I’m an ES teacher. I had a short chat at the copier today with a first year teacher. She had said something like, “I don’t want to do this anymore”. I asked “Do what?” And she said, “Teach”. This is only her 8th week. When I mentioned that she said that thought honestly scares her and that she really wasn’t prepared for everything the job entails.

Anonymous wrote:Awful. My classroom shut down for 2 weeks due to one of my students testing positive for COVID. Then once we were finished with our mandatory quarantine. My son's classroom had to be closed because a classmate of his tested positive.

I am sitting with negative vacation hours. We have no family in the area to help. We cannot afford a nanny/babysitter, my husband is an essential employee and has long strict hours.

I feel defeated.

That stinks. Sorry. I don’t know of any classes at my school or DH’s school that have had to go virtual as an entire class. There have been a handful of cases.

I;m just taking a guess that the summer school positions are going to be extra hard to fill this year

Awful. My classroom shut down for 2 weeks due to one of my students testing positive for COVID. Then once we were finished with our mandatory quarantine. My son's classroom had to be closed because a classmate of his tested positive.

I am sitting with negative vacation hours. We have no family in the area to help. We cannot afford a nanny/babysitter, my husband is an essential employee and has long strict hours.

I feel defeated.

To my fellow teachers:
Ugh, I feel you. Teaching is hard in a “normal” year, and this year has been so rough. Special solidarity to DCPS teachers- we are already carrying so much and admin and central office keep adding more and more to our load. October is challenging. This article helped put things in perspective for me: https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/truth-for-teachers-podcast/beat-october-blues-regain-enthusiasm-teaching/?utm_source=drip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=How+to+beat+the+October+blues+%28yes%2C+that’s+a+real+thing%21%29
Remember to give yourself grace, even when the system does not. Lean on your coworkers (thank goodness for happy hour!). Love your students. Take it one day at a time.

To parents:
Just echoing how much a small note or act of kindness can make a world of difference. The other day a student wrote at the bottom of an assignment that I was her favorite teacher and it sustained me through a terrible week. Aside from that, just generally checking in on us and asking how we’re doing/if we need anything is so appreciated. Another way to support is to stand up for us both in person and online when you hear folks badmouthing teachers. I know for me I sometimes can’t even read the DCUM threads because they are so toxic - full of people who think teachers are lazy and selfish. Morale is so low and all that negativity is just salt in the wounds.

I'm in a home health specialist role for my school district. There are a lot of silly initiatives being handed down by the state. Very out of touch. These trainings that we must now do take up precious time. The also come with more detailed paperwork. Our paperwork is so repetitive but we aren't supposed to repeat anything. It's frustrating. I spend more time on paperwork then with the kids and paperwork is all I can think about. Even on breaks I am still trying to finish up loose ends. And when we go into homes, no one wears a mask, not even those who have kids who are medically fragile. And families don't tell us the truth if they have been sick or are in quarantine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel your pain teachers, from a healthcare worker here. In many ways, things are supposed to be normal, but those of us back full time in our jobs, know it is not. Staffing issues, students/patients very needy and behind, infection issues are all very real.

I would greatly appreciate if some of the "central office" of healthcare would give us a break. Luckily my patients know that the pandemic is not behind us yet and are still very appreciative.

So thank you teachers! And I guess I should stop bugging the principal to fill the long term sub opening for my child's science teacher.

No, keep bugging them about it. The problem is that if the principal hasn't hired anyone it is because the only applicants are so bad that s/he won't hire them. The teacher shortage is real. No one wants to do this job anymore, even those of us who love it. The parent hate is really getting to me.

+1. Principals and those above them listen when parents complain about classroom vacancies. So do school boards. Unfortunately I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever seen a parent do this at a school board meeting, and I've lived my entire life in this area.

Anonymous wrote:I feel your pain teachers, from a healthcare worker here. In many ways, things are supposed to be normal, but those of us back full time in our jobs, know it is not. Staffing issues, students/patients very needy and behind, infection issues are all very real.

I would greatly appreciate if some of the "central office" of healthcare would give us a break. Luckily my patients know that the pandemic is not behind us yet and are still very appreciative.

So thank you teachers! And I guess I should stop bugging the principal to fill the long term sub opening for my child's science teacher.

No, keep bugging them about it. The problem is that if the principal hasn't hired anyone it is because the only applicants are so bad that s/he won't hire them. The teacher shortage is real. No one wants to do this job anymore, even those of us who love it. The parent hate is really getting to me.

I feel your pain teachers, from a healthcare worker here. In many ways, things are supposed to be normal, but those of us back full time in our jobs, know it is not. Staffing issues, students/patients very needy and behind, infection issues are all very real.

I would greatly appreciate if some of the "central office" of healthcare would give us a break. Luckily my patients know that the pandemic is not behind us yet and are still very appreciative.

So thank you teachers! And I guess I should stop bugging the principal to fill the long term sub opening for my child's science teacher.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question - are these behavioral issues limited to public schools? Are these problems still popping up in various upscale private schools in the area?

Private schools don't have to allow misbehaviors. Public schools have to take everybody. I teach at a public school and our kids go to well-known DMV private schools. In general there is a huge difference in parental expectations and child behaviors. Our kids and their friends don't misbehave because they know their parents won't tolerate it. At public schools it seems like some (only some) seem to actually encourage bad behavior in their kids.

There’s misbehavior in private schools. It is tolerated if the parents are big donors.

Mmmmm...there is a difference. I'm talking about classroom disruptions. If you think that is tolerated you're crazy. The better DMV privates don't tolerate that because the other parents won't tolerate it. When you have 20 parents paying over $50k a year and 1 kid is being a classroom disruption, you can bet that the school listens to the 19 sets of parents, not the 1. Will the private turn a blind eye to non-school flagrancies? Maybe. It really depends on what they are. But for classroom behavior you can bet that the better privates run tight ships.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in the grocery store today and saw multiple kids acting nuts while the adults they were with didn't bat an eye. There is a lot of lazy parenting going on. By the time your kid is in ES, they should know how to behave at a store. These kids were running down the aisles dodging carts and yelling. One kid screamed across a few aisles to get someone's attention. They were all 9 or older. Old enough to have some self-control.

I empathize with teachers this year but you need to cut the parents some slack as well. The ones who have been trying to juggle full time jobs while unexpectedly supervising their children’s virtual learning for the last 1.5 years /dealing with quarantines and alternatingly being demonized for taking their kids to places unnecessarily or for failing to adequately socialize them. Frankly a lot of parents are just burnt out too.

So because parents are tired, they shouldn't have to raise their kids? Who else is going to do it? Everyone is tired. Stop making excuses.

DP, but I think that’s the point: EVERYONE is tired, so pointing fingers at parents doesn’t help. This problem is a societal one; parents don’t exist on islands, as the pandemic highlighted. We absolutely expect our kids to behave well at school (and generally) and they do, but we’re also more privileged than many. Have some empathy.

We want to enroll DS in a private school next year. Have talked to numerous places around DMV - they’d have you believe everything has been smooth sailing, no behavior issues, teachers have everything under control etc. Obviously they need to portray stability but I cannot possibly see how they are not encountering such issues. Kids are kids and all have been impacted over the past 18 months.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question - are these behavioral issues limited to public schools? Are these problems still popping up in various upscale private schools in the area?

Private schools don't have to allow misbehaviors. Public schools have to take everybody. I teach at a public school and our kids go to well-known DMV private schools. In general there is a huge difference in parental expectations and child behaviors. Our kids and their friends don't misbehave because they know their parents won't tolerate it. At public schools it seems like some (only some) seem to actually encourage bad behavior in their kids.

There’s misbehavior in private schools. It is tolerated if the parents are big donors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question - are these behavioral issues limited to public schools? Are these problems still popping up in various upscale private schools in the area?

Private schools don't have to allow misbehaviors. Public schools have to take everybody. I teach at a public school and our kids go to well-known DMV private schools. In general there is a huge difference in parental expectations and child behaviors. Our kids and their friends don't misbehave because they know their parents won't tolerate it. At public schools it seems like some (only some) seem to actually encourage bad behavior in their kids.

That sounds like a general comparison/complaint, not something related to the pandemic and misbehavior/unsocialization caused by school closures and lockdowns.

Anonymous wrote:Honest question - are these behavioral issues limited to public schools? Are these problems still popping up in various upscale private schools in the area?

Private schools don't have to allow misbehaviors. Public schools have to take everybody. I teach at a public school and our kids go to well-known DMV private schools. In general there is a huge difference in parental expectations and child behaviors. Our kids and their friends don't misbehave because they know their parents won't tolerate it. At public schools it seems like some (only some) seem to actually encourage bad behavior in their kids.