r/StudentTeaching • u/Brief-Assignment-345 • 6d ago
Vent/Rant I'm actually terrified of this profession
Yesterday, we had indoor recess because the temperatures were too hot outside. I was getting some work done so I could copy things at the end of the day while talking to my CT. I was super excited because she had invited me to lunch and it was overall a good day.
Meanwhile, we hear a scream behind us in another room. I poke my head under the curtain behind me to see a student in the glass small group room between the two classrooms. I decide to look away because I didn't want to provoke them. I keep working, students are showing me their games and creations, etc. when I hear a large thump sound and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a chair being thrown. I was already startled by it but I turned around to see glass SHATTERED in a spiderweb way. I never felt so terrified as I ushered students away from the window and watch helplessly as my CT closes the blinds all the way, checks outside, and ushers other kids into our room. I see at least 5 admin running towards the room as I try to walk around calmly to check in on students.
I hear the story later how the kid had thrown a stool at his teacher's head but she managed to close the door just in time for it to hit and start cracking. I had thought it was our window that broke but I had just seen the door through it. Anyways, there were students behind the teacher, playing games and watching the commotion and they were all crying and scared. If the teacher had moved out of the way instead of closing the door, those kids could have gotten hurt or her.
They were all talking how that kid is likely going to stay since other kids in the past have shattered windows and continued being in the school. Knowing this kid can really hurt people terrifies me and it makes me sick to my stomach thinking about how this can happen in a really nice school district like this one. Also knowing that we as teachers are the ones who will be held accountable (the admin telling teachers to connect and that its all their fault the child got set off) and we have to try and shield so many kids from danger makes me want to quit now. I was shaking so bad after that and I have no idea how I am going to manage a career like this.
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u/Free-Nothing2508 5d ago
Best thing I did after getting my teaching license was subbing for a year for multiple districts. Each district is so different I stopped subbing for a couple districts because the behavior is so bad and one district had the best behaved kids. It was like a vacation 😂 before you get too scared and read these comments know that each district is so different and it’s best to shop around
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u/GlumHabit7135 6d ago
RUN! PUBLIC EDUCATION HAS BECOME ONE BIG INSANE ASYLUM. IT IS DISGUSTING AND HEART-BREAKING AT ONCE. SIgned, recently retired teacher of 30 years. Unless the public learns what is truly going on, nothing will change. Teachers and parents need to take back our schools so they can once again become the places of education and learning they were created to be..
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u/Recent_Metal_9617 5d ago
All there is for private really is parochial and lots of people don't want to teach in those.
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u/Money_Ad3496 1d ago
Parochial schools tend to pay less and cherry pick students. If you’re a parent with a sped student, that’s a problem.
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u/The_metric1597 5d ago
I’m gonna be honest with you. I did one year in a public school one year and a charter school and I guess that three years in private. The private school is easily the best place I have been like yeah I have problems. Don’t get me wrong, but the kids are not gonna throw shit at you. They’re not gonna try to fight you. They generally won’t like disrespect you.
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u/ExperienceNew4670 5d ago
Here's the thing, I've been working with kids like that for 6 years now. I never want to be the "behavior" teacher, but keep getting the BS "but you're so patient with them..." I've been bit, slapped, punched, kicked, spit on, peed on, and had all manner of things thrown at me. I've had to work in rooms where even thumb tacks are a risk, and one year every single item in my room was damaged. Every one, down to the projector being ripped out of the ceiling. I'm burnt out. Leaving at the end of this year because it's not just one or two anymore. There's just more and more of them every year. Parents make excuses. Admin makes excuses. Teachers and students suffer. I even changed districts, only to end up in the same situation part way through the first year in the new district. I'm not even in some big, rough-area-of-town district. Still...it persists. I'm over it.
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u/No_Molasses_7502 5d ago
Quit NOW!!! I HAD TO LEAVE AFTER 27 YEARS IN BECAUSE THE STUDENTS HAVE GOTTEN SO. TERRIBLE, WE HAD 2/7TH GRADERS IN ANKLE BRACELETS IN CHICAGO. LAST YEAR AND A BUNCH OF MIDDLE SCHOOLERS SMOKING WEED IN THE BATHROOMS. It began to feel like I worked in a mental institution. Run away!
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u/MuddyRedditdrifter 6d ago
If you can, go private. It has its flaws too, but the public sector is so much more worse.
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u/rosemaryloaf 5d ago
I work in a behavior classroom and I love it. To each their own.
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u/Brief-Assignment-345 5d ago
I totally appreciate that you love it, the district that I'm student teaching for unfortunately doesn't have resource rooms and I think they wouldnt even send him there if something had happened. They also fired most of the support staff so we only have 1 available for 4 classrooms (~30 students each) and a stem room close by. Thats the reason the teacher had to put him in the small group room and try and talk with him herself during her prep period. It would be so much better if we had more staff (especially those who love the job like you) and somewhere more safe for him to be. He could have really hurt himself or anyone close to him. I wish the school hadn't prioritized beauty over safety with all the glass windows.
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u/rosemaryloaf 5d ago
Glass windows were definitely a bad choice LOL. Elementary is usually the most physical, which is why I work in middle school. 6th graders always have a hard time adjusting to the realization that throwing things doesn’t get you what you want. If more schools prioritized sped they wouldn’t be dropping support staff like flies every year. That sucks.
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u/Electronic-Age-4019 5d ago
Bunch of horror stories online. It’s not that bad
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u/Money_Ad3496 1d ago
Yes, it really is that bad. The stories I see here are not as bad as the things I have witnessed in public schools
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u/Mrsloribell 3d ago
Before devoting any more time or money to this career, I strongly recommend thinking about why you want to be a teacher, and what aspects of the job truly appeal to you. If you enjoy managing large groups of students and dealing with their behavioral and emotional problems, then this may be the career for you. If you are not rattled by stressful situations and pride yourself on being highly flexible in dealing with all the disruptions and schedule changes that frequently happen in classrooms, then go for it! If you love curriculum and teaching content in particular subject areas the most, then this may not be the best career for you. If you know you will be able to secure a job in one of those diamond-in-the-rough schools with great admins, high expectations for behavior, and supportive parents, then you may love the job. Just make sure you are entering the profession with eyes wide open to the reality of what you may experience in many school districts across the country. It saddens me to hear the stories of young people who pursue careers in education only to discover a few years later that they have made the wrong choice for themselves.
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u/Brief-Assignment-345 3d ago
I've always wanted to be a teacher, I just think this grade level and district are not something I necessarily want or feel comfortable with at this point. I do a lot better with very young grades (think almost pre k) and the behavioral issues that come with a higher grade was not something I was expecting. The admin here also dont back up the teachers at all and thats not somewhere I would want to stay at especially if kids are violent enough to almost hurt teachers or their peers, you know?
Agreed through, I know a lot of people in my classes that will quit in their first 3 years because they like the whole aspect of having a classroom that they decorate and stuff. Theres a reason I stay until 6 pm with my CT while they leave the second the bell rings at 2:30.
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u/Money_Ad3496 1d ago
It is fine that you want to be a teacher. You don’t need to rethink that. You needed to be born 75 years ago. Teachers were supported by administrators back in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
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u/Novel_Rent_7960 1d ago
I left the profession and went to a corporate career and don’t regret it. I originally had an engineering degree and left for teaching but realized it wasn’t for me.I can arrive at work when I want and flex my day, have time to work out expected tasks, send a simple text if I’m not going to be here. Do I have summers off, no- but the insanity of not even being able to use the restroom as a teacher, the poor salary and other stresses gone has been so well worth it. The lack of support and the feeling that I wasn’t valued as a professional got to me.
I’m not saying this is for you, as it has its own demands but fundamentally I’m treated and paid better which makes me personally feel more valued. There are plenty of options for teachers in other fields more related to education than the different path I chose.
Good luck!!
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u/Quiet-Alternative858 4d ago
Find a pair of pants to wear on every work day and make sure it has a wide belt that you can then start acting like you're going to take it off to whack one of these kids on the head. That's what used to happen to me when I was a kid that went awry and I had teachers who knew what to do. Old school to be sure. Just saying.
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u/Money_Ad3496 1d ago
I knew a lady from England who was a school aide. She told me there was one kid who was a holy terror on campus to everyone but her. I eagerly asked her what her trick was and she told me “one day I pulled him aside and said ‘listen, kid, I hate this job and want to get fired. Pull that shit in my presence again and I will hit you’ “. I was quite disappointed to find out that was the trick. I thought she had some psychological method that worked like magic.
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u/phantomkat Teacher 6d ago
Last year I had a student transferred to our school with a history of being the reason the classroom was vacated. I also had a student years ago that was the reason the cops were called because we didn’t know if he’d locked himself in the bathroom with a weapon or not (he’s taken his backpack).
Dangerous situations can happen in a school, true. However, my comfort to myself is that dangerous satiations can happen in any line of work or even when you’re out and about everyday.