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Does This Get Better, At All?

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  • August 24, 2015 at 9:41 pm #82347
    Jerris
    Participant

    I just started my first year of teaching, and it’s kindergarten! The first day was last Monday, and that day went well. But the rest of the week was literally HELL ON EARTH. On Tuesday, I was trying to have a math lesson with floor time. My principal walked in and things were going ok, but then out of nowhere, two students were chasing each other around the room! I was so embarrassed, I just wanted to run out of the room and cry. She had to get them in line. So, she had arranged for me to observe the other teachers for the rest of the week. I haven’t really had a chance to fully teach my class because of this and my aide has been teaching them.
    This week we have testing and I     still won’t be able to really teach. The students won’t be with me for a regular school week until August 31st, so I’m going to take this time to reassess my classroom management and discipline plan.
    I teach minority students from low-income homes, so this is a bit of a challenge. When I try to tell them to do something, they either catch an attitude, do it for a few minutes, or they outright laugh in my face. When I try to exercise my authority, it’s like my voice falls on deaf ears, and I don’t know what to do! The other teachers use behavior charts, but some researchers say that behavior charts are demeaning to students. I’ve tried whole brain teaching, but that doesn’t seem to be working. It’s like nothing is working. I feel like such a failure. I really want to teach, and I know that the first year is going to be hard, but geez!! This is ridiculous. I can’t quit, but this is just so frustrating. It’s only been one week and I’m already burnt out and frazzled!! Any help/advice please! Thank you.

    • This topic was modified 9 years, 3 months ago by Jerris.
    August 25, 2015 at 8:42 am #82356
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear jerris

    I was a teacher and a substitute teacher for many years, mostly in secondary schools (6-12), very little experience in k-5. I had great difficulty with discipline and never found a way to… successfully deal with it. I observed others who did well in the same classrooms I failed at. What I figure is that the fact that throughout the time I worked I had great difficulties asserting myself outside the classroom. This made it impossible for me to make an exception in the classroom. It takes a LOT of skill to establish and maintain discipline in all the schools I have been in, even one K class was from hell. My suggestion is to take it as an incredible opportunity to practice assertiveness in your private life as well as at work, the two go together. It is similar to a psychotherapist who is afraid of her own emotions and yet trying to help a patient to feel comfortable with his/ her emotions. A good psychotherapist has to do work on herself so to be a good psychotherapist. Same here. Best wishes to you. Write more if you’d like.
    anita

    August 25, 2015 at 9:26 am #82358
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Adding: I made a projection in the above, and it may very well be inaccurate: I don’t have the information, don’t know of your assertiveness skills outside the classroom, in your personal life. Assertiveness in the classroom requires additional skills than those required in personal life. Those can be learned and improved through practice. From my personal experience, I was not able to practicve assertiveness in the classroom because I was seriously lacking assertiveness skills in my personal life. Without the latter, no way was I able to achieve the former. I simply felt uncomfortable asserting myself, I didn’t feel confident and worthy enough to … tell anyone what to do. Without that confidence, without the core belief that I was of value adn worth to exert reasonable control over others- I was doomed in the classroom. So for me things did NOT imporove.

    anita

    August 25, 2015 at 2:34 pm #82369
    jock
    Participant

    Anita you taught as well?
    Let it be known that I am also one of those ex teachers still suffering PTD from my time on the front line. It was absolute hell for me, with brief interludes of joy and reward. I taught elementary for 9 years mostly grades 3,4 and 5.
    My advice?
    Watch the movie Kindergarten Cop with Arnie Schwarzenneger. It proves that that there is more than one kind of tough. You need to be mentally tough for teaching, have stricter than normal boundaries and be extremely well organised. Think Mr Nice Guy works? No way. You need to present a new you, one who doesn’t smile too easily. Also the principles of training a dog might help. Incentives plus correction. Kids get your attention when they are behaving well. Unacceptable behaviour is dealt with swiftly. Time out or withdrawal of rewards. I think Kindergarten is the hardest because their attention span is so short.
    Re voice. I had/have a mousy voice. Join a public speaking group like Toastmasters and learn to project not only your voice but your whole body and soul. Also sing in the car and shower. Vibrate the lower tones in your throat like a Buddhist monkl chanting.
    Ok that should help. Good luck. remember you are not the first person to make mistakes in teaching. We’ve all been there.

    August 25, 2015 at 2:39 pm #82370
    jock
    Participant

    Without that confidence, without the core belief that I was of value adn worth to exert reasonable control over others- I was doomed in the classroom. So for me things did NOT imporove.

    well said anita
    that is so true
    core beliefs!
    it’s all about self-esteem in any area of your life. Just that the rigors of teaching and having to be the centre of attention, force you to confront your own lack of self-confidence. I never really enjoyed being the centre of attention because I didn’t believe in myself as one worthy of that attention. No wonder I had problem!!

    August 26, 2015 at 7:57 pm #82465
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Note to jack: thank you, jack, fellow sufferer. Often enough the only “teaching” skill I had that made it possible for me to go through a work day was my ability to take abuse. I had lots of experience in that lifetime. My last teaching/ substituting/whatever-that-was was June of 2010/

    anita

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