And people wonder why I don't send my kids to school. (Not because of dedicated teachers like you, but because of what's wrong with the system.)

My DIL became a history teacher and is in her 2nd year at a city high school. She sure talked a good game when she was getting her degree. She had so many romantic ideas about how to make "history come alive!" Her reality is very, very different. The kids could not care less. She has the administrators and impossible standards to deal with, too. The workplace politics are unbelievable. She was asked by some students to sponsor a Gay-Straight Alliance club, and other TEACHERS are "monitoring" it to make sure she's not promoting the "gay lifestyle". Other TEACHERS have removed the club posters and didn't even try to hide that they did it. She's very disillusioned.

Karen



Quote Originally Posted by Veronica View Post
Oh my! I wish I only had 24 families to manage! I have 34 students in my 5th grade class. We're all about ready to quit at my grade level.

Too much is being asked of us and there is just not enough time to do what we need to do with so many kids! And I refuse to martyr myself. I am already putting in a good nine hour day M-F and 4 - 5 hours each weekend. I'm pretty organized, intelligent and responsible. And I am still not meeting all the demands of my district and the state.

The reading level in my classroom ranges from pre-primer to 11th grade. Huge amounts of my planning time are spent differentiating my instruction to meet the levels in my class.

Health benefits- it was cheaper for Thom to get his through COBRA when he quit his job than to go on my plan.

My kids this year are pretty good, although very low. I feel like a failure because I know that only about 10- 15% of my class will achieve the standards set for 5th grade. Intellectually I know that many of them entered my room with 2nd - 3rd grade skills. I know in a year, I can't bring them up 2- 3 grade levels. But still... it's my responsibility to get them there. I do wonder WTF are the parents doing?

It doesn't help that California has set the bar for standards higher than 40 other states, but is 47 or 48th in spending - hence my 34 students in my classroom.

My mantra has been, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

V.