Why? It's pretty insulting to child care workers that someone would be so aghast that you are a child care worker (even if I agree you aren't). |
Because they aren’t. You can be disingenuous and pretend not to understand why, but you aren’t fooling anyone with a brain. |
Yes, because they’re unbothered. They aren’t stressed by the lack of resources or the crushing bureaucracy because they literally do not care. Those people last. Teachers who care can’t take it forever. You could literally work unlimited hours and still have more you COULD do, and you feel guilty not drawing boundaries. I knew it was time to quit when I stopped taking work home. |
Oh man, I've been doing this 25+ years and this year, I pretty much stopped taking work home. I also stopped checking emails after 4 p.m. and on the weekends. I needed to for my sanity. But I think what helps one person stay, might be the thing that helps another know it's time to go. I should be working another 10, but I don't think I'm going to make it that long. I really, really love my students, I'm just so tired of every day being so damn hard. But, I have two kids starting college and I'm staying for them. I am truly frightened for the educational system with so many colleagues quitting, retiring early and almost no one waiting to replace them. 20% of our staff has put in for retirement this spring already. |
This is true, but school systems put quite a bit of funding into training every new teacher and it's far more cost-effective to try to retain existing good teachers than to spend money for 5+ years trying to bring new, inexperienced teachers up to where they need to be--while their students are the guinea pigs they practice on as they try improve. |
In 10 yrs of teaching, the only PD I've actually learned something new and usual in was presented by an outside group that I paid for myself. The PDs run by my district and entirely useless and a waste of everyone's time. As far as training, I paid for that too. I was trained as a teacher in graduate school. |
This must be the parent of the kid who asked me to go the safe space this week because someone said something really mean to her (dixit). Lmfao |
Would you mind elaborating? I hear this a lot - that students are not well behaved this year and the class is hard to control. But why do you think that is? I know it probably has something to do with the stress of covid (sick family members, job loss, routine changes etc) but what do you think in particular is causing this? Also why is it that teachers all want to quit? Asking not to criticize but to see what we should be advocating for (I know better salaries of course but trying to understand what else). What about student behavior? What do students need for things to get better? |
So sorry… didn’t read the entire thread and just saw the boredteacher post. |
It's far beyond "not well behaved" and "hard to control". Listen, in my school we have a kindergarten room that has regularly needed 3-4 additional adults in the room because so many kids are displaying behaviors similar to what you might see in a psychiatric facility for children. I don't know what the hell happened when kids were home, but it wasn't anything good. Teachers want to quit it is emotionally and physically exhausting. Honestly, what students and schools need? No one will ever be willing to pay for. |
Parents should do something when they hear concerns from a teacher. I have a student whose mental health I can concerned for. Have already met with parents several times and he continually cries and breakdowns multiple times a day in class. He’s met with the counselor at school a few times; but can you take him to the pediatrician or psychologist? Parents think is going to grow out of it. This is one of three similar issues in my class. No parents have done anything…even when they communicate similar issues at home. |
I am entertained when rich parents refuse to pay for child care or find a way to support their kids during the day. These same parents are still working at home. |
This is pretty common. They expect the school to fix it and the kid probably is this way because they aren't getting support at home. |
NP. I don’t get teachers position on this eithet. SOMEONE needs to be caring for children the 7 hours a day they are legally required to be in school. Who is that person, if not their teachers? I’m talking about ES school here, especially K-2. Not HS math teachers. I genuinely don’t see why you would be insulted. Caring for 25 kids with different needs at the same time while teaching them something is hard. There are day I find caring for two kids hard. And parents put a lot of trust in the people who take care of their children. So what if not not every part of your job requires a teaching degree (although I would hope you need child development classes to teacher at the ES level). I’m a lawyer, but not every part of my job requires a JD. In any given day, I’m also a Data Entry Clerk and a Manager and a Social Worker, none of which are strictly legal functions. And they certainly aren’t taught in law school or tested ion the bar. Any highly skilled job requires you to wear multiple hats. How can you possibly argue one of those hats for teacher s isn’t child care? It’s very jarring for parents to have teachers insist their role is teaching and not childcare — as if their job isn’t both. Amd, it’s scary to think that teachers don’t believe they are responsible for the physical and emotional safety of kids during the school days and social emotional learning. That teachers don’t think it’s their job to provide structure and boundaries and create a safe environment that kids can depend on. Of course they do— or they should. And teachers insistence that this isn’t their job is contributing to the toxicity in the discourse between parents and teachers. Because no parent wants to entrust the care of their kid to someone who doesn’t take that childcare role seriously. I certainly don’t. And I resent that teachers don’t take this seriously. The 3 Rs are very important. But teachers doing the childcare element well is essential to kids well being. In related news, it’s also weird that teachers are so offended by being call public servants. I’m a Fed. And I’m really proud that I’m a public servant. Almost all feds are. It feels good to have a job about more than a corporation’s bottom line. So yes, teachers are part childcare worker. And the only people who don’t view that as very important work are apparently teachers. Who are apparently too important to take care of the kids sitting in their classroom all day..SMH. And they |
Because kids are in school 35 hours a week. And it’s almost impossible to help/fix a kid and ignore what happens during those 35 hours. |