Hi all - I'm always posting questions/rants. Thanks to everyone who continues to answer. I'm a first year teacher and I know first year is hard. But I'm really going crazy here some days and need to know if this is normal: - I teach at a performing arts charter high school. 2/3 of the students are in performing/media arts academy on top of their academics, 1/3 are just normal students. - We don't have a building, but meet in some church buildings and a next door office building. It's somewhat time consuming transferring between the two, both for students and faculty. We are right along a pretty heavy street. - There are more kids than room, so we have classes going on from 7am-7pm. Kids are in two shifts, that confusingly overlaps in the middle. I teach "second shift" from 11:30am-5:45pm. Every one of my students has their own schedule, so there is no common "lunch", "afterschool" or "before school". This makes it crazy trying to find time to tutor or have kids do retakes, or even assign detention. - I teach out of 4 classrooms in both the main campus and next door building. I have NO home base and all my stuff is everywhere. Every classroom setup is different, so I feel limited in my preparations, as I can't be sure that what is working in one room will be working in another (i.e. dvd's, internet, etc.). We also have 3 minute passing periods, with classes in every room at all times, so I can't get in a room early to set up anything. - I teach 2 Geometry classes that meet everyday. 1 Algebra that meets everyday. 1 Geometry that is a block every other day, and 1 Algebra that is a block every other day. I know this should mean only 2 preps, but I feel like I have 4, as planning for a block day is totally different than planing for a regular class. They are about to take away my block Algebra and give me a Algebra 1A1 (slower paced, only one semester of Algebra the whole year) - but I honestly don't know if I can handle this. - I have no communication with anyone, it seems. We don't share a lunch period, and I only see other teachers in passing. I'll run into one here or there in the workroom (a tiny room with a few computers), but we don't get to talk much. I've tried to do emails to the math department, but no one seems keen on keeping updated by email. I missed a math department meeting this morning because I thought the meeting was next week. No one reminded me yesterday - and now I feel horribly guilty for not being there. - When I finish teaching, its dark and I just want to go home. I get some work done at night, but with trying to balance a personal life and spend time with my husband too, I can only do so much. I spend several hours each morning getting stuff done, but I'm so stressed in the mornings as I run out of time so easily. (And then like this morning, I was supposed to have a meeting that I missed) I keep telling myself that this is just my school and that if I worked someplace else it wouldn't be as bad. Is this true? Could it be better someplace else? If I was to stop working here, would it be possible to get a job at a "normal" school? I'm really going crazy many days, and on top of trying to figure out procedures, behavior problems, etc. as a first-year teacher, I'm instead just trying to stay afloat with some semblance of organization. I cry from stress a lot and I just hate it. Am I making it up? Do all first year teachers have it this hard?
Oh my, you have quite a challenging situation there! I too am a first year teacher and facing the normal challenges that comes with that. But what I have that you are lacking include 1- a helpful mentor I can turn to as needed, 2- two teachers who teach my same classes that I can plan with and get materials from, 3- normal school hours so I can give detentions if needed, or make up work, or whatever a student might need (for example I have a student in one class coming in two mornings to work on test corrections this week). Am I still stressed? You bet ya. I woke up at 4:30 this morning to finish some work on my lessons for today; I have a huge pile of papers to grade from stuff handed in over the last two days that I need to get to; and I am still learning my curriculum. But I can make it through so much better thanks to the support I have. So, to answer your question of "Does it have to be this hard?" No, I don't think it does. Being a first year teacher is definitely hard, no doubt about it - but your situation is making it even more so. The amounts of preps might stay the same elsewhere though. I'm lucky to only have two preps, almost everyone at my school has two preps thanks to wonderful department heads and a very good roster office. That's not necessarily typical for every school though, and I know people on here have posted with as many as 6 preps. So that part might just be part of the deal of being a teacher. As a math teacher in the Los Angeles area I would imagine you could find a new school for next year that might be a better fit. I honestly cannot imagine working in the environment you describe and I too would be very stressed. You'll want to stick out the year though, so do what you can to make it through. Use whatever resources you can to make it more bearable, maybe lesson plans from NCTM to help you out, advice from other math teachers on here, and a continued attempt on your part to get more support at your school. Maybe with a bit more perseverance you can get some more support and better communication. Hugs!
You are in the wrong school. Wait it out until the spring, then send out resumes in about March. Can I offer any help with your planning?
What a bizarre situation. The first thing I'd do is try to find somewhere to set up a desk with a computer and printer near a photocopier that's your own workstation. The other thing I'd suggest is to plan some time at the beginning and perhaps end of your lessons for organisational administration. Make the first five minutes of your lessons self-study time for the students while you get everything set up and get all your ducks lined up in a row. If the lesson starts at 2.00pm get the students into a routine where they use the first five minutes to get their stuff ready (and perhaps appoint a couple students to help you with class set-up) and make 2.05 the time when the lesson formally starts. If you're teaching at a performing arts high school it's also quite likely that more of your students fit the mould of kinesthetic and visual learners. I have no idea how to work multiple learning styles into mathematics but it may be useful to keep this in mind.
While some people like to blame the school - the fact is many of us accept jobs because its a JOB - with regular pay (hopefuly! I was on the Rez last year and didn't get paid every month - it was usually every other month!) so we do the job. Your situation sounds very overwhelming and confusing. Is their an administrator you trust to express your concerns to? What is your prep time like? Is their any chance to have team meetings/planning with others who teach the same subject as you at the time? Are there staff meetings? If you are truly unhappy, Alice's course of action is correct - start looking for a new job in the spring. In the meantime, I would be doing everything within my power to keep my supervisors happy and sometimes that means asking questions.
Thank you all. It is so unbelievably helpful just to vent things out to other teachers and be able to get some type of gauge for what is normal. It also helps to know that there really might be better situation out there and that it's not just me who thinks my situation is crazy! I'm usually a smart, hardworking person who likes to do things well, and I'm just having a heck of time - I really thought teaching wouldn't be this bad! Yes, because of the performing arts aspect, a lot of the kids have different learning styles. I'm trying to figure out how to balance more projects and right-brained lessons, while at the same time sicking to the strict calendar and guidelines I was given. We're expected to be a "high academic" school and get through the entire book and teach all the challenge questions. Alice - thanks for the offer to help with planning! Unfortunately, I'm kind of only a day or two ahead, which is probably not enough time to get too much advice - but I really appreciate it! Hmm...wait, any great suggestions on teaching parallel/perpendicular slopes ? Sheba - actually, just yesterday, they set up a small teacher workroom for us. I'm hopefully getting a key to the room, as because I teach second shift, right now it's locked up by the time I get off. If I can get a key, I think I'm going to set up a small area in there I can call my own - that will be SOOO nice! A place I can leave/organize my stuff instead of the backseat of my car!
Raney, Honestly, I think the only thing normal is your second to last paragraph about stressed and trying to balance time with hubby. Hugs to you. I can see how you would get frustrated. Just know that you are doing great with what you have to deal with and get through this year. Then you can move on.
Not incredibly creative, but here's how I explain it: Slope tells us about the "slantiness" (And I explain to them that it isn't a word, but should be!) of a line. Lines that are parallel have the same slope. The negative reciprocal thing they have to take on faith! Horisontal lines have a slope of Zero. The top & bottom of the "Z" form horizontal lines. Vertical lines have No slope. The left and right of the "N" are vertical lines.
