Ugh! What a job.

Finally, I got a job in a NYC public school, and I am totally hating my job.

Well, to be fair, I want to be a teacher and that is what I was hired to do.  Unfortunately, very little instruction actually occurs in these classrooms.  When principals ask about how I handle discipline, and I give the talk about progressive discipline, they are fine with it.  The reality, however, is that these kids have no respect for anyone or anything.  And while their parents are quite literally ready to beat the crap out of the kids, no change in behavior occurs.

So, I try every day to rise above the shit.

Where I work is very unfriendly to teachers.

The students do not travel from one room to the next, it's the teachers who are required to do that.  It's difficult for a variety of reasons.  First, a portion of my evaluation is based on the classroom.  I have no control over my room (because the kids are often fooling about in all their classes) nor do I have control over another teacher's room.  Our stamp is to be present, but I am struggling to figure how to do that.

The discipline is problematic.  It's possible that making these kids sit in the same room all day long only increases their poor behavior.  Kids need to get up and move.  Keeping them in the same room day after day cannot be good for learning.  (Though I suspect it makes the principal look good.  Any visitor to the school would see a nice, quiet building.)  Further, we, the teachers, are told to escort the children from class to lunch.  Imagine, the kids are ready to bust out of the room, but I have to get them to walk in straight lines down four floors to enter the cafeteria quietly.

Then the logistics.  Still no sign of a pay check on the horizon.  If my boss thinks I'll stick around all year with no pay, think again.  This is utterly ridiculous!!!!

And, I have to do these nutty programs with the kids.  for example, I have to do Junior Great Books.  The students listen to a story on CD and then there are a whole load of lessons to go with them.  That's all well and good, but I do not have a CD player, nor do I have enough books for the students.  Nevertheless, I am expected to begin this program.  Hmmm.....how can I pull that off??  In any other situation, I would have made copies of other materials.  Not at this school.  NO Paper is available.  Further, the copier on my floor needs to be wheeled out from where it is, and plugged in to a plug outside someone's classroom.  Further, the copier often doesn't work.  On Monday it literally took me 40 minutes (almost my entire prep period) to make a copy of one sheet of paper.

So, I can tell the IRS that I'm a teacher, but it really feels like I'm just a punching bag.