If teachers are leaving left and right, is it the principal's fault?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the middle of what’s known as “the great resignation. “ People are reevaluating their career choices, the amount of time that they want to work, commutes, etc. This is happening in all sectors, including the educational sector; perhaps a fantastic principal could mitigate to some minor degree, I suppose.

Yes and at the college level there is a decline in those declaring education as their major. This generation is seeing what's going on and they seem to be saying no thank you to a job that will overwork you daily and not compensate. Good for them. Self care is important.

+1
A young teacher at our elementary school just quit. She had just graduated in May with an education degree and after four months teaching, realized how little support she would receive from admin. I felt so bad for her - she had always wanted to be a teacher until she saw the reality of it. Kids who won't behave and no way to discipline them. Kids who don't speak English, and not enough ESL teachers. Staying late and using the weekend to plan, without extra compensation. She was so incredibly disillusioned. I hope she lands on her feet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I would love is a teacher who is brave enough to write an expose of FCPS. Maybe someone who is planning to quit anyway. I really don't think the general public has any clue what it's actually like these days in the "responsive classroom."

I've been expose-ing fcps on this board since I quit 10 years ago. It's pointless. The system is so broken there. Parents have no idea, and the county likes it that way. If you read through these forums you'll see many many teachers posting the same things I have been saying. It's not a secret. But it's so bureaucratic that nothing can be changed. The whole top-down structure where all the decisions are made by people who are basically politicians and haven't been in a classroom in 30 years, and teachers are powerless.

Not sure why you are targeting RC though - it's just one of a million programs that gets adopted for a while and then replaced with something new a few years later. It's one of the better programs FCPS has, actually.

I'm targeting RC because it's a trendy program that simply doesn't work. Kids with behavioral issues continue to disrupt the class because they know there are no consequences. Kids who really want to learn continue being ignored while the teacher deals with the troublemakers. Rinse and repeat. RC does no one any favors. Troublemakers should be immediately dealt with, with real consequences (missing recess, actually getting yelled at by the principal, parents called, etc.). Babying them along and trying to relate to them emotionally is a waste of time for everyone. Teachers shouldn't be expected to devote their time to soothing the troublemakers back into good behavior (which does not work) at the expense of the other kids who simply want to learn.

Parent of a rule following child who loves to learn here - my kid doesn't want you yelling at her peers, even if they're being a pain in the butt. She had a teacher like that and was terrified of her. It was her worst year at school ever. And my kid is the good kid. No one was yelling at her and being mean to her, but she couldn't handle the teeny tiny remote possibility of her teacher going off on her like she did other kids. Consider the stress you are causing other children when you yell at their peers.

Let's just hope PP isn't a teacher, since they think that trying to relate to children emotionally is a "waste of time."

I don’t care if she relates to my kids emotionally. That’s not her job.

+1
Also, the PP was referring to the troublemakers. And I agree that it *is* a waste of time - time that should be devoted to the children who want to learn and who are behaving appropriately - to try and reason with disruptive kids. I'm not interested in my child's teacher taking time out of the day to coddle and jolly along some kid who is chronically disrupting the class. That teacher has a room full of kids who aren't being taught every time the teacher has to make time to deal with the troublemaker. No. Send that kid to the principal so that learning can continue.

Teachers haven’t been allowed to “send kids to the principal” for about 8-10 years now.

I sent a kid to the principal last week.

Lucky you. Most of us aren’t allowed to do that.

I was finally pushed to my limit and decided I didn't GAF. I have 26 other students who need my help and attention.

What did the principal do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the middle of what’s known as “the great resignation. “ People are reevaluating their career choices, the amount of time that they want to work, commutes, etc. This is happening in all sectors, including the educational sector; perhaps a fantastic principal could mitigate to some minor degree, I suppose.

Yes and at the college level there is a decline in those declaring education as their major. This generation is seeing what's going on and they seem to be saying no thank you to a job that will overwork you daily and not compensate. Good for them. Self care is important.

+1
A young teacher at our elementary school just quit. She had just graduated in May with an education degree and after four months teaching, realized how little support she would receive from admin. I felt so bad for her - she had always wanted to be a teacher until she saw the reality of it. Kids who won't behave and no way to discipline them. Kids who don't speak English, and not enough ESL teachers. Staying late and using the weekend to plan, without extra compensation. She was so incredibly disillusioned. I hope she lands on her feet.

She should do what’s best for her for sure. Although perhaps four months it’s too soon to tell??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the middle of what’s known as “the great resignation. “ People are reevaluating their career choices, the amount of time that they want to work, commutes, etc. This is happening in all sectors, including the educational sector; perhaps a fantastic principal could mitigate to some minor degree, I suppose.

Yes and at the college level there is a decline in those declaring education as their major. This generation is seeing what's going on and they seem to be saying no thank you to a job that will overwork you daily and not compensate. Good for them. Self care is important.

+1
A young teacher at our elementary school just quit. She had just graduated in May with an education degree and after four months teaching, realized how little support she would receive from admin. I felt so bad for her - she had always wanted to be a teacher until she saw the reality of it. Kids who won't behave and no way to discipline them. Kids who don't speak English, and not enough ESL teachers. Staying late and using the weekend to plan, without extra compensation. She was so incredibly disillusioned. I hope she lands on her feet.

She should do what’s best for her for sure. Although perhaps four months it’s too soon to tell??

4 months is a long time when you’re miserable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the middle of what’s known as “the great resignation. “ People are reevaluating their career choices, the amount of time that they want to work, commutes, etc. This is happening in all sectors, including the educational sector; perhaps a fantastic principal could mitigate to some minor degree, I suppose.

Yes and at the college level there is a decline in those declaring education as their major. This generation is seeing what's going on and they seem to be saying no thank you to a job that will overwork you daily and not compensate. Good for them. Self care is important.

+1
A young teacher at our elementary school just quit. She had just graduated in May with an education degree and after four months teaching, realized how little support she would receive from admin. I felt so bad for her - she had always wanted to be a teacher until she saw the reality of it. Kids who won't behave and no way to discipline them. Kids who don't speak English, and not enough ESL teachers. Staying late and using the weekend to plan, without extra compensation. She was so incredibly disillusioned. I hope she lands on her feet.

She will. With the labor shortage the way it is, she will find something else. If not, she can retrain for another job. She wasted 4 months, but I know many teachers who have wasted years on this career and they’re now stuck.

Public school teaching is a horrible job, especially classroom teaching. Not a single teacher I know would ever recommend this job to their family or friends. In fact, they do everything they can to steer their loved ones away from making a huge mistake by choosing teaching as a career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the middle of what’s known as “the great resignation. “ People are reevaluating their career choices, the amount of time that they want to work, commutes, etc. This is happening in all sectors, including the educational sector; perhaps a fantastic principal could mitigate to some minor degree, I suppose.

Yes and at the college level there is a decline in those declaring education as their major. This generation is seeing what's going on and they seem to be saying no thank you to a job that will overwork you daily and not compensate. Good for them. Self care is important.

+1
A young teacher at our elementary school just quit. She had just graduated in May with an education degree and after four months teaching, realized how little support she would receive from admin. I felt so bad for her - she had always wanted to be a teacher until she saw the reality of it. Kids who won't behave and no way to discipline them. Kids who don't speak English, and not enough ESL teachers. Staying late and using the weekend to plan, without extra compensation. She was so incredibly disillusioned. I hope she lands on her feet.

She will. With the labor shortage the way it is, she will find something else. If not, she can retrain for another job. She wasted 4 months, but I know many teachers who have wasted years on this career and they’re now stuck.

Public school teaching is a horrible job, especially classroom teaching. Not a single teacher I know would ever recommend this job to their family or friends. In fact, they do everything they can to steer their loved ones away from making a huge mistake by choosing teaching as a career.

I think you're right, sadly. I thought I might want to switch careers to teaching so I tried substituting to get a feel for what it might be like. OMG. I'm so glad I didn't jump right into going back to school to get my masters and teaching certification before trying this. There is absolutely no way I want to be a teacher now. I realize subbing isn't the same as being a full-time teacher, but it certainly gave me a general taste of what the profession would be like. I have brand new admiration for the teachers who stick it out AND do it well. What a thankless task.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the middle of what’s known as “the great resignation. “ People are reevaluating their career choices, the amount of time that they want to work, commutes, etc. This is happening in all sectors, including the educational sector; perhaps a fantastic principal could mitigate to some minor degree, I suppose.

Yes and at the college level there is a decline in those declaring education as their major. This generation is seeing what's going on and they seem to be saying no thank you to a job that will overwork you daily and not compensate. Good for them. Self care is important.

+1
A young teacher at our elementary school just quit. She had just graduated in May with an education degree and after four months teaching, realized how little support she would receive from admin. I felt so bad for her - she had always wanted to be a teacher until she saw the reality of it. Kids who won't behave and no way to discipline them. Kids who don't speak English, and not enough ESL teachers. Staying late and using the weekend to plan, without extra compensation. She was so incredibly disillusioned. I hope she lands on her feet.

She will. With the labor shortage the way it is, she will find something else. If not, she can retrain for another job. She wasted 4 months, but I know many teachers who have wasted years on this career and they’re now stuck.

Public school teaching is a horrible job, especially classroom teaching. Not a single teacher I know would ever recommend this job to their family or friends. In fact, they do everything they can to steer their loved ones away from making a huge mistake by choosing teaching as a career.

+1