I love my job. I do. I do. But, boy oh boy, I sure do get sick of putting up with crap all day. I don't know if it's just one of those groups of kids or if I'm a burnt out teacher at the age of 24 (can that happen?!) or what. I swear I used to be able to not give reactions to my students, but this year, some of the students can really make my blood boil. I have had a few occasions where I get to the point where I feel like I'm either going to scream or break out crying. That's when our class has a heads down on our desk and think about the better choices we could have made time.
I promise I want to be a good teacher and I try to be a good teacher. I want my students to be able to make the decisions on their own without someone telling them exactly to do. Which is what most of my students this year are used to. I want to be able to help them. I have one student that is completely banned from saying, "I don't know." or shrugging his shoulders at me. He's done it so much that now if he does it, he has to say three nice things about himself. I have two other students who have officially and completely changed my perspective about medication and students with A.D.D. because they are totally different kids without their medicine. I have a student who calls out and argues with me about everything so much that they now have to take away a minute of recess for every call out and two minutes for every time they argue. (That adds up quite quickly) And for the ultimateness of crap I put up with each day, I have a student who will roll her eyes at me and have mini temper tantrums and get all huffy. Sometimes she's just great with no problem but then she'll start pouting about heaven knows what. I'll say in a very nice teacher voice, "student, (name omitted) you need to get on task." MANY times and she'll huff about something over and over and over again and say, "I can't". This happened so many times, that I finally had to say, "What can you do?! Problem solve. What CAN you do to figure it out?!" All the while trying not to scream or pull my hair out.
I feel like my lucky eternal companion gets the brunt end of my patience level. If he taps his toes or clicks his pen, I automatically ask in probably not the nicest tone, "CAN'T YOU JUST SIT STILL!?" Or he and I will be having a conversation in which he will politely say something and I will word vomit something like, "WHY ARE YOU TALKING BACK TO ME?!" Or he will ask me a perfectly harmless question and I will respond in teacher voice, "YOU ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION!" I may or may not say a few other very teacher comments to my full-grown husband!
I know this is a super vent-age post, but it's just a bit frustrating. I guess weekends and Thanksgiving break can be added to my list of things I'm thankful for this month.
lol... this reminds me of my post from a few weeks ago about my job. working with people (including little people) can really wear on you huh? well hang in there... don't snap too early. haha i love that you have a little eye-rolling individual. hilarious! :)
ReplyDeleteI am having EXACTLY the same experience this year! I have the same girl who huffs all the time, the same kid who shrugs his shoulders, and none of my kids can monitor themselves at anything, they have always been told exactly what to do every step of the way. Today I found out that my gang of girls is trying to do some weird initiation thing to a new girl in our class and trying to get her to fight another girl before she will be accepted into their group. are. you. kidding. me. 9-year olds! I know exactly what you mean about loving teaching but feeling "burned out".
ReplyDeleteI don't think you get paid enough for that. You should demand a raise :)
ReplyDeleteOh Jenn...hang in there! Thanksgiving is so soon. Plus when you're not teaching you miss teaching. And I totally know what you mean about husbands getting the brunt of it. Poor guys. Jeff's said he loves how non-stressful my life is now...yup, I'm sure he does :)
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you want to work again next year? Have a baby now!!! haha No reallY! Feels good to vent...keep your head up, Christmas is coming!
ReplyDeleteArizona kids are crazy. I warned you. :) I bet you're doing an amazing job-- it just doesn't seem like that right now. At the end of the year, you'll be so sad it's over and want almost all those kids for another year.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like you are doing an awesome job with those crazy kids! With my job I'm with the kids for an hour and I get annoyed with them :) Hang in there and just keep venting on the blog. Husbands always get the brunt of their wife's stress! Just remember that one day they will look back and appreciate their teacher Mrs. Shields and all she did to help them be normal people!
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOSH! Amen, sister. Amen. I feel the same way. I DO have more challenging kids this year than in years past (9 with behavior/ADHD issues) who each have their own quirks and temper tantrums, but I feel like it's wearing on me more this year than ever before. By the 10th time I have to ask a kid to PUT HIS DANG BACKPACK IN THE COAT CLOSET, I'm more than a little peeved, and the day hasn't even started yet. One day it's seriously going to be thrown to the back of the room (by me.) There is a constant low-grade noise in the classroom from tapping and humming and scratching which drives me NUTS…these kids can't sit still, or pay attention. I feel like the only way to reach them is to take something away…so far, positive reinforcement hasn't worked. This makes me more negative, too. Anyway, you're not alone. What is happening to kids these days???
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