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By Melissa

Hi, Jen,

I was just too miserable to continue. I really don't know if it would have been better eventually. I don't think it would have. I only saw the kids getting worse, not better. The principal finally put an assistant
in my room to help me (after I had quit!), and things got better. The assistant helped me control the mob, which I was grateful for. I found that I was no longer going home each day with no voice from talking over so many kids.
I talked with the assistant several months after I left. She told me that the kids were still awful with the new teacher. They had even broken the

blinds in the classroom. She told me that the kids had not had enough control from the administration since they had been in school. (They were fifth graders when I had them.)

It's funny, but when I walked out of there, I had never even considered teaching again. I really had no thought at all of what I was going to do after I quit. I worked for a semester in a store and enjoyed it. It paid very little, compared to my teaching job, but it was a semester of vacation with a small paycheck, as far as I was concerned. I marvelled that I could go to the bathroom when I wanted to, have a child-free, duty-free lunch of a half hour, and the best part of all was that I regained my voice. I knew that working in a store with my salary not far above minimum wage was just a short reprieve, though. I knew that I would eventually have to get a "real" job.

That opportunity presented itself in November, when I saw an advertisement for a teaching position which was to start in January. I interviewed and got it. I left the semester off of my resume. Nobody ever asked me about it. They only knew that they desperately needed to fill a position which was suddenly left vacant, and there I was.

I no longer work at that school. I am employed as a fifth grade teacher in another school district closer to home. I am having a very good year. I have also improved my classroom management skills and have a much smaller class (only 17 students).

Now with your situation: How long have you worked in your current position? Is this your first year? If it is, I am sure you could just leave it off of your resume, especially if you are applying for another district. If you apply within the same district later on, you will probably be blackballed, as I was. I won't ever work in that district again, even though my husband does. They don't rehire people who quit.

Good luck, and let us know how you are doing.