why i quit teaching after one year | my teaching experience 

“I don’t get paid enough for this, but I knew I loved those kids.” Teaching in one sentence. I get it. I’m leaving in 3 weeks! Wishing you the best!

I totally get it. I decided during my teaching program that I was not cut out for teaching. I dealt with all of the same problems but with middle and high school students. I was only a student teacher and I never got a break. I was constantly bringing work home to grade, making lesson plans up to the last minute, and trying to get all of my assignments from my regular classes done on time. I worked 7 days a week at full throttle. My physical and mental health suffered because of the sheer stress of it all, it was unbelievable. It was, without a doubt, the worst experience of my life; I have never been unhappier, ever. It's a tragedy, really. The week that I quit my program, two bathrooms at my high school were destroyed, two students were found unconscious with evidence of drug abuse, and another student attempted suicide. Police officers were stationed at every bathroom for the rest of that week. The email I got from the principal said things like this had become a regular occurrence at the school. And mind you, this wasn't at an inner-city school with a large number of minorities from poor backgrounds where violence and drug abuse are stereotypically associated. No, it was in a predominately white school in a fairly affluent neighborhood in San Diego, California. My advice for those thinking about quitting. Do it. Save yourself. You will be much happier. For those who're thinking of becoming teachers, make sure you know what you're getting into. Very little to nothing you learn in your teaching college will apply to the actual classroom. Your students, while forgiving at first when they meet you, will eat you alive and walk all over you when they sense weakness in your teaching. They have no self-discipline, no self-control, and no interest in learning. You won't actually be teaching, most of the time you'll be scrambling to get the students to pay attention and follow instructions. You'll only have an hour (if you're lucky) to get what you need to say out there, but each student has so many peculiar needs that you won't be able to help them all the way they need to be helped in the little time you have. Forget having the weekends off or even a social life, if your students have homework, then you have homework; have fun grading 150 papers every week Not to mention the petty office politics and toxic gossiping between teachers and administrators. It's just a bad deal, overall. If you want to be a teacher, then you have to be obsessed with teaching. I'm talking about the kind of obsession where you can't sleep at night if you're not teaching or thinking about teaching. If you have the faintest hint of doubt, don't do it. Save yourself the time, money, and headache.

Thanks for being so transparent. I have taught for 20 yrs and now I'm exhausted and looking to pivot. You're very self aware and just know that the teaching profession is extremely difficult now. Kudos for you taking care of yourself!

I always wonder what would happen if teachers collectively chose not to work after contract hours. Everything would fall apart. I also taught a year and went through all of this as well.

I quit my job as a registered job last two years ago after almost 10 years in the field, it was not an easy decision, but life is too short to dread going to work everyday. No amount of money can buy real happiness lol but friends I'm not asking you to resign from your job or abandon your business but be wise!!

I started teaching 31 years ago. My mother was a teacher and I followed in her footsteps. Teaching has changed so much. It seems that every time teachers got a raise, new responsibilities were added. There are more forms to fill out, more tutorials, more expectations of you and the students. I love my students ❤️. I've been with some horrible principals and wonderful principals. I teach because I care about the students I'm entrusted with. But I am now looking at the light at the end of the tunnel. The bureaucracy is definitely beginning to outweigh the love of teaching. I can't imagine a new teacher coming into this. The stress is real. Good for you to be brave enough to walk away. Thanks for sharing!

I can relate- I was never a licensed teacher, but have worked as a long-term substitute teacher for the last two years and it soured me from going into teaching for a lot of reasons that you mentioned. No matter how much I loved the kids and the teachers I worked with, the higher-ups, entitled parents, and student motivation/discipline issues made it too difficult for me to keep going. I know of three teachers at the elementary school I worked at that are quitting at the end of the year, and one of them even cautioned me against teaching. It's heartbreaking

I quit after 5 years of teaching. It was the best decision of my life.

I am a 29 year veteran at the elementary school level and this year has been extremely difficult. I have felt like a first year teacher at times because of all the new things administrators want teachers to do, and they can be very overwhelming. Sometimes administrators forget what was like to be in the classroom and so they make decisions without really thinking how they will affect teachers. Thank you for your video presentation.

I guess our entire new teacher generation is crying like me :') I'm glad I'm not alone, this was so relatable to watch. Keep posting.

Teaching was a great gig until about 10 yrs ago. I quit too. Good for you. System is broken. All the best!

I understand exactly how you feel! I quitted teaching at two schools within 6 months. The first time was at a rural high school; I was forced to resign due to a student and his parent lying about he didn't do this and that to me. The principal and superintendent took the student and parent side due to fear of getting sued. After leaving the high school, I started teaching 8th graders at an inner-city middle school. Those students were HORRIBLE! I couldn't teach nor control the class. The principal was an old school simp who sided and kissed the students

I quit teaching 8 weeks before I received my credential. 😅 I just knew, based on everything I'd seen, that I'd never use it. And since I knew it'd just expire, I figured there was no point finishing. It broke my heart to leave the kids at my placement, but I still feel like it was a good call. Thank god I didn't have to teach during COVID. 😵

Glad you left after 1 year. About to start my 8th and I’m completely done! Making a plan! Happy for you and best wishes 💜💜💜 Micromanaging is the main reason I’m leaving

It's a thankless profession. I stayed longer than I should have but finally got out :)

I graduated from H.S. in 1968. I only remember one problem kid he was in my health and safety class. He was disruptive in class. Teachers were treated with respect and kids behaved well. I don't recall any real problems.

This is my first year teaching, and after three weeks, my life has been turned upside down! I'm stressed, the work overload is unbearable. I wish I would of known all of this before signing the dotted line.

Nearly twice your age (Gen X), a career changer, now English certified, grades 5-12. After a semester long long term sub English job, I agreed to a Special Education Teacher job with a co-teacher and adjustment counselor, and 8 students with “social-emotional disabilities.” Though I did a great job, it was stressful, too much work and not enough support, even from my two colleagues. I resigned effective the end of this school year and am counting down the days. I have a strong work ethic and don’t get sick so, unlike my two co-workers have 7 of the remaining 18 days off-thank God! My two long term sub English jobs were not much better, so I’m thinking about earning my Master’s degree full-time, probably in Creative Writing, which is something I’m passionate about. Thinking I could teach community college where my students actually want to be there!

Kudos to you for leaving and taking care of your mental health! I’ve been teaching for 9 years so far and it’s still extremely hard even with having a supportive admin (extremely rare and the top reason I’m not leaving my school until I leave the profession).

It’s Saturday. 4:20pm. I spent all of Friday night and all of today preparing for next weeks lesson. My feet are still killing me from walking my 7TH GRADE students up and down the stairs each period. I left a really good school to go to someplace that literally saps me of all of my energy daily. I can totally relate!

Teaching colleges will share a statistic with their students that ~50% of those who graduate from teaching college will give up their teaching careers within 5 years. This was true decades before Covid-19 which of course only made the career even harder. I do appreciate the points you make in the video of why you didn't enjoy teaching and those things are of course common to the profession, especially more so as the government has gotten more involved in the education process over the decades. Government tends to wreck everything it touches that is outside of the scope of what they were originally put in place to do. Add to that of course of the degradation of society in general and the lack of structure that parents tend to provide for their children and the classroom becomes an almost impossible place to work and only people with a certain mindset and toolbox of skills and ideals can cut it.

I left after 4 years. Florida schools are tough. I appreciate your honesty and am happy you're advocating for yourself. 💖

I taught for 12 years before getting out. However, I knew the very first class of my very first day of teaching that it wasn't for me. If I could go back in time I would have told younger me to move on earlier.

A friend of mine had false allegations, biased lesson observations, backstabbing, bitching, overwork, under resourced and sabotage to deal with. He was an excellent teacher, his students loved him and he helped them achieve some great results. He left, and he said he’d rather drink bleach than do it again.

I’m in my first year of teaching right now at an elementary school and the number one thing that has surprised me is the lack of support that we get with challenging behaviors. Im considering leaving after the school year is over

I retired early from teaching only having taught for 16 years. It was a change in professions for me. Just couldn't do it anymore. Disrespectful students and parents. COVID finished me off after 2 years of jumping to every new change the district wanted to implement to appease parents. Decided to retire after a long debate with myself. Do not regret one day nor do I miss it. Hats off for those that stayed but I felt I wouldn't be a benefit to the students or my health.

Same, I quit a month into it, same thing about too much unpaid work. Props! I'm sure that there are teachers who truly do the work out of love, but I didn't love it enough to sacrifice my well being. I would rather not be a teacher than be a bad, unhappy teacher.

I’m glad you were able to figure out all of these things before you spent years as a teacher. I resigned as a classroom teacher of record in January of 2022 after nearly 20 years in the classroom. My physical and mental health are both so much better now. Best to you and yours.

I want to quit so bad. I don’t understand how they can put so much on us and expect us to do everything in just 8 hours. I cry all the time and don’t understand how they can do this to us

There are 3 guarantees in life: Death, Taxes, and Teacher burn out.

I am an elementary school teacher in Germany. Some things here are similar, some things aren't. We certainly share the part about those ridiculous standards some administrators, school districts and the government demand from us sometimes. The differene is, that we are public servants as teachers and as such we can't be layed off or fired - (almost) ever. We would have to commit some serious crime and be convicted in court to loose that status. We get payed reasonably well, I would say. Certainly way better than in the US. As an elementary school teacher I have to teach every grade (1-4), which means I have the same children for 4 years. This summer my big kids will leave elementary school, which I am really sad about, and I will get a new first grade after that.

I have the same issues, ADHD and poor classroom management. I got my teaching degree in 1990 and every few years I’d go back. Honestly, I feel I and it got worse every time, even tho it was better areas (started teach in really bad parts, lots of gangs, one of the poorest zip codes in the US, etc). So, if you think of going back, look at this video and remember it’s not worth the stress.

I dabbled in teaching as a day care worker. I still remember the smartest little two year old that I’d ever met. He could read, and spoke like an older child for sure. His name was Austin and he moved to Texas.

As an educator, once I took a masters level class on classroom management skills it made all the difference in the world... before in the classroom the kids were basically in control and knew it. After the classroom management course I was in control. The students knew the rules and the consequences and the classroom atmosphere was one of peace. Following through and being consistant is the key. I think this course should be required for all those who are going to work in a classroom. I'm guessing many new teachers get so frustrated with out of control students that they leave the profession.... nonsupportive administrators are also a big stressor and there's not much you can do about that except ask for more support...

i think for me its my personality too. im still on the last leg of my first year and they introduced a new student in early march, missed several weeks, just absolutely ridiculous behavioral problems, i feel abused everyday, little admin support, parent screams on the phone and is uninvolved, but what really nailed it was when my mentor teacher told me the exact same thing that my previous school where i was in for an americorps program said. "youre too soft spoken. you need to engage with the kids more" she really said that after a whole year of watching me go through hell with these kids. all my life ive been bullied, harrassed, and tortured by anxiety and depression because of the constant barrage of unsolicited comments about my introverted personality, and interestingly, a lot of it came from teachers throughout my life, including my mom who taught 3rd grade for 30 years. i shouldve known better. it seems, only very specific types of people can be teachers. if youre not neurotypical, dont respond/think quickly enough or have a naturally quieter voice or prefer to not antagonize the quieter kids by humiliating them or dont hover over the kids like a dog or dont have 100 eyes in the back of your head and have psychic powers to sense when a kid is going to get hurt 2 minutes into the future, then you are not a "good" teacher. early childhood is the micromanager of education fields. they'd rather have people who enable problems in the system if it means they suck up to admin. not my kind of job.

Good for you for not sticking it out. I was a college professor for 11 years. I just finished summer II. In about a week in a half I start back to school to become a clinical psychologist. I wish I would have been like you and left much sooner.

I am an Out of School Suspension Facilitator. I completely understand where you are coming from. I have been given more duties with the same pay but have stayed only because of the children. The program I work under is supposed to have a teacher's assistant but they have yet to hire one. My students are with me from 6:50-12:45 without a break. Sometimes my students come to my center with no classwork so I create it for them. I have gone above and beyond to help my students and still not given the resources I need to be successful. I won't miss the cons of my job but I will miss the relationships I have built with my students. I wish you the best and hope that you have found the best career for you. Hats off to you because I should have quit a long time ago.

The parents, man.. the parents. Especially the ones who are power hungry and sadistic and hate you for nothing. They want to sue me sometimes about the most absurd stuff and I do SO much for those kids I care for so dearly! Without them I would run without another thought! The first half of a year in my teaching career I got ulcerative colitis... chronic.

I'm going to be a first year teacher in the fall. However, I started teaching summer school in July. Honestly, I hate it. It's been so stressful and I have had such little support. I have a child with extreme autism and I cannot control him. I did not major in special education. I was not trained or prepared to handle a child with severe behavioral problems. Everyday is a struggle. When he gets riled up, my class gets riled up too. I'm scared that I already want to quit when the school year hasn't even started.

I have been teaching for 28 years and have seen a lot. I have had seniors for the past 8 years and love it after 20 years of ninth and tenth graders. I made my class online entirely and self-paced. The kids love it. I just help as needed and encourage them. Grading is never at a level that is unmanagable because the work trickles in. Greatest shortcut I ever came up with. It took me years to figure out how to keep my stress level down. My advice to the less experienced teachers is to ask the veterans how they do it. I will be retiring in a few years and worry about our younger educators. I try to give them advice, but they don't listen and fall apart. Every school year is a marathon, not a sprint. Learn shortcuts, use sick days, control what you can, and learn from the vets, only do the things that you know you have to do. Many requirements are not checked by administration. Vets know what to do and what to ignore.

As a previous preschool teacher I completely relate to your thoughts. I worked for about 8 months and then quit because of how overwhelming it was especially compared to how much you get paid. I’m really glad you shared your experience!!

You made the right decision. Good luck with your new job. Things are harder now than when I taught.

My first year was ridiculous, my class was stacked with academic and behaviour on purpose because they knew a new teacher was coming. The admin made changes right before I started. I feel you it is terrible

I made it 6 months! Taught high school math from January to June in 1994, said “eff this” and went into computer programming instead, lol. Whew! Dodged a bullet!

Let's do the math. You have 130 students to teach a day and 45-50 minutes a day to grade their work. It is unattainable. Also that 45 - 50 minutes is sometimes taken a way with useless meetings and covering other teachers' classes. And then admin and parents are on your back about not having enough grades.

I'm looking for a non teaching job right now. The things that are required of teachers is insane. The most overworked, underpaid people in the world.

The 1st 3 years are always the hardest. With that said, I'm a veteran teacher of 21 years and I WISH I would have left early on. Now I am stuck in this very dangerous district where I am in the midst of violence, chaos and severe verbal abuse every single day. It is by far the most toxic environment imaginable (teachers & cops have a lot in common in some communities.) My pension is the ONLY thing keeping me here (although we have had MANY teachers put their pensions in jeopardy by quitting mid-year). I might have to leave sooner than I wanted, though, because I have been hospitalized several times due to stress-related physical problems. And the thing is, I PREFERRED BEING HOSPITALIZED THAN GOING TO WORK!

My daughter in law is a tele-teacher. She left her first job in a city school because of the crime in the school and outside. She teaches Spanish on the monitors in different schools. She loves it.

Thank You for stating so clearly at the beginning of your video that this is YOUR experience. Having said that and only 8 minutes into your video, I realize you are speaking my truth and I have clarity hearing it from you. I am much older than you and still teaching( 5 years) at this moment; but not for long. I have struggled to be as honest and clear about how I felt about the systematic shenanigans necessary to be a teacher in our educational teaching system. After using other's experiences,especially younger posters I am glad they were quicker to see the problems that many others just accepted and struggled through.

How wonderful that you had a mentor teacher. Not every new teacher gets one. Most are on their own when they first start.

I’ve been teaching 29 years and everything has changed so much. It’s always been stressful and filled with expectations that are unrealistic. I’ve had two classes that scored top in the nation for the Iowa Assessments. The challenges are overwhelming and quite different these days. Financially, it’s not rewarding. It’s emotionally and mentally draining on a daily basis. Since technology has taken over our young minds, their attention span has lessened and the fascinating lessons from the past are totally blasé. Anyway, in today’s crazy world I would do the same thing and choose another profession that would be rewarding and enjoyable on a daily basis. Stay blessed and good luck!

I understand everything you are saying. I just got high blood pressure from all the stress. Not sure how much longer I will be teaching

I agree, teaching is a large boat to stir especially when you have ADHD. It’s hard to reign everything in all at the same time and to create balance let alone maintain it. I agree, teaching feel like your life is being drained out of you because for the first five years you’re trying to get a foothold but everything is shot at your in rapid-fire mode. Even if you don’t have ADHD, teaching is a beast that is hard to tame. Yes, it’s so hard to have a balance between work and home. The pressure on teachers is intense and the work load is unrealistic especially if you have your own children or are a single-parent.

I’m also a former teacher and I do want to scare you if you’re considering being a teacher. Don’t. The profession you think you are entering doesn’t exist. There’s no fixing it at this point without scrapping the existing system completely and starting over, but if you keep up with what Texas and Florida and Arizona are doing you’ll see they are stressing the worst while killing what little good is hiding in it by allowing angry parents to personally sue teachers for teaching facts that go against the parents religion or politics. Not for expressing opinions but literally for teaching facts. Do not enter this field. It’ll economically, physical, emotionally, and spiritually break you if you care about the kids as people instead of as a means to getting the equivalent of a minimum wage paycheck.

Haha! I’m so sorry you had to go through that! Trust me, I feel your pain and frustration! I finally “retired” after 20 years as a special education teacher in 2020 to help my daughter and son-in-law when he was diagnosed with cancer while already on dialysis. I jumped from one school and state to another for the most part, but taught in Philly at the high school level for 3 years and had finally found my “groove” in Hawaii teaching middle school. I still tutor part-time online now to supplement my Social Security. But honestly Covid made things SO much worse as a teacher than they already were! I put up with a lot of crap to stay in teaching (my brother had Down’s syndrome which is what drew me to special Ed.) But I couldn’t handle all the information overload of being expected to do everything that is expected of a teacher on top of learning to teach online overnight, then “hybrid” which for special ed meant in person when things were even scarier. I love teaching but I didn’t want to die! I’m so happy you got out early! Lol!

I got hired mid year and ended the year (about 4.5 months in all.) 12 hrs at work each day. I did not renew the following year.

Smart decision. It does NOT get better if you stay. Best to get out while you are young and can easily enter another field. Very hard to get hired after 50.

Love your video, my husband and I decided to quit teaching in the U.S. and live abroad... more time to travel, more money, and our kids are learning so much! ❤️

I've been in education for 15 years I saw the difference years ago Parents work long hours Parents can be arsed to read to kids or help with homework Children miss out on learning communication skills Children attend school, unable to communicate or behave appropriately Children become naughty Pressure put on teachers Naughty kid ruins learning experience for all yet is still allowed in school Just an example why people leave the profession Short reason... Parents.... Parents are at fault, too scared of their own kids, refuse to Parent and would rather be their best friend

I also left after 9 months. No regrets at all

taught for 1 year. It took a huge toll on my mental health. I thought, why should I have to struggle and feel so miserable with the possibility that it MIGHT get better. I struggled with classroom management and not having enough time to lesson plan. Granted, I made it through and the parents thanked me for everything and I did a good job for my first year, but it made me feel so terrible and exhausted all year long. I felt like a failure because I didn't enjoy teaching or feel passionate as much as my college friends who always made posts about themselves as teachers. I quit after my first year and still feel like a failure, but I'm now pursuing another career path that that I always wanted to do as a 2nd choice and it seems like a better fit for me and hoping for the best. It's just so hard seeing people I went to school with seem as though they got the hang of teaching right away and they are able to continue

Teaching is the only job you are expected to perform like you’ve been there for 20 years on day 1.

Haven't had a chance to watch h yet...but I quit after 3 years of teaching. Never regretted the decision

My mentor teacher is completely rude and awful :( it’s made my first year an absolute living hell

Sounds about right! This is why veteran teachers are leaving too. The districts keep saying that there are enough students in college who will take these jobs, but it just isn't true. The veteran teachers need more support, so that they stay. If districts don't do this, we won't have any more teachers!

Omg !!!! I had almost the same experience from our team leader/mentor being a super role follower and me like you !! I’m currently pregnant and will NOT be returning after maternity leave.

I was told by a teacher I know, that it's super stressful. Said she has to do everything short of standing on her head to get their attention.

Sounds like a new micro-manager Principal! Pathetic how they make teachers feel most never having spent time in the classroom themselves.

MESSAGE TO EVERY FORMER TEACHER - what career do you have now? After years of teaching, I feel stuck because there's too much teaching experience on my resume - how did you guys manage to turn around?

When I graduated from high school I had zero desire to teach. I came to it while going through my divorce as a 36 year old with two school age children. I don’t know how young people go right into teaching with no experience but student teaching. I subbed for two and a half years then did music and art specialties for about five years before I got licensed this December same as you and even with all that experience it’s tough! I thought I’d be teaching teenagers but ended up doing elementary music. I often get left out of the loop about what’s going on with some of the kids and I have to learn the names of every kid in the school but compared to the main home room teachers, my job is cake. I’ve also had friends who got the full time jobs I thought I was going to do and left teaching because of all the extra meetings and “busy” work they had to do. I never would’ve stuck with teaching if I would’ve started at your age so I can’t blame you at all.

I quit after my first year now I’m back. I still feel the same but I need insurance and I don’t want to work in the summer 😩

Even in the best of circumstances, teaching is tough and challenging jobs. It’s a lot for one person. I almost quit after the first two years of teaching.

My son is a senior at a low-performing school in GA. - they get a 3 out of 10 rating from Great Schools. But they have AMAZING teachers who really care and try hard. For whatever reason, this low performing school seems to get top-level teaching talent. Unfortunately for them - they are fighting an uphill battle. **70% of the students are Spanish and many of their parents don't really speak English. **There are some gangs and guns and drugs - which may be typical in many schools these days. **And unfortunately, most of the kids simply do NOT care about the classes or getting good grades. **Most of my son's friends seem like good kids but it appears no one at home is really guiding them to do well in school - or care about it. So the teachers are really NOT going to be able to force many of them to become good students. **The teachers are forced into giving passing grades and extra credit for literally walking in the door. Kids are able to do retests when they do poorly - and 2nd time around they already have the answers - basically the teachers do whatever they can to have the kids pass so the school's official "testing scores" are totally bogus and fake. If things were done legit - more than half would not graduate so the teachers have to do what they have to do - or are told to do... **Good Luck to you! Making money online IS the way to go! Internet Marketing is the #1 skillset to achieve an awesome career, IMO. 👍

I’m so drained I feel like a huge failure . I have kids destroy my room hit others refuse to transition . There’s been two shootings in my schools neighborhood and I’m afraid that if this happens while I have kids refusing to move me or other kids can get hurt. The kids don’t listen and constantly interrupt me. I stay after two hours after my time wake up at 4 am to do things for them and nothing. I want to cry and just quit but I don’t want to lose my certification but I’m just at my breaking point and is just September. 😢

As a special education teacher aka *education specialist, the dual role of case manager and special education teacher is insurmountable. *They upgraded the title of education specialist at a weak pretense to make special education teachers FEEL better about their marginalized position.

Are you ever thinking of coming back? I’m in my first year and I don’t think I want to renew my contract for next year. I am physically and emotionally drained everyday and I realized that unfortunately it’s not what I thought it was. My only fear right now is that if and/or when I want to come back my certification won’t be valid. Do you know anything about that?

The way this sounds EXACTLY like my first year experience right now!

Good video. I'm getting into teaching after 31 years in the military. We'll see what happens.

Ohhh where I as I used totally agree about the windows, I’m thinking now with the constant gun violence in school it may be safer. I’m so with you, I’m a 7th grade L/A teacher and the other teacher that was here left & them these kids are so bad, they ran through two replacements and sub after sub. Currently they moved me down to the old computer lab and the entire grade is on my plate 💀. Smallest group is 56 and largest is almost 70, entering grades into the last assigned teachers grade portal because they cannot fill this position and it’s such a violation. Needless to say, I’m counting down until June 😩

Your experience is very typical. Most young teachers leave within 3-5 years.

Proud of you for quitting. I think the best reason to quit is when it’s not right for you. Thank you for sharing this. I completely feel you on the “I don’t like to work when I’m not getting paid. ” I was in the military and I got out last year but i always hated that no matter if i worked 40 or 60 hours or worked weekends I would get the exact same pay.

Everything she says about the job is true, but it sounds like with her ADHD, teaching was not a good fit for her even in a good school. It's challenging even for teachers who are pros at organization.

Loved this video Sara keep up the great work ❤️❤️❤️

I started in September and will most likely be quitting before Winter Break. I don’t find anything about this job appealing or redeeming … not even spending time with the kids. I never imagined I’d be in this position so miserable after years of trying to become a teacher. And in less than 2 months i hate it.

I get it. Thanks for sharing.

Yes. I'm a substitute teacher and I just accept that it's the lowest paid babysitting job you'll ever have. There should be max 10 kids in K-2nd because it's just not safe. Often the playgrounds have openings near busy streets and I have heard stories of kids escaping class and ending up across busy highways. And a highschool student escaped and got arrested during class time. Another got killed in a car accident while supposedly in class. The teacher has to spend the whole day counting 24-50 heads every 5 minutes to be sure none escape. And you can get that same pay for just watching 3 kids as a nanny. I only substitute because someone in our society has to watch the kids of the general population while the parents work. I consider my job volunteer work. Very difficult and important volunteer work to make sure kids survive the day while their parents work. No kids will escape when I'm there. It just sucks having to feel like a prison guard. And yes no windows in those tiny dungeon rooms. And I am 50 yrs old. I think young teachers are not ready for the huge responsibility of watching 24-50 kids at once. It's too stressful and no one should have to do it honestly. They need to reduce class sizes, cut them all in half.

I'm in my 27th year. I agree with everything you said!

Dear Lass, you did great, it's not about the kids anymore , the shite that comes with it, and the changes that have been made, schools curriculum teach 0 practical skills , if you talk to kids in class about it, they all love it , but then the curriculum has to be taught, and the system sucks. If you want to teach do it part time as a private tutor , better to get out as soon as possible, the pay is shite, just move on from it.

You should not have to buy supplies for your classroom. Ridiculous.

That is called a split class, and it never works.

You are getting a salary not paid by the hour as people would sit on the clock.

Your experience is what I want to hear.

Yes, teaching will suck up your personal life. It’s not for everyone. But should it be for anyone? Why does the education system think that it is okay to suck the life out of you, and put the blame on the teacher? I loved teaching, loved the kids, loved my colleagues, but every year more and more is added to the teacher’s plate…more data expected, more assessing, more reporting, more best practices (that constantly change). Not only are the teachers stressed and burned out, the kids are, also.

My first question was … what state. Im so sorry. but having been through that public system in that state is indeed the bottom of the barrel (not the teachers…the environment and parents are DAF)

Very true !

Any suggestions for other careers cause teaching is not it!

They should have real teachers promoted to top so they are more understanding. Principles don’t have to have any teaching experience.

what were your top 5 student behavior problems?

Me too! Quit after 1 year!

Did you teach in Brevard?