Think positively of all the things that you DO have control
over. Your classroom, your lessons, the assignments you give,
the grades you give, your own interactions with students, your
responses to students which could affect their own self images,
etc for their entire lives... I like teaching exactly because
of the mix of things I can't control and things I can and do
control. In my life, I am a control freak - so teaching has
been a great fit. I, too, taught 3 different grades over my
first 5 years, and it was tough. In the long run though, it
gave me a much deeper appreciation and knowledge of the
developmental stages kids go through, the learning process, and
the teaching process, and now 20 years later I am not one of
those teachers in a rut who has been using the same
plans/tests/assignments year in and year out!
Outside the classroom, there are other things you can do with
your education. You can work for an educational publisher, a
tutoring service, etc. I even ran my own daycare/after school
tutoring business for years while I took a break from full time
teaching to raise my children.
It may also be that you are not in the right school for you.
Teaching in a private school may give you more autonomy and
take the stress off a once-a-year test. Students tend to be a
bit better behaved (not that there still aren't discipline
issues) and faculty are usually there because they really want
to be, not because it was pay scale that attracted them. (The
pay might be less, but sometimes job satisfaction isn't really
about the pay...)
While you are teaching, just do your best, continue to learn as
much as you can, seek opportunities to grow and challenge
yourself, and be open to new possibilities for yourself. Your
training and education will never be a negative, and will serve
you well, so it isn't like your family sacrificed for you for
nothing. Maybe you will even homeschool your own children as I
did before going back to full time teaching. That made all my
education and experience truly the most valuable thing my
parents gave to me, so I in turn could give such an important
gift to my own children. You never know where life will lead
you...!

On 11/01/09, Lost wrote:
> This is my third year of teaching, and I am really
> wondering if I am cut out for this.
>
> It's just really frustrating because there are so many
> variables that I have no control over and all of these
> impact my job. I know that every job has things that are
> out your control, but I think it is more so in teaching
> than any other.
>
> Like, I have no control over a child's homelife, but that
> impacts their behavior and performance at school.
>
> I have no control over what has happened in the hallway,
> lunch room, prior classes, etc., but that influences the
> rest of their day.
>
> I have no control over the fact that some kids just don't
> give a crap.
>
> The things that are out of my hands not only influence the
> day-to-day, but they also influence the year-end test,
> which is probably going to become used even more in terms
> of evaluating a teacher. At least it looks like that's the
> direction it's heading in my district.
>
> I have been in a different grade and/or subject each year I
> have taught. So, it feels like I have had the never-ending
> string of first years.
>
> I worked really hard to get my degree, and my family
> sacrificed greatly. I feel that I would be letting so many
> people down if I decided this isn't for me.
>
> I am also 9 weeks pregnant, so maybe it's hormones
> talking. This makes it even harder to think about quitting
> because I think it will be nice to have the same schedule
> as our child.
>
> Thanks for listening to my whine,
> Ann

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