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Have any teachers here been reprimanded? I have one coming tomorrow for getting angry when I realized that the office wasn't going to support me, when I sent two kids out of a lab for eating during the lab, and making a comment about kids not taking me seriously when the office doesn't back me. Because the kids claim they weren't eating and they found no food on them, I'm, apparently, lying. Couldn't be that they SWALLOWED.
I'm going to guess I'll have a dozen kids eating in the lab tomorrow. They've just been taught that as long as they don't get caught with the evidence not only do they get away with it but the teacher gets reprimanded. WHY did I want to become a teacher? Oh, yeah, I like abuse....NOT!
The worst part................ if they were to eat and you NOT do anything about it and they accidently consumed something toxic you would be more than reprimanded. The parents would likely sue you and you would have been terminated/fired. It is disgusting. Sometimes you want the little cheats to suffer the consequences of not obeying the rules but then it only hurts you more in the end. Even worse, some kids would TRY to consume something toxic just for kicks and you'd still get in trouble and sued by the parents most likely. Why? For not having more control in the class and better observation skills. It is sickening.
I'd like to tell you though I'd be having a real heart to heart with my kid if it were one of mine. I'd know before the sun went down if my kid really was eating in class and hiding it. Granted, during the meeting the next day in the principal's office to profusely apologize they would not be able to sit down.
The worst part................ if they were to eat and you NOT do anything about it and they accidently consumed something toxic you would be more than reprimanded. The parents would likely sue you and you would have been terminated/fired. It is disgusting. Sometimes you want the little cheats to suffer the consequences of not obeying the rules but then it only hurts you more in the end. Even worse, some kids would TRY to consume something toxic just for kicks and you'd still get in trouble and sued by the parents most likely. Why? For not having more control in the class and better observation skills. It is sickening.
I'd like to tell you though I'd be having a real heart to heart with my kid if it were one of mine. I'd know before the sun went down if my kid really was eating in class and hiding it. Granted, during the meeting the next day in the principal's office to profusely apologize they would not be able to sit down.
I know. If one of them were to get sick, it would be my fault because they ate in the lab. I was told to document the incident . HUH? This is a safety violation. IMO, you either know and obey the safety rules or you are NOT IN MY LAB. It's right in my syllabus that you will be told to leave the lab and you will get a zero on the lab for the day.
My kid wouldn't be sitting down either. If my child EVER lies about what they were doing, I'll kick their butts. They'd get one of my famous lectures where I "...go all sciency" for the eating part but lying about it and making the teacher look bad....ohh that's grounds for a whooping with a big appology in front of the class for the teacher.
Basically, you pretty much get screwed over a lot at your school. No other way to put it.
Tell me something I don't know. This has convinced me I don't want to teach. It's not what I thought it would be, that's for sure. I now understand why they say "Those who can do and those who can't teach". This is no place I'm staying one second longer than I have to. If the economy didn't suck in Michigan, I'd be gone already. The second someone offers me a job, any job, I'm outta here.
We don't want to leave the state but I'm thinking we may do the two household thing where I live in one state and dh lives here with the kids and I'll visit often. I can't keep doing this. It's not worth it and there's zero job satisfaction. Just more headaches. I'm going to reregister with the unemployment office. Last time I filed, I had three job requests to interview from companies in other states in 48 hours and about half a dozen recruiters who wanted to send me out of state to interview within a week. 20/20 hindsight, I should have taken one of them but I didn't want to split our family up. This job is tearing me up and not helping my family one bit.
What makes it bad is this is why this class doesn't take me seriously. I have several kids in this class who make it a nightmare class but nothing happens if I send them to the office.
What do you do with a class where you have several kids who are problem children and it feels like a game of whack-a-mole when the office won't back you? You'd think they'd believe me given my other 5 classes are fine. Well, 4, I did send two kids down for taking off their safety glasses during another hour but, again, nothing was done. I was told to document it.
Last year, I had one girl not only take off her safety glasses but start rubbing her eyes without washing her hands first. When I pointed out to her mother (who contested her detention -last year the adminsitration supported my safety rules) that she could have rubbed chemicals into her eyes, she replied "But she didn't". Apparently, if you don't follow safety protochol and get away with it, it's ok. Of course if she had, I'd be the one she was suing.
I guess now I'm not supposed to even have safety rules. At least not enforce them. What am I supposed to do if I can't send them out of the lab? If there's no consequence for breaking the rules, they'll just keep breaking them.
Tell me something I don't know. This has convinced me I don't want to teach. It's not what I thought it would be, that's for sure. I now understand why they say "Those who can do and those who can't teach". This is no place I'm staying one second longer than I have to. If the economy didn't suck in Michigan, I'd be gone already. The second someone offers me a job, any job, I'm outta here.
We don't want to leave the state but I'm thinking we may do the two household thing where I live in one state and dh lives here with the kids and I'll visit often. I can't keep doing this. It's not worth it and there's zero job satisfaction. Just more headaches. I'm going to reregister with the unemployment office. Last time I filed, I had three job requests to interview from companies in other states in 48 hours and about half a dozen recruiters who wanted to send me out of state to interview within a week. 20/20 hindsight, I should have taken one of them but I didn't want to split our family up. This job is tearing me up and not helping my family one bit.
It's a shame your placement is so bad. Have you thought about moving and keeping the same career as a teacher? You always seem so dedicated. It isn't so much the job, but where you are working. I think your situation is not typical and it isn't like that everywhere.
It's a shame your placement is so bad. Have you thought about moving and keeping the same career as a teacher? You always seem so dedicated. It isn't so much the job, but where you are working. I think your situation is not typical and it isn't like that everywhere.
As I've talked about in other posts, I have the wrong certs. I'm single subject in chemistry and physics. Few schools hire us. Schools like holders of general science certs because they can put them anywhere. The state made the decision in 2004 to continue to allow holders of general science certs to teach chemistry and physics without a major or minor in the subjects to avoid a shortage of teachers. This created a situation where someone who has a major or minor in chemistry or physics is unmarketable unless they also hold a general science cert. I'm afraid sucky placements are all that are open to me. Schools don't want teachers who can teach a few subjects well. They want teachers who can teach a lot of subjects and don't care whether they can teach them well or not. It's all about flexibility in scheduling. So it's back to engineering for me. At least I hope it's back to engineering for me. It's kind of scary being 50 and looking for an engineering job. Restarting a career at my age won't be easy.
I did toy with the idea of going back and taking the life and earth science courses I'd need for a general science cert but then I realized that I'd just end up teaching subjects I'm not really interested in or very good at. As a teacher, what I really offer is expertise in chemistry and engineering (physics). That's what I do well. That's where my interest is. I really don't want to teach astronomy or biology.
I guess now I'm not supposed to even have safety rules. At least not enforce them. What am I supposed to do if I can't send them out of the lab? If there's no consequence for breaking the rules, they'll just keep breaking them.
Have you tried making the kids/parents sign a lab safety contract? I have my students sign a statement that they have read and agree to follow the safety rules (including consequences for breaking them). When I taught high school, I also had their parents sign it and gave them a copy of the rules for their records. No signature = no lab. Then when a student breaks the rules, I whip out their signed "contract", and they can't/don't complain about the consequences.
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It's kind of scary being 50 and looking for an engineering job. Restarting a career at my age won't be easy.
