Living in Egypt , near denial... or I'm ready to quit

[Crankin]

Well, I just feel bad for you Tri-Girl. I got Nat. Board certified about ten years ago. I did the work, kept it to myself, and took the money the state gave me for it... even when I was the biggest workaholic around, I still made time for the rest of my life. I don't know why teachers are such b****es to each other. OK guys, I can say this because I was a teacher for 31 years. I worked in 8 different places and it was the same everywhere; just varying degrees.
I taught SS to fifth graders for 2 years, along with LA to my HR. But I only had a team of 70 kids. After that, I just did LA in gr. 6 or 7. Yes, the work load is tough, but I preferred it to having to teach more than one subject.
One of the reasons I quit the job I had before my last job is that they were going to make me use a "series" to teach LA. I felt like I was being punished because I could teach skills and strategies within the context of a holistic approach. It's a lot more work, but definitely more fun. No one believed me when I said I would quit, but after I burst out in tears at a curriculum meeting, they sort of got the idea I was serious. I was just lucky someone else hired me, with 22 years experience. I had to do a lot of negotiating for the salary, but miraculously, they "found" an extra 15K over what they had budgeted for the position.
I had dinner the other night, with one of my former colleagues. I'll just say that I felt really good about my decision to quit. For the first time in my life, I am dealing with adults all day long.

[Tri Girl]

Do you use Scott Foresman SS?

That's what we use. You know this is the first year I've ever actually finished Unit 1. Usually I just don't have enough time.

Acutally, we do use that book. I like it, but our district has us moving so fast that I don't get time to get into it like I'd like. We just took our first benchmark test and my classes did terrible. 70 is passing, and I think I had about 60-70 percent of each class pass. Sad. And it's not because we didn't spend time reviewing (I gave a study guide, we spent a week preparing...)

Anyhow- I don't get to read to my classes because we switch every 55 min. I barely get to read to my homeroom class, but I take 15 min. out of L. Arts (out of a 35 min block) to read to them. I just read The Kid Who Ran For President and now I'm reading the sequel. They love it.
I miss being self contained. At least then I had control over the time, and if I had 5 little toots, then I only had to deal with them- not the 30 in all the classes.
Oh well- a job or career change is definitely in order next year. I'm probably going to leave teaching for a while. I don't know what I'll do, but I'll find something. I can go back to retail, or something. I won't make as much money, but I don't care. I'm willing to take a hit in the checkbook and save my sanity.

[Lifesgreat]

Ohhh... that's not good.

Nights when I'm lying awake trying to figure how to set up my room so that A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I J and K are all separated from each other...


Veronica

Sounds like one of those dreadful logical games problems. "A" wears a cowboy hat and loves hamburgers, "D" has a pet chinchilla, "C"'s favorite color is chartruse, "J" eats only Twinkies and rides a bicycle and "F" lives in a bungalow. Who drives the SUV? (Answer: C. The answer is always C, you should know that )

To the teachers on this board: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

[pardes]

I have always been of the opinion that teachers should be earning the highest salary of ANY profession. It's criminal that teachers aren't honored enough both socially and financially. Multiple teachers changed my life for the better in many many ways.