Stressed out teachers unite!

[paigevz]

16 IEP's due Tuesday....Nuff said

Yep. I think you win!

 

[Pinnie]

Yep. I think you win!

Yep, Lanshark definately wins. I have only 8!

pinnie

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Yes, yes, yes! The last progress report grades had to be in on Friday last. I still have some make-up math to grade and try to throw it in early tomorrow (they run the report about 8:30). Final grades are due Friday for me. My favorite comment from kids who have not done the work almost all year: "What can I do to bring up my grades?"

Meanwhile, the 1st grade teachers are making their lists, and I keep hearing my name in connection with the most difficult children (they say it's because I get more from them..........well, why should I be punished every year for doing my job right?). My partner and I feel the same way. We have all the ones who can't get along elsewhere.

We have just been told that ALL teachers will box up their rooms this year because we WILL be moved over summer. That means there's no chance I'll get off early on Friday, the 26th, to try to get ready to fly out the 27th. Same at my school, except the reason is that they are enclosing the classrooms. I don't have to pack, though, since I am in the new addition.

Meanwhile, my kids are choosing this time to go completely haywire. My behavior problems are more problematic, those who weren't before are acting up now, the kids are stressed and coming in crying in the mornings, because it's also moving season for our area........bills and CPS calls have piled up and they are escaping now before they get sanctioned..............also, those who were doing okay, are churning out Fs, those who were doing well are churning out Cs, and the kid I have already sorted out to retain has suddenly started churning out As!Wow, this sounds completely familiar. My favorite confernce line of the year, "Yeah, but he's GT. How can he do this?" What is "He's a child?"

The parents are also panicking over their kids' recent behavior uproars and grade downslides, and little stuff that happens at this time of year...I think panic is an understatement.

 

[KarenB]

I am less stressed now than I was just before state testing, but I do have a last observation by administration. Ugh! Although I have a great class, I am trying to keep the day as structured as possible now through the end of the year. It seems as though they have trouble handling a long length of unstructured time lately since the end is near. I will miss this group! ( I think I say that every year!)

I tend to find myself thinking about our upcoming WDW trip more than I should!!

Karen

 

[Sonya]

3 more weeks for me!

I planned this year to be done early in case I had to take a lot of sick time for DS, but I didn't have to take so much, so we are ahead! That is good b/c I have already shut down, just like the kids. We are doing a lot of projects and fun stuff now. They love me.

But I am dept. chair and we are getting a new teacher in our dept., as well as al the fun stuff I need to end the year, and there are the seniors to get graduated. I love this time of year but will be glad to see the last one leave!

 

[Sandy51]

7th grade English here:

We have four more weeks; state testing next week, and then finals week. Gonna be busy. I wish it was over. This has been a hard year.


Sandy

 

[Daxx]

The most stressful thing I'm worrying about is Kindergarten Graduation. My students are very squirrely though, they just don't want to buckle down and take school seriously. They want to talk play ALL the time. It gets frustrating sometimes, but I love my kindergartners!

I hear you, honey! Kdg. teacher here, too! My students heads are outside, on the playground ... not focused on what needs to be learned!

Kdg. grad is coming up quick and it seems like there's so much left to do in-between. Unfortunately, the group I have this year is a bit behind the 8 ball, so they're not where I'd like them to be. Esp. compared to last year's group, who was farther ahead than this set. I try not to be overly concerned, as the 1st grade teacher will start them from where we left off ... but I feel as if I haven't done my job. However, I try to remind myself that it's not my fault and not theirs ... it's just that each group is different and I shouldn't compare!

This year has been more stressful than any in the past. I've had to work w/a lot of students more 1-on-1 than I have ever had to. I have several special needs students that should be in a 6:1:1 setting (6 students, 1 teacher, 1 teacher's aide) PLUS their own, personal teacher's aide ... but the school doesn't supply this (as it's a parochial school) and the public schools aren't supplying it, either. It's been a challenge, to say the least. It's my opinion that these kids really need to be in a different classroom setting, but the parents don't want their children "tagged" as special needs.

Warmly,

Daxx's Wife

 

[pigletz]

The end of the year has been much more stressfull this time around. We have a new principal this year and she is evil. Last year two of us worked at a concession stand at Jacob's Field all summer so that we could take our kids on a one day trip to Washington DC. The church that runs the stand advanced us the money so the school didn't have to pay for anything except subs and the kids only had to bring money for food. We work in a very low income district and the kids couldn't have afforded it otherwise. We planned the trip at the last minute and it was approved without any problems. Anyways, we had so much fun that we decided to work extra games and recruit other teachers to work with us this summer so that we could take an overnight trip this year. We turned all of the required forms and info in in Jan. and our prinicpal told us that the superintendent signed it and it was going on the board agenda. It wasn't on the agenda for Feb., March or April so we kept asking and she kept saying everything was fine it would get approved. So last week she comes to us and tells us that we probably wouldn't be going. All of a sudden the superintendent needs all kinds of crazy information. She wanted copies of our paychecks from the games we worked, a spreadsheet of how much each teacher was donating and what it was paying for (I didn't know I needed board approval for money I gave to the school), and a full written page of why we were going (this was in the info we gave her plus why would we need to explain taking 8th graders to the capital?) among other things. We ended up meeting with the superintendent only to find out that all she needed was an explaination of how we got the money so that she could explain it to the board and they could write a special resolution commending us for going this far out of our way for the kids. All week we had been suggesting that we just call the super and explain ourselves and our principal kept saying no that she would get in trouble if we did. We didn't want to step on her toes so we didn't call. Turns out our principal was lying to us the entire time and was actively working to get the trip cancelled behind our backs. Good news, the trip was approved at last nights board meeting.
Sorry that went on for awhile. The only other thing I have to vent about is parents who wait until now to come to school and demand an immediate meeting with me to find out why their child is failing. At this point they have had 3 progress reports, 3 report cards, 2 parent teacher conferences, 2 official "Your child is in danger of failing" letters from the school, I've made tons of phone calls throughout the year and I've sent countless letters home. If you didn't know your child was failing by now, there's nothing I can do. My favorite though was a parent who waited until the day before promotion to come in and argue with the principal a couple of years ago.

 

[Madaboutthemouse]

7th and 8th grade Math teacher checking in. Although, you all probably aren't going to like what I'm going to say...I have 3.5 hours left with my students! Early dismissal at 11:30, then teacher work afternoon and a whole workday on Thursday! Hooray for summer! We had huge issues with our computer gradebook incorrectly printing report cards, so we've spent today whiting-out and re-writing scores. Oh well, almost over! Keep fighting the good fight everyone! Good Luck with the end of your semesters!

 

[nataliz]

I'm a 2nd grade teacher and stessed also!

We have 10 school days left, 4 of which will be taken up by 2 field trips, field day/talent show and awards show on the last day.

Before the end of school I need to be finished with all my DRAs, give an end of year math assessment required in our building and report the results to the principal, give an end of year writing assessment and save the paragraphs until next year, pack up my classroom, and get report cards/grades filled out.

I love my job, but there is always so much to do at the end of the year and never seems to be enough time. Everyone in the building is stressed out trying to get everything done.

My students just realized today how few days we have left. They are just as ready for summer vacation as the teachers are. All the changes to our regular schedule have made them a little loopy.

 

[disneyaggie]

I have always had such a high level of respect for teachers everywhere. You are put under incredible circumstances. You are expected to be a parent to a bunch of kids whose parents are "too busy", but yet, you fuss at little Johnny once and it hits the fan. You have budgets that are constantly cut, but the government (over decades) conveniently finds billions of dollars to send aid overseas and buy a $29 screw for a chair. You are underpaid (no matter how much you make) and underappreciated. I applaud each and every one of you! God bless you all. You rock!

(oh, and please don't check my spelling or grammar tonight . . . I am a bit pooped, but the love and hugs are still here for you all!)

 

[AC7179]

8th grade English here.

I am SO DONE with this group....grrr.

Positively, I had 95% pass the TAKS (state assessment) test with over 50% of those kids getting commended performances! That's superb!

On the bad news........my kids have been so rude and disrespectful. I have not enjoyed them very much at all this year. I hate to say it, but it is true. They will argue with everything and have no respect. They don't understand why I say they are being appropriate when they come in and look at my overhead and ask if that is what we are doing. When I tell them yes, they say "Ugh, that is so STUPID."

Hello? Who says that to the teacher? Then when I sent them outside they have NO IDEA why.

 

[chop456]

Add me to the list! 23 more days, but who is counting! I teach first grade and these next weeks are the push to get them ready for 2nd grade! We'll be working until the very end (with a few fun days thrown in there!)

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Me too! We have 13 days left and in those we have The Musical, Conformation, May Crowning, the 8th grade Memory Books to finish and of course, Graduation. AH ...... When am I suppossed to finish the Algebra book? I guess I could ask them to come back to school at midnight?! Oh well it's all about ending their days at school with good memories and I am all for that. I have a sweet group of 8th graders and I wish them well in high school.

 

[merryweather30]

Oh, oh, oh....me too! I teach 2nd and the kids are totally out of control. We have DRA's due, final testing, report cards, Probes, interventions, spring play, field day, room clean-out, etc. This ends a year of the revolving door classroom. I taught 30 students this year, but only 24 at the same time. After Katrina many kids moved into our district while their school was being repaired and then they returned. We also lost several families in our area as people lost their jobs in the city and were forced to move away. Oh and then the migrant workers and their children arrived. I promise their are two names in my grade book that I only have a faded memory of. They came and went in a matter of days. Others were not even entered into my grade book. Oh can May 26th hurry....then June 3 (7 days on the magic and I've earned every one of them..)