Teachers what is the worst thing you have to deal with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But teachers aren’t talking about your situation specifically—you’re personalizing this. When I call the parents of an elementary child who told another kid to “F off,” and the parent says, “yeah, he does that at home, too. I don’t know how to stop it,” I do tend to think there are not many consequences at home. In the rare occasions a parent asks for suggestions, I might recommend talking away a privilege or liked activity or item.

Exactly. It’s the egregious behaviors. It’s the “f*** you, B****” I get from students when I ask them to put away phones. When I call home, I get “why the hell do you care if his phone is out? He can have his f***ing phone out.” And then the kid fails the next test and it’s somehow my fault he didn’t understand the material.

It’s the teacher next door who was pushed into a wall by a student. Admin said that she shouldn’t have been in his way. She wasn’t. She was against a wall. He was free to storm out of the classroom but chose to push her first.

I have many stories just like these ones. I’m counting down the days until retirement. My own child played with the idea of putting education down as her major when she applied to college. I told her that’s the only major I won’t pay for.

Your admin could definitely help out here. I had a MS student recently refuse to put the phone away. A quick email to admin and one showed up at my door to confiscate the phone. There are consequences that the current administrators stick to that has made a difference. It has cut down on the disruptions.

You don’t know that.

I’m the PP who shared that anecdote. I no longer work at that school because admin was most of the problem. We were not allowed to confiscate phones, nor were we allowed to call the office for a phone violation. We were reminded at every faculty meeting: if we make our lessons engaging enough, kids won’t use their phones. It was considered our fault if phones were out in classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But teachers aren’t talking about your situation specifically—you’re personalizing this. When I call the parents of an elementary child who told another kid to “F off,” and the parent says, “yeah, he does that at home, too. I don’t know how to stop it,” I do tend to think there are not many consequences at home. In the rare occasions a parent asks for suggestions, I might recommend talking away a privilege or liked activity or item.

Exactly. It’s the egregious behaviors. It’s the “f*** you, B****” I get from students when I ask them to put away phones. When I call home, I get “why the hell do you care if his phone is out? He can have his f***ing phone out.” And then the kid fails the next test and it’s somehow my fault he didn’t understand the material.

It’s the teacher next door who was pushed into a wall by a student. Admin said that she shouldn’t have been in his way. She wasn’t. She was against a wall. He was free to storm out of the classroom but chose to push her first.

I have many stories just like these ones. I’m counting down the days until retirement. My own child played with the idea of putting education down as her major when she applied to college. I told her that’s the only major I won’t pay for.

Your admin could definitely help out here. I had a MS student recently refuse to put the phone away. A quick email to admin and one showed up at my door to confiscate the phone. There are consequences that the current administrators stick to that has made a difference. It has cut down on the disruptions.

You don’t know that.

I’m the PP who shared that anecdote. I no longer work at that school because admin was most of the problem. We were not allowed to confiscate phones, nor were we allowed to call the office for a phone violation. We were reminded at every faculty meeting: if we make our lessons engaging enough, kids won’t use their phones. It was considered our fault if phones were out in classrooms.

A lot of administrators HATE that they are told to say such garbage to teachers. A lot of them, their hands are tied, too.

[Anonymous]

My administration is too busy dealing with fights, vaping, and other behaviors to have time or energy to deal with phone usage. We aren’t allowed to touch students’ phones and they know it.

[Anonymous]

Admin giving teachers a hard time and pushing them out of the profession because students are out of control and responsible teacherd are targeted for blame and to justify the declines. Principals are never blamed for the declines in their schools but the toxic environments they create have direct influences on morale and retention. I tell prospective teachers to stay away from education because no human should have to deal with the abuse that teachers have to endure professionally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a teacher, but fcps hs teacher BIL says "the parents."

+100

Parents who think their child's behavioral issues aren't related to parenting (and lack of consequences/repercussions).

-APS

It's probably a combination of things but if that many kids are acting up in school, maybe what is going on at school isn't working and teachers need to rethink their strategies.

Teacher here. Personally, I would LOVE to rethink our strategies. I would love to hold students personally responsible for their actions. I would like to see real consequences for disrespectful behavior (screaming and cursing at teachers, throwing objects in the classroom, lying, cheating, stealing, using drugs at school). School boards, administrators, and some parents will tell me that it’s MY fault if the kids do any of these things. I’m not engaging enough. I’m not friendly enough. I didn’t make my course content accessible enough.

It wasn’t like this when I started teaching over twenty years ago. This era of no accountability is hurting a generation of students.

It’s not just one generation that will be affected. These kids are going to be parents and their kids will be parents. When will kids be raised properly again? And how? They won’t even know what that means.

[Anonymous]

“ Principals are never blamed for the declines in their schools”

This is not true. Smart people know the problems come from all directions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But teachers aren’t talking about your situation specifically—you’re personalizing this. When I call the parents of an elementary child who told another kid to “F off,” and the parent says, “yeah, he does that at home, too. I don’t know how to stop it,” I do tend to think there are not many consequences at home. In the rare occasions a parent asks for suggestions, I might recommend talking away a privilege or liked activity or item.

Exactly. It’s the egregious behaviors. It’s the “f*** you, B****” I get from students when I ask them to put away phones. When I call home, I get “why the hell do you care if his phone is out? He can have his f***ing phone out.” And then the kid fails the next test and it’s somehow my fault he didn’t understand the material.

It’s the teacher next door who was pushed into a wall by a student. Admin said that she shouldn’t have been in his way. She wasn’t. She was against a wall. He was free to storm out of the classroom but chose to push her first.

I have many stories just like these ones. I’m counting down the days until retirement. My own child played with the idea of putting education down as her major when she applied to college. I told her that’s the only major I won’t pay for.

Your admin could definitely help out here. I had a MS student recently refuse to put the phone away. A quick email to admin and one showed up at my door to confiscate the phone. There are consequences that the current administrators stick to that has made a difference. It has cut down on the disruptions.

You don’t know that.

It sounded like admin wasn’t doing anything to enforce consequences. Confiscating the phone would be better than nothing. The PP said they blamed the teacher for being in the way when pushed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But teachers aren’t talking about your situation specifically—you’re personalizing this. When I call the parents of an elementary child who told another kid to “F off,” and the parent says, “yeah, he does that at home, too. I don’t know how to stop it,” I do tend to think there are not many consequences at home. In the rare occasions a parent asks for suggestions, I might recommend talking away a privilege or liked activity or item.

Exactly. It’s the egregious behaviors. It’s the “f*** you, B****” I get from students when I ask them to put away phones. When I call home, I get “why the hell do you care if his phone is out? He can have his f***ing phone out.” And then the kid fails the next test and it’s somehow my fault he didn’t understand the material.

It’s the teacher next door who was pushed into a wall by a student. Admin said that she shouldn’t have been in his way. She wasn’t. She was against a wall. He was free to storm out of the classroom but chose to push her first.

I have many stories just like these ones. I’m counting down the days until retirement. My own child played with the idea of putting education down as her major when she applied to college. I told her that’s the only major I won’t pay for.

Your admin could definitely help out here. I had a MS student recently refuse to put the phone away. A quick email to admin and one showed up at my door to confiscate the phone. There are consequences that the current administrators stick to that has made a difference. It has cut down on the disruptions.

You don’t know that.

It sounded like admin wasn’t doing anything to enforce consequences. Confiscating the phone would be better than nothing. The PP said they blamed the teacher for being in the way when pushed.

NP and at my school here is how some parents would respond: admin takes phone. Kid tells parent. Parent calls admin and says you can’t take my child’s property I’m going to call you boss and sue the school. It is NEVER the kid’s fault in the eyes of many parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a teacher, but fcps hs teacher BIL says "the parents."

+100

Parents who think their child's behavioral issues aren't related to parenting (and lack of consequences/repercussions).

-APS

This. Every parent conference I have boils down to lack of consequences at home.

Wow!

When my kid was in preschool I had a teacher try to convince me that my child needed to be spanked and have more severe consequences at home when she didn’t listen to the teachers during transitions at school. Difficulty with transitions is totally normal for a 3 year old. I couldn’t get my kid out of that school fast enough! My DD is in high school now and is as sweet as can be. I’ve actually had teachers say “I wish we could clone her”. Sometimes the teachers and admin just don’t know how to behave with kids, despite that literally being in their job description.

You really don’t see how your child wasn’t wrong or didn’t need consequences is the same argument everyone is making here? That’s why teachers are leaving.

[Anonymous]

I find it hard to separate those three categories. Ultimately, it is the student behavior that I had to put up with every day that made me need to leave, but those student behaviors only exist because of poor admin and poor parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But teachers aren’t talking about your situation specifically—you’re personalizing this. When I call the parents of an elementary child who told another kid to “F off,” and the parent says, “yeah, he does that at home, too. I don’t know how to stop it,” I do tend to think there are not many consequences at home. In the rare occasions a parent asks for suggestions, I might recommend talking away a privilege or liked activity or item.

Exactly. It’s the egregious behaviors. It’s the “f*** you, B****” I get from students when I ask them to put away phones. When I call home, I get “why the hell do you care if his phone is out? He can have his f***ing phone out.” And then the kid fails the next test and it’s somehow my fault he didn’t understand the material.

It’s the teacher next door who was pushed into a wall by a student. Admin said that she shouldn’t have been in his way. She wasn’t. She was against a wall. He was free to storm out of the classroom but chose to push her first.

I have many stories just like these ones. I’m counting down the days until retirement. My own child played with the idea of putting education down as her major when she applied to college. I told her that’s the only major I won’t pay for.

Your admin could definitely help out here. I had a MS student recently refuse to put the phone away. A quick email to admin and one showed up at my door to confiscate the phone. There are consequences that the current administrators stick to that has made a difference. It has cut down on the disruptions.

You don’t know that.

It sounded like admin wasn’t doing anything to enforce consequences. Confiscating the phone would be better than nothing. The PP said they blamed the teacher for being in the way when pushed.

NP and at my school here is how some parents would respond: admin takes phone. Kid tells parent. Parent calls admin and says you can’t take my child’s property I’m going to call you boss and sue the school. It is NEVER the kid’s fault in the eyes of many parents.

I understand. What would be your administration’s response to the parents?

At my MS:
First offense, phone gets confiscated and student can pick it up at the end of the day.
Second, the phone gets confiscated and a parent has to pick it up.
Third offense results in confiscation and a meeting between admin, counselor, parent(s) and student before the phone is returned.

If the parent calls, complains and your administration caves (which I totally understand happens) then that’s on them.

[Anonymous]

NP. It's the 5% of students who take up 90% of resources and energy. It's not fair to the other kids, the staff, or the students in question. Admin refusing to back teachers who report concerns with these students is a close second, especially when there are legitimate safety issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a teacher, but fcps hs teacher BIL says "the parents."

+100

Parents who think their child's behavioral issues aren't related to parenting (and lack of consequences/repercussions).

-APS

It's probably a combination of things but if that many kids are acting up in school, maybe what is going on at school isn't working and teachers need to rethink their strategies.

+1, parents need to be accountable but sometimes teachers scapegoat parents and kids.

Parents should be held accountable and should be contacted each and every time and if a kid is misbehaving that much they should be sent home for the day.

Because you think the parents can do what to make they kid sit still or listen or not back talk the next day in class? You don’t fix these things with consequences. You fix them with services, and there aren’t enough services for all the kids who need them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a teacher, but fcps hs teacher BIL says "the parents."

+100

Parents who think their child's behavioral issues aren't related to parenting (and lack of consequences/repercussions).

-APS

This. Every parent conference I have boils down to lack of consequences at home.

Wow!

When my kid was in preschool I had a teacher try to convince me that my child needed to be spanked and have more severe consequences at home when she didn’t listen to the teachers during transitions at school. Difficulty with transitions is totally normal for a 3 year old. I couldn’t get my kid out of that school fast enough! My DD is in high school now and is as sweet as can be. I’ve actually had teachers say “I wish we could clone her”. Sometimes the teachers and admin just don’t know how to behave with kids, despite that literally being in their job description.

You really don’t see how your child wasn’t wrong or didn’t need consequences is the same argument everyone is making here? That’s why teachers are leaving.

NP but I see that teachers are SAYING the kids are so awful because the parents need to give more consequences. Sometimes (maybe often?) the teachers are wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But teachers aren’t talking about your situation specifically—you’re personalizing this. When I call the parents of an elementary child who told another kid to “F off,” and the parent says, “yeah, he does that at home, too. I don’t know how to stop it,” I do tend to think there are not many consequences at home. In the rare occasions a parent asks for suggestions, I might recommend talking away a privilege or liked activity or item.

Exactly. It’s the egregious behaviors. It’s the “f*** you, B****” I get from students when I ask them to put away phones. When I call home, I get “why the hell do you care if his phone is out? He can have his f***ing phone out.” And then the kid fails the next test and it’s somehow my fault he didn’t understand the material.

It’s the teacher next door who was pushed into a wall by a student. Admin said that she shouldn’t have been in his way. She wasn’t. She was against a wall. He was free to storm out of the classroom but chose to push her first.

I have many stories just like these ones. I’m counting down the days until retirement. My own child played with the idea of putting education down as her major when she applied to college. I told her that’s the only major I won’t pay for.

Your admin could definitely help out here. I had a MS student recently refuse to put the phone away. A quick email to admin and one showed up at my door to confiscate the phone. There are consequences that the current administrators stick to that has made a difference. It has cut down on the disruptions.

You don’t know that.

It sounded like admin wasn’t doing anything to enforce consequences. Confiscating the phone would be better than nothing. The PP said they blamed the teacher for being in the way when pushed.

NP and at my school here is how some parents would respond: admin takes phone. Kid tells parent. Parent calls admin and says you can’t take my child’s property I’m going to call you boss and sue the school. It is NEVER the kid’s fault in the eyes of many parents.

I understand. What would be your administration’s response to the parents?

At my MS:
First offense, phone gets confiscated and student can pick it up at the end of the day.
Second, the phone gets confiscated and a parent has to pick it up.
Third offense results in confiscation and a meeting between admin, counselor, parent(s) and student before the phone is returned.

If the parent calls, complains and your administration caves (which I totally understand happens) then that’s on them.

Admin at my school have no backbone but would also be undermined by their boss because they are afraid of loud parents. So kid still gets the phone and walks around like they own the place because mommy and daddy let them do whatever they want. Oh and some get a diagnosis that they need the phone for anxiety or addiction or stress. It’s total BS.