My worst year of teaching I didn't actually teach. I was supposed to, but I spent all day breaking up fights and stooping children from throwing furniture in the room. It was regular Ed 4th grade at an inner city school with terrible administration. I am no longer at that school so things are much better!
Last year was (by far) my worst year ever. After getting "bumped" from my six-year-long stint as a 2nd grade teacher (due to seniority issues), I was unexpectedly placed in a middle school classroom. I must've taken at least 30 sick days last year. There wasn't a week that I worked all five days. My doctor even offered to place me on stress leave, but I stuck things out and (barely) survived the year. This year, I'm back where I belong (2nd grade). I've only missed two days this year because I had a bad case of the stomach flu. Thankfully, I love my job again! If I could survive last year, though, I can get through anything.
I would say the worst year I had was my second year teaching fifth. I had a class of children that had tormented their very experienced teacher the year before. I also had a class where they were from very transient families. I would have 30 kids then be at 18 then up to 22 then back to 30 all year long. I also had about half the class with seriously emotionally traumatic experiences. With some moving on to other schools and some new traumatically tormented new children arriving it was very bumpy. I had a big group who tended to bully other children a lot. I had a group who were used to not having high expectations of them. I had a group who wanted to argue or perform most of the time. I had about five kids out of the class who were on task and really focused on learning. I have not had such a challenging class since. I have had two years which come a little close in the number of children who are challenging versus those who toe the line and how far out of sink some of the children are, once about eight years ago and then this year. However; it is not the same level of overall disfunction, heart break, and difficulties. Also I think the biggest difference today compared to difficulties in my first years of teaching is that I have many many more ways to solve the problems, I feel more confident in my decisions, I know it is not my inability that is causing this, I also am much more forthright about reaching out to other staff members, I trust myself more, and I am more apt to care for myself as best I can because I realize I cannot care for those around me without taking care of me first. All of these things make this year a far easier year even though I have a challenging class
My worst experience was just one semester. I had to move mid-year because my husband is in the military. I was lucky enough to find a job less than a week after moving, so I had no break in employment. Unfortunately it was at a really tough school. They weren't honest with me at the interview, but I probably would have accepted the job anyway because I wanted a job so bad. The students were so disrespectful. I went home crying most days because it was so awful. I even cried during our grade level meeting and in front of a coworker a few times. The students stole from me, got in fights almost daily, ran out of the room without warning, I had death threats, and more. One time a student wrote a paper about how fat I was (and turned it in to me as her homework). There was no support from administration-they obviously didn't know how to handle the problems. I don't know how I made it through the semester. I counted down the hours every day. I applied for other jobs as soon as possible, and the principal gave me a really good recommendation. I found a new job over the summer and I'm now at a school that I love. That experience makes everything else seem easy now!
It was 7 years ago. The students I had did not like each other. At all. So my class had no community feeling, and instead of teaching, I was disciplining all day long. I had fights, and a girl in the class followed her older sister's lead and started a gang. She was expelled, but some of my class was still under her "leadership". Discipline was pretty non existent in our school-so I did what I could, with what I had. That year,I had the worst state testing scores of my career. It has been better since. Still have challenging kids, and discipline is not where it should be in my book, but at least I have kids who get along.
I had a class two years ago that was terribly behaved. It was a huge class that had nearly every major discipline problem in that grade. I had been teaching for ten years at that point, so I wasn't a classroom management novice, but I felt like it was year one all over again each day. I had to be super structured with them and provide as much positive reinforcement as possible. I got "teacher of the year" at the end if that year, and I sometimes wonder if it was because I survived that group!
Currently, I am in my worst year of teaching. I think a lot of it has to to do with my current crop of kids. They are incredibly rude and disrespectful. Even my two wonderful assistants are at their wits end. I have started taking sick days because I cant handle it anymore. My only goal is to make it to June. My worst offenders will be graduating in June. I have a had many a hearfelt cry and a sleepless night. It is hard. I do, however, have many supportive coworkers and that has helped. Make it to June.
This year is probably my toughest... lots of unmet needs in my classroom and I'm not sure what to do next... neither is my support team. We're all at a loss, so I do the best I can. My kiddos are learning and coming along, but it's been a challenging year!
My first year was the worst. I had been hired as a Title I reading teacher but was placed in a Social Studies classroom for students who had failed that part of the state test at least once. This was an experimental placement of a Title I teacher and nobody was really sure what I should be doing, least of all the lead teacher in the classroom. She and I clashed a lot on what I should be doing, resulting in a near-total breakdown of communication between us. I ran tutorial sessions on the material, gave workshops on how to read and respond to written questions on the test, and did my best to get these kids through the year, all while being treated as a classroom aide instead of the co-teacher I thought I was. In the end, test scores went up 12% that year, and my request to teach my own class was granted. The lead teacher and I are slowly getting back to being friendly, but it's been years and I'm still wary.
I guess I'm lucky. I haven't had a year that I remember as being "the worst." This year is easier than this year because the group of students are easier to manage. But, I haven't had a "bad" year in my 12 years of teaching.
I've been teaching for 40 years and I can't remember any really "bad" years. I was glad to get to summertime some years, however! I remember one year when I had a group of about 8 boys who tried my patience. One day (I had them sit up front for behavior control) the whole front line seemed to be amused by something under their desks. I let it go for a few minutes until their distractions were affecting the children behind them. When I peeked over the desks to see what they were doing, it was pretty apparent that they were comparing sizes with each other. I guess puberty came early that year! They were all rewarded with a few days in ISS to contemplate.
My worst year was filled with stress from all sides. Nothing was new, but it was the first time ALL of them happened at once. Stressed out, new administrator who was reactive, not proactive. a ridiculous amount of snow days snow days made up with extended days, additional classes, Saturday school, and added days only three weeks free the summer before due to weather & meetings received very low-performing students with many issues pressure from local & state level to perform better situations hat pitted co-workers against each other changes in staffing Then to top it off, I had just come off a fabulous group of kids and a crappy personal year. The year I had great kids is the same year my dad had a serious car accident, my 14 year old dog was put to sleep, my dad & FIL were diagnosed with cancer the same week. FIL died in November. MIL had to deal with ice storm & farm. Ex moved back to stay with his mom to help out. My dad died in March. My mom was dealing with uncontrolled seizures. My marriage started down hill due to husband's declining mental status & refusal to seek help. Had it been my first year, I'd have hated teaching. Fortunately I knew that was a freak year, not the norm.
"What was your worst year of teaching like?" Gee.........there's been so many, it's hard to distinguish one year from another.
Yikes, Reality Check. Are you still at the same district you've been in? Sounds like you might want to consider a change. Nobody should be that miserable for that long.
catnfiddle - Thanks for the thought, I appreciate it, really. Unfortunately, the market in the Philadelphia, tri-state area has been choked with candidates/few openings in English and administration in the desirable districts ever since I started. I just have to stick it out until retirement.
This is year 3 for me and has been my worst year, mostly due to administration. I had a student with extremely severe behavior issues in my room at the beginning of the year. She would scream at the top of her lungs and throw things around the room for hours, run in/out of the class, throw around/mess up my things, "dance" around me/the front of the room when I was trying to teach, etc. and my admin did NOTHING to support me with her. I was not allowed to have her removed from the classroom unless she physically hurt someone, which she was generally smart enough not to do b/c that was the one thing she'd get in real trouble for. So I was expected to teach while students could not even hear me due to someone screaming for hours on end every single day. At some points the teachers next door came over saying their classes couldn't concentrate because she was so loud. The only "consequence" I was allowed to give her was missing our 2nd 10 minute recess of the day (all students must go to lunch recess). Obviously for a kid that severe, she couldn't care less about missing 10 minutes of recess. We took a field trip in the fall and I was worried about running away from the group downtown. I asked me admin if I could put her on a behavior plan to "earn" the trip and they accused me of "targeting" her. Luckily, she moved before Christmas break. I honestly don't know that I would have made it through the entire year if she were still in my class. Other teachers did quit over break largely due to dealing with similar students and having no support. There is also just an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in the building. I am so fortunate that I have a wonderful grade level team, but I don't really trust anyone else in the school. Admin's favorites "tattle" on other teachers and they listen to them! My last admin would not have even entertained such silliness. People have had legitimate panic attacks during walkthroughs or unannounced observations because they know they're just going to get yelled at (yes, literally) about anything and everything. A 4th grade teacher literally fainted last week! Admin treats and speaks to us as if we were children. Over 1/3 of the staff is looking for other positions. At this point I have decided I'm not going back no matter what. There are several incoming 3rd graders that are just like the student I described at the beginning of the post and I know I just can't handle a whole year of it. My first two years of teaching were great. I think there are always "issues" but I've never had to deal with anything like this. My first year was ironically my easiest of the three. In my last position I definitely had days where I was frustrated, but overall had a really good relationship with my admin and felt supported and respected. I had a few crazy parents that were difficult my 2nd year, but I handled it with the support of my admin. I really think the culture in the building comes from the top down. As I'm searching this spring I'm trying to be a lot more proactive about finding admin that I'm a good fit with and really digging deeper into what things will be like.
Last year was my worst year. In the beginning of the year, I started out with 2 students in special ed. By the end of the year, I had gone through a total of SIX referrals, 2 children were put on medication for (severe!) ADHD mid-way through the year, and 2 other children were put on medication the summer after they left my classroom. So, about half of my 23 students had pretty severe attention, behavior, and/or academic needs. I also had MANY children with behavior problems. They were just mean, bossy, bullied other children, etc. It was also my first year in a new grade at a new school, so I felt increased pressure to do my job well. I honestly don't know how I survived that class!
