New teacher going crazy

Parent Cafe
21

<p>all these observations may be correct, but plenty of schools have lousy admins who are making their teachers’ lives miserable, so I’m going to believe everything OP says.</p>

<p>Have the disruptive students, one each day, sit next to the teachers’ desk. Give them as little attention as possible. Remember that a teacher only has so much influence and she shouldn’t be imagining she’s Hilary Swank. </p>

<p>Communicate all strategies to parents and to the principal— and yes, it won’t help a bit, but it documents help, or lack thereof. Parent communication is always in terms of “Harry is having some difficulty being successful, so I am going to try XYZ. If you have other suggestions, let me know”</p>

<p>keep them busy. assert yourself by asking, not telling; positive directions not negative (tell them what to do, not what to NOT do). </p>

<p>Hitting is unacceptable, and tends to escalate. If the school has a policy against it, know what it is, and invoke it. If the principal is irritated by an office full of miscreants, they might be more helpful. Or not. </p>

<p>do not quit. Better to be fired with a paper trail of emails documenting the lack of help. But don’t quit. Go suck up to the mentor, again, if only to show deference and create a trail.</p>

<p>and perhaps is OP’s friend a TFA “teacher”? because this has all the hallmarks of the program.</p>

22

<p>Something is missing in the story. Classrooms have assistants because the STUDENTS need them. It doesn’t matter if the teacher is a first year teacher or a 35th year teacher. </p>

<p>Your sister needs to talk to her mentor…that is what they are for. I would also suggest she document the concerns she is having and discuss with the appropriate behavioral person in her school. Every school is required to have some kind of child study team that reviews issues noted with students. These teams determine what types of supportive regular education or RTI services are necessary for student progress. </p>

<p>If behavioral issues are I packing learning, tell your sister to speak to the school psychologist or social worker. Perhaps these kids need or have behavioral plans that need to be amended.</p>

23

<p>

</p>

<p>Yup!!! We are discouraged from sending students to the office. Why? I’m not sure but my guess is that administrators are as overwhelmed with NCLB, new state mandates and state testing as the rest of us. They have no time to actually run the building and deal with those pesky students.<br>
I was told that I should send disruptive students next door to another teacher and she should do the same. WHAT? WHY? What did the teacher next door do to deserve that? i should disrupt her class because the administrators don’t want to deal?</p>

<p>All of this is symptomatic of the direction that education is taking. More and more mandates, higher and higher expectations of teachers and students, no help to actually make any progress (progress that is defined in a way that bears scrutiny) and a more punitive approach to teachers who struggle. We have forgotten that kids and teachers are actual human beings.<br>
Personally I have never seen such low moral and feelings of helplessness in the profession. It will be decades before it becomes evident the damage that is being done. Time for parents to wake up and see what is happening. The teachers can only do and say so much without fear of reprisal.
And yes, TFA is another example of the problem, IMO.</p>

24

<p>

</p>

<p>This makes no sense at all.</p>

25

<p>^^^I would like that “like” button EPTR!!</p>

<p>As for this : " sister needs to talk to her mentor…that is what they are for. I would also suggest she document the concerns she is having and discuss with the appropriate behavioral person in her school. Every school is required to have some kind of child study team that reviews issues noted with students. These teams determine what types of supportive regular education or RTI services are necessary for student progress."</p>

<p>This is simply not true in many US schools, particularly elementary. If there is a support team, it covers multiple schools and hundreds of students, and the day someone melts down is rarely the day professional help is on site. RTI services require baseline testing, parent permission, and oversight. Mentors are often an admin tool to stay away from trouble , pacify staff, or simply are other overworked teachers who can’t hand hold every day. </p>

<p>The punitive attacks on the teaching profession, the lack of respect they garner while being undermined by legislators who haven’t visited a school in decades and parents who find parenting just too time-consuming…no wonder teachers cry.</p>

26

<p>My condolences to the OP. I quit teaching after 18 years in an extremely challenging school for all the reasons above - plus the total removal of any ability to determine what, when, or how I taught the curriculum. When you lose the chance to be a professional, when administration is only interested in the testing numbers and their own jobs, when you realize that you can no longer do what you know is in the best interests of the kids you teach, when you realize that you are just a pawn in the testing machine… In spite of the pretty words that come out of administration and the new programs churned out at great expense every year (social emotional learning! Dual Language! The Daily 5! WOW time! yada yada yada) there are few real changes and all focus is on testing. At my school, NONE of the kids over 9 had any recess time until in April after the tests were done. This is despite what was on the lesson plans and required by state regulations.<br>
If I had young children today, I would homeschool them and live on beans and rice…</p>

<p>And in regards to why administration would not want you to send misbehaving children to the office… that may have to do with reporting rules. If they have to be referred/ suspended/ disciplined it becomes part of the school and school districts statistics. Schools don’t want to look bad! </p>

<p>It reminds me of when our school district told us (verbally) that we could no longer refer a certain subgroup of students for special education testing, since they were overrepresented in our special education population, and also told us that we needed to reduce the overall number of special ed (especially ED) students. All because our urban district with numerous students in chaotic homes and extreme poverty had a greater number of special ed students than the state thought we should have. The district created major slow-downs in the process so that it would take over a year to get testing and IEP and accommodations for all but the most extremely needy students. I remember one little boy in my friends Kinder class who would take off his clothes in the bathroom and smear feces on the wall and was very delayed cognitively- practically nonverbal, functioned at a 2-year-old level. It took over 6 months to get him any help…</p>

27

<p>Yes, Anxiousmom, you nailed it and I am getting the feeing that many other good teachers will be following you into the private sector. Not, as many will believe, because they are reluctant to be evaluated or held accountable but rather because they have lost faith that the idealism they felt when they entered the profession will ever be supported or encouraged again. Teachers are mourning the lost education of our children.</p>

<p>At one point, my very talented and caring D was interested in a career teaching art. I encouraged her as I could not imagine a better person to have in the classroom helping teens to reach their creative potential. Now I discourage her. It is very sad.</p>

28

<p>I know my post won’t be much help to the OP. My daughter is a first-year teacher; she did not graduate as an education major and did not student teach. She would be the first to say that time in a classroom through coursework and student teaching would have been invaluable. That said, she got lucky where she landed and I want at least mention the flip side of the coin for those who are considering education.</p>

<p>Tears of frustration - a night or two but no new job comes without those moments.</p>

<p>16 children in her classroom</p>

<p>An aide for the team - she gets her one morning and one afternoon and, if needed for the unexpected (i.e., sick child)</p>

<p>A reading specialist works with two or three of her below level students daily for 30 minutes.</p>

<p>Her mentor teaches next to her and knows my daughter’s students as well as her own. They meet each Friday morning to talk over whatever needs talking.</p>

<p>The school staff met the two young first-year teachers and must have been told to help in any way they could. Materials appeared that other teachers no longer needed. My daughter got posters, pocket charts, books, etc. She had some difficulty with electronic equipment in her room. She sent an SOS to the librarian and no fewer than three people (not just the librarian) arrived to work with various wires, etc. One of them told her that she just needed to ask and help would come. </p>

<p>She works on a team with seven other teachers. They plan together and then modify for their individual classroom - plans are written out with materials needed. Daughter plans one subject with partner for the group.</p>

<p>I know that she had one young student who decided that behavior was not to be part of his day. She tried various techniques but nothing worked. Her mentor suggested that one of the school aides - a big guy - become a mentor for this little boy. The aide checks on the boy’s behavior at the end of the day, has an occasional lunch with the boy … mentors him. The turn-around has been amazing.</p>

<p>Daughter teaches in one of the largest school districts in the U.S. She loves her principal and her team of teachers. She loves her kids. Both kids and parents seem to love her. Yes, she is quite aware she got lucky her first year. Do know, though, that it can happen.</p>

29

<p>

</p>

<p>Unfortunately, this state of affairs can be commonplace in many challenged school districts/areas due to impact of poverty on a given student’s(s’) family, lack of support for teachers from higher admins, etc. </p>

<p>These issues were a major reason why many parents in my old neighborhood did what they could to scrimp to send their kids to Catholic elementary schools even if they weren’t Catholics and attempted their best to avoid sending their kids to our local zoned public high school. </p>

<p>The neighborhood public schools were violently chaotic and public school admins weren’t willing to back their teachers up when implementing classroom management and disciplinary measures. </p>

<p>Local parents who wanted a conducive safe learning environment for their kids noticed this and ended up enrolling their kids in the local Catholic schools. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>From what I later heard from one former Junior high teacher who disagreed with the general admin policy regarding the treatment of the bullies, the Junior high admins had the same “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” mentality so it seems this isn’t a recent phenomenon.</p>

30

<p>This won’t help OP but I substitute teach sometimes. I won’t sub for kids in middle school.:wink: If I had a child who was thinking about being a teacher… I would recommend they either shadow a teacher, sign up to be a substitute teacher or get a part time job in some sort of after school program. The idea of being a teacher may sound good but it’s not for everyone. I know I couldn’t do it everyday.</p>

31

<p>As requested I sent you some links by Private Message. If you did not receive them, indicate here on thread.</p>

<p>And here’s a scholarly article with good grasp on adjusting classroom-wide routines around challenging kids. It might be a starting point to discuss with the mentor. If your sister reads it, she can zoom in on a few points that jump out at her. Perhaps email the link to her mentor before they meet. Then she could ask mentor to flesh out a point in the article by giving some “nuts and bolts” practical advice on routines in this particular classroom. Your sister will sound professional as she seeks the help. The mentor won’t have time to read it, but it’s a talking point. It might give your sister some courage and perspective.
<a href=“http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=gse_fac&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dratio%2520teacher%2520behavior%2520management%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D3%26ved%3D0CDoQFjAC%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fdigitalcommons.calpoly.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1032%2526context%253Dgse_fac%26ei%3DFNG1UsXSK9SMkAf-7IGgBA%26usg%3DAFQjCNHMly8VIMBZmnQ2vyrpvL3hCN0CSw#search=“ratio%20teacher%20behavior%20management”[/url]”>http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1032&context=gse_fac&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dratio%2520teacher%2520behavior%2520management%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D3%26ved%3D0CDoQFjAC%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fdigitalcommons.calpoly.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1032%2526context%253Dgse_fac%26ei%3DFNG1UsXSK9SMkAf-7IGgBA%26usg%3DAFQjCNHMly8VIMBZmnQ2vyrpvL3hCN0CSw#search=“ratio%20teacher%20behavior%20management”&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I can understand the sister saying she gets no aide help bevcause she is new. One of the problems in resource-stretched schools is that the veteran teachers have learned to collaborate and ask for whatever perks are available, such as aide time. The school might be using all available aides at the K-2 grades, and she is Grade 3. Anything’s possible there.</p>

<p>IME, the vets asked and got the best planning period all together. There, they worked on group-taught lessons and developed their oown team responses to discipline including switching students for an hour – instead of timeout – as a strategy. Someday she may develop those relationships, but in the meantime, it’s something to ask the mentor to help her find a neighbor teacher. It doesn’t solve, it just gives a short break for all, including the teacher and all the other students in the room. </p>

<p>IME, students did not misbehave in the next room, because they are off-center. Send them with deskwork. They’ll also benefit by seeing a different, more experienced classroom which has a calming effect. They’ll know they were demoted; it’s no privilege to be sent to another room to sit at a desk (not join in) and do seatwork there until the other teacher decides the student is “ready to go back” to his home room.</p>

<p>That’s just one example of how your sister can begin to reach out and not feel so isolated. The art is to reach beyond the walls of her own room and look for ways to collaborate, here and there, through each day. Especially with such a bad student:teacher ratio. Perhaps there’s another young-ish teacher who is just a bit more experienced, who would engage in some collaborations right now because she has same problems. Ask the mentor whom to ask, since she’ll know the faculty and who is trustworthy for your sister at this moment.</p>

<p>When I was struggling this way, I finally told my principal because we had no mentors. Principal believed in shadowing, so gave me a substitute for one day so I could go observe other, much better teachers in that school from beginning to end of a day. It was valuable and not the same as what I watched as a student teacher. Day well spent! I revised some routines immediately, changed my voice tone something more assertive, saw how the veterans applied - or ignored - some of the new suggestions explored in Professional Development (ignored if they didn’t fit), and much more. Seeing people in her own building teach a regular day might be helpful. The mentor could ask the principal to arrange it, so it goes up the ladder that way.</p>

32

<p>*Unfortunately, this state of affairs can be commonplace in many challenged school districts/areas due to impact of poverty on a given student’s(s’) family, lack of support for teachers from higher admins, etc. *</p>

<p>Class size isn’t much smaller in Seattle, even though the Puget Sound area is one of the most educated & wealthy in the country.
Our class size, state wide is ranked 47 out of 50.
We’ve passed special initiatives to lower class size, but principals were given carte blanche to divert funds elsewhere.
The class size for self contained SPED is also large.</p>

<p>Class size is one reason why I stopped working & going to school, so I could volunteer in my children’s schools almost everyday (& I stayed all day- there were always 300 things to do).</p>

33

<p>Yes, ratio is crucial; there’s lots of professional research on that variable.</p>

<p>This is Education history, not politics, but my very best years as a teacher came right after Bill Clinton’s administration sent a grant during the summer to Title I schools, with the explicit stipulation that it ONLY be spent to address ratio. That way, it couldn’t be diverted as in EK’s district. </p>

<p>The formula funded schools to hire until they had capped ratios at 20 for K-1, and IIRC 30 for Grades 2-5. In my building, which was only K-2 rooms, they hired 2 new head teachers in my grade level (1) and in K. The principal created four more classrooms to relieve the numbers for all the rest of us. That September, my class ratio changed from 28:1 to 20:1 unexpectedly. Suddenly I had time to make the parent phone call or chase down a social worker in the hallway. It was an amazing difference. I could actually help children.</p>

<p>That year, I heard Hillary speak in a large ballroom, shaking hands quickly down the line on her way to a more important luncheon. As we shook hands I said, “Thank Bill for the ratio!” She knew exactly what I meant. She stopped her momentum to ask me about the impact of that funding. </p>

<p>A few years later, the district hired a new VP for our building to concentrate on discipline. My take on it was they would better spend the money proactively on more teacher aide hours (at $8.50/hour, no benefits). Their contribution improved ratio throughout the school, for more of each day, with behavior impacts. </p>

<p>To OP’s sister, the takeaway here is: ratio matters. Her ratio is rather high right now, and she has challenging students. Finding group management protocols classwide is essential, so she repair the broken discipline of some individual students. Have courage; reach out! Get help!</p>

34

<p>One of the most effective things I did as a new teacher is a very challenging high school (80% AFDC kids) with kids who had all flunked science the year before was this:</p>

<p>I called parents to tell them what I liked about their kids. Not to complain, but to say “John did a really nice job on ___” or “Mary worked very hard yesterday on a challenging math problem”. Most parents of difficult kids have never heard anything nice about their kids from a teacher, and the parents were thrilled to get the call—and the kids immediately tried to live up to the praise I had given them.</p>

<p>So I would suggest to OP’s sister: take the most challenging kid, call his mom or dad or whomever, and say something NICE. It should be very specific, and it should relate to that day. I don’t care if it’s something like “he helped the kid next to him solve an arithmetic problem.” Just call. Say something, then listen. The next day, call a different kid’s parent. Keep doing it. </p>

<p>Another thing is that, if the kids’ parents have businesses in that community, try to patronize those businesses. I got results with one kid when I completely accidentally stopped at his family’s restaurant for a quick takeout dinner on the way home. I didn’t know it was his family’s–but he saw me there and asked me the next day how I liked the food. Of course I loved it. And suddenly the kid listened to me.</p>

<p>In short, pretend the students are part of the community of a tiny town and approach them as part of that community.</p>

35

<p>

This doesn’t surprise me at all. Just about every job has a probation period of some sort. If the administration didn’t think the new teacher was up to the job, or even if they thought she may be a pot-stirrer in the making and didn’t want to be bothered, they were probably within the letter of the law to let her go.</p>

36

<p>If the other teacher was fired mid-year, she likely did something very specific and egregious that your sister doesn’t know about. If that other teacher was weak teacher in her first year, and vented a lot to her mentor without trying out new suggestions, she might be denied contract renewal for the following year but not fired midyear.</p>

<p>I can see why the other teacher’s sudden termination might inhibit your sister, but she needs to get over it – for her sake and the students’.</p>

37

<p>OP, teaching is a very stressful job and definitely not for the faint of heart. Inner city schools just magnify the issues. I know the first year of teaching is always the worst. The teacher has to live with every mistake for the entire year. As the years go by, classroom management mistakes will be fewer and the students then become a little easier to manage.</p>

<p>The fact that she feels unable to get more help from the mentor is inexcusable. Not only does this year affect her, but also the 31 children she is responsible for. She might consider seeking employment in a more supportive district.</p>

<p>I’m worried about the crying. Although I think this can happen on very stressful days, it shouldn’t be the norm. Something needs to change. If she feels this bad, her classroom must also feel, " bad." Students can pick up on these subtleties and it just snowballs.</p>

38

<p>I know this hasn’t been said but is it possible that your sister may not be cut out to be a teacher? She may not possess the skills or have the personality you need to take charge of a classroom and motivate students to learn the subject matter. I only bring this up because so far everybody on the thread is assuming it is a problem that can be remedied with practice or other learning techniques. Not everyone is suited to be a teacher.</p>

39

<p>VERY few people are suited to teach 31 kids. Even fewer, 31 low-income uber-needy kids. I would hazard that even the most experienced teachers, me included.</p>

40

<p>I wanted to add that if she has not already joined her union, she should do so ASAP. The union is particularly important where admin is less than supportive. Another idea is to ask admin or other teachers who they see as being exceptionally good at classroom management and then ask that teacher if you can observe in his/her classroom, perhaps during your sister’s lunch break or planning time.</p>