a much as it seems teachers do.
He's probably not as in the crosshairs for a lawsuit, either.
I honestly feel so bad for teachers because one of my favorite teaches seemed broken at the end of the year because of the lack of respect. I feel like a lot of it was the students fault. I have no clue what may have been going on at home but she said straight up she woke up and didn't want to go to school. I felt so bad for her so I always tried to just be quiet in her class but answer the questions and put on some effort. I hope she does well because she left our school, and I hope her mental health recovers! ❤️
Lmao you could be talking about me. I didn’t show up the last 2 weeks of school because I was so broken. Being quiet and putting in effort is the best thing :)
Bless your heart.
You are so sweet and we are so grateful for students like you. Thank you.
Parents. Parents allowing thier kids to get away with murder and then blaming everyone else except the kid.
I am a highschool student. My theatre teacher has gotten me through the past year. I’ve struggled so badly and she’s the reason why I’m still in school. She has always been there for me. She went to college for an English degree. She spent a couple years teaching that then went to theatre. She also directs at our community theatre which I participate in. This year has been crazy for her. They asked her to do so much more than she was capable of. She was miserable and not enjoying life it was way too much for her. After spring break she came back and the school wanted her to teach English as well as theatre. That pushed her to the breaking point. She knew that she couldn’t do it, and it would be way too much for her. She made the extremely tough decision to leave. We were heartbroken. I haven’t seen her for two weeks until this weekend when I went to go see her in a play. She finally had this glow around her which I hadn’t seen in months. She was so happy with this new job she has as a project manager. She’s devistated that her legacy has been shattered and the department is dying, but she did what she had to do and I’m so proud of her.
Was I your teacher? Lol You are describing my life... I'm not a project manager though🤓
@@KylaGrace haha I don’t think so lol.
English teachers have always been my favorite. I'm glad you had a good teacher in your life, but it's heartbreaking she had to leave her role because the school couldn't respect her boundaries or support her. The saddest part of all of this is that good teachers are leaving because they can't handle the obscene workload and minimal pay (relative to the work they're expected to do).
This is off-topic, but do you guys think that a lot of these teacher movies (Freedom Writers, Ron Clark Story etc.) have helped create an unrealistic expectation of teaching.
I think a lot of people expect teachers to "save" kids instead of just teach and care for them.
I’m throwing coach carter in there too. One person cant save every kid from generations of violence and dysfunction
I think they don't tell us the the majority of this job is behavior management, not academics and they don't really train us how to regulate behaviors and emotions, especially in HS. If I would have known I was going to be expected to teach kids life skills, emotional regulation, manners etc- I would have 100% quit the program and picked a different career.
@@je-nay-nay5503 THIS!!! There is so much development going on from pre-k-12 and at 18 YOU ARE NOT A FULLY GROWN PERSON your body (early to mid 20s) nor brain (26 logically but honestly never) are fully done developing. Although you may understand the basic rights and wrongs of life by the time you leave elementary and may have mature responsibilities as a teen, there is still serious guidance and correcting needed. No one at 30 will say that they are completely the same or even think the same way as they did at 18 partially because they seriously couldn’t and also because they lived through life to come to their current understandings. So I’ve had the thought for a while now that teachers need to damn near be human psychology majors (this isn’t to be pointing at teachers as the problem but realistically you spend more time in schools in all your developing years than anywhere else meaning if we honestly could shape the education system to be better developed to mold functioning human beings instead of vessels that spew out hoarded knowledge I can only imagine that molding better generations.) However it sounds nearly impossible because that’s time and money that would be impossible to earn back on a teacher’s salary (at least not in realistic terms) meaning their pay needs to be upped significantly (which already needs to happen even if they don’t do this) and they should be taken care of better. This isn’t just in teachers I truly feel like everybody should have to take human psychology classes just because it would really help to change the world for the better if everyone had a better understanding of themselves and others as to why they react a certain way.
@@baileymartin9661 Yes I agree with you. Obviously I knew that working with kids, I'd have to deal with behaviors and give reminders about good choices etc- but even in high school, some of these kids come to us with 0 skills and do not have self control. I did however, think the majority of my time would be spent on academics and not behavior/psychology. I really was blindsided by that. I certainly don't come from a place of blaming the students either, they are caught in the middle, but they don't tell us that we barely will get to teach because we are just dealing with behaviors all day long. I don't have kids by choice, I have no idea how to teach life skill, behavior/emotional regulation etc- I know my content and how to present it in a manner that is easy to understand, but aside from that, I'm lost.
I just wanted to add, movies like Freedom Writers also create this white savior teacher role. The real teacher, Erin Gruwell, is a mexican american women but they decided to use Hilary Swank instead to add more "depth" I guess. And this isnt an insult to white teachers who work in poc schools but there is a reason we can be hostile....they dont seem to fully click with our experiences and their attempts seem to be pandering. Yes we grow to love them since they are at the end of the day trying to help. But this movie and others like dangerous mind give white teachers an idea that saying everything will be okay or for us to not be statistics actually help us. Again its on the system as a whole and less on the teacher individually since these schools dont give any support to teachers with good intentions. But i definitely saw white teachers who thought by being extra cheery or extra "cultured" would help us but it fell short. Working with black and hispanics kids who come from less than ideal circumstances is nothing like these movies portray but unfortunately alot of teachers love them and believe them to be inspirational.
I don’t have any formal education pertinent to my job, and I make far beyond $47k. I always thought teachers were underpaid, but at this point, I’m beginning to wonder how we have any teachers at all. Schools need way better funding. This is insane. I feel AWFUL for you guys!
What are you doing for a living?
Your tax dollar goes to the public schools. I refuse to pay more tax for the clown show that I am observing every single day. I don't have a suggestion on how to fix anything but more money is not necessarily the answer. Maybe we should underpay admin and superintendents
@@stephaniegasmalla7568 Maybe a solution is paying a decent wage to keep decent teachers, and also as this episode shows, more support for teachers. And we don't have to spend any more money. How many billions do we give to the defense contractors? If we took 5% of the military budget and added it to teachers pay, we could increase every public k-12 teacher's salary by $11,000. They would still be underpaid, but it's a start.
@@stephaniegasmalla7568 well it's insane how many cities have 40% of the budget go to the police department. If we could invest some of that into education there would be less crime overall. I'm not just talking about increasing teacher pay but also giving struggling students proper intervention so that it doesn't all fall on the teacher.
More funding will not go to teachers. Look at Red for Ed in Arizona
It’s so sad and crazy that these problems in the classroom are happening in EVERY school in the U.S. Rich, poor, rural, inner city, suburban districts. The kids are not okay and the U.S. Department of Education and state D of Ed leaders are doing nothing. These leaders are failing our children, teachers, school staff and parents.
Honestly I blame the department of education and state boards for this. They are the ones that created this monster by stealing 2/3 of educational funding through standard testing and test creation and paying for administration. Only 1/3 of Americans educational funding ever makes it to a classroom. They are doing anything because they figured out how to make money.
Agreed
Yes, there are problems in our public schools. Thankfully funding isn't one of them. America spent $400 billion dollars on public education in 2022.
this is coming from a student, I hate when other sturdents are disrespectful. It's almost as if their parents never disaplined them. Also, I have had classmates go to student services and come back with a mouth full of food and no disapline.
Thank you. I know it sounds like all we do is whine but the only reason most teachers stay is for the students like you who just want to be able to learn in a safe environment.
I agree. I am also a student and I hate when teachers are disrespected. I feel I have opened my eyes and realized what they are dealing with this year. I have an insane amount of respect for teachers and I always have and always will. Teachers deserve more and to be honest I don't blame the teachers that are leaving.
Oh my God yes one of my favorite teachers who's an absolute sweetheart and has never blown up with the students gets disrespected so much and I've wanted to punch people when I know I can't because they're so rude to her and I didn't realize how to disrespectful they are until I saw this disrespect and it just boils my blood because teachers are not taken seriously when they are sacrificing so much
As a student I totally agree. Some kids get sent to the office EVERYDAY, and nothing is done to actually improve the situation.
I honestly believe our generation is too sensitive. I know that sounds like such an older person thing to say but it’s the truth.
I am on the autism spectrum and although I fully understand that I have a lot less needs than a lot of other autistics, I also don’t think it is okay to allow special Ed students to be aggressive with their classmates or teachers. There should be systems in place to protect not only the other students and teachers, but also the kid that’s acting out. And there should be consequences when possible/needed, because it is not good to teach a child that there are no repercussions for their bad actions. Yes, our diagnosis should always be kept in mind, but that doesn’t mean we should get a pass on HURTING others. I wish for more research and thought to be put into special education so that everyone can be as happy and safe as possible, including teachers, peers, and the kids themselves.
I agree. The biggest problem I see in this regard is the fact that that to many people don’t understand the vast differences in every student. Some students need a few supports like extra time, brain or graphic organizers but some students truly do need a different environment and the schools and parents are using IDEA to keep them in the” least restrictive environment” instead of admitting that they need more support. There is no reason, to me, for the school system to provide an adult to wheel a student around to classes all day changing their diapers and feeding them all the while saying it is the least restrictive environment. Who is this helping?
I'm autistic too and the most of my behavioral issues were because of bullying. I feel like bullies get away with bullying the SPED kids. I got bullied so badly that I'd lash out and then I was getting in trouble for other people mistreating me.
Nobody should get away with that. Oftentimes SPED kids are pushed into those behaviors and it's because of the other kids bullying them. Sometimes it isn't, though, and that should be acknowledged as well.
@@jericho5615 I totally agree! Thank you for bringing that up, I totally missed it in my original comment! There needs to be a better way to ensure these things don’t happen.
This should include verbal aggression and disruptive behavior that precludes teaching. Some students are in the wrong setting. It's unfair to all. Yet when I make your very same point, I am harshly judged. How is this not seen as common sense? Mind boggling.
@@candywhyman1393 if you know enough to quote the LRE and IDEA, then you should read what IDEA is, and what protections SWD have.
I remember that last year my favorite class was art, and my art teacher had anxiety and possibly depression. In my last class with her she was teaching and the only kids listening were me and my sister; with all the noise of the other students and the stress of no one listening to her she had an anxiety attack and she felt the need to apologize for her completely reasonable reaction. I was also told by one of my friends in her other class that students were destroying her things and throwing stuff at her. She quit last year and I personally was upset, but I hope she is doing better with her health
The reason I loved her class so much was not only because I love drawing, but because my teacher was one of the first people who supported me and she was practically the only person I felt safe around at my school. She also would teach me about Japanese culture as she was from Japan.
To me she was my friend more than a teacher and because of that me and her built up a mutual respect, so it was really hard for me to see her be taken advantage of like that.
I once had an English teacher write in my yearbook, “It was nice to have someone in class who was paying attention.” I was one of the few who actually read the assigned reading. I always felt bad when she asked a question for the third time, so I would raise my hand then. I hated speaking in class, but I liked her. She didn’t stop me when I would deviate from the approved reading list or choose obscure authors or poets to write about. Most kids stuck with Cliff Notes or super well known authors and poets to write about. I suppose I provided her with a little variety in the sameness of the work that was turned in.
I had an art teacher in 9th grade that genuinely wanted to teach art but the class was full of straight hooligans. It got to a point where he basically gave up on actually teaching and just let the class do whatever, tables and chairs were thrown, yelling, fighting etc. I would think to myself how a teacher could put up with it. It suck cause you can tell they genuinely want to teach
UK teacher here - I nearly quit teaching all together this year because I was in a really toxic work environment. I just started at a new school this month and I think it may have saved my career. It is already so, so much better and I am excited to teach again. The commute is worse, it's more inconvenient, I've had to make all new friends etc but it is still an absolute upgrade from what I was doing before.
Teaching is hard and I am grateful to have found a school that I can actually see myself staying in. But teaching in a school where you do not feel supported and where you feel actively undermined and micromanaged is unbearable. They take passionate people who want to help students be better people and destroy and exploit them. It is not right.
The conversation about admin not backing up teachers or other staff for the matter is SO TRUE!! I worked for a school district for 7 years that when a student would be disrespectful you would give them a write up and nothing would happen with it. The write ups were for if things got too out of hand ex they hit another student for no reason then the district could say we have this report telling you this would happen and that report saying that could happen, it was to cover the district so they could claim to not be liable. And students knew that staff weren’t allowed to break things up or touch them in general but they would assault you all day long and if you defended yourself or blocked their attack you were suspended for putting your hands on a student. Its one of the reasons I left in March 2021
At the school I go too if a kid gets in a fight with someone else and they have a Social Disability e.x. autism, MPD, etc. They have schedule a ARD Meeting with The students Parents the case manager, the Teacher for their Social Skills class, and a Admin. And they sit down and assess “Ok, what do we need to do to make you successful” and they would give you accommodations based on what can help calm you, or get you out of that situations before you do something you regret.
I used to work in a school as security and were kind of in the south so the sexism was real. I’d be around the teachers all the time and watch these sweet women get harassed and dismissed by the male teachers who were on a power trip constantly. A lot of them were super soft spoken and just total sweetheart and they would just take it. It broke my heart and nobody did anything about it. The one guy teacher who was the biggest problem would literally make up any excuse to touch you. I’d be in a huge hall and he’d for some reason felt the need to grab my waist to “squeeze” through when there was only 10 other people in the whole hall. It disgusts me. I was so depressed working there
Thts so mean like what u get hit I don't want to say tht word even if it is tht then u protect urself and u get in trouble come on thts y kids r rude and nasty and mean in America thts understandable though in the country tht I went and lived I used to go to school and they were a rich families school and the teachers couldn't do anything if the parents were rich the kids wouldn't get in trouble some kids would get in trouble but alot of them wouldn't.
Parents abandon their responsibility to take care of their kids emotionally and hand that over to teachers, and are appalled when they don’t adequately do so. As a parent and a teacher, I can’t understand that for the life of me.
I quit teaching and became a nanny and tutor. Best decision I've ever made for my mental health
In the middle of the pandemic I had students having mental issues while I was dealing with losing my mom. She died 6 months into the pandemic. I was also helping my daughters deal with losing their grandma. Plus virtual teaching. All at the same time. Waaayyyy to much to deal with. It took me 15 months to finally actually cry for the loss of my mom. I was so focused on my students and my daughters, that my own grief kept getting tapped down until I couldn't tap anymore.
Edited to say: my school has been great. It's just the mental health problems the kids are facing is massive.
Yes, the mental health is evident in the classroom with students and with my own children at home.
God bless you. I lost my mom 15 years ago The first year is so hard. I promise it will get easier. It doesn't go away but it's not so painful. I'll be praying for you!
The problem with children with bad behavior being treated like they do no wrong also affects other kids just as much as the teacher. My daughter was dealing with a kid who was regularly telling her and her friends that she was going to kill them. She reported it to admin after coming home telling me she can't tattle and me explaining that a serious threat like that is something that is important to bring to the schools attention. After the initial report the principal said let them know if the threats continue. After a few weeks she made another threat. My daughter went back to the principal and was told that she just needs to try to be her friend. As I found out the child was in the foster care system so I'm sure she had a lot going on in her life but, regardless of her circumstances she has to learn what is acceptable and not and to be allowed to threaten other kids teaches her nothing! Also teaches the other kids that there are no consequences for these behaviors and that there is no safe place at school.
Its a crazy societal thing we are doing. We do not hold guilty accountable and blame society at large. Then the good ones are told to do better to help the bad ones. Its a ridiculous sentiment fostered by our politicians.
Not doing anything is why there are school shootings. Admin needs to take things more seriously. I am not a teacher but have a young daughter in school and I pray she is not bullied as she goes through school. Because of that possibility we have her in self defense classes to give her a self esteem boost that she can hopefully defend herself of if the need arises which I hope it never does.
Around 7 or more of my teachers are leaving my school (it’s my last year at this school so I’m leaving too).
Same here, I go to a small high school 8 teachers are leaving. I’m so sad that my senior year will be empty of the teachers I care for so much. Due to the schools budget I doubt all teachers will be replaced.
same, my middle school had 7 teachers leave mid year, and a lot of the other teachers don’t plan on going back to that school
Over 30 in my school...including myself.
About 20 at my school….myself included
Wow... That sounds critical...
Things have changed. When I went to school, I had friends that were just asses. One day the teacher brought in a safety vest and stop flag and told him to put it on. He put it on and asked why was he wearing it. The teacher told him that with his attitude, with enough practice, he might qualify to be a parking attendant.
He was also voted most likely to be a speedbump.
These young teachers have the strength and resolve to share what so many of us old teachers have silently tolerated. I hope all of you continue in life, successful and happy. I taught for 31 years, retired, and continue to teach adults because I really do love it!
I'm a former teacher. I actually feel very lucky that in 2019, I felt like I needed to resign because I had my own baby and I hated missing out on his milestones. Then Covid happened and I felt like it was divine inspiration that I left the year before 😬
100% the main reason teachers leave is many students are disrespectful. As we have tried to shift gears away from abusive type parenting, we have gone too far the other way (passive). Discipline is not a bad thing! It teaches and forms children into functioning adults that contribute to society. I'm scared of the future these kids will have if nobody will stop and show them there are consequences to their actions. Its a disservice to THEM!! /endrant
I’d say it’s more the adults that make the job way harder than it needs to be. I wouldn’t entirely blame it on kids.
I come from a family of teachers. My mom, dad, and SIL were all teachers. My second year of teaching, I had C. C was an 11 y.o. boy who’d been diagnosed as ADHD & ODD. If he didn’t want to do something he got violent. He kicked my pregnant principal full force in the knee. We had to be trained in how to restrain him so we could protect the other students. I had to create an action plan where I carried a walkie-talkie with me. Whenever he became violent, we would send a code word that meant come and help us move him in the safe room. He ripped all the wires out of the wall. He removed part of the door window frame and used it to carve chunks out of the cinder block walls.
In no other profession (except prison guard) is this acceptable.
I have now developed fibromyalgia and am on permanent disability.
@@lightbetweendarkness6571 That is very kind of you. 😊 I was a Special Educator, so I enjoyed the my students’ quirks. I had one student who was truly psychotic. Once I established trust with him, he became one of my favorites.
I kinda think we’re all a little neurodivergent in our own ways. I’m glad you were able to find something that worked for you. ✌🏻
@@moriahwhite1188 we're not all divergent. That's dumb and simply untrue. It's either you are or aren't. Coming from someone whose got ADHD, Autism, OCD, and generational anxiety.
@@jericho5615 I apologize if my words were offensive. I should have just said plainly that we are all weird in our own ways. As a writer at heart, I enjoy playing with synonyms and creative sentence structure. I’ll try to be more cognizant about my word choice in future comments.
How did admin backup the aggressor? Did they said: "What did you do to escalate or provoke the situation?"
I was always taught: RESPECT IS NUMBER ONE
My parents are very understanding when I have bad days, but if I disrespect someone, and someone who works their butts off (like teachers), I should run. I know when I was in 6th grade, a LOT of people disrespected our social studies teacher. I always made sure to do something to her, as simple as having a little conversation, or holding the door for her. I did it for every teacher, but my social studies teacher was bullied the most. And I mean bullied. Her daughter (who was a baby) often got sick, and she was high risk for many diesies, so she was often out of school and had a lot on her plate. Teachers work so hard for us, and we just disrespect them, treat them as if they weren't human. Imagine if they weren't your teacher, how would you treat them then?
I am a teacher. Thank you for doing that for your teacher. It would have meant a lot to me for a student to be nice to me like that.
I was a practicum student last year and I developed anxiety and panic attacks because of the workload and expectations they had for me as a new teacher. Where I live your mentor teacher is always in the room with you which makes you feel like you are constantly being evaluated. The feedback I received always had those one or two things to improve on so I never felt like anything I did was good enough. Finally, I told my mentor and admin about the mental health struggles I was having because I wanted to find a way to work around them. Within a day I was no longer working at that school. They managed to convince me while I was panicking that I wasn’t suited for elementary school and that I should quit. I was devastated. It didn’t feel like it was my decision. Them saying that confirmed all my fears and anxieties that I wasn’t good enough. It’s taken almost a year to recover and trying different things to realize that they were wrong. I still love teaching and working with elementary aged students. I’m planning to finish my practicum next year but that traumatic experience still lurks over me to this day.
That's not okay everyone makes mistakes when they first start. One of my professors was shocked I was having such significant trouble in the classroom, and personally I thought the student teacher ratios were simply too high. How, are you supposed to teach up to 16 special needs students who all need individualized attention, and whom are at different levels effectively and help them learn how to comprehend complex stories when they currently don't know how to read, they will make progress, but it may not meet the standards.
I genuinely had to shut this off and take a breath before finishing it. It broke my heart. Please know you guys are not being dramatic. It doesn’t matter if a person drowns in 2 feet of water or 12 feet of water. They still drown and it’s still valid. Trauma is trauma. I’m glad you guys chose yourself. You should be proud of yourselves for how you’re healing. I’m proud of you guys! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for the recognition. Most people think we are just whinny and trying to get more pay but chronic stress and trauma takes it toll and after years of being ignored teachers are doing what they’ve been told if you don’t like it quit!
It seems to weird to be proud of “choosing yourself”. Self care certainly is important. It’s not really something to brag about.
I never thought of that drowning metaphor! That's such a good comparison, especially for such a difficult topic.
@@MayaChamberlin73 to be fair, I saw it somewhere and stole it. It makes a lot of sense and helps individuals not to compare trauma and/or invalidate their own or someone else’s trauma.
So much this.
I'm interning at an elementary school as a part of my grad school program and the amount of times I've seen kids get away with horrible behavior is sad. I've seen kids hit their peers without consequence. They just talk to them and give them strategies to use next time someone pisses them off. Talking to them and giving them strategies is nice, but the behavior never gets disciplined. A 4th grader hit me(no special needs or anything) and they didn't even make him apologize. They just talked to him. On top of that, they let people go if the behavior in the class is atrocious. They blame the teacher for the students behavior. They let a 2nd grade teacher go when 6 out of her 18 students have major behavior issues. These kids would tear up the room, hit each other, run around the room, leave without permission, among other things.She didn't even have bad behavior management and it was her first year teaching.
Lack of consequences for students behavior is one of the major reasons teachers are leaving the classroom. It's one of the reasons I left my job as a para.
Where as I agree that children should indeed learn that their actions have consequences and that those consequences will be enforced, I also believe that it’s worth pointing out that you shouldn’t force apologies because while it would have been nice for you (the assaulted) to receive an apology the child themselves should actually feel apologetic about their actions not just learn ‘well I did something bad then got caught but when I said sorry all was forgiven now I can continue on about my day and not actually think of what I did’. Not to say that the child shouldn’t apologize just that they should genuinely feel apologetic and not just apologize because it will let them carry on unbothered with the situation.
The only way to get consequences for the student is for the parents of the victim to force consequences. But the administrators downplay the seriousness so the school won’t get sued and the administrators won’t get fired.
Yep, seen that every year since about 2010, I think the economic downturn hit families hard, a lot of trauma, and it’s just gotten worse and worse, and parents and admin blame it on poor classroom management, such a crock of sh*t.
I just want to say that I don't condone kids putting their hands on teachers HOWEVER I as a student actually slapped and punched a teacher both in the same grade and to this day I don't really feel bad about it.
For some context this was in middle school, and at the beginning of the year my sister and I were walking across the school crosswalk to the other side of the street to start heading home. All cars had stopped and there was a bus coming but it looked like it was slowing down as well and seemed to be a safe distance away. My sister was like 2 paces ahead of me and before we even knew what was happening the bus slammed on the gas and ran my sister over. Turns out bus driver was drunk and had leaned back to yell at some kids and simultaneously slammed on the gas. The first cop on the scene was her son's best friend and LIVED IN HER HOUSE and he let her leave the scene after pulling my sister out from under the bus. Which I yelled at them for doing because none of us knew what her injuries were... she's still driving btw but for another district.
Anyway, it was pouring down rain that day and it took 30-40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive and a male teacher kept trying to get me to go inside so I wouldn't get hypothermia. I kept telling him I wasn't going to leave her in the street all alone, and if she was laying there in the rain that I wasn't going to be sitting comfy in the office. He would *not* leave me alone and eventually he literally put his hands on my shoulders and tried to get me to walk with him to the office and I turned around and punched him in the gut and told him to get his f-ing hands off of me and he kind of just walked away silent after that.
Then like 2 months later I was in art class (last period of the day) and we had a sub. Everyday I had to leave 15 minutes early to help my sister on and off of the short bus because she was now in a wheelchair. The short buses came before the longer ones because it was good to get everyone on them before the chaos of the rest of the school came out and filled the bus lot. Well I got up to leave that day like I normally did and the sub yelled at me "what do you think you're doing? Sit down!". I figured maybe my normal teacher had forgotten to leave it in her notes or something, so I calmly explained the situation. The sub was NOT having it and told me to sit down again and wait till the bell rang like everyone else. I told her again that I needed to go and help my sister and the whole class verbalized that I was telling the truth but she didn't care. Finally I told her to call the office if she didn't believe me and I started walking to the door again. She literally ran over to the door and started body blocking me, getting all up in my face and saying I needed to stop being a brat and just listen to her because she was in charge... I slapped her, which stunned her long enough that I could get around her and out the door.
I never received disciplinary action for either of these events (to my surprise) and to this day I don't feel bad about them.
I don't condone violence, but sometimes people are honestly just overstepping boundaries way too far and letting power go to their heads. A lot of students have had bad experiences with teachers like this and it only takes a high-emotion moment to snap.
I wouldn't have punched the first teacher if he hadn't put his hands on me, and I wouldn't have slapped the second if she had just shown some basic human decency and not harassed me while I was already extremely emotionally vulnerable due to recent events.
I think in many cases when these things happen it is not warranted. But in my particular case I would do it again in the same situation.
I’m not that old, in my 30s but when I was a kid there was no disrespecting of the teachers or any other authority figure in my school as long as whatever discipline happened was warranted. My parents held me accountable for my misbehavior. Once I was set up by a classmate to say something when the teacher instructed us not to speak. I got in trouble. I told my mother what happened. My mother said, will let that be a lesson to be smarter than people who are trying to manipulate you. I have parents who understood that their job was to prepare their children to live in the real world as functioning adults. Not perpetual children who think that the world is going to treat them the way mommy and daddy does. Thank God for my parents!!!
Absolutely! I started school the year after 9/11 and people did not make excuses for us. Expectations were to be followed, no questions, or there would be consequences. The pandemic really screwed over teachers because now districts are mandating special treatment for these incoming groups. Hard not to be cynical.
I may not be a teacher but I am a student and I can say that other students are hecking ridiculous. Their behaviors and attitudes overall are just, who the hell brought them up because they have no manners or the brain cells to think about the people around them and to chill the hell out. It actually really grinds my gears because it distracts me from my learning and also just distracts everyone and does no good for the teacher either. It's like kids cause problems because they cant find the attention they want on fricken Tik Tok.
Exactly!
Thank you! So true.
Hit the nail on the head there, friend. I am an elementary music teacher and even elementary kids are just walking memes that don’t produce original thoughts.
I know many teachers that have left for their own mental health, or the fact that they realized that they couldn’t make a difference like they wanted to. Teachers get all the blame, none of the credit, and no leniency. So sad. Grateful for you guys
It's a different age than when I was a kid. I used to clean my choir teachers house. He used to see me misbehaving or walking along a dangerous street and yell at me. He'd make me get in the car and drive me home. He took on a father role. Teachers would get fired for that today.
My reading teacher in 7th and 8th grade was my safe haven. I'd just hang out in her room until she was ready to go home. We are STILL in touch and I left that school in 1989.
Band teacher would pull me in to social events with the section captains just to get me away from my toxic parents.
Teachers hands are tied today to even be the support their students needs. So many teachers were my saving grace and the things they did for me would get them fired today.
@@susanboyd6592 beautifully said, Susan, I couldn’t agree more. Brought a tear to my eye reading about you keeping in touch with a teacher that made you feel safe. Most of us were lucky enough to have at least ONE teacher be that safe space, and I’m just so grateful. So scared that kids today won’t have the same
@@Bimbologyexpert I know. It makes me sad knowing my kids won't ever have that relationship with their teachers. My private piano teacher is my second mom. She pulled me out of "that dark hole" with every ounce of strength she had. She had no idea until later how bad it really was, but knew enough to ask me to write about our early years as student/ teacher. She claimed someone asked her to do her memoirs. I think she knew I needed to focus on some part of my childhood that was safe. I have full in wept in that woman's arms as a 43 year old mom as she held me.
I will forever be grateful for her and the many instructors in my life that invested in me as a person.
@@susanboyd6592 this just moved me to tears!! I’m so so grateful you had her, it’s amazing what just one person in your corner can do. And you’re right, that’s what makes these days so dismal. Less and less children are going to have that one person. I’ve taken it upon me to extend that care to the children in my life. I don’t have any of my own, but I’m getting to an age where my friends are parents and I do my best to extend myself as a unit of support for them. The kids growing up today are going to need all hands on deck to be successful. Wishing that for all of them.
@@Bimbologyexpert yes they will. That reading teacher I initially spoke of never had children of her own. I believe my class was her first after the passing of her husband. She is probably why many of us went into some form of healthcare later. But most of us managed to track her down with the advent of the internet and still talk to her today. We will forever be her babies lol.
I had been teaching 27 years before resigning in March. Everything you said in this podcast I can relate to and was true for me as well. In the 1990's and even in the early 2000's it was not like this in the public school teaching arena. Administrators handled their responsibilities then. Admins supported teachers. Admins did not let students to get by nonsense and disrespect of teachers. Admins never kissed a parent's ass, as they are doing today. I'm not sure where it went wrong, but yes, it is all different now. Kudos for you doing this podcast !!
Heyyy! I know it’s been two months since you made this comment but do you have any tips for a current high school student who aspires to become a high school teacher? I would really love it!
Yes, what the hell happened?
Lawsuits are what happened to make admins kiss everyone’s tails.
@@MissMarigold I'm not a teacher but come from a family of teachers and thought I would teach too. My recommendation is to reconsider teaching. My family of teachers all told me not to teach when I shared my interests, and I'm glad I took their advice. I work remotely, made $60k/year in my first job out of college, and I have no where near the stress in my career that I would have as a teacher. If you want to help kids, there are also MANY other ways to do that without becoming a teacher (or social worker--they get treated badly too). Look into child psychology and human development and family studies (HDFS).
It started with "no child left behind" in which admin valued attendance in correlation with money they receive
from 2002 to 2011 my mom was a paraprofessional and worked with special needs kids specifically who had behavioral problems. she also worked part time at a grocery store. a woman who worked with her (us) at the grocery store was one of her students and had intermittent explosive disorder. the school didn’t provide the necessary resources to support his needs and left it completely up to my mom who had NO psychology and mediation training to handle him. she had him for 5 years (4th - 8th grade) and in 8th grade he threw a desk at her and pulled down a book shelf that ended up falling on her. the mother (coworker), who became a FRIEND of my mother, who would bitch at her work at the grocery store about how ‘terrible’ her son was, tried to sue my mom for not providing the proper care for her son. even though she knew the circumstances. my mom was threatened with being fired. she ended up quitting, and had to have hip surgery due to these incidents. she receive no support from the school and district, and was villainized. and this was in the school district i came from - a very wealthy town and one of the best schools in the country (in massachusetts) and they STILL treated her like absolute garbage.it’s SICK. and it’s only gotten worse.
Today is my first day of summer break as a high school science teacher, and I cried through this entire podcast. Our admin offices were a vacation from class. Kids ran the hallways. Worst year ever....by far. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I, like many others, are looking for an out.
Same at my kids school. Middle school was hell. Kids ruled and my son was bullied so badly that he doesn't want to ever go back now.
(I'm a elementary P.E. teacher) I had to scrap so many lessons plans because of student behavior this year. So much disrespectful behavior made the gym unsafe.
Two things helped me get through the year.
Explaining to students that they shouldn't respect me just because I'm an adult. They should respect me because I am doing everything in my ability to help them grow in all aspects of their health including emotional, mental, socially, and physically.
I work in an area where many parents are not involved with their kid which caused that lack of respect towards adults for some students. Talking to them like how I did really helped build a bridge between us and set me apart from the other teachers that just yell.
Also with the help of my school counselor. I made a new SEL (social-emotional lessons) lesson plans that included recognizing emotions, yoga, and breathing exercises. While behavior still wasn't amazing, it lessened some and made the year more enjoyable for myself and the students.
I'm an elective too and was very grateful for my ability to change up my lessons (no state test to teach to)... there was no way we could do a lot of the group activities we had done in the past. I basically taught like it was middle school (I'm HS)... and focused A LOT on the social connections and real life applications vs. my usual plans which mixed academics with practical. It was still a hot mess (trying to come up with whole new units super quickly)... but having the flexibility of an elective was handy this year.
When a teacher even thinks of leaving the profession, the guilt just takes hold of them and the feeling of failure! It can be crippling.
I was a martial arts instructor, so I had kids I knew for YEARS, but I had to leave for my own mental health and well-being. The head instructors that owned the school wouldn’t let me announce I was leaving, so I just disappeared during winter break, it was made clear I wasn’t welcome back at the school or events, and they told the kids that I had “moved on”. I still think about the students though… even years later I wonder how they are doing.
We aren’t cared for and blamed for everything. There’s no accountability for student behavior either
Y'ALL!!! This speaks to my soul! I'm a nurse and 100% of this is true for these female dominated fields! So much respect for y'all and thank you for doing such a good job with what you have!
Nothing to do with female dominated fields. It’s working in a field where the end result isn’t making money or protecting money. Do females gravitate towards these fields? Yes. But on their own volition.
Same fellow RN here. Different environments but similar problems!
And then let's talk special ed - after 30 years of teaching and my dad being a teacher we can agree this is the worst time to be a teacher. Our classes are crammed full of violent students alongside students who can't walk, my range cognitively (22 students) is 6 months to at age level (18 to 21 year olds) with behavior issues. I have 1 in a wheelchair, 4 needing feeding and toileting, 1 seizure disorder, 3 with mobility issues and 1 very violent student. What curriculum fits an 18 year range? Not enough staff to actually do our job. I am ashamed of the program, of what we're doing to the kids and feel we borderline abuse them as a district because there is very little teaching.
THANK YOU for discussing this! I’m a teacher and so much is talked about student mental health and students with trauma but I have been traumatised BY my students and I’m just expected to carry on and then be told to DO more! It’s so unfair. Also, people you share your experiences with don’t believe you and they don’t believe just how bad it is. You’re 100% correct we shouldn’t be learning holds or evacuating rooms. I’m a teacher, I want to teach. If students don’t behave they should be sent home!
That's exactly right. You don't get the opportunity to take learning away from other students!
I'm not the only person traumatized from negative evaluations during their student teaching?! Thank you for that validation!!
I know this might ring hollow coming from someone that's not a teacher, but never feel bad about complaining about your job or quitting. There are sometimes where your only way to change a situation is to remove yourself from it.
When Lauren started crying I almost started crying 🥺
I am a student and I am in my last year of high school. I feel so awful for all the teachers that are forced to leave because of mental health and stress. Teachers need more support especially from the students.
There's a mass exodus of people in the education programs too-I left, and two of the three other girls in my lab group for a compulsory bio class also dropped out-all the same reasons. Not worth the money, constant stress, hearing horror stories, and tired of the restrictions on lesson plans and the pressure to teach to state standards. And we weren't the only ones-I know even more.
I’m a student and I am so grateful this exists so I can see what teachers perspectives are and have more respect and over all this motivates me
One of the local schools had this girl that was threatening to shoot up the school but they wouldn’t do anything about it. It literally took several parents to go to the District Attorney and parents saying they would not allow their child to go back to school if nothing is done. So they finally checked this girls locker and found two guns and a hit list. I really feel for teachers especially if they have to deal with all this.
thats crazy
Really wild. Schools put in a lot of effort to save face.
I also think that it’s just really unfair, that because a lot of kids are misbehaving and acting up, that the kids that are actually trying to go to school and learn and be good people, are just put in a pile with the “bad” kids and labeled as it being just this “generation” that’s acting up more than ever, along with everyone else.
It used to be that teachers could get the problem students out and be able to teach but now all the disruptive students are sent back to continue to cause problems so it just effects everyone adversely. So instead of correcting the problem it gets labeled.
Yes! My 4th grader would have anxiety attacks having to go to school this year because there were 3 trouble makers who just made life hell for everyone. And instead of sending the disruptive kids out of the classroom the whole class would get in trouble. My poor kiddo was so freaking stressed out about getting in trouble for something that didn’t have anything to do with him. We decided to homeschool this next year. I can’t keep putting my kid through that. And when I talked with the teacher about the bullying happening in the play ground, she told me I needed to teach my son to be less of a target. Was the bully ever talked to? No! It was all put back on us. No one did anything when my son was punched in the face, had a rock thrown at his face cutting the bridge of his nose and causing him two black eyes. Tackled to the ground and spraining his wrist and tearing his clothing. Cutting the wires on his headphones. Stealing his coat, gloves, water bottles. Dumping water on him. Stabbing him in the legs with pencils. It will be the same exact kids in his class next year. The kids who try to be good and do well in school, the kids who are respectful and thoughtful get lumped in with the rest and labeled as “disrespectful, out of control kids”. And the parents who show up, help out, offer support in every way possible get lumped in and blamed for not being a better parent. No one is winning right now.
This is the entire tragedy right here! School should be about learning. Students can’t learn because there are no clear boundaries and no consequences for poor behavior. It’s chaotic and dangerous. It is unproductive and actually creates more mental health issues.
I think eventually the school system will shift and begin to separate the kids that actually want to learn and participate from the kids who don’t care about school. I think problem kids will be offered online school while charter schools will accept kids that prove they will be good students. That’s the only fix I see to the problem.
As a student who has to deal with awful students in my classes, I have dealt with both bad and good students and teachers. Due to my group of classmates teachers have quit, said things that didn't mean, or broke down because of what happened. One day one of the kids who constantly act up had his father come into class because he wouldn't stop causing issues. The next day after that he didn't act any different, he was just like, "Why'd you have to bring my dad in?". This teacher that had to deal with that is my favorite teacher, she had to deal with so many issues throughout the school day because kids were causing so many issues.
I decided to start bringing her food that I made in my culinary class that I am in before I go to her class. I brought her cookies, cakes, pies, pizza, salads, chicken, pepperoni rolls and a bunch of other things. After that she always smiled when I walked in and gave her food, she told me, "Girl, this makes my day," she was so happy to find at least some joy before dealing with chaos.
Teachers deserve more respect than what they get, I plan to go to college to be a teacher but, I don't know if could because I already can't deal with children around me as a soon to be senior this year. I just wouldn't be able to put up with it.
My husband and I were talking about how mean people have gotten towards one another. I feel like the “the customer is always right” mentality has gone too far to the point people feel like they can lash out at employees either verbally and/or physically when they don’t get their way.
Exactly we are living in a narcissistic epidemic is real is get worse in each generation
This is so true and its why some people just dont want to work retail
Bri, my professor used your videos as examples of how ridiculous parents can be and how we can deal with them. We had a blast watching your videos and discussing them 😊
I quit teaching after 23 years and it was mainly because of stress. I have anxiety disorder, panic attacks, PTSD, lack of administrative support and a child that just broke me. I always prided myself in being able to reach every child and I tried from June to December with this child. I taught at a year round Pre-K with a younger daycare. I loved teaching. I put so much money and outside time into my teaching and Pre-K teachers make nothing. Many also have nothing in their classrooms unless they buy or make it. It got to a point where I would start crying Friday about going back on Monday and the child was physically injuring me daily. I knew I couldn't go on and my mental health was not good. I talked to my boss who at that point was very kind and always was, but lacked resources to really support me. I took a leave of absence which turned into my resignation. As soon as I quit, the teacher who replaced me had all kinds of accommodations made, plus she had a full time assistant and I left her all my curriculum, manipulatives, books... everything.
I still talk to my bosses and get along with staff over social media but as much as I loved the kids I don't regret anything. I made about $22,000 a year. After all I bought for my room and spent on gas (long drive) I took home about 13 grand, if that, for working 12 months of the year. I keep up my license but I know I will never go back. This kid wasn't the only problem, no subs, no break room, no reviews so they didn't have to do raises. I can teach K-6, but after 23 years in Pre-K, I would never feel ready to teach k-6. I never thought I'd leave. This brings all that back. If I hadn't been married, I would have been stuck. I would have qualified for food stamps and low cost housing. Now I'm crying again.
Wow I really feel for u, im a qualified registered teacher and teaching is way more stressful than expected, the workload is too much, the more u do then the more is expected of u. I also got sick of spending my own money to buy supplies. Teaching is nothing like what I expected it to be. I hope you are doing better now
I absolutely want to cry. Y’all have put words to my thoughts and feelings that I couldn’t get out on my own.
I’m broken because of this current school year I’m in. I started therapy because of the trauma of this year.
I'm an RN. I moved up and off the floor and eventually to companies that provide very little in clinical services. I still chose to walk away over the stress and anxiety caused by working in Healthcare. I connect to everything you are saying about the lack of respect, time for self care, and always give more/do better. All the love to you guys.
Yep I like esthetics 😊
This is so true. During my student teaching placement I had a student stand outside the door and hold it shut trapping me and the students in the classroom. It is an experience that I will never forget.
I'm sorry, another thing we as educators (at least in America) that we have to deal with, is active shooter situations/drills. The women that sacrificed themselves in Texas did it for the kids. If put in that situation, I will do the same for any student at my school. When I was in college, we didn't talk about "needing to be armed and trained for active shooter situations." Most of these shooters end up being previous students so that layer of trauma makes it endlessly worse. That's just one of the many things people expect us to do. The list of expectations literally never ends.
You're so right! Teachers are literally expected to take a bullet for students. Most of society blames teachers for everything from misbehavior, low test scores, to poor grades. The exploitation is getting exponentially worse every school year.
Where are you getting that shooters were former students? Shooters pick elementary schools because little kids are defenseless.
In addition, most school shooting are also not what you think of when you think of a school shooting. If a gun is fired near the school, even if it does not involve students or staff, it counts as a school shooting. One of the recent school shootings is a kid who brought a gun to school because he found it under his parents' bed and it went off in his backpack.
@@notagain2806 To make matters worse, imagine being expected to take a bullet for students who are excessively disrespectful to you. Yet, their parents feel ENTITLED to you taking a bullet for them. Not me, being undervalued, underpaid, disrespected, AND expected to sacrifice my life for you....I'm quitting, b/c after 9 yrs, it's become abundantly clear, that teachers are societies doormats!
Seriously I was more afraid of the violent behavior of kids in classes than the rare chance of a random shooter. Sad that we have to drill for these rare issues and don't deal with the behavior issues that lead to crazy criminals.
@@kathleenkirchoff9223 you wanna know something. I live in Danbury, CT, 15 minutes from Newtown CT (where Sandyhook shooting took place) I would have NEVER imagined that a school shooting would
Happen-especially here. They’re not as rare as you think.
I remember talking to another teacher about how we have PTSD, and we were not joking. After 15 years I left teaching high school. I was taken from my classroom in an ambulance once, and was on medication for stress at one time. It physically and emotionally almost killed me. That was 3 years ago and I'm so much happier now. I never recommend the profession to anyone I care about when asked.
The way she talked about quitting after she had to be taken out in an ambulance made me think of a soldier being medevaced out feeling like they're abandoning their squad members who are left behind in the warzone.
Civilians should not have to feel like that. Heck, military shouldn't have to feel like that.
I feel sorry for teachers. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher for the longest time, but sense 2020 I really don’t want to be one. So much stress on these teachers! They need more support!!!
Yup. Ever since the first lockdown, my mother has said that the atmosphere just isn’t the same. Like even when they were back in person staff just couldn’t interact. Like before they could go to the staffroom during lunch and chat, not any more. She’s retiring this year because of it. (Not in America btw)
*since
@@richbaboon9345 thank you
I thought about being a teacher but after this podcast definitely not. It sounds like utter hell unless I worked in a private school. That would be nice
@@aspenisthebest Sorry to say but I've worked in a Private School . They're not unionized , so often you're expected to work longer and be available to the parents 24 hrs a day , without a union to support some necessary boundaries everyone needs . Another issue is often the children of families who can afford private schools are wildly entitled and have even less respect than students in public schools . Not every Private school is like that , but many are . It's a deep cultural and societal problem in our country . Our culture respects people who are rich no matter how they got that $$
I have a friend who is disabled and a teacher and her last school gave her a lot of grief about accommodating her needs and demanding to know exactly what her disability is despite that being against HIPAA.
I would love to see an episode with a guest or two of Disabled teachers where y'all talk about what it's like being a Disabled teacher and how to support Disabled teacher.
A teacher with RA was let go (given choice to resign or be fired) because she was unable to sprint up and down three flights of stairs without using the handrails. Also, she walked with a cane, so couldn’t run after, catch, and return a child who escaped the school, or be on her feet for six hours without sitting down. The school said they couldn’t make treasonable accommodations without endangering student safety, so she resigned in hopes of at least finding another job in education. (Once fired for cause, the chances of finding another job in the field are virtually nil.) Being age 61, and unable to physically restrain students twice her size and weight, and run like an athlete, she put out five dozen applications and heard back from one of them via a form email saying they no suitable openings. She applied for other, mostly low-wage jobs because she lacked the technology needed to do most entry level work, only to strike out as well. In the meantime, she applied for SSD at her counselor’s advice and was denied twice. She had to sell her house to pay the second lawyer, plus pay out of pocket for healthcare. Today, she’s living with her sister’s family, sleeping on the couch, keeping a low profile because she isn’t supposed to be living in the gated community. She’s gotten Medicaid, but has trouble finding doctors and medical facilities that accept it. She’s burned through her savings, no longer has a car, is suffering from major depression but receives only medication, no therapy. Two years gone by and the school has long ago replaced and forgotten her, after 18 years of service.
Something else that I think is traumatizing is negative interactions with parents where they threaten your job etc, seriously or not. For me it’s been very targeted at my identity and while my admin have been supportive, I think they see it as “oh parents are crazy sometimes, don’t worry,” but they don’t understand just how disturbing it is to face micro-aggressions and abuse targeting who you are.
The second year I taught parochial school the parents were complete assholes. Then the crazy nun principal starting acting out screaming and carrying on in front of the kids. I finally just walked out. When it’s not worth it people need to just walk.
Were you teaching them CRT? DEI, SEL and all these other stupid things that have little to do with rigor and academia?
Like you, I had to have a wake up call from my body that my job stress was killing me. For me, it was a sensation that I was constantly slightly choking. Like I had something caught in my throat or like I was being strangled by a toddler. I had test after test and finally the doctor who did my barium swallow told me she thought it was caused by stress. It’s like a lightbulb turned on for me. My job was choking the life out of me. I’m so glad you quit. We really do have survivor guilt! I pray you have a better road ahead
I think another thing that keeps teachers unhappy in their profession is that they put SO much into their career: bachelors/masters degrees (and higher), EdTPAs, licensure exams and constant professional developments, time, energy, love, etc., etc…. And when they finally hit their breaking point, they feel even more guilty because it feels like if they leave, all of that was for nothing. It sucks.
That is exactly how I feel after all the work I put into this I feel like i am a failure if I quit after working for 3 years
I’m crying because this is me. 😢
Summed it up for me.
Yes all of that and ur expected to be smiling happy everyday and made to feel bad if ur not feeling well/need to take time off work
I'm not a teacher, but I have SO much respect for teachers. Dealing with the disrespect and drama for parents and children, Having to catch everyone up because of Covid, and so much more. I fully respect teachers for doing what they do.
I tried teaching Kindergarten because I had volunteered with that age group for half a decade. I had kids remember me from when I had volunteered with them. So I truly was over the moon excited when getting hired to teach kindergarten. I had resigned from my accounting position to earn my alternative teaching certification and teach. Well , I ended up resigning after having 24 kids with zero aide and having kids who would throw chairs. In kindergarten. It wasn't every child in my class who would do these things but the ones who did (1) disrupted the class to where I could not teach (2) caused enough trouble to where I needed to quit. Not to mention the workload that nobody but a teacher understands. I LOVED my class and volunteering but it was not for me and am now back in accounting. I have 💯 more respect for teachers who are currently still in education now. You guys are genuinely heroes.
Personally I believe that parents need to do their jobs. Teachers should not have to deal with children throwing chairs in kindergarten.
Oh friend, bless you. I’m a music teacher and I have kindergarteners who have ZERO sense of adult authority and it’s exhausting. And no one in admin seems to care. At all.
“Why are teachers quitting??”
Such a mystery.
I want to thank yall for being transparent and telling the stories and experiences that you have seen and experienced. You are helping to shine a light on the issues that we experience on a daily basis. I pray success for all of us, the ones that chose to leave and those that still in the game. I know that what yall are doing will help us that are still in the fight get better at least that is my prayer. Love yall, please don't stop what you are doing, it is so needed. Thank you
I’m not a teacher - I’m a therapist for teens and run a contracted school-based counseling program - but this entire pod made me start tearing up because it resonates SO SO SO much with me and the position I’m in - about the guilty feeling of taking time off, the feeling like if you leave you’re walking away from the people at work you care about, the shitty feeling of something having to go seriously seriously wrong as a wake up call to take care of your heath (mental and physical), the anxiety over feeling stuck about being able to afford life and insurance. Much love to y’all - you are seen 🖤
This year, in my school, all of the teachers were telling us that because we’re back in the building, we have to start acting better and more mature, but there was a lot of misbehaving and there was even some vandalism, so I understand the teachers, because a lot of kids were very immature, because everyone had just come back from being online
But when students were online, were y'all being voilent and disrespectful to people around you? I understand how academically you all suffered, but how does that turn into the violence and disrespect in class now?
@@je-nay-nay5503 I would guess it's because being around that many humans after being around so few is difficult - kids need practice to behave well with others, young brains aren't developed yet in the same way adults are.
@@eloiseharrison8574 I’m pretty sure that’s what was going on
@@je-nay-nay5503 This is similar to what my teachers were saying, so I think this might’ve been why some kids were acting the way they were, or at least this explanation makes sense to me.
@@eloiseharrison8574 I half way believe that. The thing is, students were at each other's homes during quarantine, at Target, ice cream, outside picnics etc- they were out of class in my district for 7 months. How does 7 months undo 8 or more (i teach high school) previous YEARS of regular school?
And with this logic, 7 months out of class converted students into doing things like cussing teachers out, bringing weapons go school, flipping out for no reason, being racist towards one another? What were the kids doing at home that made them violent? I'm 100% agreeing with online school plays a part, but I don't agree that 7 months not in class (notice I didn't say at home because kids took vacations, played outdoors, went shopping etc) made them this bad.
I just watched this video while doing lesson plans at 2am on a Saturday night... Hoping to have free time on Sunday, but I have to work on at least three other things for my principal and school district.
I really truly appreciate you guys for doing this video. It helps me to further realize that I am not alone. And I'm hoping parents are watching these videos. They're all over social media. Oh my goodness I hope they're watching.
I'm a special education teacher, and I left after 5 years. I was attacked by a student in my 4th year and left with four separate hernias, requiring major surgery. The district I taught for "graciously" allowed me a whopping two and a half weeks off to recover. The surgery itself left me disabled with nerve damage to both legs and in severe pain. To make matters worse, workers comp gave me the cold shoulder, so I had to get an attorney just to get them to cover diagnostics and treatment. We tried all kinds of things like nerve blocks in both hips, which failed, electric shocks to try to stop the constant firing of the nerves, etc. What ultimately game me the most function back was months of physical therapy, that ended the week before the pandemic shutdowns. I still have a ton of pain and still walk with a cane, but I'm at least able to go back to work now, which I am this school year.
Good Lord that’s horrid.
This madness didnt happen when I graduated in 2014. I am not sure why or how admin normalized students in assaulting their teachers.
@@gohanlopez5330 assault implies intent, and the population I teach isn't capable of that.
Let me explain, my students are the most impacted by their disabilities, both intellectual and physical, who can still physically attend school. The student who injured me had the cognitive level of a toddler. I *do not* hold them responsible.
Now, the surgeon who *actually* did the nerve damage, and the workers compensation insurance company who denied and delayed treatment, they are another story.
@@gohanlopez5330 I just want to say that I'm really sad for what happened to OP and I don't condone kids putting their hands on teachers, HOWEVER I as a student actually slapped and punched a teacher both in the same grade and to this day I don't really feel bad about it.
For some context this was in middle school, and at the beginning of the year my sister and I were walking across the school crosswalk to the other side of the street to start heading home. All cars had stopped and there was a bus coming but it looked like it was slowing down as well and seemed to be a safe distance away. My sister was like 2 paces ahead of me and before we even knew what was happening the bus slammed on the gas and ran my sister over. Turns out bus driver was drunk and had leaned back to yell at some kids and simultaneously slammed on the gas. The first cop on the scene was her son's best friend and LIVED IN HER HOUSE and he let her leave the scene after pulling my sister out from under the bus. Which I yelled at them for doing because none of us knew what her injuries were... she's still driving btw but for another district.
Anyway, it was pouring down rain that day and it took 30-40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive and a male teacher kept trying to get me to go inside so I wouldn't get hypothermia. I kept telling him I wasn't going to leave her in the street all alone, and if she was laying there in the rain that I wasn't going to be sitting comfy in the office. He would *not* leave me alone and eventually he literally put his hands on my shoulders and tried to get me to walk with him to the office and I turned around and punched him in the gut and told him to get his f-ing hands off of me and he kind of just walked away silent after that.
Then like 2 months later I was in art class (last period of the day) and we had a sub. Everyday I had to leave 15 minutes early to help my sister on and off of the short bus because she was now in a wheelchair. The short buses came before the longer ones because it was good to get everyone on them before the chaos of the rest of the school came out and filled the bus lot. Well I got up to leave that day like I normally did and the sub yelled at me "what do you think you're doing? Sit down!". I figured maybe my normal teacher had forgotten to leave it in her notes or something, so I calmly explained the situation. The sub was NOT having it and told me to sit down again and wait till the bell rang like everyone else. I told her again that I needed to go and help my sister and the whole class verbalized that I was telling the truth but she didn't care. Finally I told her to call the office if she didn't believe me and I started walking to the door again. She literally ran over to the door and started body blocking me, getting all up in my face and saying I needed to stop being a brat and just listen to her because she was in charge... I slapped her, which stunned her long enough that I could get around her and out the door.
I never received disciplinary action for either of these events (to my surprise) and to this day I don't feel bad about them.
I don't condone violence, but sometimes people are honestly just overstepping boundaries way too far and letting power go to their heads. A lot of students have had bad experiences with teachers like this and it only takes a high-emotion moment to snap.
I wouldn't have punched the first teacher if he hadn't put his hands on me, and I wouldn't have slapped the second if she had just shown some basic human decency and not harassed me while I was already extremely emotionally vulnerable due to recent events.
I think in many cases when these things happen it is not warranted. But in my particular case I would do it again in the same situation.
This video took me back to an incident that I had in my old school 3 years ago.
Our class teacher had health problems and she left the school. Our class (for 2 months) was teacher-less. One day our vice principal came in saying that I really don’t VALUE the teachers who leave mid-semester, she even said that our teacher could have taught us till the end of the semester.
Just goes to show how messed up the education system is (for teachers and students), even in different countries.
I'm a school social worker so I don't quite have the same demands as teachers but definitely see it every day. The worst is when admin decide you're doing a bad job from tiny bits of out of context information so they stay outside of your classroom or office for several hours but won't help when you actually need help. Speaking from experience this past year for me and some coworkers. 🙃
I have the utmost respect for teachers. I am in college right now but my whole life teachers have been so helpful to me and were my first people I looked up to. I still think teachers are awesome and hard workers.
Thank you all so much for sharing your stories! It is so validating (unfortunately) to hear so many stories/opinions that I have shaken my head in affirmation to that I have also experienced. I, too, have left the classroom this year and I still feel an amount of guilt when I tell others of my decision that didn't see me struggle throughout the years.
The situation with teachers reminds me of a quote from the series MASH. "Respect, simple respect. I expect nothing more and I will accept nothing less."
What needs to happen is for a month the parents need to switch places with the teachers just so they can see how crazy these children are acting because I bet once they deal with the school environment they would be more willing to work with the teachers and they need to do that every year
Administrators too! The administrators need to spend real time in a classroom every year. More lead teachers who are actually teachers and less principals and assistant principals. Not only would it help the teacher shortage and lower class size they would really understand what is happening instead of some sugar coated version they remember.
@@candywhyman1393 In my experience, at least with younger kids, they put on their best behavior in front of admin because even at the age of 5 they understand that teachers have no real control, the admin does. So it actually does the opposite thing, the admin comes in and the kids behave and it makes me look like I just can't do my job.
I agree with the parents switching roles and being the teacher or class helper and see how it feels.
I love listening to you guys talk and tell your stories. I commend you all for teaching, I know it’s not easy in or out of the classroom, a lot goes into being an educator: lesson plans, teaching children who’s attention span isn’t that long, having to have patience with the children, administration, the parents, supplying your classroom with the resources you need to teach and so much more. It’s A LOT and I have so much respect for you all and all teachers out there. These podcasts are very informative and entertaining and very insightful. I’m glad to have come across your channel.
I’m glad This channel was made! It’s bringing a lot of attention and awareness to what us teachers go through. Now and days you need a lot more then just “patience” with children…