As a parent, I was to say thank you to the 95% of teachers (we have a sample size of 1 kid) who kicked ass after you were handed a 5hit sandwich last year and this year.

I am doing great. It is a lot of work but a great challenge. My class is in order, progress is underway, all my students have made their goals, and we are off to a good start.

It's not going great. We have sub shortages which is making everything difficult.

MY biggest complaint is that the higher ups in Central Office don't seem to get that this year is different from past years. They are still bringing out the same pointless trainings and beginning new initiatives and demanding the same data data data paperwork as always. Aren't cutting us any slack despite the fact that we are teaching in person, virtually and sometimes concurrent as well, plus now the effect of the rolling quarantines.

We were JUST told the plan for quarantined kids:

1) parents are supposed to tell us if their child is quarantined and asked for makeup work
2) a quarantined day counts as a day for absences
3) kids are supposed to do assigned work on quarantine but they didn't say whether it needed to be graded or not.
4) I'm happy to grade the work but what if they kids blows it off? I have to give him an F for all the days he is quarantined? PARENTS WILL NOT LIKE THAT.
5) So now it will be my job to hunt those kids down and make them do a better job on their work while quarantined. I'll have to do this virtually while I am teaching my classes in person. That was what I hated about virtual last year. I love teaching kids. If the kids show up I'll teach them. But I hate having to track them down.


All us teachers are grumpy at each other and not very forgiving.

At least I got my booster.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is it worse this fall than last spring? Or compared to last fall?

It's way worse now. I've got students who are quarantined so I am back to teaching on Zoom and teaching in person (although I'm told I don't have to engage with the students online???). I've got kids who've been allowed to do whatever they want for the last year and a half so the behavior issues are exhausting. Add in three students who are most special needs students who would've been identified already by the time they got to me in 1st grade. I have students who've never been to school at all, students who've never held a pencil or crayon, students who can't identify their own name on their locker, students who don't know the difference between numbers and letters, etc.

Are you in a high FARMs school? That sounds terrible. I’m so sorry.

Yes. It’s challenging in a normal year. Hopefully things will settle down.

I love being back at school, but it is incredibly draining. I wish they had stuck with 4 days a week. 5 days a week is a huge challenge right now and for many of the teachers at my school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is it worse this fall than last spring? Or compared to last fall?

It's way worse now. I've got students who are quarantined so I am back to teaching on Zoom and teaching in person (although I'm told I don't have to engage with the students online???). I've got kids who've been allowed to do whatever they want for the last year and a half so the behavior issues are exhausting. Add in three students who are most special needs students who would've been identified already by the time they got to me in 1st grade. I have students who've never been to school at all, students who've never held a pencil or crayon, students who can't identify their own name on their locker, students who don't know the difference between numbers and letters, etc.

Are you in a high FARMs school? That sounds terrible. I’m so sorry.

I was going to quit at the end of last year, but decided to stick it out for one more year.

I regret that every day.

It’s not great, and I have it really good objectively.

Anonymous wrote:OP is it worse this fall than last spring? Or compared to last fall?

It's way worse now. I've got students who are quarantined so I am back to teaching on Zoom and teaching in person (although I'm told I don't have to engage with the students online???). I've got kids who've been allowed to do whatever they want for the last year and a half so the behavior issues are exhausting. Add in three students who are most special needs students who would've been identified already by the time they got to me in 1st grade. I have students who've never been to school at all, students who've never held a pencil or crayon, students who can't identify their own name on their locker, students who don't know the difference between numbers and letters, etc.

I feel bad reading these posts. I do feel stressed and whatnot but not to the point of crying.

I mean, let’s face it. We love our passion and clearly we ain’t in it for the fame and the glory… so, if lawmakers and policy whackos are making our jobs more difficult and our hands our tied up more and more WHILE AT THE SAME TIME releasing kids from accountability and ownership of their actions (or lack thereof) I just tell myself that IT IS A JOB.

They’d replace you within days if you dropped dead right now. You’re not indispensable. No matter how much their emotional propaganda says about calling you a hero and other stupid phony shyt.

Live your life. Take care of yourself and your family. Call sick if you need a day to mentally recharge. And phuck anyone who wants to micromanage your feelings, emotions, and blackmail you into pouring more time energy or money than essentially required.

OP is it worse this fall than last spring? Or compared to last fall?

I'm at my breaking point, but hopeful that things can improve. We finally filled an open teaching position and that teacher should start as soon as fingerprinting is complete. Fingers crossed because this is insane. We have had no teacher and no subs for over a month. Between needing to write daily sub plans, plan for myself, and plan for all quarantined kids...yep it is a disaster.

Excellent —because I am on leave But my friends teaching right now are not doing well at all and it is making me nervous about January.

Same. I cry at school during planning or after school at least twice a week. Most normal years, I might cry twice a year. I'm a single parent so I can't quit.

I am hanging on by a thread. You?