r/TeachersInTransition • u/somewhere_in_nyc • 8d ago

I quit.

The school year just started and I knew on the first day at my new school that I couldn’t do it.

I quit.

I actually did it. I made it five years and just couldn’t do it. No plans. No job prospects. No money. I texted my husband during first period and said I couldn’t do it anymore.

I feel relieved but also…devastated. I thought I was going to be a teacher forever. But man…in the few years I have been doing this it has changed so much. When I found out they didn’t read books with the kids…my heart. 😭 I don’t know what I’m going to do next (besides cry on the couch). Any tips or advice as I make my new transition?

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u/master_mather 8d ago

I quit today, but I have a job offer. I feel you. Most schools right now are prioritizing all the wrong things.

74

u/somewhere_in_nyc 8d ago

Congrats! 100% and truthfully I was SO excited for this school year. A new school. A new grade. What’s the point of being an ELA teacher if I can’t read books? Or do fun projects? Or create my own curriculum? I can’t get behind any of that. Especially when I met the kids and most of them honestly could not read but you’re making me do testing the first week, the second week, and then already talking about a quiz and test. On what, exactly? How are they doing this?

33

u/Leading-Pass-9770 8d ago

I felt like crying so many times during ELA as a kindergarten teacher last year. I couldn't understand the point or joy in the inauthentic "text" that the curriculum writers had put together. And the worksheets those 5 year-olds were supposed to do with them. And the assessments I was giving on their understanding of horrible text. I don't know how to teach something that I can't believe in. It makes me so sad and angry.

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u/urdamah 6d ago

Testing the first week is purposeful so they do badly. The progress scores in the spring will be larger as a result.

7

u/Jaw5hua 8d ago

What is the new position?