Wednesday, February 7, 2024
My blog is most definitely not a teacher blog! With that said, I do talk about my “day job” here from time to time and you all seem to like it. I have some teacher blog readers and we are sisters in solidarity, right?
I feel it’s important to discuss my thoughts from time to time. Important for whom? Not sure! I do like to look back on how I was feeling through this blog of mine.
If you are new around here, I am a high school Spanish teacher in a pretty large public high school. I try to not bash my employer, my school, my colleagues, and keep it professional. I also don’t want to come here and lie to you!
I have been really happy the last couple of weeks of school. I have taught new material and I have been in my element. My favorite part of teaching is introducing new vocabulary, verb tenses, grammatical concepts, and giving the kids ways to remember them. I like chants, jingles, sayings, and things like that. I like my routine. I like teaching the kids good study habits and organization. I’ve been tired at the end of each day, but it’s a good tired. I don’t dread going to work; I’m usually excited to start my day and check off tasks.
I have also been trying to get the kids back into the routine of 5 day in person weeks of school. I have entered grades every.single.day and really put pressure on myself to be on top of it, so they will be, too – hopefully! I have some that will fail again for second semester like they did for first semester and that is because they barely show up or they do literally nothing when they show up. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.
My biggest struggle personally during the week is work/life balance. I leave for school around 7:45 and get home around 4:00-4:30 depending if I have a meeting after school or not. I was spoiled by working from 7-2:45 for 24 years and even though that doesn’t seem like much, it has really shortened the time I have before I start cooking dinner. Ha! I know. I know. I got spoiled. I try to do some of the household tasks in the morning and I do very little when I get home. Just making dinner is enough most days.
I also am really over the “extras”. We feel like we have so much more to do as teachers in 2024 to justify someones’ job in the district office. We have meetings for meetings’ sake. We have to write up rationale and talk about how we are focusing on literacy in our classroms because someone decided that was our school goal this year. Everything I do is about literacy in a language class!
Since we have been back from Winter Break, my biggest struggle is attendance. There are three kids (not all in the same class) that I have not seen period. They just don’t come to school. Are we not pursuing truancy cases anymore?
Parents today are not like parents of my high school time period. (“Back in my day…”) You went to school and stayed at school all day. There are so many kids that come late and leave early now. How are parents so available to pick kids up and take them in late? Parents, maybe you shouldn’t be so available?
Also, parents seem quick to complain when they don’t check in until right before the grading period ends. They don’t come to open house, conference, and you don’t hear a peep until it’s too late, practically. We rarely get a positive email. It’s almost always a complaint.
Also, parents, don’t text your kids during the school day unless it’s an emergency. You are making life easier for you by getting an answer right away, but you are making it harder for your kid to focus.
Since the pandemic, kids know the buzz words to use to get out of going to school and doing work in their classes. Mental health is a very serious thing for me – do not take this the wrong way – but there are some kids who are abusing our compassion.
I have had a kid miss class for a hair appointment recently. Seriously? You can’t do that after school or on a Saturday? What message is that sending your kid? I have had kids miss class for all kinds of appointments since Winter Break. I have had kids just tell me they “needed a mental health day”.
I have had a kid take a phone call in my class. He said it was about a job. I told him that the employer would know that a teenager would be in school at that time and would leave a message. Really?
I know you might be thinking “Just get rid of the phones” and I agree. But, is it too late? This would require a huge commitment at the school level (and maybe the district) and I also think parents might push back.
My school leaves the cell phone policy up to each individual teacher. Phones are just used for so many things today, so it’s both a good and a bad thing for education. My policy is that phones are not to be seen nor heard until I invite you to use it for class. Just taking your phone out and using it in class when you aren’t supposed to is not really going to be taken seriously as a behavior issue, though, if I were to write it up. Again, it would have to be a school wide initiative to crack down on phones. And, we also have Apple watches and other smart devices. And, if we didn’t have those, we still have laptops.
And, about attendance…
My own kids only missed 3 days of school from kindergarten until senior year. Seriously.
I do practice what I preach. I tell my students there is simply nothing better than can do for their grade than get that butt in the seat everyday unless they are too sick to come to school.
For my own kids, I made an effort to have their dentist appointments in June and December, so they didn’t miss. When they got braces, they went to the orthodontist right next to school and we usually had the appointment right after school. A few times, they had to walk on their own and miss part of a class.
I just feel like some parents today do not value attendance.
I also am not sure parents understand how hard it is for their kids to be pulled out of school. The makeup work can be overwhelming.
Let’s talk about pajama pants. No. This has become a trend since the Pandemic, I think. I keep saying to my students that if you wear pajama pants to school you are going to have pajama pant energy. We have some kids that bring and drape a blanket around their shoulders all day long. Seriously? Blanket energy?
The big headphones are in style again and some kids have them on as they walk in the hallways and come into class and can’t hear me greet them or ask a question about their day. Kids try to keep Air pods in during class. I yell “Ear Check!”
There are just so many distractions.
It’s amazing to me that parents don’t check our online grade program. It also tells attendance. We have kids that skip class and parents have no idea. It’s right there on the portal for you. You can see a kid marked present except for one period. The teachers are also supposed to catch this daily and write it up. You would think in 2024 the computer would flag this for us? I bet it does!
We were told that any kid that failed first semester just has to stay in our classes. There’s no place for them to go. If you fail first semester of a class that builds upon that foundation, you will not pass second semester. They let kids take an online class to get their credit if they are motivated enough and that’s taking the easy way out. The online class is much easier and they can cheat.
There are kids who come to school with nothing. No pencil. No paper. No notebook. No book. But, they do have a cell phone and Air pods, so at least they can entertain themselves. They also might have a blanket, so that’s nice.
Now, you may be reading this and think that this is isolated to just my school and my area. I don’t have any problems compared to some teachers. In fact, I teach all advanced classes except for one. So, imagine what a class that isn’t advanced deals with.
For a very, very short time in this country between 2020 and 2021, teachers were the heroes. We were celebrated for trying to keep things running during the pandemic. Now, we are the enemy again. We aren’t doing enough. We are undereducated, undertrained, lazy, and the list goes on.
Teachers simply do not have enough time to do all the tasks required of them in 2024. Have you seen statistics on teachers leaving the profession? What will happen when we have no one left to teach our kids? There is simply nothing more important in our country than our education, and we are not valuing it as a society.
It’s easy to get cynical, but I try to focus on the positive. Look at these faces! I love seeing them without masks that are smiling and interacting with their friends. I guess I don’t take this for granted anymore.
I am close to retirement. I am not sure how many more years I will stay, but I can retire anytime. I don’t feel like my time is up quite yet, but I think I will know. I still love my subject and the kids and that’s why I am still here. With age comes wisdom, and I am freely imparting this more these days.
I guess I didn’t realize how many words I had in me today! If I said something that spoke to you, sound off in the comments. If you disagree, keep it to yourself, especially if you aren’t in the classroom. Just kidding! See – I told you that I speak more freely these days!
Amy
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
Yes! You said what should have been said along time ago. I teach 2nd grade and it’s just not the same profession.
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Thank you! My sister teachers first grade and is having the worst year of her life. Her class is so poorly behaved and her new principal is horrible. She is having migraines weekly.
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I am so glad that Alec’s school has a dress code/ uniform and that they do crack down on attendance (now Alec did miss 11 days last year alone but that kid had a freaking fever every time I turned around!… and the school was very understanding). I’m also very lucky that Alec is a very motivated student and cares deeply about his grades, as do the majority of his friends. But we definitely hear stories about the “other kids”; the ones that don’t seem to know how to act in school, don’t care at all about their grades, etc.
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Yes! I love that! There are truly kids who get sick a lot, but that’s different.
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Thankfully it only seems to have been last year (we had anticipated his Freshman year being filled with sickness after not having been in a classroom in 8+ years… but then with covid and masks it was nearly his Junior year until it seems like everything hit at once). I am so glad that *knock wood* he’s been much healthier this year.
I saw so many of these same things starting up in the classroom back in my very last year of teaching and it made my decision to stay and homeschool so much easier! We had an administration at the time that fully backed every single parent gripe and threw the teachers under the bus and I just knew that I could not handle working in an environment like that… nor one where third graders regularly informed me that they didn’t need to do well at school because they were just going to welfare like their parents!
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I bet he hadn’t built up those immunities!
That admin should be ashamed. You can’t let the parents run the school. We have a bit of that going on, too.
Wow – you have got to be kidding me. A 3rd grader?
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A great post. Very well said. It looks like your classes are fun with a lot of learning at the same time. Thank you for being there for the students. I work with a lot of young people also. One thing that I have noticed is extremely bad hygiene with some of our younger employees. Wearing the same clothes day after day, not bathing or brushing their teeth. It has really become a sensitive subject that I hate to address but I have to. As I said thank you for everything you do for our students out there. You will be one of the teachers they will always remember.
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Thank you! Oh my gosh – yes! We notice that, too. We have kids who wear the same thing, not shower, not wear deodorant, and I had one last year who didn’t have proper bathroom hygiene and would come back from the bathroom smelling bad. Who is teaching this now? Did they miss this due to the pandemic? It’s no longer a stigma to wear pajama pants so maybe the lack of hygiene comes with that?
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Parents do not care about truancy. My niece has six and the comment was made…she is making the honor roll..what is the big deal. NO! This is the foundation to the real world and how employers expect employees to show up for work on time. She also lives with her boyfriend since she was 15. My mother-in-law always caters to her and her three siblings because they don’t have boundaries.
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Exactly! This is the foundation to the real world! Honor roll might not mean much these days as we are dumbing things down and many schools are just passing kids along. I have a friend who owns a business and she says you wouldn’t believe how employees act now, either, so there you go.
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What is happening in schools today is very sad. I could not agree more with what you have said here. Parents are failing their children, not schools in most cases. In my years as an educator I have seen enough to have me very concerned about not only who will teach but what kind of adults will run our country.
So glad you wrote this!
xo,
Kellyann
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Yes! I was a little bit scared, but I think my readers respond well to me getting a little more serious and into deeper topics. It’s getting harder and harder to show up excited and animated for the kids because of the adults failing them.
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I saw a smidge of what you’re talking about during my short stint in the elementary school last year. It was a wonderful school, but the state requirements were mind boggling. In my mind, teachers will always be the heroes! I have seen a trend happening here in our area; teachers are leaving the public school system and making the move (and taking the pay cut) to private schools. I know at least five off the top of my head that have done this in the last two years, and I see why. I cannot imagine dealing with all of those issues on a daily basis and still being expected to teach each student a certain amount. It’s crazy to think that parents don’t care about these things!
This is what’s wrong with our entire country, in my opinion; parents are no longer being parents and teaching their kids the basic things like driving skills, practicing good humanity, all the things you mentioned, etc. It’s scary to think these will be our leaders someday! So many things start at home, and the lack of that is easily seen today. I see it everywhere I go. I know so many people can’t do this kind of thing and would disagree with me, but I saw this coming in our area when my boys were young. This is why we became a homeschool family! We couldn’t afford private school, so our only other option was to homeschool them to get them out of the school they were in. Lots of things were going on here in our city at that time, and it was a crazy time for kids in school. Jobs were threatened, our city and county districts merged into one (terrible) one, teachers were leaving or being told their jobs may not be available the next year, etc. I’m thankful it turned out the way it did; it was the best thing we could have ever done, and we loved almost every second.
Thanks for sharing all of this today. It was fascinating to read about, and you’ve given me some things I can pray for you. I know it’s frustrating, but you are such a light to your students and it’s obvious how much they love you. I don’t blame you one bit for not being ready to retire just yet. You’re still making a difference!
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Aww, you just made me tear up by telling me you would pray for me. I got the sweetest email from a girl last week about how she respected my enthusiasm and I am one of the best teachers she had ever had. That is most likely not true, but as a words of affirmation person, it was all I needed to work really hard for her and the class, you know?
Yes to everything you said. I also don’t want to work in a private school because of the pay cut and because we have a lot of really rich people and they treat the teachers like “the help”. I also really, really believe in public education and a rigorous education for kids from all socioeconomic levels. It was so good for my kids to be around diverse kids, too. I have lots more words, but thank you so much for your prayers and I am so glad you were able to make the choice that was best for your family.
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Amen! I have been in education for 39 years; first as a first and second grade teacher for 20 years. Now I am a school counselor at the elementary school level. I agree with you on all these levels. I am in agreement with all of your points including the cell phone use in elementary school. We have a student who uses his watch to text mom to come and get all the time. (and she does!)
I could retire at any time, but like you, I still love what I do and am hopefully making a difference… to someone!
That being said, parents are the ultimate fault here because they don’t value education like in prior years. Every kid thinks they can be an ‘influencer’ or make money with a You tube channel. Oh my!
Anyway- great post- if only teachers ran the world! Have a great day!
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Cell phones and watches in elementary – no! Just no! I hope you remember what it’s like to be in the classroom as a teacher because our counselors don’t seem to at all!
You are exactly right – and we get immigrant families who value ed more than anything and it’s sad to see entitled Americans.
Thank you for what you do!
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God Bless teachers!! ❤️ I’m not a teacher but have many teacher friends and have spent many years volunteering at my kids schools. Parents are their kids first teachers and they are not doing their job! I really believe that 95% of the issues in school are due to lack of and/or poor parenting. 😡 Thank you for being a teacher, Amy! 👏👏👏 Your students are blessed to have you!
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Thank you! Yes, they are! We need to partner with them. I agree. You are sweet to say that and I hope that is true. I hope I have impacted someone when it’s all said and done.
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<quietly going into my kid’s rooms to throw away their pajama pants>
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What a great post! It is so sad that this is the state of education today. I did some classroom observation over 30 years ago and I was appalled that students came to class with nothing, put their heads down on their desk, and fell asleep. One of my classmates from college was student teaching and she didn’t tolerate this type of behavior. She sent the students to the office and the principal came to the classroom and told her to stop doing that, the students needed to stay in the classroom. Really? It turned me off teaching. Kudos to you for all that you do for your students.
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Thank you! I agree! Yup – you can lead a horse to water, but…
I feel for your classmate. We don’t get the support we need – that’s for sure.
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This was a good post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and what you see and experience day to day.
I grew up “back in the day” as well. My son graduated ten years ago, and even then, things were still different compared to today. I am in an online Mom group in my city. These moms do not see anything wrong with their kids taking a “mental health day” from school once a month, as a matter of fact, they encourage it. I am a big believer in appropriate mental health care, but not a believer in free for all passes. My employer only allows us six paid sick days a year. This should include all doctor, dentist, and therapy appointments, as well as days of really being sick, for yourself and family members. How can kids that get to take a day each month for “mental health” get by with just six days once they hit adulthood and enter the working force? They are either in for a big shock or their employer is in for a big shock.
I have volunteered at a local elementary school once a week as a reading mentor. Most of my kids were immigrants from other countries that were highly motivated to learn the language and do well in school, because that was a privilege they did not have in their country of origin. Have you watched “Most Dangerous Ways to School” documentary on YouTube? Every child/parent in first world countries should watch a few episodes.
Thank you for all you and the other teachers do. My three sisters are educators as well. Thank you!
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Thank you! Yup, it’s societal! I had a new one yesterday – a kid in AP (the highest level class) had missed school the day before to “paint pottery”. Please just lie to me if that’s the case!
The immigrant children value education way more and the parents treat school like their job. I love that and tell my kids everyday this is their job.
I will try to watch that, but it might be hard.
I have it saved on my phone! I bet you hear stories from your sisters!
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Amy, you are spot on! This year our school banned blankets…I thought it was a joke, but sadly it was not. Also, I picked my son up from school the other day and I said, “I didn’t realize it was pajama day”, he replied, “it’s not Mom that what kids wear every day.” I was in shock!
I can’t even imagine the challenges of being a teacher, but I can tell from following your blog that your students adore you and that you are making an impact. Praying for you and all teachers as you navigate these challenges. Keep being awesome! <3
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Good for your school! It’s not a joke! Isn’t that crazy? Some feel bad because they think the kids don’t have jackets. They do! Or, we can provide jackets!
Ha – yup, that is the fashion for many.
Aww, thank you! I can get bitter and impatient and that’s when I know I need a day or part of a day off. I also need to fill my cup on the weekends so that I am ready! Monday after Superbowl will be rough – we will have poor attendance and tired kids. It’s always something.
Thank you for your kind words.
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I love this post. I haven’t been in the classroom officially in many years, but did lots of classroom volunteering and subbing too. It is a different world from when I started back in 1992. And I can see huge differences before and after covid too (and we weren’t really locked down/out of school very long here in Tx.) It is just sad to me, and hard to say if it is culture in general or parenting or what!
I agree that it is alarming to think about who is going to teach in the coming years. I heard that approx. 25% of teachers at my kids’ h.s. retired or quit last year. The school also gained a lot of new students, so they needed more teachers because of that. So with those two factors, I estimate that the school has about 40% new teaching staff this year.
I made the tough decision to roll my teacher retirement fund over into a personal IRA for retirement recently. I had been holding onto in case I ever decided to go back to the classroom. Things have changed so much that I don’t see that ever happening.
Thanks for writing from your heart today. It was a tough read, but good for all to see what is going on in schools today.
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I started in 1994, so we were about the same!
I hate that the students are missing out on you, but also, I am afraid it would be a very different world. At the same time, I have such sweet students that are happy to see me, compliment me, ask me for advice, and really love and have a passion for Spanish. I have very little behavior in the scheme of things. I have had to water down and ask for less of them outside of class, though. But, I am also doing less outside of school time.
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Oh, yes! Your entire post spoke to me! Thank you for saying what needs to be said! I am an intensive reading teacher, 9th and 10th grade. I see bad attitudes, cursing, truancy, saggy pants, pajama pants, hoods on that they refuse to remove, AirPods, Beats, cell phones, fleece blankets, etc.! I try to be cheerful, upbeat, and someone who doesn’t absorb bad energy, which is honestly not my nature. I’m secretly an introvert who loves peace and quiet, LOL. My oldest son told me, “Mom, every action doesn’t need a reaction!” I learned from having some very emotionally disturbed students over the years, including an entire class last year that made me leave middle school forever and head to high school, not to raise my voice and to show very little emotion when they act out. It’s hard, so hard. My newest student was a week late coming to class because he had 5 days out of school suspension for fighting and threatening, and a stay-away order to boot. He brings nothing to class-no pencil, laptop or backpack. However, today he had a vape and got caught smoking, so 5 more days out of school. I also have some delightful students who work hard. I try to focus on them and enjoy them. I try to build a rapport with even the toughest students because when they like and respect us, they’re more likely to behave and do some work. Those who criticize teachers the most wouldn’t make it a full day in the classroom! Not for the faint of heart!
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It’s so hard to not be human in this profession. I learned early on to send the kid to the hallway and not deal until I had calmed down.
You have had some rough stuff. Honestly, I really have never had big behavior problems because Spanish is supposed to be for college bound only. Problem is – everyone thinks they are going! Nope! Not everyone should go to college and there are not enough jobs anyway! We did a huge boo boo when we took away vocational ed.
I really hope you are happier in your new position. Next year will be even better because you won’t be new anymore!
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I am so glad you wrote this, Amy. I think the blame goes back farther than this generation of parents. I honestly believe my generation created the problem. My generation of parents believed in “talking” to their kids instead of consequences for their behavior. Now, those kids are the parents of the students you are teaching. I definitely saw a difference in my students from when I started teaching to when I retired. Parents seemed to almost give up parenting. I wonder if they don’t feel the pressure to be the “Perfect Parent” given all the “perfection” on social media.
I never taught high school so I can’t speak from that knowledge. But, I wouldn’t have had a problem with kids wearing pajama pants to school. To me, they’re kind of like wearing sweatpants, and I had lots of kids who did that. When I retired in 2012, kids were just starting to have cell phones. The school rule was they had to keep them in their lockers (which didn’t lock). And, I don’t think they could do much beyond text and call at that point in time. I can’t imagine what it’s like now with the world, basically, at their fingertips. It has to be truly a struggle to keep their attention.
As for grades, I remember being called into the principal’s office (my first year teaching) when one of my students was getting an A- in Science! Her mom was really upset with me…me, not her daughter! I had to make up some kind of extra credit just for her to get a straight A! How the world has changed. I loved it when we finally got online grades and didn’t have to use those paper gradebooks anymore. I don’t know how you are supposed to keep a kid in your class for a second semester when they failed the first one. That seems like it would be a rather common occurrence.
Now, onto 2020-2021. I think y’all were heroes through and through and still are. I think parents finally recognized what teaching was all about and the difficulties involved in teaching. Then, they moved on, and teachers did become the monsters because who else is there that can’t really fight back? People just seem to need to demonize someone, and teachers are an easy mark. Nothing makes me angrier or more outspoken than those who criticize teachers when the last day they spent in a classroom was when they were students themselves! OK, I will get off my soapbox now!
I took early retirement and have regretted it almost every day. I loved teaching, but the teaching environment was too toxic for me. I keep toying with the idea of renewing my license and getting back into it. Then, I talk to my bestie or read something like this, and I realize I’m better off not doing that. So, I can’t say that you will definitively know when it’s time. I thought I did, but I was wrong.
Have a wonderful end to your week!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
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I think you are right. I’m sure you have stories to tell.
I don’t really care what the kids wear – the pj pants and blankets, though, are symbolic of laziness and apathy and all the things that happened during the pandemic maybe?
I want every legislator to be required to sub. I want all the big wigs to sub once a month.
I feel bad that you regretted your decision and I am also afraid of that. I can always go back because my subject will always be in shortage, I think. It’s really hard to find language teachers. Spanish is the most popular, of course.
You too!
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Oh, honey! I think you and I could talk for DAYS about the woes of school and “kids these days”. I had to leave my job as an elementary librarian because of health reasons, and I miss *most* of the kids I worked with, but I do NOT miss alllllll of the BS you mentioned in your post. It’s ridiculous. It’s not sustainable. I don’t know why the business of school has to be so hard. I do know that teachers and educators are expected to be all things to all kids and it will never work.
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I know I could! Aww, I’m sorry. Yes, you should be glad about that because I bet it has only gotten worse. It’s not. I have had to develop my own coping techniques. I don’t bring work home or check email at home since the pandemic. I make some exceptions but this is my general policy. I try to mentor younger teachers and I say, “there will never be any good news in your in box!” and “we are not in the business of anything urgent or life and death” – it can wait until work hours.
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I agree with some much of what you said (really all of it 😆) I have so many pet peeves…including kids wearing hoods, parents / students not taking attendance seriously, lack of eye contact when I talk to them, dead chromebooks but charged phones and more. My kids don’t miss unless they are sick . I think they should be at school but also it’s a slippery slope letting them miss for no reason and then they’d ask again, etc
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Yes – forgot about dead chromebooks but charged phones. I rarely use tech in my class period so I don’t deal with that as much as some have to. I also have eye contact, so that’s good! But, I can’t imagine if you are working with a kid one on one and they can’t make eye contact.
You said it – it’s a slippery slope.
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Well said. As a parent whose no.1 priority is education, I find these developments scary. I feel for all you wonderful teachers out there who need to put up with the Gen Z/ Gen Alpha snowflakes and some of their parents who could not care less. I wonder what caused this shift in attitude?
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Yes! I’m sure it didn’t happen overnight? And, it’s all of our problem because your kids will be affected by their peers if they are in school together. And, there is nothing more important than educating! Thank you!
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I am not a teacher, but I respect you posting this so much. I run our small family business in California and yeah our employees act just like the students. They don’t show up, they don’t call. It’s absolutely terrible seeing how work ethic has gone down the the tubes.I wanted to ask you on a completely different note. What type of nail wraps do you use?? Have a lovely rest of your week & weekend!
Leslie Rhodes
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Right! There’s no work ethic!
Thank you, Leslie. I am sorry you struggle with that.
I use Impress press ons and order short length online. I can get a week or so out of them!
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