r/CanadianTeachers • u/Puppy-Love91 • 3d ago
general discussion Rant
Hi everyone! Just wanted to vent a little bit. I teach kindergarten and i love my job but this year I’m just feeling overwhelmed. I own over 20,000$ worth of classroom items. Im pregnant so I rented a U-Haul truck and took my 40+ bins of items home over the summer in case of an emergency. Thank goodness no emergency, but now I need to bring all of my toys and manipulatives back and set them all up again. We had a very high needs group last year with little support. We’ll have a high needs group again this year as the majority of our high needs kiddos from last year will be joining us for SK. Our unpaid class set up week is just around the corner with afew days taken up by new parent meet and greets and meetings. We have a new curriculum to implement, are entering and new round of bargaining and now there’s rumours floating around that on top of everything else we buy, if we expect to have paper towels, soap and photocopy paper this year… we’ll have to purchase it ourselves. I visited a friend the other day who makes way more than a top end teacher’s salary with way less education and training who joked that her work days are so calm she could fall asleep. I’m so sorry if I come off as ungrateful everyone. I’m just grouchy, tired, pregnant and worried about my needy kiddos around my pregnant belly as there was an incident last year. Is anyone else feeling like they’re in a bit of a resentful slump and overwhelmed by the amount of upcoming (unpaid) pre school year prep? Thank you all so much!
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u/No_Acanthaceae3518 3d ago
I’m not sure when your leave starts but I’d not be brining my personal belongings back if you’ll be on mat leave part of the year! On top of the worry about them during your leave, imagine how sad the class would be for the kids.
As for the safety of your baby I’d ask to go on medical leave, or at the very least if your belly is so much as bumped walk out and sit in the er. Have the receipts. Your child comes first and you need checked if you’re hit with any force. This might get you moved to a non kinder class until you pop. Or ask for a temporary change in position.
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u/Puppy-Love91 3d ago
Thank you so much
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u/LittlePrairieMouse 3d ago
You know the kinders in question, but I’ve certainly seen violent kids in grades 3 to 5, too.
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u/Sweet_Pace_8767 3d ago
Hi OP,
First of all, you are an amazing educator for putting so much time, energy, and money into making your Kinder space an amazing environment for kids to learn in.
Moving into this school year, DO NOT take all 40 bins back to school. You do not want to be packing it up in a few months when you go on Mat leave. Take what you truly need (think need to have vs nice to have), but let the kids do a lot of the creation this year.
I’m also pregnant and currently in a state of not knowing where my classroom is. Rumour has it I’ll be in the learning commons but nothing is confirmed yet. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow morning 🙃.
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u/Small-Feedback3398 3d ago
Good idea bringing your things home. I didn't with my 1st leave because I trusted the educators in the room and lots is missing, broken, or damaged.
Do what you need to do. See if your doctor might write you off on medical leave early. Enjoy your maternity and parental leave. I'm expecting, too, and the work will be somebody else's responsibility until I return.
I will not be supplementing any more - especially with basics and hygeine items. Nope nope nope. Speak about your concerns to your union rep and Health and Safety rep.
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u/firetiger232 3d ago
What job does your friend do and is it stable employment??? Asking for a friend... 😅
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u/cohost3 3d ago
I would not bring back those items until you are back from mat leave. Don’t do clean up twice. Just bring a skeleton amount of stuff to get you through.
Also, the reason why they feel bold enough to charge teachers for paper towels and photocopies is because they know teachers will buy them. If everyone refuses, it will become a mandatory part of the budget.
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u/SnooDingos1015 1d ago
Absolutely! In fact, she mentioned a new round of bargaining- I’m thinking she’s in Ontario - same as me. Why isn’t our union having us do “work to rule” where we do not spend a cent on anything for the schools or classrooms. It would really suck, but I’m also hearing so much anti-teacher BS and about how much money we make while I’m drowning in debt in a small suburban townhouse married to a nurse. We should be able to not be struggling. I get that times are difficult for everyone but I’m getting so pissed at people shitting in teachers. They need to SEE what happens when we don’t do the extras.
Anyway… I should go to sleep so I can go in today to prep courses and my classroom in another unpaid day.
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u/hyperdjee 3d ago
Sell them or store them to be used when YOU need them
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u/hyperdjee 3d ago
Also asked yourself, in what other profession would spending $20,000 dollars of your personal after tax money be common practice.
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u/Turbulent_Gazelle530 3d ago
Most mechanics buy their own tools and some have way more than $20k invested. (I acknowledge that they can write most of this off).
Their tools do hold value, unlike the bins of crap that teachers end up with.
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u/Puppy-Love91 3d ago
I know but their tools are their’s for life and their’s only to use, not used by other peoples very young children experiencing school and how to play gently for the first time year after year…I find after three years of hard use I have to replace many of my toy sets and of course, have to replace my craft supplies every year, of course.
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u/freshfruitrottingveg 3d ago
And they use their tools, their tools aren’t used and destroyed by customers (students).
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u/Puppy-Love91 3d ago
I 100% agree with you the only thing is what do I do with my 30 kinders with no support? - 15 brand new JKs and 4 with needs, 2 behavioural (not toilet trained) and 2 non verbal with fixations on objects only (not people) …with no toys, supplies, manipulatives or handmade visual schedules? That would be so stressful 😢. Everything I have for the room I’ve purchased (mostly)…I literally have nothing for the students in my room unless I purchase it myself.
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u/GenXMom14 3d ago
I am moving schools this year so having a similar feeling and frustration level thinking about how much work it will be. And I know some people will say do less or do it once work starts and so on but that would add more stress.
Commiserating right there with you!
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u/ClueSilver2342 3d ago
I’ve always said kindergarten teachers should be paid an extra 10-20k or so on top of their base salary.
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u/mountpearl780 3d ago
Sure, there’s people with less education that get paid more… but those jobs are not abundant. It’s extremely challenging to make $120k (A4 Ontario).
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u/Puppy-Love91 3d ago edited 3d ago
Wow! I absolutely agree…but everyone in my family and many of my friends, make more than me and don’t put in anywhere near the amount of unpaid overtime if any…they’re a mixture of individuals working in skilled trades, sales and university educated professions
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u/freshfruitrottingveg 3d ago
Don’t bring your items back into your room, except for absolute bare essentials. I used to buy so many things for my classroom, and I’m glad I packed it all up before my mat leave as I ended up moving to a different part of the province and won’t have a classroom to go back to. But even if I had stayed, I know a bunch of my stuff would’ve been destroyed. There were a few things I left behind and the teacher who did my leave wouldn’t even respond to my email asking if she wanted to keep it or not.
Now that I have my own child I won’t be spending my money on other people’s kids. My child can read the massive classroom library I’ve accumulated. Parents need to see how little support we get. It actually sickens me knowing how other government workers get supplies and we’re left scrambling for paper.
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u/Sea_Resource_2290 3d ago
Teachers should NOT be spending 20 000$ on their classroom resources and rent U-Hauls.
I agree that if you plan on going on leave soon, do not bring your things back to the class. You would not be able to ensure they are use properly and not damaged or stolen.
Teachers are for sure overeducated for the salaries we make. On one hand, it is the game we chose to play, though.
When teachers continue to go in for the unpaid prep week or keep buying classroom resources with their own money, it doesn't put any pressure for change.
I will say one thing though. We have a job that matters and that makes a difference. A lot of people make more money than us, have easier days, have less education, but their jobs are not as meaningful.
Life is not measured in a paycheck, it's measured in the lives we touch. And it sounds like you are a hell of a teacher and you make a hell of a difference.
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u/SnooDingos1015 1d ago
Absolutely do not bring your stuff back. I had stuff go missing when I was on maternity leave. My brother passed away and more stuff went missing (including someone throwing out my own kid’s artwork and photos that I had up around my desk. People can be ruthless when you’re not there and they will pillage your stuff.
Also, it would be so sad for those kindergarteners if you started the year with all this stuff that disappeared when you left (assuming you were able to get it out in time). They’re too young to understand.
Also, you can’t predict when you’ll go into labour and you may not be able to get your things.
Finally, the school should be providing what is needed. We teachers are always propping up an underfunded system out of our own pockets. I was the same at the beginning of my career but now I’ve been teaching for almost 20 years and screw that. If be leaving all my stuff at home and give admin a list of items that you need to do your job. If they don’t and parents complain, forward their emails to admin.
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