I hate being a teacher...what do i do

It seems as though you do not have effective classroom management.

At the elementary level, you should be making it as fun as possible for these kids while developing the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains.

These kids could care less about any other subject, but if they miss their day of Phys. Ed. they will get very upset. This is the high- light of their school day. Use this as a tool for classroom behavior problems. Sit them out, if they chose to disrupt class and not follow directions. Most kids with behavior problems are from low income/poverty areas where they do not learn how to interact and have poor social skills. Have games that incorporate cooperative learning.

A book I would recommend that has great lessons on cooperative learning for physical education is Essentials of Team Building by Midura, Daniel W. 2005

www.pecentral.org

has great resources also.

You have to have a thick skin with these kids, and be tough at the beginning of the year, then loosen up later. These kids are smart and know what buttons to push and try to get away with as much as possible. Just like anything else, you have to be consistent to have good results.

At the middle school and high school level. Now thats another story!

The hting about teaching is that we are constantly

thinking about our profession. There is no mental break and that is more taxing then the physical part.

I am always thinking about ways to improve, tweak, do a better job and so forth.

Breaks are not really breaks because we constantly think about our jobs.

There are a lot of jobs out there where you work hard for three to five hours and then you get to relax.

Teaching is not like that. Even when kids are working you still have to watch them to make sure they stay on task.

There are more stress related variables to this profesion then just the work.

You teach PE! And you're burned out after 1 year. Either you're a troll or a fool.

I've never thrown myself on the cross and will admit I have a sweet job. I only respond to comments like, "it must be nice to have summers off..."

Here's the deal: I would never take a day off to go golfing or to go to the game (why would I with 10 weeks off). As a public figure as soon as you say or do something mildly offensive (for example I got complaints for having a cut out of Elvis as part of my wall decoration, apparently his life morals were offensive) even if it's true, you have parents complaining.

Teaching is a sweet job, I admit, but at the end of each day you are left physically, mentally and emotionally drained. And it slowly wears you down until the end of the year. Thus the teacher complaints here on this thread.

To talk about running...I hardly ever run well at the end of the school year because I am so worn down. When you do bring up how you are tired and frazzled you get comments like, "what are you talking about...you're off at 3 pm every day and have the whole summer off."

Again, a very rewarding and tiring job but also a challenging one for those who work hard to make a minor difference in this messed up society.

PDX Track wrote:

You chose your profession, as did I - a corporate desk jockey. Don't bitch about making less because you made your choice.

No, you do NOT put in more hours than the average corporate person who is trying to get ahead. Teachers don't have to worry about job security, or promotions.

I work easily 10-12 hours every day - including Saturdays. I travel extensively for my job - 12 months a year.

I love my job - however, for all of you teachers out there who say "walk a mile in a teacher's shoes, and you'll understand" - maybe you should look into walking a mile in someone else's shoes (like a corporate worker) first.

Boy you are really clueless aren't you?

Teachers don't always have great job security. Some states require you to complete a master's degree within 5 years or you're out of a job. Other teachers teach electives that are always on the chopping block due to underfunded school districts.

If you think sitting in a cube all day is somehow harder than teaching ("walking a mile in someone else's shoes (like a corporate worker)"), you're f'n clueless.

the people who usually complain about teaching being a rigorous and such a hard life are usually the ones who just plain bad at it. sure it has long hours, but those hours decrease significantly after the first two years when you have your courses laid out and rhthym down.

There are a lot of jobs out there where you work hard for three to five hours and then you get to relax.

Can you give me a list? I want to send my resume.

The part that makes teaching difficult is dealing with parents.

Let's face it, a lot of parents are just like trolls on this site, they enjoy getting a reaction out of someone.

Teachers are held to higher moral standards that ANYONE else in any other field of work. And, there will always be bitchy moms who will look to get you in trouble, simply because they have nothing else to do with their sad, pitiful lives.

Then again, thats the reality you face when you choose to become a teacher.

Overall, it's a very rewarding profession. Maybe not if you're concerned with nothing but money, but it can be. It's not for everyone.

I have a couple of openings in New England. You need to have an excellent telephone voice, willing to travel, willing to do what is right for the customer. You need to be a leader not a follower. Bring me your problems but not without a possible solution. Not looking for someone who needs a boss, you need to be able to work independently and as a team member. Runner friendly and understand the time and energy required to race well. Great running routes from the office and locker facilities here. Two people would be ideal although I'd entertain a third by the end of the summer. Full health plan, 2 weeks vacation, 10 days paid holidays. $60K to start with an annual review. The office is located in central Connecticut. Willing to assist in relocation expenses.

I am in my 5th year of teaching and this will probably be my last. I really don't like it. I hate the constant battle to get kids to stay on task and most days it's a battle to get them to care about their own learning. I hate the pointless paperwork. I hate the parents who think you are a rubbish teacher and that their kids are angels. I hate incompetent admin people who are normally there just because they couldn't hack it in the classroom. Finally I hate the general public's attitude that teaching is such a breeze and we should all be thankful that we have such an easy and well payed job with all that vacation time. Find someone else to teach your spoilt brats.

I'm taking the advice of someone earlier and getting out while I am still young enough to try something else and I know more and more young teachers who are doing the same thing.

I finaly got out. I went back to school 2 years ago and am now an engineer. So far, so good. Very low stress. Decent pay. I get to swim every day during the 1 1/2 hours I take for lunch (that's right....1 1/2 hours, not 40 minutes).

In addition to the bratty kids and difficult parents, I also found the staff, in general, to be extremely immature. They basicaly behaved like large teenagers.....forming clicks, gossiping behind your back, whinning about every little thing. And then, to top it off, the admistration treats you like....well....like you're a child.

No offense to you teachers, but that was my experience.

What is a "click"?

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of engineer?

Totally agree with you BP on the other staff comment. Not to mention many of them think that they are super teachers and can do no wrong but when you go near their rooms it's like a riot. Don't think I will miss it.

Here is an example of one of the issues that made me decide education is not for me.

A few days ago a student on mine told me that "I will laugh when you die" because I would not let him use the bathroom during class. I did not let him go because I watched him walk into the bathroom 30 seconds before the bell rang and he was 10 minutes tardy for class.

I refered the matter to the vice principal for discipline, he immediately sent the kid home and scheduled a conference for the next morning with the principal.

The principal decided that the kid had been punished enough.

Oh yeah, this is a private school...

You were lucky. If you'd been in a public school, the principal probably would have also decided it was your fault.

My most recent pet peeve, while we're at it: I hate doing extra work for class, getting a demonstration set up or spending the time to write something out at home for my students, and realizing that only three people out of twenty care enough to notice.

I'm in my fifth year, and while I don't love it every day, I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else. My wife is a manger in a national home mortgage/bank (with about 35 people under her) and it is amazing how many of the problems she has with her people are the same problems I have with my students. Plus, she never gets to talk about Hamlet, J. Alfred Prufrock, or Holden Caulfield. Of course, she does make more than I do, and that gap will only get larger.

I've got a friend down the hall who is in her first year, and I don't think she will last. She can't control her room, and if you can't do that it is hard to get to the parts that make it fun. You can't rely on the administration to solve your discipline problems for you. If you can't take care of 99% of what happens, you will find you won't get much support. There are terrible administrators, however, and in that case you should get our of that school while you can.

Without control, you will never get to the things that made you want to be a teacher. There were some, right? If it was a fallback option then you might never enjoy it. The crappy stuff (parents, etc -- already been discussed at length) never completely goes away, but every job has crappy stuff. Make sure you can balance with the good parts; the relative independence, the relationship-building, the chance to talk and think about a discipline you love, maybe the chance to coach (although, this is my first year as head track coach, and I have never been more stressed), and definitely, the summer off.

Things do get much better after the first year, although the money never really does (that is the difference compared to similarly-educated professionals; not the initial salary, but the growth throughout the career). And the low money has little to do with job security, as one poster said. Americans just don't want to pay the taxes to pay teachers more. Salary has never been based on what you deserve, but on what you are worth, and you are worth whatever someone is willing to spend.

choco man wrote:

the people who usually complain about teaching being a rigorous and such a hard life are usually the ones who just plain bad at it. sure it has long hours, but those hours decrease significantly after the first two years when you have your courses laid out and rhthym down.

shiiiit.

the hours could decrease significantly, true. but for those of us who are constantly trying to improve, things usually stay about the same. i look at hard-working teachers (and yes, there are a bunch of lazy f***ers, too), who are married, and have kids, and wonder how they do it.

unlike many jobs, you do take a lot of work home with you. and though it may be hard for people to understand, you are constantly thinking about what you have to do and how you can do it better.

personally, i do have a problem with the tenure, but i understand why it is necessary. there are many teachers who know they have protection from the union, thus they are really lazy and you see there kids roaming the halls. but what can you do? you can only control what goes on inside your classroom.

and if you're able to do that, things are great. you get to interact with 150 kids on a daily basis, help them learn something, make them excited about your subject, and make great connections with some of them. and when you do a good job, they truly respond.

sure, it's not for everyone, but on graduation day, when you see those kids get more excited than they've ever been, you realize why you do what you do.