Teachers

I am a primary teacher at a private school on the Central Coast of NSW and have put in many long hours over 35 years of dedicated service. It has been challenging and sometimes thankless work but my overall feeling of satisfaction for having helped countless young people cannot be measured. It is a privilege to be a teacher and I am grateful to my school and to the profession for having been given such a rewarding job.
 
stevied said:
I am a primary teacher at a private school on the Central Coast of NSW and have put in many long hours over 35 years of dedicated service. It has been challenging and sometimes thankless work but my overall feeling of satisfaction for having helped countless young people cannot be measured. It is a privilege to be a teacher and I am grateful to my school and to the profession for having been given such a rewarding job.
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Thank you champion @stevied for your service. 🙌
 
GNR4LIFE said:
I used to be an aide. My mother is an aide too, and my step dad is a teacher. One of the biggest changes I’ve noticed now is that parents practically have 24 hour access to you via email. I worked with a girl recently who left teaching for that reason. Parents are entitled assholes. I’ve known of parents who go on FB groups and target teachers. It’s a different job these days thanks to technology.
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I had a mother of a student try to contact me on linked in and facebook about an assessment her son didn't do well on when I didn't immediately reply to an email on a Friday afternoon... society lacks a lot of respect for the profession and the work that we do.

I've met some wonderful parents who have been supportive but also some absolute assholes.

I teach Business, so I had one kids dad tell me that because he manages a million euro budget for Philips he's better qualified to assess his son than I am, and that I should change his grade to reflect that.

Teacher's aides are heroes. They do so much behind the scenes and have the ability to save you from nightmare situations. They seldom get the recognition they deserve.
 
Fraze23 said:
I had a mother of a student try to contact me on linked in and facebook about an assessment her son didn't do well on when I didn't immediately reply to an email on a Friday afternoon... society lacks a lot of respect for the profession and the work that we do.

I've met some wonderful parents who have been supportive but also some absolute assholes.

I teach Business, so I had one kids dad tell me that because he manages a million euro budget for Philips he's better qualified to assess his son than I am, and that I should change his grade to reflect that.

Teacher's aides are heroes. They do so much behind the scenes and have the ability to save you from nightmare situations. They seldom get the recognition they deserve.
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Firstly, SLSOs and SASS are tge backbone of schools. SLSOs are angels.. I simply could not do my job without them!

Secondly, how bloody entitled are some people?! Adults are the most difficult part of teaching!
 
Fraze23 said:
I've been a teacher for the last 10 years and I've just decided to step away from it.

I've gotten to the point where the stress from the job has impacted my health.

Behaviour has become more challenging to manage, parents are overbearing, entitled and will bail their kids out of any trouble they get in, the admin and busy work is getting more and more each year and class sizes are getting bigger each year too.

I've enjoyed it, but at the end of the day no job is worth sacrificing your health for.

I've got no idea what I'll do next, but I feel quite relieved to be leaving the profession.
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That's sad mate but I respect it.

This next generation are so stupid and think they're so smart.

Lots of jobs out there for people who know how to influence and plan.
 
Fraze23 said:
I've been a teacher for the last 10 years and I've just decided to step away from it.

I've gotten to the point where the stress from the job has impacted my health.

Behaviour has become more challenging to manage, parents are overbearing, entitled and will bail their kids out of any trouble they get in, the admin and busy work is getting more and more each year and class sizes are getting bigger each year too.

I've enjoyed it, but at the end of the day no job is worth sacrificing your health for.

I've got no idea what I'll do next, but I feel quite relieved to be leaving the profession.
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Another one bites the dust 😔 but I am so glad you've put yourself first.

All the things you've listed are what is driving teachers out the door. To quote NSWTFed president "administrivia is killing the profession". And he is spot on. All this bs LISC and explicit teaching is making the job disengaging, and I am disengaged, then how the hell am I supposed to grab the attention of the 5-12 year olds? It's ridiculous ...

Please let us know what your next step is. I'd love to leave, but I have no idea what else my experience would be valued in. And I have a mortgage that still needs paying.

Good luck! And thank you for shaping the lives of the kids you've guided 👏👏👏❤️
 
Couldn't pay me enough to be a teacher. I imagine that there are plenty of parents out there who outsource their parenting and their share of assisting their child in learning to teachers and then whinge when teachers can't do it all and their kid starts sinking because of their own laziness.

My sons school has been great thus far with all the teachers he's had so far, but we do our bit at home too.
 
Fraze23 said:
I had a mother of a student try to contact me on linked in and facebook about an assessment her son didn't do well on when I didn't immediately reply to an email on a Friday afternoon... society lacks a lot of respect for the profession and the work that we do.

I've met some wonderful parents who have been supportive but also some absolute assholes.

I teach Business, so I had one kids dad tell me that because he manages a million euro budget for Philips he's better qualified to assess his son than I am, and that I should change his grade to reflect that.

Teacher's aides are heroes. They do so much behind the scenes and have the ability to save you from nightmare situations. They seldom get the recognition they deserve.
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I have a friend who coached a PSSA soccer team. She picked the team, then one of the parents went off because her son who made rep teams outside of school wasn’t picked. She went to the principal and practically made her life hell.
 
Cultured_Bogan said:
Couldn't pay me enough to be a teacher. I imagine that there are plenty of parents out there who outsource their parenting and their share of assisting their child in learning to teachers and then whinge when teachers can't do it all and their kid starts sinking because of their own laziness.

My sons school has been great thus far with all the teachers he's had so far, but we do our bit at home too.
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Wow how time flies ....your sons at school
 
GNR4LIFE said:
I used to be an aide. My mother is an aide too, and my step dad is a teacher. One of the biggest changes I’ve noticed now is that parents practically have 24 hour access to you via email. I worked with a girl recently who left teaching for that reason. Parents are entitled assholes. I’ve known of parents who go on FB groups and target teachers. It’s a different job these days thanks to technology.
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That's why my wife is uncontactable on any social media.
It's a new generation of parents that don't believe their kids should be accountable for their behaviour and are quick with the threats. However, the biggest problem is the lack of support from the administration when dealing with the out of control kids and their equally out of control parents
My wife's in the wind down phase and has dropped back to relief teaching a couple of days a week. We are in the lucky position of not needing the money and I'm always asking her to retire.
It's the small moments like a little Sudanese kid that called her over during class to give her an Ooshie, because my wife had mentioned the previous day that our 3 year old grandson was collecting Ooshies that keep her going back.
 
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Oscar Martinez said:
That's why my wife is uncontactable on any social media.
It's a new generation of parents that don't believe their kids should be accountable for their behaviour and are quick with the threats. However, the biggest problem is the lack of support from the administration when dealing with the out of control kids and their equally out of control parents
My wife's in the wind down phase and has dropped back to relief teaching a couple of days a week. We are in the lucky position of not needing the money and I'm always asking her to retire.
It's the small moments like a little Sudanese kid that called her over during class to give her an Ooshie, because my wife had mentioned that our 3 year old grandson was collecting Ooshies that keep her going back.
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I have friends who change the spelling of their names on social media to keep them from being looked up
 
Suzie-Q said:
Firstly, SLSOs and SASS are tge backbone of schools. SLSOs are angels.. I simply could not do my job without them!

Secondly, how bloody entitled are some people?! Adults are the most difficult part of teaching!
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Hear, hear, angels indeed! Support for as many kids as possible is great, and so different than the draconian caning and/or otherwise disciplinary methods implemented in the not so distant past.

Today's kids are just as great as those of previous generations, with each subsequent one growing up in the environment created by their parents and those beforehand.

I so often laugh when many people my age or older whine about kids or their "helicopter parents", then having to point them to a mirror so that they can see who is to blame.
 
I have, and always have had, the greatest respect for anyone in the teaching profession. Surely there is no more important job than teaching and guiding our kids as they move forward.
Whilst we joke about short hours and long holidays, the amount of extra work that goes into planning and checking adds a lot to the face to face work.
Thank you and to all the teachers out there, please hang tough, we need you !
 
Fraze23 said:
I had a mother of a student try to contact me on linked in and facebook about an assessment her son didn't do well on when I didn't immediately reply to an email on a Friday afternoon... society lacks a lot of respect for the profession and the work that we do.

I've met some wonderful parents who have been supportive but also some absolute assholes.

I teach Business, so I had one kids dad tell me that because he manages a million euro budget for Philips he's better qualified to assess his son than I am, and that I should change his grade to reflect that.

Teacher's aides are heroes. They do so much behind the scenes and have the ability to save you from nightmare situations. They seldom get the recognition they deserve.
Click to expand...
I was in education for 75 years, as a kid, at teachers' college, a school as a classroom teacher who completed two degrees at night, as a principal and as a supervisor of students on prac from 3 different universities. I appreciate and hear all the great comments about teaching. Fraze23, years ago I ran a unit of work, designed by parents, implemented by me with the help of parents running groups. I asked if any parent would like to actually teach a lesson. One parent, a confident business woman in her late thirties, put her hand up. I gave her all the resources that she needed, she watched me teach a couple of lessons then it was her turn. She didn't do a bad job for her 30 minute lesson but afterwards, perspiration running down her face, she told me that it was the hardest thing she had ever done - one lesson!
So my advice to any parent telling you that she/he is better qualified to prepare lessons, effectively present lessons and to professionally assess students' work, that he/she would be an outstanding candidate to be a guest teacher for a day in your classroom. I bet that the string of excuses would be a mile long.
 
dthummler said:
I was in education for 75 years, as a kid, at teachers' college, a school as a classroom teacher who completed two degrees at night, as a principal and as a supervisor of students on prac from 3 different universities. I appreciate and hear all the great comments about teaching. Fraze23, years ago I ran a unit of work, designed by parents, implemented by me with the help of parents running groups. I asked if any parent would like to actually teach a lesson. One parent, a confident business woman in her late thirties, put her hand up. I gave her all the resources that she needed, she watched me teach a couple of lessons then it was her turn. She didn't do a bad job for her 30 minute lesson but afterwards, perspiration running down her face, she told me that it was the hardest thing she had ever done - one lesson!
So my advice to any parent telling you that she/he is better qualified to prepare lessons, effectively present lessons and to professionally assess students' work, that he/she would be an outstanding candidate to be a guest teacher for a day in your classroom. I bet that the string of excuses would be a mile long.
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Thank you for your service, champion @dthummler - and I loved your strategy with the parent. 🙌
 
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