This school year is driving me crazy

[Sonya]

So far we have had:

a fire (boys bathroom, wet paper towels don't light on fire)
a gun in school
one of my kids ripped one of the big water fountains off the wall (he was thirsty)
I have a kid that has been banned since I don't know when from crayons. (breaks them and throws them)
More BD kids than ever
1/4th of my class sitting on stools since I didn't have the desks
And I now hide things rather than having them out since we have a thief.

I know there is more but I am so tired. I get all this at school and then go home to my own kids.

If you find a pot of crazy it is best not to stir it! Unfortunately I have to stir it every day..... it is my job.....

 

[~disneydiva~]

Sounds like you need a and a

 

[Liberty Belle]

I hear ya. We had to send a student home today who was destroying the classroom. Broke a brand new fun resource I just bought (for about $25), a clip board, a big acrylic magnetic container thing (I didn't buy it, but I know it cost a lot), and threw a slew of papers, puzzles, pens, chairs, etc. all over the room. And that was just the major event today. Lots of minor ones that drove us crazy, too.

 

[LUCiD]

Hey, think of it this way- at least you don't have two kids who were sent to juvy, one for threatening someone with a knife, the other for theft, and that girls at the age of 10 are enjoying the fact that they're pregnant.
Anyways, don't worry, the beginning of the year is always the hardest part, I'm sure it'll get better before you know it.

 

[Shutterbug]

and that girls at the age of 10 are enjoying the fact that they're pregnant.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Oh my. I am lucky this year. I have a great group. Last year, though...

 

[MM27]

We had 3rd graders in my school that set the bathroom garbage can on fire. They got scared and ran out of the bathroom but luckily the custodian went in right after them.

We also had boys that tore the sink off the bathroom wall. The district actually made the parents of two boys pay for it because after they tore it off, they dropped it and it shattered. They had just redone the bathrooms that summer.

I haven't had any huge issues this year but I was looking in my cumulative folders the other day and one of my students that came to us from a different school had a suspension letter in his file for telling his classmates that he was going to stab them in their hearts and stand over their bleeding bodies laughing.

 

[Robindianne]

So are you all sped teachers? Me too. Here's a cuppa to you! Such a wonderful, hard, rewarding, depressing, fast-paced, exciting, drudgery filled, perfect job for me

 

[MM27]

I'm not a special ed teacher, although I have 5 special ed students in one of my two classes. Those aren't even the kids I'm talking about. I teach in an urban area though, where problems are many.

 

[Robindianne]

I'm not a special ed teacher, although I have 5 special ed students in one of my two classes. Those aren't even the kids I'm talking about. I teach in an urban area though, where problems are many.

Ah, well, imho, good teachers of inner city / urban students are saints, just like good sped teachers. We are all working to heal broken children, for whatever reason, and give them a brighter future. I'm in an urban district as well. Thank goodness for a terrific principal.

 

[golfgal]

Gee, and it is all the schools' fault because kids can't pass a test....

 

[Liberty Belle]

So are you all sped teachers? Me too. Here's a cuppa to you! Such a wonderful, hard, rewarding, depressing, fast-paced, exciting, drudgery filled, perfect job for me

I'm a para in a Highly-Structured classroom. The sad part is, ours is the transitional classroom. We have two classrooms in our school that have the more severe kids.

 

[minkydog]

You have my support. I'm not a teacher but I'm a school nurse in a very disadvantaged school. Our students come from impoverished families where education is not valued. They are well acquainted with guns, gangs, sex, and all the trappings that poverty provides. The social problems are enormous! And they bring it all to middle school--rape, STDs, pistols, shanks, gang fights, pregnancy. A surprising number of kids have diagnosed mental illness and personality disorders*(anyone surprised?) Although the staff and admins do an admirable job of keeping order, it is not unusual for tempers to boil over. Add gangs to the mix and it's explosive. I've had a kid lose all his front teeth, two kids with dislocated shoulders, various broken legs and knuckles, concussions, lacerations, and even a couple of teachers who were attacked by students and suffered significant injuries.

Is it any wonder that I'm burnt out?

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I feel your pain. I'm a first year teacher and so far I have had:

-A student who likes to throw desks when he is mad
-I now control the flow of all supplies- nothing at all is allowed in desks
-Books torn up
-A variety of items chucked at my head
-Spit in my face and eyes on a daily basis
-Bitten at least once a week- twice so hard that it drew blood
-Hit, kicked, punched.
-Had my hair pulled
-Today I was choked by a student (I don't think he specifically meant to choke me, that just happened to be what he grabbed.)

I fully admit that I often feel like I am in over my head. I'm scared that the rest of the staff wonders why on Earth they hired me, although so far they have all been supportive and my recent observation/review was positive.

 

[kangareaux]

I feel your pain. I'm a first year teacher and so far I have had:

-A student who likes to throw desks when he is mad
-I now control the flow of all supplies- nothing at all is allowed in desks
-Books torn up
-A variety of items chucked at my head
-Spit in my face and eyes on a daily basis
-Bitten at least once a week- twice so hard that it drew blood
-Hit, kicked, punched.
-Had my hair pulled
-Today I was choked by a student (I don't think he specifically meant to choke me, that just happened to be what he grabbed.)

I fully admit that I often feel like I am in over my head. I'm scared that the rest of the staff wonders why on Earth they hired me, although so far they have all been supportive and my recent observation/review was positive.

 

[Sonya]

I'm not SPED, I am a French teacher. I usually get the "good" kids who are on track for college.
I come home at night, exhausted, and then have my family to take care of. I have always loved my job, the kids are so neat. But this year has seriously made me think.
Thanks for the hugs everyone. And to those who have also posted their horror stories,

 

[stm61]

last year we had a principal so bad she was referred to as the dragon. I swear the woman is bi-polar and doesn't know it. They got rid of her and hired another principal, who actually taught special ed at one time, he's made lots of positive changes and the staff is happy. Until Mon. That's when I met with the asst. principal in charge of my evaluations. She informs me that I have low expectations of my students, that I'm to teach the standards and only the standards without "dumbing down" anything. Wants to know why the rest of the 4th and 5th grade teachers are doing multi-digit multiplication and long division and I'm not. Gee, maybe because I've got the EMD room and all but 2 of my kids have IQ's that actually qualify them for TMD services! Seriously, I've got 2 kids that can't tell me that they're looking at the number 4 or recite the alphabet and they're in 4th and 5th grade. The rest of the group is somewhere between identifying numbers and simple addition of 1 and 2 digit numbers, and read between a mid-K and 2nd grade level with minimal comprehension. I don't have low expectations, I challenge them constantly, I have realistic expectations! Now I'm waiting for the special services powers to be to have a meeting next week with the school administration to find out how I'm supposed to pass an evaluation and actually teach what my kids need to learn, plus follow their IEPs. On the plus side, life is never boring in my room. This afternoon I'm talking about blizzards and wondering why on earth the kids are asking me if blizzards are green. They thought I was talking about lizards lol.

 

[MM27]

Gee, and it is all the schools' fault because kids can't pass a test....

Of course it's the schools fault, you wouldn't blame the families would you?

I feel your pain. I'm a first year teacher and so far I have had:

-A student who likes to throw desks when he is mad
-I now control the flow of all supplies- nothing at all is allowed in desks
-Books torn up
-A variety of items chucked at my head
-Spit in my face and eyes on a daily basis
-Bitten at least once a week- twice so hard that it drew blood
-Hit, kicked, punched.
-Had my hair pulled
-Today I was choked by a student (I don't think he specifically meant to choke me, that just happened to be what he grabbed.)

I fully admit that I often feel like I am in over my head. I'm scared that the rest of the staff wonders why on Earth they hired me, although so far they have all been supportive and my recent observation/review was positive.

Hang in there. Don't worry about the rest of the staff, I'm sure they realize how tough your group is and probably not thinking anything bad about you. One of the teachers in my school my first year told me "If you can handle this, you'll know you can handle anything" and it's true.

 

[Mrs.Reese]

Hugs for all those having a rough year. I'm a TMD/TMH/ID (insert applicable acronym) special ed teacher. A day where I'm not told to "f myself" or get kicked by a student is an unusual day for me. Thank goodness he's only 8.

 

[minkydog]

...hired another principal, who actually taught special ed at one time, he's made lots of positive changes and the staff is happy. Until Mon. That's when I met with the asst. principal in charge of my evaluations. She informs me that I have low expectations of my students, that I'm to teach the standards and only the standards without "dumbing down" anything. Wants to know why the rest of the 4th and 5th grade teachers are doing multi-digit multiplication and long division and I'm not. Gee, maybe because I've got the EMD room and all but 2 of my kids have IQ's that actually qualify them for TMD services!

If you can find the answer to this, please, let me know. My 14yo DS is in a severe/profound intellectually disabled class. He is vision & hearing impaired and nonverbal. He wears diapers. He can't dress or bathe himself. He doesn't know the meaning of numbers, words, or even "recess." Christian cannot pick out his own clothes or tell me what he wants to eat for breakfast.He is a very pleasant kid, but his IQ is less than 20.

And yet...this week they are "learning algebra". Last week they did fractions. So far the teacher has read "Hatchet" to the class--gee, really? Cuz Christian can't follow the plot of "Snow White" at home. They recently "did research in the media center" and "wrote a report" on his "favorite" planet, Mercury.He's due to "share his report" next week. For crying out loud, this kid doesn't even know what the moon is. I know for a FACT he couldn't find Mercury if it fell on him.

I know this is one of the more stoopid NCLB mandates. I feel sorry for the teachers who are trying valiantly to teach the regular curriculum. Personally, I would be much happier if they could teach him to take his dishes to the sink,pull up his own pants, and get on and off the bus without taking a swan dive into my arms(he's bigger than I am, nearly knocks me off my feet!)