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Post by Merge on Dec 16, 2021 2:39:44 GMT
My daughter started therapy in the Summer of 2020 at the age of 11. She was suffering from anxiety, depression and was trying to cut. I say trying because she never did more than scratch herself really but the intent was there. Her and my husband were isolated at home but I was still working at the University full time (and overtime) on the COVID response team and my son was still in daycare. I think the fact that we weren't there made it worse for her and I carry a lot of guilt about that. Since she's been seeing a therapist she's joined a competitive gymnastics team, she's reconnected with friends and made a lot of new ones. I can see her again, not the kid who wouldn't get out of bed, wouldn't shower, change clothes etc. Her Junior high is a nightmare right now. They have multiple fights everyday, students have been arrested (and have charges pending), a teacher has been hit with a chair, etc. Everyday has been something else.I can back this up. I have been subbing 4-5 days per week since the beginning of the school year. I spend 45% of my time in Middle School (MS) (another 45% in upper elementary and 10% in HS). It has clarified for me that when I get my K-12 licensure, that I won’t look for a permanent position in a MS. The behavior issues are jaw dropping. And because the administration is bending over backwards to get kids to come to and stay in school, they let a variety of things go which would have been cause for suspension before COVID. During the past two days - both in MS - I have had to call the front office *at least* once per class period to send an admin person (they have 4 roving admin men with walkie-talkies who come when called by teachers to help with behavior issues) to either back me up or make them aware that a student or students have just walked out of class. The behavior can be so loud and so disruptive that the kids who want to learn are not able to because the behavior issues are *so bad* that they dominate the classroom. And I’m a psychologist, so I don’t get bent out of shape by minor issues. I honestly don’t know what the solution is. I never would have guessed that 12 & 13 year olds could be so disruptive and seem to actually enjoy the sense of power that comes from controlling and dominating a whole class period. Their peers resent the heck out of it, and I don’t blame them. If I were the parent of a child who actually wanted to learn and I had an inkling of what was going on in classrooms, I would be in the principal’s office in a heartbeat. And it isn’t because I’m a sub. I initially was certain that was the reason. But I’ve now worked a number of times as an IA or a team teacher a number of days (I’m only taking jobs at my kids’ old MS), and watched the kids behave exactly the same way with the “regular” teachers. Again, I’m at a loss. Very few of the kids in my MS classes seem to getting a lot out of it - the honors classes seem the most satisfied, which is not surprising. This was my exact experience with 7th and 8th graders in 2015, long before Covid. I had them in choir in groups of 50-60 and often they hadn’t signed up to be there. Disruption for fun and entertainment - if ten kids out of sixty are committed to disruption, your class is pretty much over. And there was no roving admin. If you pressed the office button, as often as not, no one answered. I tried to quit mid year and they threatened my license. Lasted the rest of that year (at extreme expense to my mental health) and hightailed it back to elementary. Never again. All that to say - these problems were brewing long before Covid. I don’t know what the answer is. I couldn’t build a relationship with kids that age the way I can easily do with younger ones who have behavior issues.
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Post by elaine on Dec 16, 2021 13:01:39 GMT
I can back this up. I have been subbing 4-5 days per week since the beginning of the school year. I spend 45% of my time in Middle School (MS) (another 45% in upper elementary and 10% in HS). It has clarified for me that when I get my K-12 licensure, that I won’t look for a permanent position in a MS. The behavior issues are jaw dropping. And because the administration is bending over backwards to get kids to come to and stay in school, they let a variety of things go which would have been cause for suspension before COVID. During the past two days - both in MS - I have had to call the front office *at least* once per class period to send an admin person (they have 4 roving admin men with walkie-talkies who come when called by teachers to help with behavior issues) to either back me up or make them aware that a student or students have just walked out of class. The behavior can be so loud and so disruptive that the kids who want to learn are not able to because the behavior issues are *so bad* that they dominate the classroom. And I’m a psychologist, so I don’t get bent out of shape by minor issues. I honestly don’t know what the solution is. I never would have guessed that 12 & 13 year olds could be so disruptive and seem to actually enjoy the sense of power that comes from controlling and dominating a whole class period. Their peers resent the heck out of it, and I don’t blame them. If I were the parent of a child who actually wanted to learn and I had an inkling of what was going on in classrooms, I would be in the principal’s office in a heartbeat. And it isn’t because I’m a sub. I initially was certain that was the reason. But I’ve now worked a number of times as an IA or a team teacher a number of days (I’m only taking jobs at my kids’ old MS), and watched the kids behave exactly the same way with the “regular” teachers. Again, I’m at a loss. Very few of the kids in my MS classes seem to getting a lot out of it - the honors classes seem the most satisfied, which is not surprising. This was my exact experience with 7th and 8th graders in 2015, long before Covid. I had them in choir in groups of 50-60 and often they hadn’t signed up to be there. Disruption for fun and entertainment - if ten kids out of sixty are committed to disruption, your class is pretty much over. And there was no roving admin. If you pressed the office button, as often as not, no one answered. I tried to quit mid year and they threatened my license. Lasted the rest of that year (at extreme expense to my mental health) and hightailed it back to elementary. Never again. All that to say - these problems were brewing long before Covid. I don’t know what the answer is. I couldn’t build a relationship with kids that age the way I can easily do with younger ones who have behavior issues. I remember your year-from-hell there. I hadn’t realized it was MS. It is simply exhausting when you spend all class period trying to reign in that type of behavior so that you can actually teach. VA has what they have as a statewide “Career Switcher” program - if you have a college degree and 3+ years full-time work experience, you can take one year of part-time coursework and get a provisional teaching license. You have to pass the VCLA (a reading and writing test) and a Praxis II as part of admission. I have already passed the VCLA and was planning on taking the Social Studies and the English Praxis, but the license would only be endorsed for grades 6-12. To get a license for PK-6, I have to go to school full-time for an additional 6-months for a number of Teaching Methods & Language Acquisition courses, in addition to courses that they think I didn’t get enough of in college. It is a LOT of extra work & money. I could have my provisional license this Fall for 6-12, but I hate working with the behavior issues in MS so much, and comparatively enjoy 4-6 graders, that I have decided to complete all the extra work to get my PK-6 license. I don’t know what the solution for the MS issues are. Part of me wants to pull those students and place them in alternative schools so that the rest of the students (the majority of the kids) can actually learn and not be subjected to the hell those classes become on a daily basis. But, then I know that those behavior problem issues will likely become worse and they will drop out. Those kids will almost certainly be lost for life, growing up without a basic education, and that isn’t right either. So, that isn’t a feasible solution, but I don’t know what is. I do know that allowing that behavior to go on IS impacting the mental health of other students - those who aren’t the squeaky wheels and are more likely to turn their distress inward and against themselves.
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