SabrinaP
Pearl Clutcher
Busy Teacher Pea
Posts: 4,350
Location: Dallas Texas
Jun 26, 2014 12:16:22 GMT
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Post by SabrinaP on Nov 6, 2021 18:35:35 GMT
How’s everyone’s year going?
These weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas are so tough! Our Covid numbers have been good, but we’ve got a stomach bug and colds going around. I came home Friday feeling terrible. I can’t stop coughing (still left over from when I had Covid at the end of September) and now I’m super congested. I plan to lay around all weekend and rest! I’ve been working with 6th graders the last few years, but this year I’m working with grades 1-4. They definitely aren’t as good at keeping their germs to themselves!
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Post by freecharlie on Nov 6, 2021 19:27:50 GMT
I had to log into the computer for this response...
I very much dislike this year. I love my usual students, but the rest of the 9th grade are not well behaved at all. I don't remember a class that acted this badly.
In addition, it just feels so much harder this year. A couple of times a week we get notified of a positive case. In my district, you only have to quarantine if you are the positive case. The people who sit by that person are given the option to quarantine at home if they would like. Most of them don't. We don't wear masks.
I'm tired. I'm overwhelmed. I often catch myself wondering if there is another job out there I'd like to do.
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Post by leannec on Nov 6, 2021 19:45:24 GMT
This year completely sucks! I teach grade 7 Humanities and I have one class that is great and one class that is completely out of control ... I'm a very experienced teacher and I'm at a loss ... administration is aware that the combination of these students is bad but they refuse to do anything ... it is one behaviour issue after another ... every day is a struggle On top of that, the teacher that I connect with the most ... she's my ally ... is off work for at least a month because her elderly mother is very ill ... I miss her so much simply because I don't have that person to vent to We are masked so at least I haven't caught Covid ... yet.
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luckyjune
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,685
Location: In the rainy, rainy WA
Jul 22, 2017 4:59:41 GMT
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Post by luckyjune on Nov 6, 2021 21:16:47 GMT
You are all in my thoughts. I keep in contact with my former colleagues and what they tell me varies between shock and wanting to weep. This first year out of the classroom is kind of weird, not going to lie, but waaaaaay less stressful.
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,408
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Nov 6, 2021 21:34:16 GMT
I'm May tired.
Many kids quarantined even though we all mask indoors. Contact tracing is SO fun! Thankfully we have the kids in static groups so we just look to see who is in which seats and go for those around them. Our seating charts are matched across 5 teachers since we share kids. They are only allowed to work with those in their 4 person group when working in class. PE is a free for all- no masks, playing team sports together. Lunch is indoors, not spaced, no masks (they're eating so... LOL).
I teach 6-8 math. Kids have decided that they aren't going to do any work because it hasn't mattered the last 2 years- they all got passing grades given to them even if they did nothing. I don't play that game and expect them to turn in work and do it correctly when returned to them for corrections. I am unflipping my math classroom on Monday when start the 2nd trimester. Flipped classroom was a great idea, or so I thought. The kids could do the video at home and learn the math and then come to class and get help with the work that they would normally do at home without someone who knows how to do it. HUGE flop! I have so many kids with F's below 40%. It's sad. So... uflipping will happen. It will be like starting the first day of school all over again. Yay. Sigh.
My Kindergarten DS has had a bad cough for a week. He and I got tested on Tuesday this past week. otherwise came back negative. I just tested because he did.
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johnnysmom
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,682
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:33 GMT
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Post by johnnysmom on Nov 6, 2021 22:27:43 GMT
In the office it’s exhausting. Constant rotating door of kids quarantine, more often from home exposure though a fair share of in school as well. I keep the quarantine calculator and the contact tracing spreadsheet open on my computer. Fortunately we decided early on this year to go back to seating charts and lunch in classrooms. I know it’s a huge pain in the ass for teachers but it really has kept our in school close contacts down to just 2-4 per positive, unfortunately the buses don’t do assigned seats so we have to add another 4-8 there ☹️.
We have 2 staff out long term due to Covid (not vaxxed), one who’s husband is teetering on the edge and the other who has been out for two months and her dr just said it takes 3-12 months to recover so who knows if/when she might be back. Our subs (the few we have) are doing the best they can but they’re not cut out for lesson planning and all the extra stuff so other teachers are having to pick up the slack.
I know our teachers are exhausted and frustrated. They tell me and even if they didn’t I can see it, they look rough 😢. Since this thread is full of teachers…..how could I help our teachers more? I do what I can like chase rouge kids, give bathroom breaks, print report cards, etc but I feel like there’s more we (theres 2 of us in the office) can do to help but teachers don’t want to ask, even though I’ve offered.
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Post by freecharlie on Nov 6, 2021 22:31:45 GMT
johnnysmom my office staff is amazing and I personally don't think they need any more on their plate either If admin could quit adding stuff, even small things, that would be the most help.
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kate
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,513
Location: The city that doesn't sleep
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 3:30:05 GMT
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Post by kate on Nov 6, 2021 22:50:41 GMT
This year is so hard! I feel like the collegial culture at my school has broken down. We are a faculty who pitch in to help each other; we have each others' backs. Of course, there are "friend groups" of people who are closer than others, but our school is apparently known as having a remarkably happy faculty. This year, though... It feels like there's never enough of anything. Technology that breaks down takes months to be fixed. Subs are hard to come by, so we're asked to cover extra classes (that NEVER used to happen!). Everyone's afraid to lend a hand, because if you do something once as a Favor, it's likely to become your Responsibility next time.
The behavior challenges are mighty this year. I feel for the kids and want to do right by them - it's just so hard when the kids' needs are great and the resources necessary to help them are so diminished.
I keep trucking along and praying things will get better.
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,408
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Nov 7, 2021 0:15:08 GMT
Oh! I forgot to add that our main secretary who has been at my school since pretty much when I started 22 years ago (I taught all her kids and nieces and nephews too) decided to move to the district office to be the secretary to the superintendent. She made the job look easy and knew EVERYTHING when called and asked anything. Her last day was a week ago. Her daughter (one of my past students) has been filling in but is heading out on maternity leave this week. Her replacement is awesome but OMG the learning curve! Thankfully her replacement has been at our school in another position so she kinda knows what's going on but damn man! So far the new one is keeping on top of stuff and finding answers when she doesn't know.
We have 2 teachers and an aide retiring at the end of this school year and many more talking about looking elsewhere for a teaching job due to management. Sigh. We have 20 total teachers at our site! We will probably lose 10+.
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Post by SockMonkey on Nov 7, 2021 0:20:51 GMT
I was grabbing a caramel brulée latte on Red Cup day the other day at Starbucks and there was a help wanted sign in the drive-through window.
I fantasized about just working at Starbucks.
That's how it's going! 🤣
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Post by Bobomommy on Nov 7, 2021 1:10:35 GMT
I’ll begin with a positive thought. I’m not alone, we are all feeling the stress.
Our second grade team lost one teacher just a few weeks into the year. it took a month to find a replacement, so they split her class among the rest of us. We were wall-to-wall, elbow-to-elbow in the rooms with COVID cases all around. The replacement had kids for 7 days and then called out the next three days. She isn’t answering calls or texts. We’re afraid she’s going to quit, and she has the most low-maintenance students in the grade level.
I have 22 second grade bodies with kindergarten minds, behaviors, and attitudes. One can’t recognize all the letters of the alphabet, another knows the letters, but not the sounds they make. Several more know letters and sounds, but can’t sound out simple three-letter words. The rest are reading a year behind. They have zero number sense. I ask what number comes after 7 and they have to count up on their fingers.
We do lesson plans as a team. Admin has changed the format or amount/type of information they want in lesson plans THREE TIMES so far. We have learning coaches reviewing lesson plans and giving feedback every week. None of our plans have been good enough.
We are required to have morning work for students. They start arriving in the classroom 35 minutes before the bell rings. It should be review work. We submitted first grade level work, since that’s where most of them can work independently. Nope, it’s got to be on grade level. We have to stand outside our door for 25 minutes to greet students as they arrive, so we can’t help them with the work. So the papers end up in the trash They don’t understand them because they haven’t learned those skills.
Some students’ behavior is out of control. We have a list of minor and major offenses. Minor ones should be handled by teaches. Major one are a referral to counselors/administration. During two recent meetings we were told that teachers have more power than admin, so handle everything short of causing physical harm to others.
I’m tired. I have four years plus the rest of this year before I can retire. I take antidepressants and they aren’t working as well as they used to. I end to see about upping the dosage.
Please pray for teachers everywhere. We are not okay.
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Post by elaine on Nov 7, 2021 1:17:31 GMT
I just finished writing an email turning down the third teacher who has approached me to long-term sub for her. She is pregnant and is due in the beginning of February and is planning on taking 12 weeks off. It is at the middle school that I regularly sub at. A few of the teachers I know there lobbied me hard while I subbed there 2 days this week. I really want to help out, but I also have limits. Our school system has it set up so that subs are not allowed to be paid for more than 7 hours per day/35 hours per week. Which, when you are a regular sub is fine. You get paid for the hours you work and you don’t bring work home with you. When you are a long-term sub, you get paid $6 more per hour, but you still aren’t paid for more than 7 hours per day/35 per week. And you now are responsible for everything - lesson planning, grading, parent communication, team meetings, etc. So, while the hourly rate is more, you have to work 2-ish hours per day that you aren’t paid for, so the extra pay is a wash (especially since they want me to sub for Algebra & Honors Algebra - being a psychologist, I would have to spend quite a bit of time on the Kahn Academy reviewing so that I knew the material well enough to lesson plan & teach it). So, I would have the full responsibilities of a contract teacher, but make less than half of what I would make as a contract teacher + earn no sick or vacation leave, nor receive health benefits. Not to mention that none of those hours would count towards my applying for licensure after I go back to school next year. It is an awesome deal for the school system when they find someone willing to be a long term sub, instead of hiring a contract teacher to fill the spot. I chose to work as a sub for the flexibility that allows me to spend Thursdays helping my mom - taking her shopping, fixing her computer and phone, helping her with the t.v. remote, etc. So, it would need to be an amazing work deal for me to give that up for 3 months. I’m hoping that there won’t be too much fall out for me due my saying “no.” I feel badly for the teacher because apparently math subs are very hard to come by given the number of math assignments I have between now and winter break. In terms of student behavior, for the most part the students I sub for in 4th, 5th & 6th grades are really pretty good. Middle school is something else. And it isn’t just with me as a substitute- I’ve now team taught a number of classes and they are just as disrespectful to the regular teachers. The non-stop talking while the teacher is talking, the using their laptops to play games instead of assigned work - will stop when confronted and then restart as soon as teacher’s attention is elsewhere - the inability to be on task for more than 10 minutes without asking to go to the bathroom. I mean, those kids pee more often than an old man with a prostate problem. Middle school is certainly different today than when I was that age. One weird observation- all the classrooms are equipped with a very large very visible analog clock. The kind that have been in schools forever. I am asked at least 10-15 times per day when I teach middle school, “what time is it?” I don’t know if they can’t read analog clocks or are too lazy to look at the wall or what it is. I asked one teacher about it and she mumbled something about maybe it was because they weren’t in the classroom for a year due to COVID.
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Post by freecharlie on Nov 7, 2021 2:17:42 GMT
They can't read the clocks. Most of my hs students have no idea how to read an analog clock.
He'll no, I wouldn't long term sub. How the hell do they find anybody to do that and how do they get away with it.
I think our district treats our long term subs like property, but staff treats them as members of staff. But even our district doesn't pull shit like this.
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Post by playingcinderella on Nov 7, 2021 2:22:40 GMT
I just went back Tuesday from my 10 day quarantine. I wrote something like 12 referrals from home and my sub kicked I don't know how many kids out of class. I have two periods that are hard to manage on a good day and proved to be just too much for a sub.
Our referrals campus wide are higher than normal and we just have a ton of discipline issues. Staff morale is down, student buy-in is down and this year has been the hardest yet ... already. We have had several teachers and paras leave for a variety of reasons. It's an absolute mess.
I'm so tired and yet the list of things I need to get done is overwhelming.
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The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,920
Jun 25, 2014 21:50:33 GMT
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Post by The Great Carpezio on Nov 7, 2021 2:31:41 GMT
I’m holding my own. I’m worried about some coworkers though.
My 9th graders are definitely much more like middle schoolers, but it isn’t malicious behavior, so I’m doing ok with that. Work completion is low, writing ability is low, multi-step activities are overwhelming for most of them, including my senior mythology students.
Covid was out of control. Things slowed down for a couple weeks, but this last week it seems to be escalating again. No mask school. We have five levels of Covid interventions. My district never took us off from level 1. We had the highest amount of Covid cases in the state this year so far. So, apparently they just made up levels for funsies.
We are in contract negotiations this year. It’s not sounding great. We might end up work to rule in the near future.
Yeah, not great but hanging in there for now.
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luckyjune
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,685
Location: In the rainy, rainy WA
Jul 22, 2017 4:59:41 GMT
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Post by luckyjune on Nov 7, 2021 2:31:46 GMT
johnnysmom my office staff is amazing and I personally don't think they need any more on their plate either If admin could quit adding stuff, even small things, that would be the most help. This is what my former colleagues are saying as well. They are pretty tired of mandates coming down from on high and then hear, "We'll let you figure out how to make it work." And teacher evaluations are on for this year in our state. Seriously? All the shit teachers are going through and you want to make evaluations something important? Of all the stupid things.
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Post by elaine on Nov 7, 2021 2:52:27 GMT
They can't read the clocks. Most of my hs students have no idea how to read an analog clock. He'll no, I wouldn't long term sub. How the hell do they find anybody to do that and how do they get away with it.I think our district treats our long term subs like property, but staff treats them as members of staff. But even our district doesn't pull shit like this. After talking with the Algebra teacher about what exactly my duties would be if I did long-term sub for her, and she laid it all out, I went home and consulted my substitute handbook. I couldn’t believe that I would be limited to 7 hours per day pay when I would have so much more work to do. So, I actually called the Substitute Teacher office - part of our district’s HR department - and asked about it. They told me that yes, I had understood the expectations and pay limits correctly. So, this is directly from HR and not confusion on my part. ☹️ I’m looking forward to having my own classroom. But, I’ll wait until I am licensed and a contract teacher. I just have to pass the darned Social Studies Praxis exam before I can get into the career switcher licensure program. It has been 40 years since I took world history and I’ve never taken economics, so it is taking a bit of review before I want to sit for the exam.
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Post by monklady123 on Nov 7, 2021 12:15:45 GMT
As a sub I get to see a lot of different grade levels (elementary only) and I'm just shocked at what the teachers are dealing with this year. I was in a 1st grade two days last week, and I'll get them again on Friday of this coming week. Sweet kids but omg they are academically so low! But, to make the teacher's job harder, not all of them are low. After we finished the whole-group math lesson, and after they did some individual seat work where I went around to help, they were allowed to have a few minutes of Dreambox (math app on the iPad). There was one activity that several were doing where the program flashed dots at them, arranged in groups of 10, and the kids had to choose the number they saw. We're talking about double-digit numbers. And the choices were difficult -- if the correct answer was 54 the choices were not "3, 10, 18, 54" where the answer might be obvious. Nope, the choices were "54, 52, 64, 18" with only one that was obviously the wrong answer. And they were only allowed two chances to look at the dots and the dots flashed by quickly. I thought it was hard! But those kids were zooming through it. Then contrast that with the kids whose Dreambox lesson was "fill in the missing numbers" and the app showed "4 ____ 6 _____ 8" and these kids couldn't do it without help. "What comes after 4?" was a difficult question for them. And we won't even talk about the huge gap in language arts, compounded by some kids whose first language is not even English. And one of the immigrant kids speaks Amharic and there are no other Amharic-speakers in this particular class to help. At least with the Hispanic kids there's usually someone else in the class who we can ask. As I walk through the building I'm often chased by teachers who are desperate for a sub because admin has told them they cannot take any personal leave unless they find a sub ahead of time. Can that even be legal? I've been meaning to ask one of my teacher friends that. Obviously if someone is sick they can't hold them to that, so now they've started asking for a doctor's note if someone is home sick. So now people are forced to go to Urgent Care (because mostly no one can get an appointment with their own doctor on one day's notice) to get the note. Which means that teachers are just coming to school sick and hiding symptoms. So awful.
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Post by Merge on Nov 7, 2021 12:54:38 GMT
I’m so tired. The kids at all grade levels have forgotten how to be in school and we spend so much time teaching and reteaching routines and procedures. Youngest grades are the worst.
We do have great kids and families overall, though. Even those who are still suffering from a year of doing whatever they wanted at home are inquisitive and eager to learn. So I take some comfort in that. Also in the fact that I’ve had several kids tell me already that they either have been vaccinated in the last few days or have an appointment to be vaccinated soon. I’m super fortunate to teach in an area where many parents are medical professionals and those who aren’t at least trust science.
But still I am so tired. And I now have a pinched nerve in my shoulder and pretty bad pain from that, but there’s no way I’ll get a sub last minute even if I could get in to see my doctor. So I’m hoping it will feel a little better tomorrow.
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ddly
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,947
Jul 10, 2014 19:36:28 GMT
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Post by ddly on Nov 7, 2021 14:32:42 GMT
So exhausted. We’re short staffed so have large caseloads (special Ed). New incompetent coworker. Feral freshman. Amazing principal on leave for first 3 weeks. Special Ed Director, who is also amazing, is leaving after first semester ends. Parents who can’t follow through with evaluation and IEP meetings. No subs. The county I work in has the highest case count and lowest vaccination rate in my state; last I heard they were 9th in the country in terms of low vaccination rates. So many absences, so many kids missing so much instruction.
The things that keep me going: the students, they are amazing; my ds is working as a para and loves it, we ride together so his stories make me smile; my office mates (incompetent coworker isn’t with us); and the other teachers who continue to do amazing work!
This is my fifteenth year. I worked as a therapist with juvenile sex offenders as my first career. I thought those days were hard but these are so much harder.
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