I quit after 2 years of teaching, I work in sales now. It’s amazing not having to bring work home and dealing with terribly behaved and apathetic kids everyday.
"There's something up with these kids and it's something that nobody's really solved yet." Spot on, you hit the nail on the head. Brains are being wired differently than ever before and we don't fully get how that affects behavior as well as learning.
If you want to stay in education despite the unrelenting challenges of working in this field, you are a brave soul. I've learned from watching these videos the overwhelming reason teachers quit teaching is because they refuse to tolerate the problems that come with working in a failed system.
My son is getting ready for student teaching. Ive encouraged him to think of a lifelong teaching career as a "maybe," if things line up just right, but preparing him that it's ok to put in just a few years and then leverage that experience into a better job. Teachers cannot save teaching, the battle is unwinnable until adequate money is invested. No teacher should feel guilty for leaving. The situation sucks but you cant sacrifice yourself.
I appreciate you for being vulnerable! It’s sometimes hard to admit that you’re struggling but I think every teacher has moments where they just want to throw in the towel and give up
I understand all the points you made but aside from some of the restlessness of students and how behind many of them are, I really blame the parents for the behavior problems. There is no excuse for out of control kids. This is directly related to poor parenting. I believe that a respectful child is a child who has been taught by their parents how to treat others.
In order to teach pre-K, K-3, or do spec. with very young on line, a teacher must have the ability and equipment to produce a high quality, live, children’s TV show for five to six hours per day. AND, you must do everything else outside of that time, including being available to parents and admin 24/7. I somehow did this while taking care of elderly parents, one with dementia. Of course I failed and got fired after 32 years, 27 of them in the same school.
Thank you for addressing these mistakes head-on. It's refreshing to see someone discussing the challenges teachers face when transitioning careers. Your video provides valuable guidance and encouragement. Keep up the excellent work!
Thank you for being vulnerable and voicing some uncomfortable truths that so many of us are feeling. Your feelings are so valid. By looking for new strategies and filling my cup with the things I love about teaching and people who are doing positive work, I’m trying to become a teacher/person I like again too.
I'm a long term sub. In general it takes me six weeks to get classes under control. So an average assignment of 12-14 weeks involves about half the time wasted.
Bless you, that sounds like such a hard job! My friend/former English teacher does that as a retirement job. She has it pretty cushy tho, she's got 35 yrs experience and the principal is another old student, who was a very mean girl in HS lol so I assume she runs that school like a tight ship...
I have also tried changing the learning setting. I will teach a lesson outside, the target mightbe related to nature or conservation, climate change. Guest speakers, using the library, etc. They can’t stand routine.
I have to disagree with one tiny part (don't worry, it's not in a bad way). You said, at one point, that a reason kids are acting as they are is because they were at home for 2 years. I admit there's truth in there, but I think it's much deeper. I was starting to see a small shift in behaviors before the pandemic. Now, our school district was closed for that initial 3 months of the pandemic, but we were in person again as of August 2020. So our students just had an extended summer break. We tried to teach during that time, but a lot of kids didn't have access, and we didn't have the platforms needed at that time. Still, for us, it was only 3 months. Yet the behaviors became as bad as you described and worse. The pandemic just excellerated the issues we were starting to see before the pandemic. It also seems to correspond to the unrest we see on the news and in politics. I'm not sure how much they depend on each other, but they sure do correlate. The problem is, I don't see it getting any better any time soon (student behaviors). It's just getting worse. It is just one of several reasons I quit teaching, too.
Ultimately the problem is about accountability and personal ownership of actions, choices, and decisions at all levels. The reality is that you can only change yourself, and many of the biggest stresses in education a teacher has zero control over. From my perspective teacher's need to know their curriculum and be a positive role model - that's it (regardless of the delusions of others with their ulterior motives, and I'm talking about a lot of different folks in a lot of different roles in this category). Families that choose to do the right thing by being invested in their child's education will (more often than not) send their children to school ready to learn, and it is up to the children to do their part (the work) to meet their teachers' half-way so that learning can occur. Some children are insightful and can assess at an early age the value of an education and will choose to make good choices for themselves as they want a better life then what they may see around them. Sadly, there are always those that choose to throw the opportunity away despite the many who will in vain try to stop it. Again, life is about choices, and at the end of the day we all pay for our choices. If teachers in the profession are going to survive, they will need to use their critical thinking skills (not buy into the insidious and foolish narratives and indoctrinations by various players in "the system"), re-define to themselves their roles and limits of their role, master their curriculum, and be a professional (and that also means looking the part - some of you need to stop dressing like you are about to mow the lawn).
I retired less than two years ago, but still work almost every day as a sub. It's a great feeling and a relief to know that I go through it. I won't lie, economic necessity was the main motivation for the last 18 years. I was bouncing back from my own financial mistakes and NYC does offer good pay and benefits. I met a lot of great kids along the way too, for all the adversity. As an old guy, I really don't see the evidence that kids are worse now than a generation or two ago. Even back when I was in HS, we were not angels. There was a lot of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" stuff going on. We had to make our own amusement in such a low tech world. Discipline is lax however and cell phones are really destructive. They just need to collect them at the door and make the kids live without them for 7 hours. They are such a distraction and such an impediment to their social development with their peers.
Hi dear... Even I experienced all u explained... Sad reality of today's Education System... It was way better when we were students... Respect for teaching career and the Teachers has faded today
I kicked that can down the road multiple times and would caution you to just really pay attention to how it effects you. It can be like being a beginning teacher all over again, which we know is stressful. In a 23 year career, I actually only taught 14 years bc I needed breaks from the really challenging school culture/problems. I changed grade levels, subject areas, went from reg ed to EC, even changed districts and states to see where I’d find a better fit. But the problem was and is systemic. I hope you have a better experience.
I chose to be a substitute teacher after I graduated with my teaching license. I work whenever I want, I could work every day if I choose to. I only work at the good schools with good behaved kids. I get full medical benefits. I get paid $50 an hour. I don’t have to do any grades, school meetings, talk to parents, I leave when school is over. Substitute teaching is the best.
I know quite a few substitutes who LOVE their jobs for those very reasons! And with the teacher shortage, many districts are paying a premium for substitutes. If you can get your classroom management down pat and not be intimidated by kids purposely trying to make you mad, you'll definitely do well.
I still plan to teach the standards since those are what's being assessed on the state tests. But I know that I need to revamp how I teach in terms of delivering lessons, what materials I use (we have a lot of autonomy in my district), and the way in which I communicate the "point" of it so I get more buy-in from my students.
I dont see college as reasonable option for the current kids since they grew up watching social media influencers, gig economy no interviews or skills required, and start up businesses like lashes. It should be interesting in the next 10-15 years from now.
Honestly, with the state of graduates with crushing debt, I don't think this is a bad thing. College is not for everyone, and I see going into trade school as a more viable options for many kids!
I appreciate and agree with many points you make in this video, specifically regarding a lack of accountability for student behavior. I guess I'm confused as to why you will not quit? I know you said that sometimes you read emails in a sensitive way, so I hope you don't read this as me being snarky. I'm trying to genuinely understand why you holdfast to the job of being a classroom teacher. I left teaching to leave teaching, not to leave working with children. Do you being a classroom teacher as the only place you can impart academic knowledge and teach principles? Also, you talk about making these adjustments on your part: leaving the school, changing your subject, or changing the way you teach. I agree, all of these are viable options for a teacher; but I don't understand how that helps change the institution in which you are working. The school and the district generally don't care how heralded a teacher is, at least not so much so that they will change the way they do business. All the things teachers complain about -- unnecessary PDs, the unrealistic expectations placed on them, the lack of student accountability, the lack of administrative support-- I don't see that changing if a teacher continues to submit to playing the game every year. Even if they select this heralded teacher for a specific specialist position, what's the reward then? Taking you farther away from the classroom, assimilating you into the bureaucracy, and ultimately throwing more work to do on your plate. Thank you for the video!
My wife worked as a teacher, and I worked with prisoners who were criminally insane. I would rather work with the inmates, than these kids today, less stress. 😮
I'm a substitute teacher. I just got off work. Students know I don't know their names. Their wad no seating chart. Over and over I had to tell them to put away phones and quit talking and visiting and sit in their seats and quit playing with their toys. These were 7th graders. I expect them to be somewhat grown up. I blame myself for their behavior.
I definitely wouldn't blame yourself for their behavior. Without a lesson plan or activity, students are going to talk or go on their devices. It's not your fault that you were left in that situation!
I just got a new job. But our future generation can't read or write or communicate in a meaningful way. I don't think capitulating to their wants and desires such as social media or whatever. They can't think for themselves and cannot engage in meaningful debates or discussions. To me, we need to send all kids home. Let parents teach, children are the parents responsibility and not the state then we'll have improvement. Keeping kids in school was to prevent them from being exploited in the workplace, now we're trying to fast track students back into the workplace that is exploiting them such as long hours and low pay in low skill jobs. It breaks my heart to see so many choosing a future that has severely disadvantaged themselves for the rest of their lives, because they just don't care about the whole wide world and possibilities. I've been ready to quit for sometime and reverted back to casual supply to give myself a chance for change. The discussions around teacher burn out and teacher quitting always brings students into the conversations and sometimes forget about what a professional adult can and can't do in a workplace. Time to move on and quit teaching.
Have the students go into the trades (carpentry, plumbing, electrician, seamstress, cosmetology, welding, agriculture/farming, construction, mechanics, culinary arts) early. Have job based education rather than college bound education. Bring back the home economics and shop classes. Teach basic accounting and budgeting. Follow Booker T Washington’s lead and get students to work and maintain the school’s maintenance in exchange for an education (no free education), force students and parents to buy their own books, pencils, and notebooks. Bring back the trade track, the college track, and the honors track (90 percent of the students in college should not be in college). Students should be placed in one of these tracks by the 5th grade. As far as entrepreneurship goes nope students can lean a trade first then go into entrepreneurship to advertise their services. No more chromebooks until grades 8 and up. Learn the basics first. And the students and their parents need to pay monthly rent for those chromebooks.
But your common sense solutions are not acceptable in the field of education. We must cater to immature parents and their terribly behaved children and what THEY want.
The system today does not support much of what you are proposing. It makes great sense and might have been feasible 30 years ago, but teachers have to comply with “student centered” policy. We can’t even take cellphones from them! We can refer them for detention if they refuse to turn them off and put them away. There’s a lack of administrative leadership and vision. To put it bluntly, leaders don’t have the balls to enforce strict policies.
Gen z is actually right. Schools are not keeping up with the way the world is changing and they know it. My son got sick of school and he started a business and he’s 19 and making a ton of money. He learned how to run this business on TH-cam. He’s not going to college (he legit may be retired by 25 at the rate he’s going, meaning he can hire people to do all the work). PS I’m a teacher who left the classroom, too. The whole system is broken.
Take away the electronics. My daughter had little electronics while with me and she was respectful. Could perhaps parents volunteer in the hallways, in the back of the classrooms... so it is not 1 teacher against multiple pupils but several adults to balance the power balance inside the school. Need those electronics out of the hands of the pupils in the school building. Also there needs to be of course Apprenticeship tracks. My grandfathers peers mostly left high school after the first two years to start working some trade and only a minority would do a college prep track and that worked well.
Love the kids but you can’t teach with behavior problems Also can’t blame pandemic when many years ago kids/parents would always be home. I taught kindergarten and this year they are same as bad, they were 1 year old when pandemic happened. They don’t remember, also don’t think that affected them. My thoughts, every mind has a thought of their own. I do agree with your other reasons. You send them to the principals office and they come back with chocolate or hot Cheetos, true story for me at least
Not your fault teachers. It is the way schools are set up. The state and district effectively micro-manage you so you can't use discretion and do what works for the students in front of you because of state and district requirements. And students should have some individual attention in addition to their class time. The good students get that from their parents or a tutor. But the poor students don't. The school should be organized so each student gets regular one-on-one time. You can't just play in an orchestra if you want to be a good musician. You have to take private lessons.
Kids are disruptive because school is boring and they aren't good at it. The kids who are disruptive are usually poor readers. It is better to screw around in class and disrupt the class than to do your work if your reading is poor and you don't want your classmates to see that you are a poor reader. And you hate reading anyway. Because few kids read for pleasure now. They just go on their cellphones or play video games. And reading has not been sold to them. Students are not read to and the schools don't do sustained silent reading anymore. So we have poor readers who hate reading and poor readers become disruptive students. And disrupting class becomes a habit. Every class they are just trying to see if they can push the teacher or get some chuckles from other students. That is what school is about for them.
This generation of kids will be more violent and more despondent which means that they won’t work and essential positions for work will disappear. Students are regressing to a very debased and primitive form of being committing actions based off emotions alone. That is the trajectory we are on.
Maybe the educational system needs to rethink what and why they teach each subject. As an adult I never use Algebra or any higher math skills. A lot of kids hate math. Why force them to take classes in stuff they are never going to use in the real world? Offer courses on how to start a business, how to invest money for exponential growth, how to write computer codes, how to create a phone app. Maybe eliminate all high school sports. Lol Why do we need that crap? How many high school kids go onto to become professional athletes? Just some random thoughts. Many of the subjects I studied in high school and college were interesting but I don't use that knowledge in my job. At least not directly. My boss doesn't make me read English literature and write a report on it. Lol
I use algebra on a daily basis. When I have to halve or double a recipe, I use it to figure out the measurements of ingredients. When I track my macros for protein, carbs, and fats within a certain calorie range, that's algebra. When I had to figure out how much soil to buy to cover a certain area of my garden, algebra came into play. Prior to tax software, I did my own taxes and you bet algebra came into play. And when you're compounding interest on investments, that's all algebra. I personally struggled with and disliked math in school (I used to say I was allergic to it), but aside from proofs in calculus, I use it All. The. Time.
What do you mean you never use algebra? Algebra is basic math. You’ve never calculated how much tip you want to give a waiter/waitress? You’ve never calculated your taxes? You’ve never kept track of your monthly spendings? Courses on business, computer codes do exist but they are in high school. Sports is to get kids moving, to have hobbies, to build different social groups in order to have variety of friends. If you only learn to become a professional in one area, you have no default. If we go the route you are speaking of, then you are asking preteens to choose what they want to do for the rest of their life! And you’re not going to give them the chance to change just in case? I know people who changed their major four times in college. People who go back to school later in life for a different career. If they don’t get the basics required during grade school, they won’t be qualified for these degrees/careers.
I quit after 2 years of teaching, I work in sales now. It’s amazing not having to bring work home and dealing with terribly behaved and apathetic kids everyday.
I’m thinking to do sales because I’m good in talking. Also, they get commission.
Yes, the behaviors of the kids are my biggest problem too.
It’s not because of the pandemic; behaviors have been trending this way for many years.
@@Catfluff521 totally agree.
@@Catfluff521You're right.
"There's something up with these kids and it's something that nobody's really solved yet." Spot on, you hit the nail on the head. Brains are being wired differently than ever before and we don't fully get how that affects behavior as well as learning.
YOU HIT IT RIGHT ON THE NAIL!!!!! I COULDN'T AGREE WITH YOU MORE !!!!
If you want to stay in education despite the unrelenting challenges of working in this field, you are a brave soul. I've learned from watching these videos the overwhelming reason teachers quit teaching is because they refuse to tolerate the problems that come with working in a failed system.
Yes this is so true. Both the kids behaviour and the lack of consequences.
I don't understand what's going on with them!
My son is getting ready for student teaching. Ive encouraged him to think of a lifelong teaching career as a "maybe," if things line up just right, but preparing him that it's ok to put in just a few years and then leverage that experience into a better job. Teachers cannot save teaching, the battle is unwinnable until adequate money is invested. No teacher should feel guilty for leaving. The situation sucks but you cant sacrifice yourself.
I appreciate you for being vulnerable! It’s sometimes hard to admit that you’re struggling but I think every teacher has moments where they just want to throw in the towel and give up
Thank you for your supportive words, Sherlie!
Yes! They trash the bathrooms. What’s up with that? And teacher burnout is real. Thanks for talking about all this
I don't understand why they have no pride in their school and themselves!
I understand all the points you made but aside from some of the restlessness of students and how behind many of them are, I really blame the parents for the behavior problems. There is no excuse for out of control kids. This is directly related to poor parenting. I believe that a respectful child is a child who has been taught by their parents how to treat others.
In order to teach pre-K, K-3, or do spec. with very young on line, a teacher must have the ability and equipment to produce a high quality, live, children’s TV show for five to six hours per day. AND, you must do everything else outside of that time, including being available to parents and admin 24/7. I somehow did this while taking care of elderly parents, one with dementia. Of course I failed and got fired after 32 years, 27 of them in the same school.
Thank you for addressing these mistakes head-on. It's refreshing to see someone discussing the challenges teachers face when transitioning careers. Your video provides valuable guidance and encouragement. Keep up the excellent work!
Glad it was helpful!
This is my last year. Praying I make it🙏🏾
Thank you for being vulnerable and voicing some uncomfortable truths that so many of us are feeling. Your feelings are so valid. By looking for new strategies and filling my cup with the things I love about teaching and people who are doing positive work, I’m trying to become a teacher/person I like again too.
You're welcome! Definitely working on my filling my cup as well.
I'm a long term sub. In general it takes me six weeks to get classes under control. So an average assignment of 12-14 weeks involves about half the time wasted.
I can only imagine how horrible the kids are to you as a sub.
Bless you, that sounds like such a hard job! My friend/former English teacher does that as a retirement job. She has it pretty cushy tho, she's got 35 yrs experience and the principal is another old student, who was a very mean girl in HS lol so I assume she runs that school like a tight ship...
It all starts at home.
Absolutely.
We’re finding ourselves parenting the parents.
It is horrid. No consequences for anything anymore. Retiring after 32 years this June. Amen 🙏 😮 Bathroom destruction was a Tick Tock challenge.
Yes, I remember when all of that started a couple of years ago. I was horrified!
I have also tried changing the learning setting. I will teach a lesson outside, the target mightbe related to nature or conservation, climate change. Guest speakers, using the library, etc. They can’t stand routine.
Im a substitute teacher and you told not one single lie, even to the destruction of the bathrooms. Ive never seen anything like this.
I have to disagree with one tiny part (don't worry, it's not in a bad way). You said, at one point, that a reason kids are acting as they are is because they were at home for 2 years. I admit there's truth in there, but I think it's much deeper. I was starting to see a small shift in behaviors before the pandemic. Now, our school district was closed for that initial 3 months of the pandemic, but we were in person again as of August 2020. So our students just had an extended summer break. We tried to teach during that time, but a lot of kids didn't have access, and we didn't have the platforms needed at that time. Still, for us, it was only 3 months. Yet the behaviors became as bad as you described and worse. The pandemic just excellerated the issues we were starting to see before the pandemic. It also seems to correspond to the unrest we see on the news and in politics. I'm not sure how much they depend on each other, but they sure do correlate. The problem is, I don't see it getting any better any time soon (student behaviors). It's just getting worse. It is just one of several reasons I quit teaching, too.
Ultimately the problem is about accountability and personal ownership of actions, choices, and decisions at all levels. The reality is that you can only change yourself, and many of the biggest stresses in education a teacher has zero control over. From my perspective teacher's need to know their curriculum and be a positive role model - that's it (regardless of the delusions of others with their ulterior motives, and I'm talking about a lot of different folks in a lot of different roles in this category). Families that choose to do the right thing by being invested in their child's education will (more often than not) send their children to school ready to learn, and it is up to the children to do their part (the work) to meet their teachers' half-way so that learning can occur. Some children are insightful and can assess at an early age the value of an education and will choose to make good choices for themselves as they want a better life then what they may see around them. Sadly, there are always those that choose to throw the opportunity away despite the many who will in vain try to stop it. Again, life is about choices, and at the end of the day we all pay for our choices. If teachers in the profession are going to survive, they will need to use their critical thinking skills (not buy into the insidious and foolish narratives and indoctrinations by various players in "the system"), re-define to themselves their roles and limits of their role, master their curriculum, and be a professional (and that also means looking the part - some of you need to stop dressing like you are about to mow the lawn).
Well said!
I retired less than two years ago, but still work almost every day as a sub. It's a great feeling and a relief to know that I go through it. I won't lie, economic necessity was the main motivation for the last 18 years. I was bouncing back from my own financial mistakes and NYC does offer good pay and benefits. I met a lot of great kids along the way too, for all the adversity.
As an old guy, I really don't see the evidence that kids are worse now than a generation or two ago. Even back when I was in HS, we were not angels. There was a lot of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" stuff going on. We had to make our own amusement in such a low tech world.
Discipline is lax however and cell phones are really destructive. They just need to collect them at the door and make the kids live without them for 7 hours. They are such a distraction and such an impediment to their social development with their peers.
Hi dear... Even I experienced all u explained... Sad reality of today's Education System... It was way better when we were students... Respect for teaching career and the Teachers has faded today
Yes, so true!
I’m looking to switch subjects and schools.
That's going to make SO MUCH of a difference! I can't wait to hear how it goes!
I kicked that can down the road multiple times and would caution you to just really pay attention to how it effects you. It can be like being a beginning teacher all over again, which we know is stressful. In a 23 year career, I actually only taught 14 years bc I needed breaks from the really challenging school culture/problems. I changed grade levels, subject areas, went from reg ed to EC, even changed districts and states to see where I’d find a better fit. But the problem was and is systemic. I hope you have a better experience.
I chose to be a substitute teacher after I graduated with my teaching license. I work whenever I want, I could work every day if I choose to. I only work at the good schools with good behaved kids. I get full medical benefits. I get paid $50 an hour. I don’t have to do any grades, school meetings, talk to parents, I leave when school is over. Substitute teaching is the best.
I know quite a few substitutes who LOVE their jobs for those very reasons! And with the teacher shortage, many districts are paying a premium for substitutes. If you can get your classroom management down pat and not be intimidated by kids purposely trying to make you mad, you'll definitely do well.
Im curious about how you can change up the curriculum so much but still be able to prepare them for a boring regimented state test?
I still plan to teach the standards since those are what's being assessed on the state tests. But I know that I need to revamp how I teach in terms of delivering lessons, what materials I use (we have a lot of autonomy in my district), and the way in which I communicate the "point" of it so I get more buy-in from my students.
I dont see college as reasonable option for the current kids since they grew up watching social media influencers, gig economy no interviews or skills required, and start up businesses like lashes. It should be interesting in the next 10-15 years from now.
Honestly, with the state of graduates with crushing debt, I don't think this is a bad thing. College is not for everyone, and I see going into trade school as a more viable options for many kids!
@@teachersneedteachers I don't see them getting their hands dirty for trade jobs to be honest. But they trade jobs are great alternative for sure
I appreciate and agree with many points you make in this video, specifically regarding a lack of accountability for student behavior. I guess I'm confused as to why you will not quit? I know you said that sometimes you read emails in a sensitive way, so I hope you don't read this as me being snarky. I'm trying to genuinely understand why you holdfast to the job of being a classroom teacher.
I left teaching to leave teaching, not to leave working with children. Do you being a classroom teacher as the only place you can impart academic knowledge and teach principles? Also, you talk about making these adjustments on your part: leaving the school, changing your subject, or changing the way you teach. I agree, all of these are viable options for a teacher; but I don't understand how that helps change the institution in which you are working. The school and the district generally don't care how heralded a teacher is, at least not so much so that they will change the way they do business.
All the things teachers complain about -- unnecessary PDs, the unrealistic expectations placed on them, the lack of student accountability, the lack of administrative support-- I don't see that changing if a teacher continues to submit to playing the game every year. Even if they select this heralded teacher for a specific specialist position, what's the reward then? Taking you farther away from the classroom, assimilating you into the bureaucracy, and ultimately throwing more work to do on your plate.
Thank you for the video!
Social Media is the #1 problem - kids want to get views and likes on Social Media. Trashing a bathroom is one way to get that. Very Sad.
My wife worked as a teacher, and I worked with prisoners who were criminally insane. I would rather work with the inmates, than these kids today, less stress. 😮
I'm a substitute teacher. I just got off work. Students know I don't know their names. Their wad no seating chart. Over and over I had to tell them to put away phones and quit talking and visiting and sit in their seats and quit playing with their toys. These were 7th graders. I expect them to be somewhat grown up. I blame myself for their behavior.
I definitely wouldn't blame yourself for their behavior. Without a lesson plan or activity, students are going to talk or go on their devices. It's not your fault that you were left in that situation!
Imagine giving up decades of your life to be mocked, backtalked, yelled at, falsely accused of bs, ignored, minimized, and degraded…
I just got a new job. But our future generation can't read or write or communicate in a meaningful way. I don't think capitulating to their wants and desires such as social media or whatever. They can't think for themselves and cannot engage in meaningful debates or discussions. To me, we need to send all kids home. Let parents teach, children are the parents responsibility and not the state then we'll have improvement. Keeping kids in school was to prevent them from being exploited in the workplace, now we're trying to fast track students back into the workplace that is exploiting them such as long hours and low pay in low skill jobs. It breaks my heart to see so many choosing a future that has severely disadvantaged themselves for the rest of their lives, because they just don't care about the whole wide world and possibilities. I've been ready to quit for sometime and reverted back to casual supply to give myself a chance for change. The discussions around teacher burn out and teacher quitting always brings students into the conversations and sometimes forget about what a professional adult can and can't do in a workplace. Time to move on and quit teaching.
Have the students go into the trades (carpentry, plumbing, electrician, seamstress, cosmetology, welding, agriculture/farming, construction, mechanics, culinary arts) early. Have job based education rather than college bound education. Bring back the home economics and shop classes. Teach basic accounting and budgeting. Follow Booker T Washington’s lead and get students to work and maintain the school’s maintenance in exchange for an education (no free education), force students and parents to buy their own books, pencils, and notebooks. Bring back the trade track, the college track, and the honors track (90 percent of the students in college should not be in college). Students should be placed in one of these tracks by the 5th grade. As far as entrepreneurship goes nope students can lean a trade first then go into entrepreneurship to advertise their services. No more chromebooks until grades 8 and up. Learn the basics first. And the students and their parents need to pay monthly rent for those chromebooks.
But your common sense solutions are not acceptable in the field of education. We must cater to immature parents and their terribly behaved children and what THEY want.
The system today does not support much of what you are proposing. It makes great sense and might have been feasible 30 years ago, but teachers have to comply with “student centered” policy. We can’t even take cellphones from them! We can refer them for detention if they refuse to turn them off and put them away. There’s a lack of administrative leadership and vision. To put it bluntly, leaders don’t have the balls to enforce strict policies.
Gen z is actually right. Schools are not keeping up with the way the world is changing and they know it. My son got sick of school and he started a business and he’s 19 and making a ton of money. He learned how to run this business on TH-cam. He’s not going to college (he legit may be retired by 25 at the rate he’s going, meaning he can hire people to do all the work). PS I’m a teacher who left the classroom, too. The whole system is broken.
Is the answer bleakk?
Take away the electronics. My daughter had little electronics while with me and she was respectful. Could perhaps parents volunteer in the hallways, in the back of the classrooms... so it is not 1 teacher against multiple pupils but several adults to balance the power balance inside the school. Need those electronics out of the hands of the pupils in the school building. Also there needs to be of course Apprenticeship tracks. My grandfathers peers mostly left high school after the first two years to start working some trade and only a minority would do a college prep track and that worked well.
Love the kids but you can’t teach with behavior problems
Also can’t blame pandemic when many years ago kids/parents would always be home.
I taught kindergarten and this year they are same as bad, they were 1 year old when pandemic happened. They don’t remember, also don’t think that affected them. My thoughts, every mind has a thought of their own.
I do agree with your other reasons.
You send them to the principals office and they come back with chocolate or hot Cheetos, true story for me at least
I Like you mentioned using a different texting style, hope it all works out for you
Not your fault teachers. It is the way schools are set up. The state and district effectively micro-manage you so you can't use discretion and do what works for the students in front of you because of state and district requirements.
And students should have some individual attention in addition to their class time. The good students get that from their parents or a tutor. But the poor students don't. The school should be organized so each student gets regular one-on-one time. You can't just play in an orchestra if you want to be a good musician. You have to take private lessons.
Kids are disruptive because school is boring and they aren't good at it. The kids who are disruptive are usually poor readers. It is better to screw around in class and disrupt the class than to do your work if your reading is poor and you don't want your classmates to see that you are a poor reader. And you hate reading anyway. Because few kids read for pleasure now. They just go on their cellphones or play video games. And reading has not been sold to them. Students are not read to and the schools don't do sustained silent reading anymore. So we have poor readers who hate reading and poor readers become disruptive students. And disrupting class becomes a habit. Every class they are just trying to see if they can push the teacher or get some chuckles from other students. That is what school is about for them.
We have to care because society will crash if we quit caring.
This generation of kids will be more violent and more despondent which means that they won’t work and essential positions for work will disappear. Students are regressing to a very debased and primitive form of being committing actions based off emotions alone. That is the trajectory we are on.
I quit. Soooooo glad. 😂😂😂❤❤❤❤
I will say as a society or a US nation we are at the first few steps of fall Rome or Empire.
The absence of ethnics and beliefs is the main reason
Maybe the educational system needs to rethink what and why they teach each subject. As an adult I never use Algebra or any higher math skills. A lot of kids hate math. Why force them to take classes in stuff they are never going to use in the real world? Offer courses on how to start a business, how to invest money for exponential growth, how to write computer codes, how to create a phone app. Maybe eliminate all high school sports. Lol Why do we need that crap? How many high school kids go onto to become professional athletes? Just some random thoughts. Many of the subjects I studied in high school and college were interesting but I don't use that knowledge in my job. At least not directly. My boss doesn't make me read English literature and write a report on it. Lol
I use algebra on a daily basis. When I have to halve or double a recipe, I use it to figure out the measurements of ingredients. When I track my macros for protein, carbs, and fats within a certain calorie range, that's algebra. When I had to figure out how much soil to buy to cover a certain area of my garden, algebra came into play. Prior to tax software, I did my own taxes and you bet algebra came into play. And when you're compounding interest on investments, that's all algebra. I personally struggled with and disliked math in school (I used to say I was allergic to it), but aside from proofs in calculus, I use it All. The. Time.
What do you mean you never use algebra? Algebra is basic math. You’ve never calculated how much tip you want to give a waiter/waitress? You’ve never calculated your taxes? You’ve never kept track of your monthly spendings?
Courses on business, computer codes do exist but they are in high school. Sports is to get kids moving, to have hobbies, to build different social groups in order to have variety of friends. If you only learn to become a professional in one area, you have no default.
If we go the route you are speaking of, then you are asking preteens to choose what they want to do for the rest of their life! And you’re not going to give them the chance to change just in case?
I know people who changed their major four times in college. People who go back to school later in life for a different career. If they don’t get the basics required during grade school, they won’t be qualified for these degrees/careers.
Parents and students are out of 🛂 control! Pay? You couldn't pay me enough...