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Bitter
By Renee

I will agree that from all of your posts you are very bitter. Obviously you know that or you wouldn't be changing your name and calling yourself bitter.

I think the first thing you need to do is ask yourself if you really
love children. All children in general, not just the "gifted" ones you say you like to teach. Most children are not gifted. Most children we deal with are just average or "at risk". That is the world we live in. If your answer is no, you need to find another job.
Teaching is hard and stressful, and sometimes we all have days where we wonder why we are doing this. The reason is because

we love children, and we focus on the success stories, not the frustrations. From the way you sound I'm not sure if changing grades is the answer. I have not heard you mention anything positive about your job.

I also taught 8th grade in an inner city school. It was tough, but for the most part I loved my kids. Yes, there were some that I was happy if they were absent that day. However, I developed some relationships that were very good. Some of the kids still e-mail me and ask questions or just chat. In the end, I decided that age just wasn't for me because the ones that were bad (a small number) were just SO bad I didn't want to deal with it. I now teach 4th grade and I love it. There are still many of the frustrations you talk about, and different ones. That is a part of teaching any place, any grade level. You have to have enough love for children to overcome the problems. I'm sure part of your problem is that the kids know how you feel. If you hate them enough to call them "heathens" it has to come through in your demeanor.

If you truly love children, find another grade, another place. If you don't, please find another job for your sake, and the kids.