Re: Tired

On 1/21/09, old pro wrote:
> On 11/19/08, girl in gulfport wrote:
>> I am sure you probably know this, but just don't let them
>> even start. Try to end the conversation before they begin.
>> If they argue, send them to the office....and don't ever
>> respond to justify yourself. They will think they are
>> getting the best of you.
>> I am so sorry you are already "tired" and only just begun.
>> It can be very frustrating.
>>
>> On 11/14/08, Tired wrote:
>>> I am in need of some serious help here. I feel like I am
>>> getting disrespected more and more lately. I don't know
>>> what to do. I am following my classroom rules and
>>> consequences. Everytime a student gets into trouble they
>>> throw into my face that I started it, that I am trying to
>>> get them kicked off of the football team, that they are
>>> going to get me into trouble, that their friends will back
>>> up their story, or that I am treating some better then I
>>> do others. I am at the end of my ropes here. I understand
>>> that there things that I could do better and I understand
>>> that I am very new at this and I am probably doing things
>>> wrong. However, that is not a reason for the kids to just
>>> run over me. They blame it on my hormones and that is not
>>> it, in fact I am nicer when I am pregnant than when I am
>>> not. I am tired of the students screaming at me and
>>> disrespecting me when all I am doing here is trying to
>>> help them to succeed. I think about how I am away from my
>>> babies everyday and how they are pretty much being raised
>>> by someone else to come here and be disrespected by
>>> someone else's child. I try to be nice to them and ask
>>> them about their day or about their weekend and then I get
>>> it turned around on me that I am bringing personal issues
>>> into the classroom. My students feel as if I am favoring
>>> certain students because some students do not get the same
>>> punishment as some of the other students who do the exact
>>> same thing that they do. I do not understand it and I am
>>> not the one punishing the students. However, I get blamed
>>> if my write up causes a student to get kicked off of the
>>> football team because it is their 3rd time in ISD and that
>>> there are still students who have been in ISD 4 or 5 times
>>> and still out there playing on Friday night. I don't make
>>> that call, yet I am the one who gets blames. Same goes for
>>> ISD time and who gets licks and who gets suspended. I
>>> don't know what else to do. I love what I do and I spent a
>>> long time to get my degree. I went through over $50,000.00
>>> in student loans, took time away from my children and
>>> husband, struggled through years of college while my
>>> family done without and this is my reward for that. All I
>>> ever wanted to do was help students who struggled and now
>>> everyday I would rather stand in a long welfare line than
>>> come to work. I never thought that it would be this way
>>> and some tell me that it is just because I am a new
>>> teacher. But this is all I ever wanted to do...What are
>>> your suggestions on what I should do? Should I just call
>>> it quits now and go to walmart to work or what??? I need
>>> some help because I feel as if I am not only making my
>>> students unhappy but I am also turning into a person that
>>> I never intended to be...
> get tough. Never allow a student to argue with you. Show some
> grit. I have been in a rural junior hight for 38 years. Make
> some tough rules and be consistent. Write them up and throw
> them out of class.
Stick to your guns because some of them will try the devel
himself. Be firm but fair. Do not let them see you sweat. Be
consistent and I promise you they will appreciate you in the end.
When that "end" is varies with a lot of us teachers, but hold on.
I know where you are coming from. You are not alone.