Why I Quit Teaching (Angry Version)

It's me again! This time, I tap into my frustration because, in complete honesty, I am ANGRY! I should be able to do what I love; I should be teaching. I can't. Rather, I won't because I have to prioritize myself because no one else will.
What's happening in education is wrong. We're losing amazing educators because we keep ignoring the obvious and pushing ridiculousness that isn't working.
Let's make a change. We can't afford to keep going this way.
#notyourordinaryteacher #education #elementaryteacher #formerteacher #whyiquit #teachershortage #teacher

[@joseluisherreralepron9987]

All your comments resonate deeply with me...I was able to retire last May after 27 years of teaching. It became a horrible system that I no longer felt I had any part in. Gaslighting, stupid district decisions, favoritism on the part of admin, students less and less interested in any curriculum and more interested in their phones and games...I was done.

[@jillsalkin7389]

I wish there were videos done by teachers your age. They are all done by people who are young enough to start another career. I would like to hear more of the perspective from veteran teachers.

[@zephead843]

@@jillsalkin7389 Interestingly, very few teachers actually pack up their toys and pursue another career. The disgruntled teacher who's "had it and ain't gonna take it anymore" is (largely) an urban myth perpetuated by the teachers unions and the radical left wing of the Democrat Party in an effort to juice teachers salaries.

[@nikoknightpuppetproduction369]

I can relate. After next school year I will be doing early retirement.

[@officialmelpeachey]

27 years to long it's 20 and out

[@Apricot90]

What are you doing now? I am 33 and have enough already...

[@MrsIBR]

11 years in teaching and I never felt like I was really valued by the education system. Every year they have a new way to show passive-aggressive messages about how we are not doing enough. Every year they break us down to think that we're not as effective. Every year they take away our creativity. Every year they remind us how they don't trust us but we are responsible for everything. Every year we lose ourselves to our jobs that don't give us anything to look forward to.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Yes! Even now as I'm trying to figure out my next career move, I suffer from imposter syndrome and not feeling like I know enough or am skilled enough and that comes DIRECTLY from the feelings that I've gotten in the education system. It's so disheartening! We deserve so much better because we do UNBELIEVABLE things all day, every day. I'm so sorry you have felt this way as well. You deserve better.

[@davidthomas9276]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for voicing your frustration at the lack of trust you feel. Taking the word of a standardized test instead of taking the word of a dedicated, prepared, trained professional who knows these kids - it says very plainly, "We don't trust you." How about we jettison those tests and begin to place a little faith in the good old report card. A little faith in the teacher's own assessment of the kids.

[@ujdd201]

Year 15.. You are spot on. It seems get worse every year.

[@zephead843]

Anytime you're feeling undervalued, take a look at your benefits package. You'll see that your job IS a benefits package. The "teaching" part is just something to pass the time. Perhaps that was not properly explained to you during new teacher orientation week.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

@@zephead843 It doesn't sound like you are a teacher by the assumptions you're making about our profession. But be sure to subscribe so you can get VALUABLE information on the education system. I look forward to sharing with you!

[@DJ50068]

I said nearly the same exact thing before I left in January. Teachers are not the problem. The system is broken and leadership could care less or is too clueless to figure out how to fix it. Hang in there.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Good job for putting yourself first! It's a really hard decision to make after years of putting everyone else ahead of yourself. Teachers are not the problem. They have been taken advantage of and abused and manipulated for far too long and these are the lasting impacts.. they can't find teachers. I find it so frustrating that, instead of listening to teachers, leadership and everyone who's in power are doing everything BUT that. It's so sad because it'll only get worse from here.

[@jaminschmitt]

I was a SPED para for 19 years. The SPED department has been floundering/drowning to the point where students are no where hearcgettingcwhatvtheyvbeed but the districts continue to pretend they are by putting on a front. Before I finally left last year I had several classrooms with 6-8 students I was expected to help. Several has social/emotional needs that often lead to fight it flight behavior. On top of this we’re new teachers who were thrown into the deep end completely blind-sided by terrible behaviors and attitudes. I spent the majority of my time putting out fires with the students I was responsible because the general Ed students would be disruptive causing mayhem. When the teacher finally had the good sense to remove the student from the environment those students would have a grand old time getting snacks and candy while playing in their phones in the “Planning” room. No calls to home were made. Many times the students would return to the classroom. Anyway, my breaking point came when I realized that every time I pulled up to the school I’d start to get queasy and I could figure out why. Turns out they were probably anxiety attacks. My whole point is that even though there are unlicensed staff positions within the district (ones where we may not have the education as a licensed teacher does) we were the foot soldiers. Not once was I ever invited to an IEP meeting or leaned on as a resource of experience by the higher ups. This kind of bureaucracy is unsustainable.

[@jillsalkin7389]

They COULDN'T care less, just like the profession could not be in a worse state.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

@@jaminschmitt I give you a LOT of credit for the work you did. I would not have made it these ten years if it weren't for the SPED teachers and paras. You're right, schools can't get enough paras to lighten their load. We have had openings for years. It's so hard when being told there's a set of extreme behaviors and then there's also several students with special needs and others with SEL needs. The teacher and para just have too many fires to put out. That's all it is every day. Teaching and learning is sacrificed because of it. It is absolutely unsustainable.

[@pistoffpussycat5778]

​@@notyourordinaryteacher We need a national walk out

[@roundtwo3321]

22:27 This is exactly what teaching is today. If you don't want to be treated this way, don't become a teacher. If this lady is being treated terribly and has finally decided to speak out to stop this esuba, you can trust it is really bad and systemic. "We spent years being gaslit, and bullied, and frankly abused into our jobs. Just tough it out for the kids...We are trained professionals...Stop getting in the way of that because you're actually creating the bigger problem." Principals/Admin, are you listening?

[@attitudeproblem6462]

If I'd been a teacher and seen the gratitude during the pandemic only to be thrown under the bus mere _months later,_ they'd have *never* seen me again.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I was SO amazed and grateful when it seemed like the world finally noticed our hard work. I had breakdowns daily in the weeks leading up to the return to school that year. There were SO many unkind and rude and awful things said to the public to and about teachers.

[@zephead843]

Teachers were working from home in their jammies and Teddy Bear slippers while sipping hot cocoa and getting paid full salary. How were they being "thrown under the bus?"

[@attitudeproblem6462]

@@zephead843 Clearly you missed the point. It doesn’t matter what they were wearing or drinking while *working* in _their_ homes , they were _still_ doing what YOU couldn’t do, which is educate *YOUR* brats. I say they should just leave you to it. You’re _clearly_ part of the problem.

[@jaydel3]

@@zephead843 Teachers had to learn various online tools and programs on the spot while still trying to teach students who have little attention span. It was brutal.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Don't stress responding to this zephead person. They aren't interested in learning about life as a teacher or experience in education . . . they just want to push their opinion without hearing anything else.

[@niftyniff1]

I'm in Europe but everything you're talking about feels really familiar, I also quit teaching last year. We have a huge shortage of teachers, a lot of programs to become teachers to fill the positions and so on. It was the tipping point for me when my city came up with bonuses for teachers who are new, haven't been teaching in the city for a year or relocated from other cities. These bonuses are given for one year, monthly, and they're roughly 1/3 of a teacher's salary. Excuse me, what about the rest of us who have been and are still working??? It was such a slap in the face and I said I'm done. No regrets about my decision.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

They are definitely making a lot of WRONG decisions when it comes to solving the teacher shortage crisis. It's unbelievable that they continuously believe that they can gaslight and abuse teachers believing that they'll just take it "for the kids." Here's the negative consequence of their mistreatment for YEARS.

[@RFergusson]

Sounds like Poland.

[@niftyniff1]

@@RFergusson Really? Poland did the same?? I'm in Lithuania, so yeah, really close.

[@RFergusson]

@@niftyniff1 Oh no, just the shortage. Aldi pays more than the school system here unless you are at a private school, but then you have horrible children of mostly nouveau riche parents who almost always have “not my child” syndrome when it comes to discipline.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

@@RFergusson Aldi pays more than the school system in Poland?! Oh my stars. Not a jab at Aldi, but DEFINITELY a jab at the school system!

[@selandscape]

I have been an agriculture education teacher 9-12 for 26 years. We get paid as administrators but the stress is so bad that I have already had a heart attack (widow maker) at age 49. I'm poppin pills from the doctor all day long to keep my sanity, all just to have health insurance. Screw this, I gotta have a change. Good on you for making a great decision!

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Oh my stars! I am so sorry that you've dealt with such stress and such negative results of teaching! This isn't how it's supposed to be! I hope you can find rest and healing.

[@zephead843]

Given your years in the system and your family history of heart disease, one would think that with documentation of your heart attack and a sign off from your cardiologist you'd easily qualify for a disability pension, which is usually two to three times what a regular pension would be.

[@Jane5720]

It’s ironic that we work for health insurance and that we actually need it because of our job that is making us unwell.

[@hippielady123]

I'm so sorry. Ya my blood pressure went sky high when I started teaching in my 30s

[@KrazyKrzysztof]

I hope you are plant based and exercise regularly

[@aknudsen93]

I am older than you but this has to be my last year teaching. Everything you said is so true. I am nervous because I'm in my '50s but the stress and low pay does not equate with the disrespect and everything else. Everything you said is so true. Wishing you the best on your journey.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

You are worth so much more than what is being dealt to teachers these days! I'm sorry you feel you have to leave as well, but good for putting yourself first! There are people and groups and opportunities to look into if you're trying to find your next step. Daphne Gomez and her company, Teacher Career Coach is a good start.

[@DetroitKim]

I'm 52 and quit after 26 years a few weeks ago - same boat - no idea what I'm doing after June but I refuse to be a part of a broken system that is hurting students and teachers continually . It's disgusting the way public ed is being destroyed by politicians , profiteers , administrators , and insane parents and groups that have no clue what is really going on . Maybe when enough of us leave and speak the truth things will change .

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I hope you find a more positive and meaningful and joyful path now! You deserve it after 26 years in the classroom!

[@zephead843]

A comfortable retirement makes up for everything, doesn't it?

[@pistoffpussycat5778]

​@@zephead843No, as shole. You can never pay us enough for the toll it takes on our health

[@caroleelaschwa5294]

Most administrators are former teachers and know full well how stressful it is! But somehow they get caught up in the power and demands on them, and lose their empathy for the teachers. Instead, they make the stress way worse for the teachers oftentimes. I went into instructional coaching when my son was a toddler because of the stress, and really tried to make things easier for the teachers, but they assumed I was there to police them. I look back on my teaching career and the best part was early on before Society went to hell

[@lorannamoody7011]

Years ago someone told me that the administration only looks up ⬆️

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I'm hoping to go into instructional coaching in a couple of years! I feel I could help teachers in ways I wasn't helped and hopefully be a buffer between teachers and admin.

[@caroleelaschwa5294]

@@notyourordinaryteacher good luck to you.

[@karengrice2303]

I totally agree. I spent three decades in public schools as a specialist. Poverty and drug use in the home has really taken its toll on the lives of children especially over the last decade. I also think the lack of nutritional food in public schools in the US is a serious problem. For many children, this is the only food that they receive in the day. There should be walled off court yards outside every school kitchen with fresh herbs and fresh vegetables. They should hire their own cooks to prepare fresh wholesome foods daily for breakfast and lunch. They also need to get rid of vending machines with junk food and Gatorade. There are plenty of studies on the effects of processed foods and dyes and what they do to a child’s attention span and behavior. We should have never allowed school breakfast and lunch to be taken over by private for profit corporations. When I was a kid, we were given one lunch option for lunch with a carton of milk. It was made fresh by the lunch ladies and everyone loved it and there were no major behavior issues with students.

[@HughTube-ni6kb]

Been on both sides of that fence. Admin is like the meat in a sandwich. The pressure from above for metrics and demonstratable data is insane. The system's designed to burn-out people. Wven the good ones. Admin attracts 1: teachers with subject mastery who want to help at a larger level, and ex-teachers good with beauracrcy, who want out of the classroom. Teaching littles: you have a class of 25 kids who all need support, but some more than others, but you're time is chronically limited. Admin: same thing but with a school. The noise and down-=pressure of politics and educational implementation is horrific. Admin (good and bad - I know) are struggling as well. This problem boils down to folks who don't understand how the sausage is made, providing the standards. Like an idiot telling a surgon how to do a brain operation.

[@DeniseMcKendry-p6t]

"The system is NOT set up for our sucess.' So true. 27 years in, and I left end of school year 2023.

[@kylemenos]

It is set up for success though. It's setup for success so much that it doesn't matter if the students fail their exams, they still pass. It's a requirement that you have only success. Year after year the bar is being lowered to meet those standards. Even the colleges are pushing for teachers to be less aware of this phenomena by issuing propaganda that says tests themselves are racist and shouldn't exist in order to hide the failure.

[@CutDaCrap]

I just dont understand how so many well educated ppl (not just in teaching but everywhere) can see, acknowledge, and complain about all the systemic issues, but yet at the same time, seemingly, no adult wants to actually DO anything about it?! At this point in life I am so confused by the human race, none of what we are dong makes ANY sense to me. When the solutions seem to be so easy, accessible, and better. We are actively working against ourselves. Since the pandemic and peoples absolutely insane responses to it, its made me realize that we have reached a point in our society where ppl are basically suicidal. Why do I say that? Its based on the behaviour (not the words) of what ppl from the age of 25-95 are doing. Self sabotaging harmful ignorant behaviour in an era where we have the most access to knowledge than ever before. Humans are CHOOSING this. That's the only conclusion I could come to since the pandemic.

[@Theomardell-v1t]

They are hard to solve because the solutions are expensive and there's not enough money to fix everything. Technology and society are going through rapid changes, kids lives are completely different from how they were 15 years ago, and the education system isn't keeping up.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

@@Theomardell-v1t I agree with what you're saying. I am ALL ready to make moves on making change, but I'd LOVE to know where to start or how to start. Will the groups that work on educational reform work with a former teacher who doesn't have a degree specific to that? It's a lot of research just to learn where to start. It is my hope to take action, but it takes time and I still need to find a way to make money now that I'm out of the classroom. It's hard when the systems keep us overworked and exhausted.

[@cherrlynnmurray]

As long as a few people at the top are making millions or trillions on this dysfunctional system it will continue until it collapse.

[@briangriffin8106]

Yes. This is being done intentionally. This is what the power brokers want. It's not a failure. It's a resounding success for the evil agenda.

[@zephead843]

@@Theomardell-v1t America spends more $$$ on its public education system than the GDP of over half the countries on the planet. Please.

[@GrahamConnor]

It's relatively similar in the UK too. To top off the disregard from the Government (we are currently striking), behaviour across the country within schools is absolutely abhorrent (a side effect of increasing poverty, lack of parental engagement, and cultural shifts). Teaching has become so much harder and many of us are burning out.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Oh no! I was hopeful that it was just the insanity of the USA government being utterly awful. The behaviors here are for the same reasons and it doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon because the systems in place outside of the classroom are only going to add to increased poverty, lack of parental engagement, and cultural shifts. It's so hard. I hope you find some reprieve and support and comfort.

[@nikoknightpuppetproduction369]

In Texas USA, teachers are fired from their jobs if they protest. We are not allowed to stand up for ourselves.

[@penandinklady]

I began teaching in 1979, and what is in the classroom now isn't anywhere near what I signed on to do all those years ago. I can say emphatically that over the years the quality of our principals has bottomed out. The support that I got from principals at the beginning of my career doesn't exist anymore. From a principal who was a part-time rancher to another who hired me to teach elementary behavior-challenged students (that's putting it nicely), then changed me to the high school behavior class which consisted of six boys who spent the entire day cursing two inches from my face, sometimes threatening to kill me...with NO support from administration. Life is too short, and my emotional and physical health is too precious to give it up. This may anger some teachers, but along with the incompetent principals out there, I definitely noticed a plethora of teachers who couldn't produce a grammatically-correct sentence, many who wore clothes better suited for yard work than leading our future citizens. All those qualities lead to the appearance of a lack of professionalism. Those things matter.

[@pistoffpussycat5778]

You're right about the teachers. It doesn't help bring respect to the profession when they're wearing flip-flops and dressing like clowns. The incorrect grammar and poor vocabulary and spelling drives me nuts too.

[@newmoonmama]

Preach girl! 👏🏼 you hit it on the nail! You know how many “teachers” we had that weren’t certified Nor even have a DEGREE?! Ya. Hot mess. I quit this year after 9 years. It hasn’t hit me yet bc it’s summer, but when school starts back it’s going to feel amazing to not have to go and sit through PD days and all that comes with it. This is the kind of video I Want to do, because I went through some sh*t….but afraid to do it because I worked with so many petty people who loved screen shotting things and snitching, that I’m sure Someone will see it and gripe about it.

[@peach_levell]

the pay teachers receive is blasphemous. When you consider daycare and the AMOUNT people pay for that, and then to top it off with the children receiving an education at the same time as that. Teachers should be one of the highest paid professions. Teachers create the next generation, who go on to be well-educated people of the society we live in, and to say they deserve a measly 30k?? no, its infuriating.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Thank you! I appreciate you for your respect and support of teachers and education and, ultimately, the students!

[@Creaserunner]

Yes it is, and a lot of people will shout this. Then teachers gonna strike and they change their tune, ‘greedy teachers and you are not raising my taxes.’

[@Arrabella2024]

$30k with a master's degree. Wow. I'm so sorry. That is beyond insulting.😢 What state are you in? I've always thought to myself that if teaching were a male-dominated field, you would never see this type of substandard pay or working conditions. Men simply would not put up with it.

[@virginiaoflaherty2983]

True. But how many say - but I love the kids sooooo much. This teacher even bought books for her former students. I wish I had all the money I spent on my students. I could take several long international holidays. Doing all that when nobody actually gives a shit, especially the students.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Those were my first three years teaching, then I got my Masters Degree and moved to a different state and it improved. You might be right. Male-dominated fields are typically fields that have more respect. Teachers are highly educated and they deserve respect.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

@@virginiaoflaherty2983 I would tell my students, "If I had all the money in the world, I'd spend it all on you." They were shocked and surprised every time. It broke my heart. When I was cleaning out my room, I realized that I was leaving hundreds and even thousands of dollars of things behind. The positive in it all is most of what I left was gifted to my replacement teacher who would have SO MUCH more to start with in her career once she finished the school year.

[@Arrabella2024]

@@notyourordinaryteacher Yes, unfortunately. Researchers have compared average pay for professions that were once male-dominated, but are now more or less female-dominated, and the average pay has gone down for pretty much all of them. Other factors could be at work here, but it does make you wonder.

[@standepain]

I guess it depends on the area. Teacher have it made in my area at least in New Jersey. $60k to start, my friend who is going into her 21st year is at $90k with just a bachelors while my cousin at the same school has his master +20 and is making $110k. ...but then my buddy who teaches 2 towns over in Pennsylvania and he has a master and has been teaching for well over a decade salary is listed at $57K. Crazy the difference.

[@cyndig1670]

My well seasoned Sped Ed teacher friend was replaced in middle of school year by a student teacher that her Principal manipulated into the situation.It is unethical and illegal to allow a student teacher to do that but Principals can get away with anything.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Oh my stars! That is such a mess! And a shame to your friend and all the students she worked with.

[@t3tsuyaguy1]

I keep coming across these videos from burnt out frustrated teachers, talking about how nothing is changing. I believe you. What you describe sounds exactly like what I experienced in school decades ago. It also makes me intensely grateful for my daughter's school. They are changing. They've changed. From the way they handle discipline, to the homework they send home, it's all completely different from what I experienced and what you're describing. I think I got really lucky, because I didn't have the option of sending my daughter anywhere else. I don't know what it would take to have other schools and districts handle things the way they are, but I fear that we're going to lose a lot of good teachers from field before things get better.

[@hippielady123]

They even changed history

[@t3tsuyaguy1]

@@hippielady123 Yes. The revisionist history is actually quite frightening. There was an attempt to do that from the right in the mid to late noughties. They actually managed to take over the Texas school board and promptly started trying to erase Jefferson and Adams from the history books, because they wanted to undermine the separation of church from state. They might have succeeded except they moved too quickly and spurred recall elections that saw them all removed, and the organization sponsoring them permanently barred from involvement with the board. These people have managed far more reaching and more sinister changes. Worse than that they have managed to indoctrinate a frightening proportion of generation z into a way of thinking that is leading them to see the revision of history as virtue. The latest craziness is a trend on Tik Tok that has young people concluding that Osama Bin Laden was actually the good guy. No kidding. Look it up. Maybe have a scotch handy first.

[@hippielady123]

@@t3tsuyaguy1 it's scary and sad

[@t3tsuyaguy1]

@@hippielady123 There's hope. They are being exposed, and people are drawing lines. As frightening as it is that they managed to accomplish all that they have, I think enough folks in the right places can see what's happening and are suitably motivated to take action.

[@ScarryGargoyle]

I’m starting to think, this is no longer a coincidence. I wonder if the teachers leaving in masses, the awful breakdown we’re seeing in our schools; society, is being done deliberately. It’s far fetched , I know, but what if they’re making it so unbearable for both the students, and parents, for a way bigger picture.

[@rebekahmontesdeoca565]

Just a result of the breakdown of culture, accelerated by the effects of the internet (which is an amplifier for anything happening in the culture). It's happening in many countries too so it seems unlikely to be a consipiracy.

[@Boognish64]

I was saying this back when I was in school in the 90s lol. Their plan seems to be working

[@pistoffpussycat5778]

It is on purpose. The Globalist want chaos and a broken society so we give up our autonomy and submit to their rule out of fear and frustration.

[@pistoffpussycat5778]

​@@rebekahmontesdeoca565It IS a conspiracy by the Globalists/WEF/Who/Bilderberg...all the same entity

[@phillatella6470]

Education is broken at the higest levels. It starts with the Federal Government down to the local school boards. It is sad. The system breaks those who care, and rewards the lazy, ignorant, and complacent.

[@roundtwo3321]

It really is. It's like they are purposefully creating this chaos, so our children don't get educated.

[@xazy]

"I'm really angry. I know I'm smiling because my anger makes me uncomfortable. But I'm so angry..." This statement alone tells me that you are good with kids and I wish for more people to develop this kind of simple understanding of themselves (their emotions and how they manifest outwardly) AND how to communicate it so plainly. I wish also for you to find success in your future endeavors, you seem like a really good person doing good things for the right reasons.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Thank you very much. I appreciate you!

[@SD9xcp311x]

I taught for 25 years. It too was my calling. As the Business Model of Education (Thanks to Billy G.) steamrolled into my district (around 2012-13) schools became part of the profits over people paradigm. Profits measured in data points and test scores leading to increased federal and state gravy-trains. My exit strategy was kidney disease, In a sane world I should not have wanted to prefer dialysis to what "teaching" had turned into.! When I started I could be creative in my lesson designs and management plans. By the time I left the classroom the entire curriculum was trending into a "Common Core" technology derived "Everybody teaches the SAME thing at the same time NO MATTER WHAT" system. The kids were awesome even if wild and impulsive at times. I totally blame power-hungry administrators for buying into, forcing and supporting this insanity. One trick of administration was to divide and conquer; they turned the teachers against each other. There was no caring community of educators. I saw teachers anxious and eager to help the administration so they wouldn't be the ones "in trouble". A sick sad system that only harms our kids in so many ways. My students took like 4-5 standardized tests every year. They HATED it! I totally agree with everything you say in this video!

[@Iwenttothewoods1379]

I love how you brought up the fact that lack of sleep and mental health with the extra unforeseen circumstances and extra hats, we cannot teach at 100%.

[@momsmoves]

Thank you for sharing this. I can relate to what you were sharing. I was a teacher for middle school and it was rough. I don’t feel like the training I needed was adequate for what I was kind of thrown into. Also my background was not in education but I have subbed for some years now.

[@eatinnteachin4545]

It would be great if like-minded teachers within each city, could come together and decide a possible solution. I am also a ""not-by-the-script" teacher. While, as you stated, there are those who feel more comfortable with the support of a scripted lesson. I also agree that students need to be given grace, with respect to their emotional, physical, and mental needs. Thank you for posting!

[@trinicarillo4179]

I am surprised they let you back after quitting. Typically they don’t let you back in. Good luck to you on your new journey.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I don't think they can be too picky these days. There are too many open teaching positions in every district and my replacement was a college student who was doing her student teaching placement as a full-time teacher. She is rocking it, but that shouldn't be her experience. I also left as respectfully as possible. I wanted to leave on good terms because I know that I can always return to teaching and I don't want any bad vibes in the way of that.

[@kerrylavelle9303]

Thank you for and all the teachers out there. 👏👏👏👏

[@shannonbrown560]

I feel your pain and anger because I am an empath for one and a teacher too and I also am angry because administrators have put me down a lot instead of lifting me up! Education has been in a downward spiral I have been teaching for 12 years but last year I was a substitute. I also don't know what to do if I dont' teach. Don't teach on the islands perhaps because it's very tough and i need to move back to the mainland. And I also have a lot of angry too. Thanks for being genuine and unapologetic... I love to see people unafraid to express true heart! I'm sorry that you have to go through this and that we all do in this field.. Big hugs!

[@zoolzool1]

I’ve seen both of her “why I quit…” videos. The stuff she’s complaining about in this one I’ve heard a million times from teachers all my life. “Testing. No respect. No trust. LET ME TEACH!!!” I think what happened to this woman is what’s happened to many people in any job. Their mental health got the better of them. I also think she idealized teaching and didn’t see the reality of how crappy it can be. Any teacher reaches a point, maybe more than once, when they ask themselves why they do what they do. Frustrations and gripes aside, they FIND a way to push through for themselves first, THEN their students. This is why teachers go to different schools, districts, subjects and grades from time to time. They need a fresh start. Teachers who do the job for 25 plus years don’t do it because they need affirmation or love or respect from the rest of the world. If you need that validation all the time, you’re never going to find happiness in teaching. This woman thought nothing could be better than teaching. Lockdowns got the better of her and she developed an eating disorder (again?) and she saw teaching and life for what they are. Another person would have taken a break or found ways to “suck up” the work problems while dealing with life. She chose to walk away completely and blame everything except her simply getting overwhelmed and crashing and burning. Now she wants to try and change education from some other angle. She’s going to end up being those people, who don’t teach, have no clue what goes on in the classroom (because she doesn’t teach anymore) and is going to tell teachers and admins and districts her vision of making things “better.” She’s going to become a part of the same problem she despises right now. No thanks. “I should be teaching!” Well then figure out the source of your mental health issues. Mature and grow up and come back to it when you’re ready. Fix yourself. Stop blaming everything else. You want to teach? Do so. No job is perfect, but doctors, nurses, etc. remember why they do what they do and find a way to do it. Don’t idealize anything. Solve your problems, face reality, accept the things you can’t change and go back to doing what you love.

[@Boognish64]

Ding ding ding ding! All this “We are PROFESSIONALS! Our job is Urgent!” stuff doesn’t mask the truth.

[@Prechelle95]

You just articulated all my thoughts and more importantly proved we have more in common than we don’t

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

YES! We have lots in common. This is happening EVERYWHERE and it breaks my heart.

[@jahsmitty13]

Personally, the only thing we teachers don't have that we really need are concerned parents. I can deal with the lack of any other resources if I had that.

[@cindyfreihofer2093]

I agree with everything you have to say. However, I know I will probably get pushback but having taught for 20 years and substitute teaching for six, I don't think visiting the classroom was a good idea. They are establishing a new relationship with their new teacher and you left them with questions they had for you about coming back, etc which was so very sad. She then had to explain to them their questions after you left. I know because I replaced a teacher on a maternity leave who was absolutely adored and I was left with the sadness of the kiddos after she left.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

You're absolutely right. It might not have been the best choice. If it was something my replacement didn't want, I wouldn't have done it. There were days when I was at school, but didn't see my kids because I hadn't checked with her previously. I just wanted to make sure the kids knew that I still cared and supported them because I know in this area, people come and go for them and I just hate that I'm another person who has left. I don't want to cause them pain, but there's pain either way.

[@fabfab5450]

I've worked in a school where the demographics, etc. are exactly as you've described and you are exactly right. I put my all in and all I was left with was being psychologically traumatized by being expected to have the kids perform academically like the kids in the richest parts of the city.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

It is SO hard because I LOVED where I've taught. The district gives us the same curriculum for the schools with greater support and the ones with the least support and expect the same results. We need to differentiate our curriculums and learning opportunities so ALL students truly have an opportunity to be successful. It's heartbreaking because the system is still failing them.

[@cherrlynnmurray]

Let's stop beating around the bush...Teacher's have been turned into high price/disrespected (by all) BABY SISTERS!!

[@MrSypratt]

Not exactly… a baby sitter only has responsibility to watch the kid for a time. Then they’re done. Baby sitters don’t fill out endless paperwork, attend mind-numbing meetings, write curriculum, design assignments, give and grade exams… Baby sitting is easy in comparison!!

[@cherrlynnmurray]

@@MrSypratt I agree...But you got my drift.

[@byeteaching]

Fantastic content! I appreciate how you've provided concrete examples of mistakes and offered practical solutions. Your advice will undoubtedly help teachers navigate the job market outside of education more effectively. Well done!

[@chrismoishedavis3625]

Starting your own private / charter school or teaching abroad is really the only answer right

[@Love-dw6ry]

I love and appreciate you Human Sister. Thank you for caring and speaking truth. All will turn around. People like you, and me, and thousands of others will make it so. Stay the course serving in new capacities that will effect the change!

[@AyakoTachi]

I'm still in. More and more we're hiring people with degree mill "degrees," no license, no student teaching, etc. They invariably last 1 year. Special ed positions sometimes don't have any applicants and remain unfilled. Very different from when I started 20 years ago and many openings had competitive interviews and we were picking from 10 people all with pertinent masters degrees.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I hated leaving because I knew what it was doing to my peers. It's more stress and pressure on them. They need to stop putting crappy band-aids on a gushing wound and really revamp the whole system.

[@BarryBrandon-mz7gb]

I had a professional Clear Credential and still had to interview and sub for another year before being hired. New teachers get in much easier these last five years or so.

[@easiersaidwithmeg]

I’m sorry girl I had to stop listening at 1 minute and 16 seconds because I was going to start sobbing. I’ll be back

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I'm sorry. Do you work with kids? These last few years have been such a challenge.

[@easiersaidwithmeg]

@@notyourordinaryteacher I quit teaching too my vid got a lot of traction on my page so believe me I understand

[@jackie_twirlsmarashlian6947]

So important to talk about this and I appreciate it. The unions, I might add, are not supporting us either and we pay those dues religiously each month to protect us. It's laughable

[@joshuam8146]

If male teachers were not thrown out of the educational system the problem with pay would have already been solved.

[@collegeman1988]

I’m so sorry this has happened to you. I can tell that you are very, very upset about this because you are absolutely right. You were meant to be a teacher, but you can’t do this anymore because of the broken educational system we have in the United States. For almost a decade, I worked with community college students until there were major changes in funding of adult education, and also changes in curriculum that made it so the community college I was working at wasn’t helping the students anymore. I have a master’s degree in education and I wrote a research paper in graduate school about No Child Left Behind policies and testing being harmful to students. What’s strange is the standardized testing being conducted in public schools is normative based testing and not criterion based testing. A great example of how absurd this is was given in a peer reviewed source I used as part of that research paper. When you take a test to get your driver’s license, you are tested to see if you meet the criteria of being capable of safely driving a motor vehicle. You are NOT being tested on a curve to see how well you do on that test compared to all other people being tested to get their driver’s licenses. The testing arrangement is set up to make public school education in this country to fail. Politicians can then proclaim, “See? It doesn’t work! Let’s give out vouchers to everyone and they can decide what school they want to go to.” The only problem is that this only will benefit those well off enough to pay for private education, while the majority of those who are economically disadvantaged will suffer and really will fall behind when it comes to their educational needs.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

You are ABSOLUTELY correct on all of it! We see it happening and it's going to be the end of educational and future opportunities for so many students who deserve and need these opportunities.

[@EToalston]

The cruelty is the point.

[@sharinaross1865]

What do you do now?

[@pistoffpussycat5778]

I think it's intentional so they can create an ignorant class of slaves to do all the hard work.

[@Senacacrane]

I think what shocked me was that these kids just don't care and yet they're at school.

[@SmartMoufShirts]

Also, white hot rage is the most delicious kind, if you see it on the menu. It's only better when paired with revenge, which (as you may know) is best served cold. Don't discount the value of being enraged or outgraged by circumstances. It indicates your passion and zeal. When prfound injustices are imposed on crucial people, those of us most disturbed and angered by it are the same who activate changes in the system. How people don't know you get what you pay for applies to education is beyond me.

[@andrewoliver7095]

We are truly wasting a generation of children due to how abysmal the system is now. Truly a dystopian situation for both the students and their teachers.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

My heart breaks for my students and students all over.

[@marvinwicks6548]

Kind of like the “Mad Max” movies, right?

[@Creaserunner]

Read “the anxious generation.’

[@jamiepatterson1214]

When I did my student teaching in PE some 50 odd years ago, it didn't take me long to realize I would become nothing more than a glorified babysitter if I went into teaching. Some years later, and a move across the country, and I found a meaningful job I stay at for 34 1/2 years. To this day, and how much education has gone into the toilet for the most part, I'm glad for my decision at that time.

[@hippielady123]

Hi. Injured PE teacher here I'm 63. In pain all the time with a neck injury. Babysitter is the rite analogy! Babysitter to dangerous brats that the parent say "my baby wouldn't do that"! I had a fence fall on my head, was shoved into the shower wall, then had a basketball drop kicked to my head. I wanted to teach so bad but the student were not teachable. When I got out tennis, all the boys were beating the girls with the tennis balls, or in flag football they would tackle a student and then all kick him. I taught in Barrio Logan, wanna be west cost crypts, and in northern Cali I taught wanna be bloods. I was scared every day

[@jamiepatterson1214]

@hippielady123 I could see the pattern was started early on in school, and it would be next to impossible to actually teach anything in PE. For it to change, it would have to start in elementary school, with teachers that actually had students do more that go play while teachers sat and watched. An administrator came from Canada and talked to one of the classes I had to take. He said they offer 30 different PE courses every semester. From bowling on the gym floor to repelling using the gym roof. One of the math teachers even taught chess. Not in our schools back then. It was softball, football, basketball, and soccer. And it was always the boys who started developing against the boys who hadn't hit puberty yet. Then there was the grading. Those who hadn't started puberty yet often tried harder than those who'd started puberty but received the lower grade because they weren't physically mature enough to do any better. I had an associate professor in college who believed PE shouldn't be graded, and I saw first hand why he believed that.

[@hippielady123]

@@jamiepatterson1214 excuse me! I'm not a babysitter pe teacher! I was up and engaged in all activities. I went to as much college as all teachers do! Yes it needs to start in elementary school, but it needs to be maintained in the upper grades. You are just insulting pe teachers. If the students just sat in class all the time they would climb the walls. Plus all kids would be obese! Plus activity is proven to stimulate brain activity! Try fixing the problem and stop insulting other teachers

[@J.S.3259]

America is a unique country in that there is no collective sense of self-reflexivity, which is why it doesn’t learn from its mistakes. The privatization of education (charter schools), unavailable parents, cowardly administrators, and an inability to curb obsessive csmartphone usage are all signals that education in the country has entered its death spiral. I have no doubt that most districts will pivot to online-only models that might offer drop-in tutoring/ babysitting within a decade. We’re fucked

[@jillsalkin7389]

I agree. When you hear from teachers who LOVED it, and who leave, you know it's the death knoll. Our government knows what is going on, and nothing is being done. It's because they can't say what the truth is: there is no longer character traits that the system needs to effectively work. Lack of respect from parents and their children. What are you supposed to do with THAT?!

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

It's really hard to feel hopeful for the future of education and with that, our society. It seems like people in power thrive off of keeping citizens numb and dumb to truth and history and their shenanigans. I want to get involved with education reform and fight to make a change, I'm just trying to find out where I can get a start.

[@DJ50068]

@J. Shapiro Won’t be the worst thing. Schools are baby sitting centers nowadays. That’s the reason there was such a push to get back so people could go back to work.

[@DJ50068]

@@notyourordinaryteacher I saw a cdc poll recently that said 24% of parents think they should have more say in school curriculum. My first thought was come on in or teach them yourself then. My second thought was I’m glad the cdc cares about what the teachers think lol

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

@@DJ50068 Right?! They dance around the topic of helping education, but no research or study or poll I've found actually asks teachers! It's so frustrating. I'll be making a video on my thoughts on parents and their believed "rights" in school curriculum because it's getting wild.

[@kirkfelmar2944]

I taught for 21 years. Never again!

[@ImaginaryMdA]

The fact that teachers are not some of the best paid people in society is an outrage. What exactly do we expect the next generation to accomplish if we're stretching their teachers to their absolute limits?

[@SmartMoufShirts]

The rationale behind standardized testing is to get some objective metric of students' mastery of the material to that point in their academia. The problem is the implementation. The test instrument is fine, as it is laid out, and for its content, but putting the students through an exhaustive test of everything they should know on a multipl-choice exam is not practical. Essentially, it takes a blurry snapshot of every student on their worst psosible day - or days. Such testing has to be done as a practicum. We want students to demonstrate how well they know their material naturally, and confidently. Many of them don't express that naturally or confidently on the scantron tests - especially in lower school. It's not much better in high school! When I got to college and took my first practical test, I fell in love. I finally understood why studying for a test was so hard. I was trying to cram information into my head instead of grasping concepts. Now our schools are firehosing facts into our kids before their poor brains can absorb them, and asking them to regurgitate onto a computer form. That's not education. It's programming! I know because I was a programmer, back in the 80s, when we had to put our facts on punch cards and feed them into a computer to see if we were right!

[@hippielady123]

Injured teacher here! I was injured for life by a student that drop kicked a basketball to my head! My neck is injured for life. I had to quit or I would be beating the crap out of administration and violent students. I'm scared to go back even if I could get better. The administration would not help me contain my class. I asked teachers union for help and got nothing. I paid them over $300 a month and they do nothing! I even went to the school councilors for help. Then they let me get injured for life. All the schools care about is attendance! Bodies in seats, but the schools I worked at were very dangerous. I could not teach indoors because they threw things at me. If you send them to the office, they send them right back and blame the teacher. My school had over 150 referrals referrals to the office in 1 month and so they told us to stop sending them and to handle it alone. At another job they had a non certified teacher above me and I am certified! I went rounds with her not listening to me when I was supposed to be in charge. Now that time the teachers union stepped in and told the principal he was in the wrong. So yes they do put in just bodies thst are not trained or educated. I understand completely your frustration, I'm frustrated to. I miss teaching and the goose bumps I got when a girl would 1 handedly make a perfect basket. I miss talent shows, I miss everything. I think that you would have to gather a group of teachers of all grades and subjects to put together a new curriculum and introduce it to the board of directors. Or try and get on the board, then you have more pull. I tired to help yrs ago but no one would listen.

[@shanlange6331]

@@hippielady123 hello hippie lady I live in Florida now, but spent most of my life in and around San Diego so I was a beach babe…….. I work as a special education, teachers assistant, severe. I would say switch from education to medicine of some kind…….Peace.

[@nikoknightpuppetproduction369]

Sadly, the same reasons are why I will be retiring early because it is only getting worse and more stressful.

[@hippielady123]

Retire before u get hurt

[@nikicarrie4071]

I feel like the whole united states is this way. Control and laws for the sake of laws in order to fine citizens, while not even giving people livable wages. No breaks for the individual so many things.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Yes. There is so much that impacts education and is impacted by education because it all plays into a broken system.

[@hippielady123]

I left in 2006 and still have PTSD

[@davidthomas9276]

As long as governments run schools, those schools will be run on a government model - top-heavy, bloated bureaucracies existing on tax money which citizens are forced to pay. This may be the source of some of the resentment teachers feel.

[@dariusx4829]

I agree with many of your points but I disagree with the systemic racism angle. I'm black and I have taught many years in schools with high minority populations. The uncomfortable truth is that it is a cultural issue, not racism. When you don't read to your child, when you don't have your child to read to you, when you give your child a $1,000 phone and third grade, when you let your child play video games all night, when you let your child listen to violent/ misogynistic music that's not racism. That's lack of commitment to your child's education.

[@Jeremy_the_bot]

Yes yes and yes!!!! Wow!!@

[@marniekilbourne608]

My brother has a Psych degree and he just went back to do some accelerated program with the college I went to and now he teaches Math. Not all of them are total crap.

[@jc1979af]

Just started. I agree with the salary being an issue. If I didn't have my military retirement check, I couldn't afford to teach. My retirement check surpasses what the district pays. College educated subject matter experts deserve more than slightly over minimum wage. I think people don't understand the profession and think it's the 1980s where teachers just gave out ditto sheets and left work at 3:30pm

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I'd like to say that it's shocking that your retirement check surpasses what the district pays.. but it's really not surprising and that's the problem! Teachers are EDUCATED PROFESSIONALS and deserve the financial respect of that. The demand and expectation of ALL this extra work is unbearable and unsustainable!

[@hippielady123]

Try middle or high school, then you will really understand

[@christinepeel9461]

It goes back to parenting. Parents are too hands-off. My children never behaved like this in the 90s at school. We parented. Nowadays, screens ruin children for the real world, they don’t help them connect to humans to build relationships or care about values. We also had our children in church. That was the most important piece bringing up a child. Nowadays, they have replaced God and his teachings. This is the product.

[@beemaningi]

Thank you. This was really good to hear. I wish I and everyone understood what teachers experienced. This video is a truly great help. In response to your brave and excellent video, I hope we as a society answer you and other teachers by making changes. I've heard standardized testing is wrongheaded but I don't know what it is really. If you make another video (and you certainly don't need to! you've already done a great service as a teacher and again in this video that you made; and you have inspired me to find out more about it ), or if any other teachers who make a video read this, I believe I and others have a lot to learn about how the standardized testing gets in the way. It might help me and others to hear perhaps a story about how the standardized testing disserved a child. Or to hear how it got in the way of a teacher's creativity and insight that could have benefitted a child. Or if it made kids nervous and if that made learning less appealing and less effective. You really helped me and us with this video. Best wishes.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I really appreciate your support of teachers and willingness to be openminded in something you might not be familiar with. I think that's a GREAT idea for a video. I will begin researching information about standardized testing so I can bring you facts about them! I actually have been inspired for a couple of different videos because of your suggestions! It might take a couple of weeks, but check back and I will get you information! Thank you SO much for your response! It was valuable!

[@mjones8733]

There is so much money tied up in testing and the curricula tied to that testing that it is never going anywhere. I’m a teacher, and I totally agree with you, but this is America and I’m afraid that corporate greed will always win.

[@ailing9119]

I have a lot of respect for your profession and also for your decision to leave. It is a great lost to the school and to the country as a whole. Teachers are not replaceable nor are they simply just a standing figure in class. The system is broken. Feel the anger to the fullest but don’t let it eat you up. Big hugs to you.❤

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Thank you so much! I appreciate you!

[@reddblackjack]

The entire education system is sad from my perspective. It's got so much more to do with everything you say, and I really feel for ya. I went into the culinary arts, and have seen basic skills and respect fall off from young adults in the last thirty years, and I kinda understand how it happened but not why. I've got a story, but things like math, reading aloud or even at all, showing respect to bosses, history and social responsibility, even ethics and desire for learning has gotten worse. I don't have kids myself but many from my generation and even back to baby boomers ( because my parents aren't boomers) have just gotten lazier, little by little. And I mean no one any disrespect, but it's just something I see over time. I was born in 76 to parents born in '37 & '44. Since they're technically not boomers I don't feel like Gen X. I loved school, but only did enough homework to get by, so I'm a lazy SOB too. Lazy enough to not have kids, but that's more about my poor eyesight I don't want to pass on. I did the reports and projects and fun stuff that took effort, but since I was already a smart kid and could understand the material easily without taking notes, I didn't do a whole lot of regular homework. I had read a dictionary, skimmed through the encyclopedia Britannica 1978, and would usually read ahead in textbooks because I enjoy knowing stuff. Learning to me is fun! In high School, I was able to take college culinary courses for both HS and college credit, and after my second semester at the college after graduating HS at age 17, I started to have second thoughts thinking I just started too soon. The work load for culinary arts is massive, both physical and mental with tons to remember and it was extra hard with my bad eyes. So, I almost went into teaching. One day hanging out with a HS math teacher of mine after culinary school. I talked to him about my second thoughts in career choice. He was a great math teacher. He made sure we all understood the subject matter, got really excited when his students showed they got it, and he was a humourous nerdy guy. He was kinda like Jeff Foxworthy's dorky cousin and I was probably the only person who would hang out outside of school with teachers, but I had many great teachers I would have hung out with. Basically he warned me against not becoming a teacher. This was 1995 and he had told me he saw how difficult it was to be a teacher. He thought I was a great student though because I breezed through consumer math in three weeks with him. I'd show up at lunch while he was either grading papers or eating his own lunch. I'd have the chapter work from the text done and spend half an hour taking the test. Fifteen chapters, fifteen tests, fifteen school days and it was the easiest and fastest A my entire life. I think he had some insight into how the education system was changing. He also figured I'd make tons more money in the culinary arts, but I am still curious about how different my life would have been if I switched to get a math degree and teaching certificate. Over the years I encounter young adults who couldn't do recipe conversion, or figure out one with European measurements, or other things that come naturally. And the smartphone also has made people dumb too. Even though one can be used to research almost anything, they don't get used for it. One can do math, watch news and read books on one, they aren't used for that either. At least not by kids who don't want to learn anything. If I had one of these when I was in school, I probably would have used it to help me with homework. Seriously, if there's a concept, math procedure or historical event someone wants to know more about, there's probably a KZbin video, Wikipedia entry, or something about it. But I don't think young people do this type of thing. It boggles my mind when trying to talk with most young adults, especially the 20-somethings who are less intelligent than I was at age ten. And now the Orange Blunder and Racist Teddy Ruxpin want to do away with education entirely! The biggest thing I can't fathom is how the Heck does that make America better? I'm rambling now, but I don't blame you for quitting teaching. If it's that lame now, what kinda future do we have?

[@pistoffpussycat5778]

Ok. I was following along until your last paragraph. Saying Orange guy is racist shows me you're not a critical thinker enough to do your own research. There is no supporting evidence or substaiated quote that Orange guy said that was racist. The MSM edited things he said and cut parts out of context to make him look racist. Hrs no saint, but the racist label comes from second hand stuff you heard or read. I have mad respect for culinary people, being that my son is very intelligent and a chef so I'm aware of all the training and knowledge needed. Just do better, my guy, before venturing into the political. You're more detail-oriented than that.

[@CEWIII9873]

I thought it was because they discovered your OF page...

[@joshuam8146]

4:30 in the United States teachers are not valued because teachers don't teach things that are useful. It would have been nice to have been taught how to do my income tax.

[@sawas2421]

High school does teach that (on a very basic level) in a class called financial literacy, required for graduation. The kids all complain about it - it's boring (aka it isn't as entertaining as scrolling on their phones and snap chatting their friends). The kids don't want to learn; they want to be entertained. Many parents don't really care if the kids learn anything at school; they want the kid to be kept busy and out of their hair. A subset of parents of high schools in well-to-do areas are all expecting their "very specially gifted" kids' extracurricular activities to lead to unrealistic careers like professional sports so the academic side of high school is not the priority.

[@marniekilbourne608]

I dealt with MANY of these issues 20 years ago. So I quit. Things are not likely to change for the better. It really just gets worse. I had to watch what I said. We all knew that the pay for teachers is WAY less for other professions that require a Bachelor's degree. There are jobs that don't require a degree that pay a lot more and they are less stressful by comparison. Everyone knows going in that you are not going to make even decent money. The pay has always been very low and that is not going to change. That is why it is better for a single person or for a married person so there are two household incomes. Many teachers also have part time jobs.

[@LauraAnn309]

Me too. I was a teacher from 2003 to 2006. I’m glad I got out when I did 😮

[@Apricot90]

What are y'all doing now instead of teaching?

[@LauraAnn309]

@@Apricot90 I had a bio degree as well so I’ve been a med tech for 17 years. I got lucky though because I got in just as my state was starting all the licensing stuff. Later, I decided to get an online associate in med tech since it was a bit different than straight bio. It was the best thing I ever did for myself!

[@BarryBrandon-mz7gb]

It was low at first.....in mid 90's, but now my pay has more than quadrupled.

[@kimsaxon4943]

May I make a suggestion? As a teacher who has been on your side of this situation, and also the teacher who followed a much-loved teacher who WOULD NOT STOP coming around after they left. My suggestion is to stop going to visit HER students. You chose to leave. When you show up and the students run to you to ask if you are going to be their teacher again, you undermine her and make her job more difficult. Accept that they are her students now. Give her the space to be their teacher.

[@rebekahmontesdeoca565]

Good plan, although in this case she did say that the current teacher invited her. She probably shouldn't make a habit of it though.

[@johnny2552]

Mega props to you for speaking about it.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Thank you! If we don't talk about it, NOTHING will ever change. With enough people talking about it (and there are MANY teachers sharing their leaving stories on ALL social media), maybe we'll get the wake up call to the people in charge to really listen to teachers and make changes that ACTUALLY help.

[@Creaserunner]

Update-Mohave you seen jonathan Haidts books? Interviews - hopefully it will get the ball rolling. I’ve been teaching over 25myears after having many other jobs and I love teaching and hate the system that has gotten much worse. Until teachers all across this country grow a backbone and walk out nothing will change. No one takes us seriously and peoples actions and policies show they simply don’t care about children; especially if they are poor working class.

[@yonitznkc]

I quit my sp.ed. job 11-days-ago. What do you do now ? I’m all ears.🙏

[@mikeofmanymikes2630]

apply at walmart

[@waynemoon8839]

Thank you for teaching our children.

[@acedia4453]

Same reason we all did. Certain demographic that holds any attempt at education hostage with their State protected behavior.

[@Prechelle95]

Wow! They’re running the young people out of the classroom.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I wouldn't exactly say I'm still young. Lol. I left the career I love a LOT earlier than I ever could've imagined. I certainly appreciate the wisdom I've gathered for myself through the years because I learned that I will not stand to be mistreated in this way. I know what I deserve and if I return to the classroom or to a school setting, it will be under my own terms.

[@Lightbulb909]

She’s very right about getting bodies into the classroom. I am one of those bodies. I got into teaching because I majored in philosophy, which helped me become a better reader, writer, and speaker. It showed me that critical thinking is what every kid must develop, so I got into teaching, and was hired into a charter organization with zero teaching experience. They think if they can just supply the inexperienced with organization-made curriculums that teaching would go smoothly. No, not even close. It’s been two years and I’m out. It’s such a disservice to the kids to place inexperienced teachers into the classroom. Sure, I get experience, but through trial and error at the expense of the kids. My first year, I was with an experienced teacher, but my halfway into my second I was expected to lead a classroom full of kids with IEPs having never been formally trained to handle kids with IEPs. Crazy. Then admin’s on my ass for not making growth with my IEPs, as if their minds lack the common sense that a second-year teacher with no ICT classroom experience can foster the growth that is envisioned. My first year, I was learning the ropes. My second, thrown in an ICT with a co-teacher that ran everything and hardly ever ran things by me. Now I see why people have their issues with charters. Learned the hard way.

[@mikeofmanymikes2630]

My 3rd day, I was thrown into the classroom by myself. I made it happen. You are just a whiner who was never meant to be a teacher. You obviously have little life experience and were not prepared to handle the needs of todays youth. Stick to being a pencil pusher in an office and answering phones or something......

[@DetroitKim]

What you have said feels like I am speaking - kelp speaking your truth - keep speaking our truth as educators - it may well be the educators leaving telling our stories and bringing light into the very broken system ..... and maybe for the sake of not only the children but our entire country it gets fixed .

[@jamesdeagle]

Your emotion is warranted ... it is a tough profession. Rest up. James Deagle

[@jillsalkin7389]

Everyone hears, sees, reads, the same things we do. Why isn't our government helping? What are they waiting for? It's like a house on fire.....You did everything right, including leaving. When you mentioned teaching with "fidelity," I kind of chuckled, only because I'm years away from an impossibly demanding principal who said this. My joke was that I was teaching this intervention with "infidelity." I could not stand reading the script, instead of giving them creative ways, as a TEACHER, to be more successful. It's as if they're directing this to people who are more comfortable behaving like robots

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I completely agree! The script-reading set my teeth on edge. My former district had recently picked up a new math curriculum and they were going to implement a new literacy curriculum in the next school year and I just couldn't have my teaching life ruled by a script. Especially when I KNEW my kids needed me to teach differently and to help in different ways that weren't in the script. It was insanely frustrating to ask for help only to be told that you'll get through to the kids if you just teach it exactly as it says. It's so FOOLISH!

[@DJ50068]

I did the script reading and I heard fidelity all the time. It was so stupid. How stupid is it to teach esl kids how to sound out cvvc and then say that’s right…dog lol

[@roadrules3671]

It's because TPTB at the top of the Academic Food Chain WANT THIS. The dumbing down of American Education is Deliberate and by design.

[@realityobserver7521]

​@@roadrules3671 Nobody can deny it anymore.

[@bclamore]

The education system will not change, despite everyone understanding it doesn't work for the majority of students. The reason is money. We see everything through the lens of money and profit. The business of school as usual is profitable for the education industry and justifies the salaries of bureaucrats. We keep looking for silver bullets-- trendy policies that we hope will work, instead of the much harder task of transforming the paradigm. It's a cowardice and rationalization akin to the "King Has No Clothes." I became a teacher after half a career in industry, because I felt I could provide some real-world tech content, especially at the HS level. I will be leaving soon feeling like I was about 10% effective. My favorite analogy is: teachers are like a car engine, and we are running the red line. Admin is the transmission, and they are in 1st gear.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Yes, yes, yes! You are absolutely correct and it is so disappointing because students deserve better. They deserve to be prioritized. Education shouldn't be about money and profit, it should be what's best for students. Teachers should be the ones given the space to SAY what is needed and be a part of decisions being made at EVERY level. I'm sorry you are leaving, but I completely understand your reasoning. You have to do what is best for you!

[@mamabear8555]

The " system " IMO is disgusting. It's way worse than when I was working in Special Education in the public school system back in 2007. I quit to run a Licensed Family Childcare out of my home. Have been since. They are not considering the children in the childcare/early learning system and licensing. Same with public school. The kids are just numbers. They are using them. Using them for programs because of money. It has been a rollercoaster of how wonderful the teachers and daycare provides were treated at the beginning of the pan dem ick and then back to treating us like crap. Even worse. Using us too. And the parents follow the lead with how we are treated. They forget all that the teachers and daycare providers went through. The system will not change because the main focus is not on what is best for the children. It will just get worse.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Oh man.. the start of the pandemic really got me! I really thought that things were changing for teachers and for education. It was a real gut-punch (more like a whole full-body beating) by the time we got to July. It was abhorrent and it's getting worse.

[@DetroitKim]

You are 100 PERCENT ON POINT

[@KaitlynSimon-dn2vr]

All the teachers who are fed up with the school system should open up a teacher owned school where they make the decisions on how they teach .

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I would LOVE that! The problem is... That only changes ONE school and impacts ONLY the students at that school. Granted, I would happily return to the classroom this way, but real change doesn't happen on a larger scale.

[@jujackmarketing]

I like when you said kids are learning to be people. ❤

[@dwaynecarroll6098]

Are their viable options in private education? How about corporate education? I agree public ed is absolutely broken.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I'm hoping to find ways that I can work with groups or people on some educational reform. I'm working on some eLearning opportunities also. I just don't know what or where or how it'll work out just yet. SO many possibilities!

[@Apricot90]

@@notyourordinaryteacherHi, could you find some useful and profitable ways now? I too quit public teaching for the end of this school year and feel a bit lost already.. All those wasted nerves, years and money on my diploma...

[@jalcal2460]

Another problem in education : collective classroom punishments.I’m talking if you guys don’t quiet down we won’t have recess. First of , why punish everyone when only a few kids were being wild and two if you don’t let them get outside to release energy won’t their behavior just be worse ! What about take them outside and then they won’t be so wild . And in middle and high school be quiet or you will have homework for spring break just wasn’t fair either .that’s just lazy in my opinion. And parents want to know why kids hate school.😒

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

You're right. I feel that we should NEVER take away recess. I HAVE had a few instances where the whole class gets disciplined (with the exception of like, 3 kids who got freedom from it). For the most part, I really support using restorative practices in the classroom and natural consequences.

[@nalignmentwlifehealinglife]

Thank you for sharing.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Thank you for stopping by!

[@outdoorgearguy]

Took til about 4:44 before she got into her criticisms, would have liked them earlier into the video

[@USCG.Brennan]

Lack of discipline maybe.....YA THINK? A retiring teacher put it this way....."The teacher is afraid of their principal, the principal is afraid of the Supt. the Supt is afraid of the School Board, the School Board is afraid of the parents, the parents are afraid of disciplining their kids......AND THE KIDS AREN'T AFRAID OF ANYBODY!" Gee.....what could POSSIBLY be wrong here???? WELL DUH!!!!

[@susancook1448]

Why aren’t they requiring cell phones to be kept in their backpacks?

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I had a strict "no phone" policy when I taught fourth grade and a majority of my students were very respectful of that. The ones who kept disrespecting that didn't care about keeping them in their backpacks. They wanted to have their phones out and they were going to sneak it whenever they could. I have consistently had 24-25 kids in a class for years and there's only one of me. I can't see what they grab before going to the bathroom or recess and it's not my place to frisk them down either. Like I said, I had the respect of a majority of the students so they responded to my expectations.

[@jodieharnden5413]

"They" do, but NOTHING happens when students don't!

[@softwhiteund3rarm0r]

I can be the change I want to see. But not if I quit!

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

You're absolutely right. Being a teacher means that my change only reaches so far. I'm hoping to make a bigger impact and make greater change for all teachers and students. I'm still finding my next step, but I knew I had to take this step.

[@Suzannehayeskane]

She is afraid to say how she really feels. She doesn't have to send double messages. She just needs to say how she feels.

[@mollyt6835]

Thanks for sharing your story. You look like Cecelia Blomdahl. She’s a youtuber.

[@Jade.123]

The administration is so under qualified and we know more than them but we are not truly heard. I taught for ten years and the administration called me a sub and the staff were degrading me. I left with no notice and never looked back.

[@sicnarf423]

mad respect for you!

[@margiethomas8]

Wow! You know thirty years ago teachers were saying this, a decade ago teachers were saying thoughts like this.....that should tell you something.....you are right to be angry. I am a person that tried for years. I spent thousands on my classroom, I was dedicated, never called in. The last stop had an utterly incompetent principal in Albuquerque who ran off an entire building twice in two years, literally got rid of people or they left and that person is still there in a District like so many others that just doesn't care ...and pretty soon they will find themselves in a situation with nobody to run off. In a lot of this nation we are in an education crisis.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

You are absolutely correct! The district spends more time protecting admin than they do supporting the educators that they desperately need.

[@The2ndFirst]

Teachers can be their own worst enemies sometimes. For instance teachers and their unions fought tooth and nail to keep kids out of school during 2020-22. Also with the increasing number of teachers that are pushing the alphabet agenda and assisting in mutilating children without informing parents how are parents supposed to trust teachers or the school system? At this point parents if at all possible should be home schooling or sending kids to private school. When I was a kid in the public schools we had prayer. We pledged allegiance to the flag. We had corporal punishment. That all went away and started the downward spiral we see today. All supported by the teacher's union.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Settle down, Fox News. Why not go volunteer at a school, or better yet, be a sub? You’ll see all the amazing things teachers do every day as well as the challenges they face.

[@The2ndFirst]

@@notyourordinaryteacher Settle down yourself Huffington Post. Teachers largely made their own beds and now that they have to sleep in them they're upset about it. I see all the amazing things teachers do. They declare math and science racist and push left wing and alphabet agendas. In many places they fought to keep children out of school during the scamdemic. Truly amazing, brave and stunning. Then they run to the internet and complain and look for sympathy because they quit. Swear to god I've never seen a whinier bunch of quitters.......Other than nurses. They may be worse.

[@MrAverageViewer]

While I agree and empathize with you on MOST all points, having been a teacher myself in BOTH Public and Charter Schools, there is IN FACT a Left-Leaning Narrative amongst the majority of Public School Teachers, the NEA, and at the ISD level. There's no denying the data. All that being said, YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD: It is indeed "ADMIN" at the School and District level who create the SYSTEMIC FRUSTRATION for teachers like yourself who love the teaching profession, and see it as a calling. I do wish you well in your endeavors, and hopefully in the not-too-distant future you land a teaching position in a school where your skills sets, education, and passion, are treated with the respect it deserves. @@notyourordinaryteacher

[@robgrune3284]

which grades and subjects have you taught?

[@marniekilbourne608]

When has any public school really actually value their teachers, ever? This is not new. Bosses etc. don't value their employees at all. We are all replaceable and always will be at most jobs.

[@hippielady123]

Way back in the old days the were valued. But thst was before cars lol

[@nikicarrie4071]

I LOVE the angry version

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

Thank you! I find that, now I'm out of the classroom and see the unbelievable injustices, I get SUPER amped up. :)

[@josieleugner546]

If you really love teaching, why don't you start a tutoring business. Or make resources for other teachers and sell them. Maybe some kind of consultant for teachers where you can help them to reflect and mature as a teacher. Would be a shame to waste your professionalism and experience as a teacher.

[@notyourordinaryteacher]

I'm currently (and slowly) creating resources for my TeachersPayTeachers page (Not Your Ordinary Teacher). I'm considering a tutoring business for young readers and working on phonemic awareness and phonics. I'm considering going and being an Instructional Coach for a school so my impact can be greater. I still want to help and to make a difference, but I will no longer give up certain things for myself and my family to do it.

[@SmartMoufShirts]

I know teachers are trained not to use any negative words, but you deserve to express every angry thought you have. You should get it out before it rots you from the inside.Vent all the internal pressure.