quitting

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Home : 2001 : November : 15

quitting
By gg

I enjoyed reading all the messages. I too am on the verge of quitting. I have taught for 5 years and am a National Board Candidate. As soon as I get my National Board Certification, I am walking away from this. My first
year I was so physically ill that I spent the entire summer in bed - too sick to look for any thing else from the stress of these children. I have 16 behavior problems in my class this year and 9 children that are reasonablly behaved. I have too many in a class, no help, no support. We get blamed for ADD children, crack babies, poor parenting, and social conditions. I have only stayed

this long because I think I developed memory lapse over the summer, you forget how bad it really is, and you only hope it will be better. But I no longer believe it will ever be better, but only get worse. There is life after teaching and the sooner you get out, the better off you will be. Most teachers I know ( those who have been working 15 or more years) hate it too, they only stay because they have stayed too long to get out. They are afraid that they can not do anything else, they don't want to start at the bottom of the pay scale, and they are just plain afraid to be in the real world. They went to school, then taught in school, so they have no idea what it is like to work elseware. I am fortunate in that this is not my first career. I have worked many places before. Let me tell you it is better elsewhere . You can go to the bathroom when you want. Have a real lunch hour, and spend time talking to adults that you have something in common with not children. Summer off - forget it. You don't need the summer off when you are in an enjoyable job with nice people. you go home and don't have any work to do. you have a life - you have more free time in a real job. You did not waste your education, the skills you have can be transfered into many position. You have organization skills, people skills, you are a self-starter and a person that can work without direction. Just get out before you stay so long that your self-esteem suffers and the fear sets in. When I was getting my masters degree, I read considerable research that said, the longer you stay in teaching, the more your self-esteem will suffer.