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Author
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Topic: really really really frustrated!
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mezzoelf1
Knowflake Posts: 74
From: Somerset, England, UK
Registered: Jan 2007
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posted January 21, 2007 12:48 PM
 
I teach. I'm sooooooo frustrated in my job and I don't know what to do! I swing between loving and hating it - the kids drive me mad! Last week my GCSE group had their first performances - so much time and personal energy has been poured in to these guys since last sept. The result?! It was a mess and frankly I might as well have not bothered. THEY DON'T LISTEN! Kids today really don't listen and I've tried everything....I left uni, messed around for a couple of years and then completed my teacher training. This involved money and time - I'm in to my second year of teaching full time and I'm going mad. Pressure on me to continue from the Hubby as we have a small mortgage which we can pay off in 5/6 years if we both keep working full time.... I want to develop my singing career - keep having to cancel lessons due to stuff happening at school and getting sick (I keep coming down with nasty colds and sore throats)...but have to work cos I need the money to live... I really don't know what to do. I keep crying and seem unable to get any perspective. I could do with some helpful adivce - anything! Something to calm my frazzled nerves for a start! Lol x IP: Logged |
lotusheartone
Knowflake Posts: 9013
From: piopolis, quebec canada
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted January 21, 2007 02:45 PM
Mezzoelf1,*THEY DON'T LISTEN! Kids today really don't listen and I've tried everything.* Have you tried projecting LOve? Have you undertaken to do all with LOve? Blame, is a pretty serious thing! Respect goes both ways, I see children as equal to me, I have as much to learn from them, as they do from me, a level playing ground. ... I LOve children, they are amazing! So, full of Life and Wonder, and different perspectives...
Make it fun, get to really know them, then you may motivate in LOve and Light.. then the Magic! Did you choose to be a teacher?
If you don't like it, and it makes you miserable, you really should think about another career, it's not fair to you, or your students  IP: Logged |
tuxedo meow
Knowflake Posts: 496
From: Texas Gulf Coast, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted January 21, 2007 03:38 PM
i taught middle school for five years-a hair raising experience for all, i think...boys (and some girls!) suddenly sprouting moustaches, sexual energy, media input, parents putting 'it' all on the teacher, teachers putting 'it' on the parents! oh wow! i do love children too but teaching school is no Mary Poppins experience anymore. Girls are developing sooner, drugs and thugs, no time at home or nobody home to help with studies or refining performances!
I found some of these things helpful- arrange the desks in a circle, periodically let the students lounge about on the floor with some old pillows, use journalling and yes, let them write whatever they want! At first some might write really nasty stuff, it is true, but when their brain releases the clutter, the writing can be healing and detox the brain! Teachers 'burn out' rate is very high!
If you are in a school where you are allowed an assistant, hunt up a MAN WITH A DEEP VOICE! The kids respond with better behavior! i used to have our school janitor or a father come by some of the rougher classes...The world is too full of terrible media input, classes too large and diverse, time too limited, and all overloaded!
All girl or all boy classes also fare better! i haven't taught kids in years but run into former students that treat me with great love and respect! Of course, they are in their 20's now. They let me know they know I loved and cared for them and that the love and care has made a difference to their lives! Good feedback when I thought they had never heard me at all!
If you are forced to teach to the test-God bless you! What is your subject? or do you tech everything? Be innovative if possible- I used Romeo and Juliet yes, Shakespere (can't even spell now!LOL) w/ West Side Story and had their attention. One year we did Julius Caeser- love, betrayal by 'friends', prejudiced parents, going against parents wishes, drugs, sex,death, gang warfare! ...
Bless you lots- don't forget that adage, DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW!
also LOVE THEM ANYWAY!
Just think, you could be a substitute teacher! Tuxedo Meow
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mezzoelf1
Knowflake Posts: 74
From: Somerset, England, UK
Registered: Jan 2007
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posted January 21, 2007 04:44 PM
Ooops - that original post makes me sound terrible... I teach for many reasons including a deep love for the subjects I specialise in and an understanding of their power to develop and enlighten people! I teach at secondary level (age 11 to 18)in drama, music and dance. I think so much of my frustration lies in the fact that I DO give a damn about these guys - I have had sleepless nights worrying about them... just some days I wonder if any of it is 'getting through' so to speak.Tux - my head of dept is a man and very 'manly' too which helps! I dunno, it was kind of a rant and a cry for help.... I care and because I care when they seem so switched off it hurts! Is that odd? A lot of teachers I know have given up caring because they simply don't have the energy. Modern schools and modern life put so many stresses on kids - I've even tried (covertly!) burning calming oils like lavender and like. It can help but some days they are just so'closed'. Thanks, anyway, you are right that LOve is the only way and only when something is undertaken with LOve can it be successful - its was good to be reminded of this and humbled in a small way. IP: Logged |
lotusheartone
Knowflake Posts: 9013
From: piopolis, quebec canada
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted January 21, 2007 04:51 PM
I'm sorry, I sounded so harsh..I think the financial burden placed on your shoulders, has not helped at all, to your stress...people work so hard, to pay for their material possessions, and forget what is really important.. US, all of US... Sending you LOts of LOve.... P.S. I have been a teachers aide, and a substitute teacher, and a ballet teacher, I know it can be hard, but it's all in how we look at things..no Matter what we must see the Ggod in ALL IP: Logged |
somommy66
Knowflake Posts: 20
From: Shaker Heights, OH, USA
Registered: Jan 2007
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posted January 28, 2007 07:38 AM
mezzoelf - I just wanted to send some light and love your way. I have nothing but respect, admiration, and sympathy for teachers these days. You deserve to be allowed to rant if you need to. I have never been a full time teacher, but I am an actress and arts educator who has taught in-school classes, summer programs etc. One summer working with teens... came home crying alomst every day! And I so understand the need to do your own artistic work in the process, and to make money! So I will just offer you a pat on the back and some encouragement. You are the only one who knows your true path, and you will always find the answers within. Chances are, those young people are indeed being touched by your efforts in ways you cannot see. Good luck! IP: Logged |
mezzoelf1
Knowflake Posts: 74
From: Somerset, England, UK
Registered: Jan 2007
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posted January 29, 2007 08:29 AM
thanks for the kind words and support everyone, they really are appreciated! i think what upsets me most about a lot of the kids today is just how horrible they are, not just to teachers, but to each other. i dunno if its caused by the way people behave on tv? anyway, i did say to one boy in particular last week 'why don't you just try being nice? what was the last nice thing you said to anyone?' and he just looked at me, his face blank, then laughed! our kids need a lot of healing, they really, really do...IP: Logged |
luisbunuel
Knowflake Posts: 60
From: Hampshire
Registered: Dec 2003
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posted February 15, 2007 09:25 AM
Hi Mezzoelf, a report from the UN which was in the papers yesterday said that kids in the UK are among the worst(we're 20th on the list of developed countries).
It's not surprising that you're not enjoying it.
Here's my 2 cents worth: Teaching in a comprehensive school in the UK is a nightmare job - I'd never encourage anyone to do it - you would be better rewarded in any just about any other profession.IP: Logged | |
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