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Originally Posted by The Magic
First year teacher? Are you teaching Freshmen Social Studies? Do you have any upperclassmen classes at all?
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I'm teaching at a charter school for at-risk kids. Nearly all of them have problems with drugs, or have had problems with drugs. Bad home lives, etc. I'm teaching Creative Writing, Environmental Science, Civics, and World Geography there. Then I go to another school and teach 8th grade algebra, and I'm shared between two classes the period before. The charter school is filled with students grade 9-12, and all grades are in all classes.
I'm am feeling burnt out, and I know that a lot of it has to do with having no experience with teaching Creative Writing, Environmental Science, and Math. I get by, but barely. I am feeling burnt out, but I'm also wondering what kind of difference I'm really making. If basic human values should come from the parents, then where are these kids going to get it from? I find it very difficult to get into any depth with any subject because their reading levels are so low, and when things get complicated the kids tend to panic and throw up walls.
I see what it means to be a kid, and I understand it. But I also see that these kids are really hurting themselves, and they're really limiting their options for the future. I sort of feel like a babysitter that is trying to some teaching on the side sometimes, particularly because we have a problem with theft and drug use on campus. Its exhausting work, and after days like yesterday I'm trying to figure out why I'm even doing it.