Teachbad and Student: A Moment
After my interview on WAMU/NPR, I heard from a number of former students. This is the first one I got:
Hi Mr Gwynn,
I’m not entirely sure if you remember me, but I was a former student of yours. So this morning, I was in the car on my way to work listening to NPR as usual and to my surprise I heard your name and I immediately recognized you as my awesome and definitely memorable high school history teacher. I commanded everybody in the car to be silent because I just had to hear what you had to say. I don’t know if this means anything to you but I am so thoroughly impressed by you. I had never heard of your blog until this morning and I honestly cannot stop reading it ( I probably should though before I get fired lol). The things you say are so interesting and I find myself reading it in your unmistakable voice. Well I just thought that you should know that you have just earned a major fan and I am so beyond proud to claim you as my former teacher. You are one of the few who I can really say have had not only a positive influence on me but a memorable one as well and I really appreciate you for being and amazing educator. I will always remember you as the king of Saratoga!
If you’re a teacher, you know what this means. I started crying at my desk. Aside from my own two kids, not much makes me prouder than this email.
I want to thank her for taking the time to write to me and show appreciation for the work I did as her teacher. She is wicked smart and a pure delight to be around. I want to thank her for reminding me why I started teaching and why a part of me will always miss it. If there are any students reading this, let your teachers know from time to time that you appreciate them and what they do. It will make their day.
This student aced every test I ever gave her and didn’t need her hand held for four weeks to write a five page paper. I wish I could have spent more time on Sundays or up at night worrying about what I could do for her in class and making sure she was challenged. But I couldn’t.
To be honest, I mostly had to ignore her. And she thanked me anyway. Go figure.
Mr. Teachbad
I occasionally hear from former students. Usually their opening line is “I know I flunked your course but” and they proceed to give examples of things they remembered and how it helped them. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, and definitely not something measurable on a standardized test. But I do feel grateful knowing I contributed something that had a positive effect.
Those are the most important moments, in my opnion. It’s the kids we DON’T realize we’re getting to who’s comments are the most meaningful. They’re also the reason I despise rating teachers on the basis of standardized tests; how often have you realized, many years later, that something your teacher told you was actually important? Lots, I bet.
How often have I voiced the same sentiments as those in your last three sentences?….too many.
Beautiful.
Love it. A good reminder for us to teach to the best of our students, not the worst.
I wouldn’t say NOT to the worst. But just something more equitable. The amount of time and effort we spend on each student, unless they have an IEP, should be about the same. That’s why ability and effort grouping would make so much sense. If you’re all sort of in the same neighborhood, I can roll out something right away that almost everybody will get and be about as willing to do. This would be much, much fairer and virtually guarantee better outcomes for everybody. Please, America…promise you’ll think about it.
Oh, wait…it just dawned on me that you might have meant the “best” and “worst” of our students in like a better and worse parts of ourselves kind of way. But that would be less consistent with the original post.
Either way, I think ability and effort grouping is a good idea.
“That’s why ability and effort grouping would make so much sense.”
With the potential (not current practice) of today’s technology, I am hoping you are including the abolition of the regressive and pernicious practice of ‘grade levels.’
I am a former teacher. I lasted ten years. I loved my kids, warts and all. However, I was burned out on parents who didn’t understand the commitment it takes to raise a child. I was also fed up with heavily teaching to standardized tests. Call me crazy, but I think we need to teach how to think, not what to think. Three years after I left, I received a forwarded letter from a former student. I had no idea of the impact I had on her. I cried. It was the first time I regretted leaving the profession.
sps, I could understand your emotion after receiving a heart-felt letter. However, I don’t think you should regret leaving the “profession” (quotes because it’s no longer a profession as we are NOT treated like professionals, but children). You left for a reason…and it’s getting worse every year.
I’m leaving too and it can’t come soon enough.
wHow touching. Where’s the humor? I have to watch Beyond Scared Straight today because this post was zip. I had two former students who love me show up this year at my new school. Yeah , it helps my overall demoralized mood, but I prefer watching rotten kids on TV being put through scared straight programs to relieve my need for justice. On Friday, I had three kids do horrible shit in my room. I had six classes on Friday. The seventh grade class ignored me in toto. One kid agressed on me physically. I should be calling worthless parents. I am so aggravated with all this crap. The principal wouldnt suspend a kid for attempted murder. ( hey, Afterall , only an attempt )
You need to get back to your roots. What a snooze! Get back to your roots. Substitute somewhere!! We need you:)
I’m only human. I can’t be a sarcastic dick ALL the time. Have patience; God isn’t finished with me yet.
Yep, I know exactly how you felt when you read that. Although I left 2 years ago after spending 17 years teaching, I remembered getting those occasional reminders from the students I touched.
Yeah, I cried too. Dont tell anyone.
Teaching is like childbirth. Once time has passed, you forget the excruciating pain. That’s one of the reasons administrators are dicks. Another reason is they were born that way, of course. It’s easy to romanticize the classroom once you leave. Sort of like summer vacation. The pain dulls and you start fantasizing about a better new school year. Sort of like combat, you block out the traumatic events. Oh G-d, it’s onlyn f’n October, kill me now!
Teachbaby,
Amazing how the end of September feels more like the end of May. Most of the other teachers seem to feel the same.
I’m predicting the “50% of teachers leave within 5 years” statistic shoots up dramatically within the next decade.
End-of-year-burnout seems to be reaching out nice and early this year.
Maybe that’s because we received a stack of handouts/paperwork this year which were so thick it could be used a a fuckin step-stool!!!!!!!
I thank that stack, however, because it’s what really put me over and made my decision to leave by the end of this year final.
Now I really don’t give a shit. That’s why I’m going to copy and paste every IEP this year with very, very minimal editing. Same exact goals too. :O)
Maybe at the IEP meetings I’ll just ramble on about things that have absolutely nothing to do with school. I’ll talk about my plans for the upcoming weekend, which includes making love with my wife. That would be fuckin awesome…
sadly, just as you describe, these are the students, try as we may, that we leave behind.
Dear differentiate: I was buried in tasks and paper. If I never saw a student, the paper alone would have been a full time job. Check out your state testing requirements if you wouldn’t mind staying with an easier job: prep teacher has almost no paperwork. If you take a test and pass, you can teach choir ,
Gym, computer, art etc… It’s not paradise, but it’s a better job than regular teacher. FY I. Ps: it sucks in other ways, but you get your evenings and weekends.
I loved the tone of Teachbad’s post. I, however, did not love the tone of your comment. As a band teacher, I experience thee same frustrations as other teachers in my district. The BEST part is I ALSO get to worry about whether I have a job because kids have to choose other core classes over mine due to scheduling. We’re all in this together. No need to create a divide between teachers.
JA, I totally agree. The classroom teachers in my school are always trying to imply that the specialist jobs are oh-so-much easier.Trust me, they’re really not. Have you ever had to wrangle an 80 kid chorus for 45 mintues, all on your own? And then do this every week? Or have one of those really “special” classes, which are team taught (two adults in the room) come to you for music class without the second adult? “It’s just 45 minutes, you can handle them yourself.” For the entire year.
On top of my music/chorus responsiblities, I now have to spend 9 hours a week in the regular classroom helping with math and reading. What the fuck is this math they’re teaching nowadays? What the hell happened to plain old borrow and carry? Why am I expected to plan this shit in addition to music and chorus?
Both areas of teaching have their own special brand of suck.
Not to mention that if you teach an elective subject, you have to be a carnival barker to keep enrollment up and you always wonder if your “superfluous” program is going to get cut.
Teachbaby,
I beg to differ.
The hardest working person on a high school campus is the band director. They are there late on Friday nights for football games, come back at the crack of dawn Saturday morning for field show/parade competitions, returning to campus somewhere around midnight.
Then there’s the booster group to babysit, the fundraising, the color guard competitions, the drum line competitions, the concert season, the spring trip (overnight and out-of-town), more fundraising, managing the staff of instructors (minimum required 3), the pep band for basketball and/or volleyball (including staying to direct them every night there’s a game), more fundraising, writing the drill and music for next year’s show (or babysitting whoever is).
Being a HS band director is essentially being a CEO of a start-up business. There are no days off and you under constant threat of cataclysmic, career-ending failure.
How is this easier than teaching a core subject?
“There are no days off and you under constant threat of cataclysmic, career-ending failure.” That’s the thing – your assessments (for lack of a better word) always take place in front of thousands of people at a time. And you can’t win – if the performance is bad, it’s because you are a bad teacher. If the kids do well, it’s because they are talented kids.
Over the summer, a choir director in my neck of the woods was accused of being inappropriate with his students. He didn’t have sex with any of them, but he was accused of saying some stuff that you just shouldn’t say.
An article was published on a local news site (wish I could find it again), where several of his students came in the comments to defend him, saying what a great musician he was and how they had learned so much from him and other stuff like that. According to what I read, his high-level choirs have performed internationally, including at the London Olympics.
I don’t know the guy, but I do know the amount of work it takes on the teacher’s part to 1) send in audition tapes/forms/etc to get groups accepted to something like that, 2) organize the trip, including the fundraising and all that fun stuff, and 3) actually go.
A parent chimed in, basically telling the kids that they had been brainwashed, they owed nothing to him, and everywhere they had gone and everything they had achieved was because of THEIR talent, not his work.
I found that pretty disheartening, but an affirmation of attitudes I had already experienced on my own, as I think many of us – music or not – have experienced: Good kids do well because they are good kids. Bad kids are bad kids because we are bad teachers. As I said, you just can’t win.
Nice. Bravo, Teachbad!
One positive comment like that from a student or parent is enough to help me withstand the withering barrage of bullshit . . . for awhile.
But then are the ever more frequent times when I don’t even have the stamina to get naked and drag my rifle up into the nearest clock tower.
This week,one of my students with special needs ran up to me, hugged me tight, and (while I was trying not to spill my coffee on him) he said, “Ms. B, you are my Mountain Dew. I love Mountain Dew so much and can’t live without it!” Then he ran on to class. He called me Ms. Soda all week long. I will make it through this year now.
This is the kind of thing that keeps me going, too.
With all due respect, if a hug from a kid is what keeps you going, that goes to show how we have lowered the satisfaction standard for ourselves.
I got a few nice comments today. Then we had the pleasure of a typical faculty conference featuring the new network leader. She told about the importance of rigor, lexile levels, and all the other typical, vomit-inducing buzz words and phrases. Some how I stopped myself from standing up and telling her to just shut the fuck up with all of her BULLSHIT. The urge was really there though…no kidding.
Differentiation mixed with rigor. Yup, that’s the answer you moron.
I have a tendency to fall asleep during faculty meetings/professional development meetings.
To all upset prep teachers: I think a prep teacher has to be a classroom management “artiste.”. My job is horrid and has its own list of miseries that regular teacher job does not. That being said, I have done both and I am not belittling the work of prep teachers. My only point is that in most positions in most schools( not all positions in every school) there is far more optional tasks. When I had my own class, the shear volume of mandatory paperwork tasks and otherwise was staggering. Yes, the day is harder , but I have less nonsense tasks to do. They do dump on prep teachers. But overall, I could NEVER handle a regular class again unless all the rules of the current game changed. I am saying that we all have a daunting task, we all need the playing field to improve , but I addressed my comment to Differentiate This to help. Not
To put those who have my own job down.
Geez, TeachBaby. You can’t get out of your own way lately. Ha.
Wonder if we were all sitting in the same room if we would bond, or hate each other’s guts. Ha. Ha.
Ha.
Hum.
You two, and all the rest of us, would all bond. Probably instantly.
For we all see the emperor has no clothes, and we’re tired of seeing him parading his naked arse all round town.
I have also done both. Now a days, especially, both suck. Being a cluster teacher was never easy, but was (note: was) much easier in the far past. All that being said, a classroom teacher, as I’m blessed being as of the last few years, sucks the most. As Teachbaby noted, the mandatory paperwork chokes the ever-loving life out of you. Of course, lots of that paperwork is finding it’s way into the arms of the cluster teacher, making every position suck now a days. The only way to escape the paper load is to leave the “profession”. It gets worse everyone for everyone, and will continue to get worse every year…just when you think it can’t!
If there is one thing we can all agree on, classroom or cluster teacher, this job has become a living hell…to put it lightly.
Teach22: I would kill to hear what teachers I work with say and think when their mask is off. They all act as if they just love the kids and the job. I shup- up but I don’t think I am pulling off the “I just love teaching facade.”. I hope all of us on this site would have a great laugh together even if we were all drunk.
Teachbad: I don’t watch sports, but if you know a way I could make money at it, I’d consider it. Don’t mess with the Zohan– ( inside joke)
Teachbaby, VERY interesting point. You know, I actually think a lot of teachers who act like they really love the kids…actually do! This isn’t a slam to people’s politics, but the reality is many teachers are of the liberal mind set. I’m not and that’s why I am not the “I just love the kids” type of teacher. Doesn’t mean I don’t care.
That being said, I’m sure there are also many teachers who do put up that facade…and just for the reason I stated. We are supposed to be kid-loving fools, even if treated like crap by them and their parents.
Again, not slamming liberals but here is a perfect example (true story). While taking my Masters many years ago at my Community College, the professor was talking about how some kids in his class (high school) would calls him grandpa because of his oldish appearance. The other kids would laugh at the teacher every time. He said he did ask them not to call him that but they did anyway…all the time. He then told us, he accepted it and kids will be kids. He said if that’s what makes them happy, that’s what makes him happy. I’m not kidding!
So, this is the type of mind-set our society has been instilling in new teachers and even more veteran teachers.
Point is, odd as it is for me, there are lots of teachers who truly adore their students, even if they are a handful. For me, their just kids I’m teaching and that’s where it ends.
Are you suggesting that how much crap one is willing to take from kids or how much one likes kids is a proxy for one’s political views? I’m not sure there’s anything to support that.
Thank you. I think I’ve made it clear that my perspective is that it isn’t that the do-gooders still teaching who are perverting education. God love them, they mean well, but with proper checks and balances they couldn’t sway the direction of education.
It’s the faux do-gooders. The ones who loved the kids SO MUCH that they had to leave teaching (after a couple years) and love the kids for double the salary as an admin. Then all of the sudden with out the lesson plans, duties, and grading, they justify their position by reinventing the edu-wheel with reform that appeals to non-educators…the taxpayer parents who pay their salary.
They can’t control the kids and parents, so they appease them. But they can control those who depend on them for good observations and need a job.
It’s the non-partisan path of least resistance (unfortunately the teachers union is ineffective against promoting true professional concerns) as we’re too busy actually working to resist.
Follow the money, people. It ain’t about philosophy or politics. Those are just effective tools.
On a limb, I think Diff This meant liberal in terms of parenting style so to speak . I like kid , not kids. It is easy to like a kid one on one, but group behavior can be infuriating. I spend a lot of time remembering that this rotten behavior may only be a snapshot of the kid, but when a student victimizes you, it’s hard to forget. I think a lot of teachers might like a kid because they know them better than I do or because they have clout in the building and kids treat them better. Some teachers can easily get a kid suspended or in Dutch in the building. One technique admins in schools use to torture teachers is to not support them, thereby making them lame duck teachers and/or targets for the kids. This sucks! Each teacher has their own boundaries and liberal ( not politjically) have very loose boundaries so it is much harder to piss them off. Maybe, I need to lower mine. Some teachers can do no wrong in the building, but if you are being judged harshly for lack of discipline, it is tough to turn a blind eye to the violations of school ediquette.
Yes, band teachers get PAID for extra hours. Yes, they work hard. If you read every post only in self terms, you will find a way to disagree or take offense. We all all together in this mess. It’s not about whose job sucks the worst .
I love the emperor has no clothes post above!!
Also: to The Band Teachers: please reread my post. I never mentioned band teachers or instrumental for that matter. I was essentially targeting non- major subjects in early/ middle school years. Obviously an Art teacher in an Art academy wasn’t what I meant either. My own orchestra teacher in high school taught music as major. I was thinking along the terms or prep , not cluster- whatever this it– positions. Keep your glue on, y’al
I’m an elementary general/chorus teacher. Just because music is a “non-major” doesn’t mean that my job is easy. I’m not just a “prep” teacher. How do you think those HS bands, choirs, and orchestras get so good (not to take anything away from my HS counterparts)? These kids don’t walk into band class on the first day of 9th grade knowing nothing…what they learn from their music teachers in elementary/middle school is the root of that tree.
We specialists work with every child in the school. We fill out 450 sets of interims and 450 sets of report cards every trimester. We deal with all the same parents and all the same behavior issues as everyone else does, except we get to deal with every single one every single year. Weget to call home about a behavior issue only to have the parent say that the class doesn’t matter and their child can do what he/she wants (this happens more than I would have previously believed). I personally get to put on concerts that include every single kid (behavior issues and all), and then stand there like an idiot while the happy parents walk right past me to tell the not-involved principal how much they liked the show. The pissed off ones always manage to find me, though.
We get to sit in staff meetings where the homeroom teachers outright call the specialists “lazy” because we have a problem with being assigned extra math and reading tutoring duties. Honest to god, there are some in my school who sit and figure out their planning time vs. the planning time of each and every specialist and then bitch that our number is higher, conveniently forgeting that we use that “extra” time to do things like run chorus rehearsals, shelve and maintain all the library books, etc. There are only four specialists, so we are outnumbered. The principal caves to them and fills up our schedules with busywork tutoring and other BS duties.
I don’t think my job is harder than yours. The both suck in different ways. But don’t imply that mine is easier. I deal with that shitty attitude everyday. I don’t want to have to come here and see it, too.
Has anyone noticed that new posts spring up in the middle? This is my first/0nly blog.
Teach22: follow the money was great!!
I’d like to add that one major problem that keeps us all stuck in the mud besides having no time, no power and no voice is when you really look at it, we all have very different jobs. !!! There are some major similarities between grade teachers, but every class is different, every school, every district , every admin etc.
This is a Hugh reason we can’t come together . Teachers tend to think we understand each others burdens and we do get it better than non- teachers. But, then that’s as far as it goes. Each teacher faces a mix of the same propblems, but you need to have taught many grades, subjects, schools as I have to know I don’t know shit. I only know my own warped birdseye view of this picture.
While the politicals are looking at the forest, we are still focused on our own patch of weeds. We should address the issues we all agree upon, and then try to start big picture dialogues because this is a crap way to deal with our problems.
I feel compelled to share after many silent months of following you, Mr. Teachbad. I left teaching just over 6 months ago and it was the hardest decision I ever followed through on. On a daily basis I miss the kids, but missing them isn’t enough for me to regret my decision. I’ve been luckier than some, though. The last school I taught in had unbelievably supportive parents who were pretty good about teaching their kids appreciation. I’ve kept every last email, card, and hand-drawn picture ever given to me. At the time I received each one, I simply kept it to have a kind reminder when things would seem unbearable. Now, I keep them because they remind me of the mountain I climbed and how loved I was…even if it was only for that school year.
NoPerdida,
I think it’s wonderful that you stood strong and made that difficult decision. Any career change is difficult. There are so many variables involved which can make it more difficult for others…or easier.
I can relate since this will be my last year. Actually, I plan on leaving around January or so when my wife can switch her insurance back to her own job.
Like you, the kids really are not the problem. regardless, if students are the only thing keeping you as a teacher, that’s a real problem in my opinion.
Not to sound too cold, but honestly, they’re not OUR kids. They move on, just as teachers do. There will always be new, brain-washed teachers to replace those who leave, whatever that reason is (retirement, just had enough, etc).
I also have every picture, note, etc. given to me over the years. It does mean something, it is nice, but it’s not even remotely enough to want to make me stay.
To all those reading who are considering leaving and can most likely do so without being financially destroyed, etc….RUN! Run for the hills…as fast as you can…without turning back…and without regrets.
The kids may love you, but the system hates you.
DifferentiateTHIS, please tell me, what will you do instead. I feel trapped, like so many of us…
East Coast Drone,
I sort of have a few plans. As of right now, I plan on leaving and becoming a Home Improvement Contractor…painting and regrouting. Someone I know is showing me, on weekends when possible, how to paint and regrout. I never owned a business and never wanted to, but he made this suggestion and truly believes I’ll doing very well. He has been a contractor his whole life. He makes at least $400-$500 a day (or quite a bit more with regrouting especially jobs in the city), often cash. He is going to help me a lot, including sending me jobs and with advertising.
In addition to this, my friend, who was my para last year in my other hell school, just got a job at Con Ed thanks to a friend who is a higher up. With overtime, he will start making close to what I am (amazing). He gave my resume to his friend and I applied to a bunch of positions online.
I’m sure I’ll do well enough with the painting & regrouting. If I make any where near what I’m making now, I’ll be very happy. My friend thinks I’ll be making much more within a year a so.
So, we will see. I just need the mental exhaustion and nightmares to go away. Not to mention all of the specific hells related to teaching.
Wish me luck!
Oh, I’m even going to take the NYC School Safety Agent exam in a week or so. Doesn’t start at much, but with overtime it’s okay money. They may not make too much to start, but I envy every one of those school safety agents who read a newspaper and text all day while siting on their butts. Not that I’m lazy of course (I’m going to paint and regrout…not easy work). I just want OUT!!
Me too, me too! I so want out! I am practically paralyzed by depression this weekend, due to a negative evaluation with my principal on Friday.
I don’t think he wants me to quit–he’s just, as he said, trying to help me be a better teacher. But I am past wanting to be a better teacher! I just want out.
One factor in the negative comments–the terrible acoustics in my classroom! He claimed he couldn’t hear me from the back of the room. Possibly true, though no other evaluator has ever said this. But I have struggled with the acoustics in my classroom for 4 years now and have always felt stressed and even kind of befuddled in that room.
Large AC ducts run directly overhead, and there are 4 vents/fans in the room. When they turn on, as they do at totally random and uncontrollable intervals, the kids can’t hear me, I can’t hear their responses, I have to shout, their attention lags, discipline problems emerge, etc.
His solution: “project your voice.” But truly, my just being louder won’t help–the ambient noise diffuses sound and just makes it harder to pick up what’s being said.
Another solution he offered? More group work. As if having 30 people talking at once in a room where even 2 people can’t hear each other properly is an attractive idea.
Kind of a “last straw” moment for me. I can’t be responsible for everything, and I am tired of being set-up to fail.
PS–Since I’ve jumped into the fray here, I want to just say this. This state’s newish eval system (2nd year) is just totally demoralizing.
Prior to this new system (TEAM rubric, if any other readers are suffering under the same eval method), my observations/reviews were generally positive, with a few genuinely helpful suggestions.
I feel like I am being clubbed to death with this new rubric, though. It permits, even encourages, the evaluator to 2nd-guess you throughout. I am tired of hearing about what I “could have done.”
Sure there are other things I could have done. But I did what I did because it’s my classroom and I know these kids, and I’ve been with them for weeks now, and I am “highly qualified” after all, am I not? Why do you have to reduce me to a number in a state data-base?
Honestly, I cannot even breathe properly in such a no-win situation!
We have TEAM. Previously it was BEST. How do you get to be the chief consultant in charge of acronym creation? I propose Floundering Under Curricular Knavery.
Good for you, DifferentiateTHIS,
You should do all right with your various schemes.
I’m not yet at the point where I can hear the latest ridiculous directive from our AP, say “Are you out of your fucking mind? I’m out of here!” and stomp out.
Sad.
This is what my fantasy life has become.
Hi crazy lady: don’t let it get you down and I know this sounds absurd. I have been getting observed and beaten-up for years. They are assholes. I don’t care what the Rubric says( sorry for the dirty word , MTB) only shitheads use it as an excuse to F u up. Can’t win rooms are not in your control, but you could start sending emails to maintaince and the principal to document that they are not providing u a working classroom. Just in case you need it for a union discussion etc..
In the meantime, get a F ‘em mind set. A teacher never knows when the other shoe will truly drop. I am sick of worrying and don’t give a crap if they fire me or not, like me or not etc.. If I lose my job I am still educated and I will deal with it, but letting them have my sanity is insane. Also, it is so much fun when they realize you don’t give a crap anymore. Once this attitude became noticeable they have let up. And when they don’t I go after’em and tell them exactly what I think. — of course, I am professional, but I finally finally stopped taking their crap.
Crazylady, I think it’s very a good thing that you know you’ve been set up to fail. What’s sad are those who actually questions themselves when a bully-type principal hands out an Unsatisfactory that was undeserved.
As you stated, are you not “highly qualified” after all?
One of my many beefs with this entire system is the fact that we are all qualified. To get through college earning your Bachelors, Masters, passing the State Exams, etc takes some brains. Yes, there are occasionally some who are not the brightest and somehow make it into the classroom. However, this is not common. Most teachers can teach. Btw, those who are not the brightest usually are not the ones who receive Unsatisfactories. Those tend to reserved for those with brains, who give a shit, and are making more than first-year pay.
My only suggestion to you is to look to transfer at the end of the year. I hate to sound negative but from my experience and others, getting a U if often a sign that you are no longer wanted (and NOT because you did anything wrong…which you already know thankfully).
Good luck and keep us updated. I’ve been there and definitely understand :O)
East Coast Drone, thank you! s for your comment, there is almost always a way. Hopefully over time you will find a way out…
Teachbaby, no question that not giving a shit (sadly) is a necessary strategy to survive in the system. The ones who don’t care seem to get left alone. Caring is what ALWAYS gets you in trouble. Pathetic yet true.
Hey diff: thanks.. Just to set it straight– I care about teaching— I just don’t care what the admins think about me anymore.
Your advice is so right. Crazy must get out of that building. Once they start on you, they never quit- like pit bulls. They smell blood. It would be real nice if they just said they don’t f’n like you instead of trying to undermine your confidence and clout with your kids.
It makes me sad I had to ignore my most focused and on-task students so that I could attend to the tics and outbursts inflicted daily by those less focused. Not fair.