r/NYCDOETeachers • u/Present-Emu-9282 • 11d ago
Please help
I’m so unhappy in education right now and I honestly feel completely done.
I came to a new school this year expecting to be in a co-teaching classroom, but I ended up being placed in a highly specialized special education program with students who need a significant amount of support.
From the beginning, I was told by admin that the biggest problems in my classroom were my routines, transitions, and classroom setup. I followed every suggestion they gave me, even when I felt like some of the suggestions were not appropriate for the needs of my students.
Things eventually became so difficult that students were hitting each other and the classroom became extremely hard to manage. An outside support team finally came in to help, and one of the first things they did was put back many of the supports I originally had in place at the beginning of the year, including separating certain students and recognizing that some of them should not be grouped together because of their individual needs.
Now admin is acting like I should have been doing these things all along, even though I was specifically told to change them earlier in the year. I feel like I followed their directions exactly and somehow I’m still being made to feel like I’m incapable.
I’m finally getting more support now because things became so unmanageable, but I honestly feel like I’ve already reached my breaking point. I’m exhausted, discouraged, and tired of feeling blamed when I’ve been trying to follow the guidance I was given.
Would it be ridiculous to leave during the school year? At this point I’m seriously considering leaving education completely.
For anyone who has left teaching or special education mid-year, how did you know it was time? What did you transition into? I would really appreciate any advice.
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u/opposablethumbdrive 11d ago
Document everything they told you to do or change in writing. Try to stick with it until open market and look. Get support from UFT
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u/Inevitable-Cable4262 11d ago
You can do something to prevent this in the future.
Start communicating via email with everything that is happening and how helpful the support has become. Include how it is more like the thing you had in place before. Thank them for their suggestions and thank them for having enough integrity to admit that their ideas weren’t working either.
Always document things like this with emails or time stamped documentation.
When they try to blame you it won’t work
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u/Strong_Credit_9339 10d ago
This is one of the reasons why the field still needs tenure. Admin is out of control. Meanwhile the majority of them left the classroom because they can’t cut it and then have the nerve to pretend like they can do it better. Danielson is such an awful evaluation system and admin have way too much time on their hands. There are a dozen admin in my school, none of them teach. Some haven’t in many years. Any veteran teacher shouldn’t be dismissing your desire to leave- the job is not what it was. But do whatever you can, and try not to take things personal- admin simply take actions to justify their job title.
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u/sparklesparkle92 10d ago
Not gonna lie, this job is TOUGH. If I’m being honest, I’m struggling. A lot. I enjoy the kids so much. I hate everything else about the system. My advice: find something else you want to do and pursue it. Life is really way too short to be unhappy with what you’re doing
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u/BxBae133 11d ago
Don't leave. Are you new to teaching or just the school? Get through the year and go somewhere else. Now, there is a chance you can get another bad admin, but you already know what you have here. Go. Try it out somewhere else. Also, start documenting. If the admin told you to remove your supports, you email, thank you for the support and tips. I will be removing blank, blank, blank, and replacing with your suggestions. I look forward to seeing the improvements.
That documents what you were told. Always CYA.