Anonymous wrote:These 22 year olds aren't quitting because they're afraid of covid. Each one has said the job is too hard. One was my teaching partner. I gave him all my plans. I spent hours helping him prep. He cried EVERY DAY in my classroom after school.

Well, what exactly was he crying about? Kids with home issues making him sad? Kids being violent? Maybe he didn’t think he was explaining things in a way they understood? I mean, did you pay attention to what his actual concerns were, or just dismiss them?

Anonymous wrote:Former teacher here.

I was around people who had no business in the classroom. Some couldn't handle the stress, some were incompetent, and the worst ones grew to dislike (or even hate) kids...and it showed in their interaction. The common response was always, "If this isn't for you, then quit." Well that's what the people you described are doing. Don't chide them for doing the right thing. How many people stay in careers or relationships that are such a terrible fit that they become toxic? I'm proud of them for leaving. If anything, I blame the teacher prep programs for not doing a better job of weeding them out, but like others have said, there's a shortage.

+1

Teacher preparation is the worst! You would never let a doctor right out of med school start being a doctor on their own. You would never let a lawyer right out of law school be a lawyer on their own.
Teaching involves so much skill above and beyond knowing the subject areas. And we expect new teachers to figure it out along the way.

And I was a part of a mentoring program when I was a new teacher. Although it was nice, it didn’t help me much.

One of the three was a TFA person.

Anonymous wrote:Former teacher here.

I was around people who had no business in the classroom. Some couldn't handle the stress, some were incompetent, and the worst ones grew to dislike (or even hate) kids...and it showed in their interaction. The common response was always, "If this isn't for you, then quit." Well that's what the people you described are doing. Don't chide them for doing the right thing. How many people stay in careers or relationships that are such a terrible fit that they become toxic? I'm proud of them for leaving. If anything, I blame the teacher prep programs for not doing a better job of weeding them out, but like others have said, there's a shortage.

Lots of people don't go this route. They are Teach for America or other alternative programs. I student taught for an entire year in a grad program and I still felt a bit lost in my first year or two. I can't imagine stepping into a classroom with no preparation and taking night classes to learn as I go. No way. That is a recipe for disaster.

Former teacher here.

I was around people who had no business in the classroom. Some couldn't handle the stress, some were incompetent, and the worst ones grew to dislike (or even hate) kids...and it showed in their interaction. The common response was always, "If this isn't for you, then quit." Well that's what the people you described are doing. Don't chide them for doing the right thing. How many people stay in careers or relationships that are such a terrible fit that they become toxic? I'm proud of them for leaving. If anything, I blame the teacher prep programs for not doing a better job of weeding them out, but like others have said, there's a shortage.

Unfortunately you stated the issue in your initial post. There is a teacher shortage so these 22 year olds are the only people applying for these positions. Try to leverage the shortage to at least get a raise or better conditions.

And I am not sure what the population of your school is but I was a 22 year old first year with support in a very tough, high poverty school in the early 2000s. I made it through but that year was horrible. I know lots of people who didn’t and quit for their mental and sometimes physical well being.

Anonymous wrote:These 22 year olds aren't quitting because they're afraid of covid. Each one has said the job is too hard. One was my teaching partner. I gave him all my plans. I spent hours helping him prep. He cried EVERY DAY in my classroom after school.

It’s an overwhelming job. Did they do student teaching or are they going in blind?

These 22 year olds aren't quitting because they're afraid of covid. Each one has said the job is too hard. One was my teaching partner. I gave him all my plans. I spent hours helping him prep. He cried EVERY DAY in my classroom after school.

Anonymous wrote:Oh yeah, we aren't socially distancing. At all.

Between this and lack of support or mentoring, is it a surprise at all? Some may be getting married or young kids and pay vs. child care, it may not be financially worth working.

Anonymous wrote:Oh yeah, we aren't socially distancing. At all.

Well then you can’t really blame them for valuing their health over a job.

Oh yeah, we aren't socially distancing. At all.

Did they go through an actual teacher preparation program? Or TFA or some alternative program? Dropping unqualified people into such a demanding job is unconscionable. Nobody should be surprised when they quit.

How are these students socially distancing?

I teach in a very large school with several hundred staff members in the Midwest. 20 years ago, we almost never hired a first year teacher. We didnt have to. Only the very best, proven and experienced teachers were even had their resumes looked at. Now? The teacher shortage is so bad, we're lucky to get more than a dozen applicants. Most are first year teachers.
First years have a lot of energy and no skill. They're like puppies. Which would be okay except we've had so many quit mid year the last few years. We've been teaching for 4 weeks. In that time, despite a robust mentoring program, a fabulous admin team, and awesome students, we've had THREE first year teachers quit. One quit after day 2! And since we lost most of our subs, the rest of us are left to double up classes. I have 45 kids in my AP bio class until or if we can find a replacement. Kids are sitting on the floor (yes we are in person). I am talking to our HR to see if we can put something in the contract to penalize people for breaking their contract. I'm tired of 22 year olds, who think they're going to save the world, meeting real life teaching and, once they have a few tough days i a row, wussing out. This job is hard. Don't get a teaching degree if you can't handle a year or two of 80 hour weeks and most of those weeks sucking. It takes that long for things to get better.