What I'd REALLY like to say to some of my students...

[Anonymous]

It's good to get it out today. You probably also have an equal number and perhaps many more happy stories to tell about your classroom experiences.

The nice thing about DCUM is that it can be like a public water cooler where we can complain anonymously and then go back to our real lives where sometimes we just have to grin and bear it.

[Anonymous]

I have zero respect for any teacher that would feel the need to slam her students so badly. I understand that teachers face an up hill battle, and our system is crappy, but what you have complained about is not the system but the actual students. And all it's doing is showing your own lack of understanding of where they are in their lives. I hope your Ph.D. is in something else.

[Anonymous]

I'm a school professional and you are probably counting down the days till summer starts, just as I am in MCPS. I took the day off today which is also helping my burnt-out mentality

[Anonymous]

to 16:24, sorry, I realize that wasn't clear. No, I have never argued with a 13 yo (past my first year of teaching), nor told them about my level of education. I was simply continuing my vent. I do not argue with my students, as that would be a waste of time. As 16:21 said, it is just them acting out due to their age and maturity level. I realize that these kids are just that-kids. Which is why I would never say these things to their face, only on an anonymous forum where I can vent

I love teaching. I love touching the lives of students, opening new worlds to them, and challenging them to think non-linearally. I will continue to teach until I no longer can work. But occasionally, after years of running into students who are entitled, self-important, and who ever-so-subtly look down on you, it can wear thin! Ask any teacher of students who are above 10 years old-I bet you will hear similar things from them. And the entitled attitude is only getting worse...

[Anonymous]

16:27, those very same teachers you are "so gateful for as fellow humans interested in helping our kids through early adolescence" all have a bad day here and there where they vent and complain about their job. The notion that teachers should not be allowed to complain about their work is just silly...who doesn't have a crappy day at the office now and then? Who doesn't want to tell a client to shove it? Who hasn't dreamed about telling their co-workers what they really think of them?

[Anonymous]

You couldn't pay me enough to teach. Parents are insufferable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:16:27, those very same teachers you are "so gateful for as fellow humans interested in helping our kids through early adolescence" all have a bad day here and there where they vent and complain about their job. The notion that teachers should not be allowed to complain about their work is just silly...who doesn't have a crappy day at the office now and then? Who doesn't want to tell a client to shove it? Who hasn't dreamed about telling their co-workers what they really think of them?

She is not complaining about her work - she is complaining about her students. They are not co-workers. They are children.

My DH teaches fifth grade and he has never vented about his children like this to me. Never.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:16:27, those very same teachers you are "so gateful for as fellow humans interested in helping our kids through early adolescence" all have a bad day here and there where they vent and complain about their job. The notion that teachers should not be allowed to complain about their work is just silly...who doesn't have a crappy day at the office now and then? Who doesn't want to tell a client to shove it? Who hasn't dreamed about telling their co-workers what they really think of them?

She is not complaining about her work - she is complaining about her students. They are not co-workers. They are children.

My DH teaches fifth grade and he has never vented about his children like this to me. Never.

Great for your DH. I teach in an arlington co. MS that feeds to one of the most highly-thought-of HS in the county. Every single teacher I work with has said something along the lines of what OP has said. Every.Single.One. The good teachers do not let it get to them too often, and never let it affect their treatment of their students. The bad ones do. It seems to me, based on what OP has said, that she/he does not allow it to affect the job-they still treat the kids with respect (ie, not venting all over them, giving them the pen/pencil, politely addressing what they see as concerns, etc), but is also healthy enough to realize they need a place to blow off steam-hence the vent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:16:27, those very same teachers you are "so gateful for as fellow humans interested in helping our kids through early adolescence" all have a bad day here and there where they vent and complain about their job. The notion that teachers should not be allowed to complain about their work is just silly...who doesn't have a crappy day at the office now and then? Who doesn't want to tell a client to shove it? Who hasn't dreamed about telling their co-workers what they really think of them?

She is not complaining about her work - she is complaining about her students. They are not co-workers. They are children.

My DH teaches fifth grade and he has never vented about his children like this to me. Never.

5th grade is most decidely NOT middle school. My mom taught fourth and fifth grade for years and loved it, truly loved it - never heard her say a bad word about the kids or anything else. She transferred to a middle school and had a nervous breakdown within a year - middle schoolers are brutal, just brutal.

[Anonymous]

I teach Kindergarten --- there are times when I want to tell my kiddos "YOU ARE DRIVING ME NUTS-O!" ( and usually I DO tell them that and they laugh)

But today on our last day of school when I was hugging them all goodbye this is what I wish I could have told THEM ( but couldn't because I would cry)

GREAT JOB! I am SO proud of you. You have come so far this year and I am so sad that your journey with me stops today and you are continuing on. You are not the shy/crying 5 year olds who stepped into my classroom in August. You are readers and writers and a great team of kids who are always ready to help a friend.

You have learned how to play fairly and take turns and ask a friend "are you ok?" when they fall down. You have gone from writing in backwards/upside down/ illegible letters to words and sentences and even books that are fantastic. You have learned to tie your shoes, and zip your coats and donate to those less fortunate.

Your hugs and humor has made coming to work everday something I look forward too, even when administration and other teachers are driving me nuts!

Your laughter and stories and honest observations have brought me so much joy, and a dose of reality everytime i really needed it.

You're tattling was almost the end of me this year -- thank you for taking our classroom rule " a compliment before a complaint" and applying it in all areas of your little lives! Thank you for trying new foods and building things other than star wars ships and growing as people as well as students!


Before you say "it's different" which I understand in some respects -- I taught MS and HS for years before switching back to K. And as trite as it sounds -- I missed them at the end of every year as well. Yes there are attitudes -- and issues like cutting inline give way to cheating and backtalk. But these are kids/young adults/students. and we are here to help them grow and mature and there will always be growing pains -- on both sides!

On a plus side, OP -- its the end of the school year. Being a teacher is like giving birth you forget all the "badstuff" and return at the end of the summer excited for a new group of kids Happy Summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You sound like an ass and I'm glad I don't live in your school district.

My son's best middle school teachers recognize that these kids are making the transition from elementary school student to high school student, and will have bumps along the way. They recognize middle school as the "training ground" that it is and support them during a rough period of human development. I am so grateful for them as fellow humans interested in helping our kids through early adolescence.

Thank goodness none of them are like you.

It's parents like you who are raising these entitled little brats. Instead of telling it like it is "you need to sit your ass down, do your homework, and listen" you want to make it all nice "it's a rough period of human development". GTFOH.

OP, this is why you are having these issues. It's the parents, not the kids.

[Anonymous]

No, it's the OP. My own teenage kids sometimes think they know more than their parents do, and sometimes they're right. The same thing happens with their friends.

Nobody's perfect, and teachers who always have to be right are not good teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You sound like an ass and I'm glad I don't live in your school district.

My son's best middle school teachers recognize that these kids are making the transition from elementary school student to high school student, and will have bumps along the way. They recognize middle school as the "training ground" that it is and support them during a rough period of human development. I am so grateful for them as fellow humans interested in helping our kids through early adolescence.

Thank goodness none of them are like you.

No, these kids are just entitled assholes.

[Anonymous]

OP, you both amused me and reminded me to be careful about the type of parent I become and the messages I send about teachers. One of the things that really cracks me up is that when kids are in preschool through elementary, teachers sit at the right hand of God and know everything. At least way more than parents. I have a middle schooler and he still feels that way. I guess I hadn't realized how much that changes.

As an aside, I have a very difficult child who has a lot of neurological problems. Last week, his teacher told me that he drives her crazy. I was surprised she told me that, but loved hearing that she was not superhuman because honestly, he can drive me crazy too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the OP: I respect your frustration and completely understand how you feel. That said, as a parent, here are some things I'd like to tell some of my kids' teachers: get over your insecurity about being a teacher. Once you respect your profession and feel confident in your credentials, experience, etc. then maybe you won't be so sensitive about the snotty teen attitudes you encounter (which as a professional teacher, you know are simply developmentally appropriate expressions narcissism used to overcompensate for the crushing self-consciousness felt by most teens).

Tough. This does not excuse bad behavior on part of teens and the expectation of their parents that teachers need to put up with this. I have fired a couple of teenagers (summer help) because of their developmentally bad ass attitude.