Teaching HS and MS and I put 80% of the student issues at the feet of parents. Far too many want to be friends than be a parent. Basic human things (listening, being respectful, and understanding consequences) are taught at home.

I think it's crazy that we expect classrooms to have only 1 adult in the room.

I'm one of them who left 3 years ago and sadly will never go back. I loved the work but the disrespecting, low pay, and the burn out caused by guilt trip was not worth it. Teachers need more support, higher pay matching the degree obtained and respect for all the work they do. I shouldn't have to get a second job to pay the bills if I'm teaching full time with a bachelor degree. It's wrong.

When you said “the parents don’t know how to be with their kids that long” that really hit. That’s the problem with our society. These problems are starting at home with the family unit being broken up. The lack of peoples dedication to their children and their role as parents is showing so clearly.

I’m a para educator and it’s crazy for us too. So many people are constantly being moved around and it’s exhausting. We are over a month into the year and I’ve been assigned to 5 different kids. It feels unstable and it’s because as much as teachers are being unsupported, support staff like paras and teaching assistants are also being disregarded and not paid enough. I definitely agree that COVID has a huge impact on everyone’s development.

I am 23, recently graduated and not even halfway through my first year of teaching. I am done. I'm going back to school for a bit longer to hopefully become a school psychologist instead. As a teacher I have felt nothing but disrespect from the kids, admin, and zero support as a new teacher. I already feel burnt out and unmotivated. It's sad, and if the government doesn't wake up soon education is seriously doomed.....

I'm currently a senior in HS, and the way covid impacted kids is SO crazy. The sophomores this year have absolutely zero comprehension of their actions or the consequences of those actions. We recently had an assembly and the principal had to stop everything and tell everyone to pay attention and be respectful FOUR TIMES IN LESS THAN AN HOUR. This has never happend at all in my time at HS, much less four times. I cannot begin to imagine what teachers are going through during this time. It would be so degrading to go to work and face these children who haven't learned how to person properly, then to be discredited and devalued at every opportunity by the community and the greater system as a whole. School and teaching is such a necessity; the behavior of these children is indicative of that, and to act as though teachers are worthless in the very same breath- Y'all deserve the world, I'm so sorry it's gotten to this point.

I can relate. The kids will talk while I’m teaching, run around the classroom, be extremely loud and even use profanity and storm out of the room without permission. I lost my voice over four times yelling at them to stop. And the majority of them are below grade level. It’s a mess.

The fix is two words: "Tough Love" It has to come from parents, it has to come from teachers, it has to be supported by administration, and it has to be accepted by the community.

I just started teaching this past month and I absolutely hate it. I prep so much to meet the standards, I spend a lot of my money on the kids because I’m expected to “make learning fun.” I am disrespected every single day. I feel bitter and exhausted. I can’t. I want to quit everyday. I’ve developed stomach ulcers from the sheer amount of stress as well. I love a lot of my kids, but a lot of them are absolutely disrespectful and plain out rude. I grew up poor with trauma too, but that is NO excuse. I was NEVER disrespectful to a person who was trying to help me.

I retired last Dec with 25 years in teaching. I'm a highly qualified Science teacher and I'd never go back into the classroom again. I now have an Office Manager job for a small company. Love it so much more. The huge amount of time teaching takes away from a teacher's personal life is CRAZY! The paperwork is outlandish.

It’s so different now. As a daycare teacher, it starts early. I have had parents argue other teachers up and down about behaviors. Some just shrugs their shoulders, or ignore you all together. Half of the time it’s because they themselves lack empathy for teachers. It’s like “you sign up for this deal with it”

I've been teaching for 23 years now. I've seen better days and I've had the chance to enjoy teaching, but it saddens me for those who are new to the profession. I hate to be pessimistic, but things aren't going to get better and more and more teachers are going to walk away. Educators are expected to take on responsibilities that we were never meant to have. Meanwhile, there's no real expectations or accountability for students and their parents. It's insane to expect school systems to make up for what's lacking at home. The pandemic isn't the real culprit. It merely revealed and magnified what we were already experiencing.

I just walked out of what I thought would be a dream job. Half day teaching that started at noon. It was a middle school and I had 7th and 8th graders. They went the first 2 months with out a regular teacher. When I came in none of them could hear me. They were slamming desks and chairs and books. One student screamed in my ear so loud it really hurt my ears. We had a fire alarm after school I was trying to hear what the office was saying over the loud speaker. One student screamed so loud over and over I could not hear what the office was saying. Then they all rushed me and left the room. Within 3 days the principal was telling me how sensitive these kids were and I was reprimanded 3 times. The students were running to her and actually lying about me. I tried to teach for a month. I was never trained in the grading system or the referral system or the electronics system. I got piecemeal information, from a couple of teachers, but I was never able to post grades. I have 27 years of teaching experience, most of it in middle school and I have never been treated so badly by admins or students and the parents who also believed everything these students said.. I had been retired and I came out of retirement for this job. I am so sorry I did. These students are totally enabled. I need a job, but I think I'll look into a different profession. I'm surprised their are any teachers left. This school never had enough subs. This district and especially this school deserve a teaching shortage. I was so beat up by these students I cried all the way home. Bottom line, I'm not going get sick or die for these kids. I am not.

When children aren't taught respect and personal responsibility at home it will carry over to school as well. Also parents need to show respect for their children's teachers in front of then. Like do not bad mouth teachers when your kids can hear, you are literally teaching your child to disrespect the authority figures in their lives.

First let me say that I am not a teacher. But I wanted you all to know that I have cried over the things you are all going through. I'm so sorry that parents allow their children to walk all over teachers today. I'm very grateful for everything you do. I work with the public and I see how parents let their children do anything they want. I hear how kids treat adults. It's horrible. Thank you for talking about this because I had no idea how hard teacher's have it. Bless you all.

You are validated by this family. When our daughter has to spend over 1,000 a year on supplies, and can only right off $250.00 on her taxes, there is a problem. Grabbing people off the street is a slap in the face to the teachers that have gone to school, and worked hard to get their degrees.

This is my first year teaching. It will also be my last. I don’t care about most of my students anymore. Yelling across the room, walking around, calling me names, talking non stop- and admin doesn’t put any pressure on parents. I can’t do this.

Parents and admins, I hope you’re watching this. Open your ears and listen to what teachers are saying. Things need to get better.

I'm a teacher in Orlando and full time single father of 5 kids, and I come home so overwhelmed that helping them with homework is beyond my capacity.

I just got put in charge of the toddler room at my school (1 1/2 -2 years old) and I have a student that has had no interactions with anyone but their parents for the past 2 years. I now having to teach them how to walk, communicate and to be comfortable with other people and that just one child in my class. It's a lot to deal with.

My seniors have senioritis already. Quarter 1 ends next week. I’m tired every day. I’m tired of parents not caring, kids not caring, the disrespect. It is way too much to deal with.

I was an assistant teacher in a Pre-K classroom for two years and I was a lead teacher in Pre-K for five months, both times in a daycare center. I couldn't even finish out the school year in regards to the latter; I had NO support when it came to behaviors, so I struggled when it came to making curriculum because I was thinking that there was no point if they didn't listen to me and, therefore, didn't learn. The director and the owners only cared about appearances and only acknowledged the people who were in their inner circle (most of whom just were NOT qualified to be in the position they were in), and I just did not feel valued. The last straw was when a kid who destroyed my classroom because I told her she couldn't gargle her water was given a sticker sheet just so that she could get out of the director's office so that she (the director) could go back to her zoom class. I broke down right in the hallway. That took place on a Friday. By Monday, the resignation letter was on her desk. That happened over a year ago and I'm still traumatized from what happened. I never want to go back to a classroom ever again.

It has become very difficult now for Early Career Teachers, many leave because the stress is too much with management expecting that you should be a PERFECT teacher as soon as you complete your training.

I graduated HS in 2010 and immediately enrolled in college for music education. I dropped out after none of my older friends could get jobs. I felt bad about that decision for a while, but the past couple years have absolutely validated my decision. Being a teacher now seems like a special kind of hell

We as parents have to trust our teachers. ❤️

This was a more serious episode however I do feel better knowing that me and the teachers at my school are not the only ones going through this hell.

I was watching the episode and a thought struck me that I had not thought of before so I had to pause the episode to type it before I forgot it. I worked in an elementary school for 12 years and 4 months ago just went to working at a local daycare. It has been ROUGH to say the least since covid happened. The kids are out of control and hard to keep engaged and focused and I see a lot of people saying they are unsure of where it is coming from. I was one of those people but now I think a lot of this stems from over stress in the home. Lets be honest we are all financially struggling and everything is so expensive you can't work hard enough or long enough to get the amount of money needed to create a carefree and happy environment at home all the time. Kids pick up on that stress and that weight and a lot of kids take that heaviness on their own shoulders even if they don't realize it. Maybe the real issue is the stress and exhaustion and uncertainty and price gouging that has been going on at home is causing a society of burnt out people who just can't take it anymore and our kids are exhibiting the behaviors we adults can't.

I understand having core curriculum but teachers need to have the authority to teach that curriculum in the way they think will best serve their students. When administrators and school boards sti k their nose into the classroom they limit the creativity and adaptability of the teachers

A huge issue I have seen in teaching high school is that a lot of our students had to parent themselves for 2 years. Now they are in a school setting being expected to listen to adults, and they don't understand that temporarily caring for themselves did not make them "grown". Many get very angry at ANY expectation or attempt to curb inappropriate behaviour because they were used to being alone and doing whatever they wished. It's really hobbled their ability to consider others' perspectives.

So I used to do telephone surveys. The main reason I would hear that people vote against levies for schools other than not wanting tax increases is that the money seems to them to be going to sports facilities and gyms and new schools instead of making any effort at all to repair the existing structures and put the focus on those renovations on education rather than sports.

This is my first year and I'm having the same issue with the constant talking. Like and with Covid I feel like the biggest issue is that they have been able to get away with the bare minimum results of work. I feel like we've allowed them to fall behind on a lot of things and we're playing catch up

Teaching is as much emotional labor, as it is intellectual labor. Emotional labor sets the stage for all that comes after it. You’ve had to learn how someone else feels, how they think, how the world looks to them. You have to do this for how many kids at once? I live in Texas, and I don’t know how teachers here can do their jobs. What’s being required of them is cruel and immoral, and the book-banning is based on religious extremism and bigotry. The parents demanding these things forget that the rest of us exist. The district where my kids were educated is in a very high income area, and parents often treat teachers like lowly employees. It’s also a very conservative area, and I’d hate to teach here, or anywhere in Texas.

“So much of ourselves is why we teach.” So very true. A good teacher is a teacher who is teaching effectively while they are letting their personality shine. I agree that allowing teachers to be their authentic selves help them to learn how to get along with different people while they’re learning so when they enter the workplace, they have had practice interacting with different personalities.

I’m not a teacher and have no experience with the educational system outside of being a student. But I’ve worked in a restaurant that’s right next to a K-8th grade school so we get a fair amount of families with their kids (mostly middle school aged). About 80% of the kids who come in have very few tables manners and will get up and run around the restaurant screaming and jumping all over our couches. The parents won’t do anything about it and are sometimes worse than the kids. We’ve gotten to the point where we literally have to have them (the parents) sign a contract stating that they will sit down at one table and not roam around the restaurant. I have the utmost respect to the teachers that deal with this on a daily basis. I want to quit after dealing with it for 4 hours once or twice a week.

I'm a sub and I feel like a lot of the same things apply. I'm also credentiald and have my Master's degree. I'm apprehensive to get a full time teaching job because I don't want to be stuck! As a sub, I can take a day off if I need to. I dunno... but teaching and even subbing is SO MUCH MORE than just teaching stuff kids. You are a psychiatrist, a doctor, a babysitter, an entertainer etc. It's rough! Even as a sub you are all these things!

I no longer felt like a teacher. All I did was try and manage outrageous behavior. And I couldn't do it.

Times have definitely changed since I was in school. I remember when I was a freshman in HS and my social studies teacher had a permission form for our parents to sign for those of us to be able to watch Hotel Rwanda since we were learning about the country at the time and everyone was there to watch the movie that day so it's sad to see that families don't want certain topics to be talked or shown about

What a great episode! I love the way these discussions help all of us understand what teachers are going through.

Lauren, the class you are talking about with the crazy chatty kids, that's literally my classmates right now. Its so sad watching my teachers yelling at everyone every single day. The even more terrible thing, is that nothing changes no matter what my teachers tell them. My classmates don't even care when prizes are up if the class is good. This is so bad.

I was XC captain recently for my senior year of college. By far, the freshman grade was the worst that we have ever seen. Even my coach said it. We determined that it was because they were in lockdown from ages 16 to 18, a peak developmental time for a teenager. None of these students were mature, all of them caused issues with each other and could not handle interpersonal relationships. It was like they were 14-15, not 18. Over half of them ended up dropping out of college. It's sad that COVID has affected kids like this.

I teach 1st grade at a charter school in Las Vegas, NV. This is 100000000% accurate! They won’t be quiet, no respect, no manners. It’s crazy

I'm a parent and I see that teachers are under such pressure to make everyone feel good that I can't get a real answer or help for what to do at home with my misbehaving child.

I like to find out the teachers favorite candy and (school appropriate) drink and will randomly send it to school with my kids to give their teachers. They need shown appreciation

I homeschool because I am able and it fits my kids. However I always vote for levy’s, I always go to school board meetings and advocate for the teachers.

I honestly am not entirely sure its just cause of coivd this is happening (obviously thats also a major factor) I honestly think its partly just the way people are being brought up. The reason I say this is I’m a full grown adult, (34) and went to school in the 90’s never in my life would I have even THOUGHT to talk back to a teacher. I’m now going threw career change and working on a Bachelors degree, one class is a design type class and entails a bi weekly critique from an INDUSTRY SPECIALIST who makes time to teach the course to a) share knowledge b) recruit students to her firm on graduation. THE AMOUNT OF TALKING BACK AND DISRESPECT FROM MY FELLOW CLASSMATES IS PHYSICALLY PAINFUL. The second hand embarrassment and cringe is awful, this is a required course and we all knew what was required of this course and people speak over and borderline fight this women on her valid and accurate critiques WHILE GIVING SAID CRITIQUE !! Even after the critique they refuse to take ownership of their mistakes and continue to whine and blame the teacher for them not understanding the assignment… usually while shes giving another critique… which is how she teaches us … 😅 These aren’t children, these are 19-21 Junior/ senior level colleges students, and this disrespect is disgusting and Im not even the teach I’m a fellow student.

I was a ag teacher for 3 years in OK. I was so burned out and was consuming a bottle of wine a night just to numb my back and feet so I could sleep. AG teachers are on 12 month contracts and we work most weekends and holidays because of our outrageous duty demands. I was also in charge of the local 4H kids which was a $500 stipend in my salary. I left in 2017 before shit really hit the fan. I farm/ranch full time now and I’m much happier. Lol somehow farming is less stressful than teaching!

I'm a 9th grade student I just started high school and 2 weeks into school police and an ambulance came to my school, a kid had been taken by the ambulance because he overdosed in the bathroom, for 2 weeks we had police infront of the bathroom door checking bags to make sure there wasn't any drugs in their bag

I went back to full-time teaching this year after being in a variety of roles for 5 years. I was *only* interested in coming back in a school that would give me the support I would need to go back. Luckily I found it. I switched to self contained ESE ASD (my first yr in all 3 veins). It's super hard but I love it. 🥰

Looking forward to watching this -- thank you for choosing to speak on important/difficult topics!

Per the Columbus City School strike, what's most infuriating about the building situation is that it isn't every building. Some of the schools in the district are in more affluent neighborhoods and those schools are really nice. So it's a neighborhood by neighborhood issue even more than a district wide issue. There's an internal school district lottery system because some of the schools are much, much better than others.

I am a senior in high school, I know how much is expected of you all, and you guys are heroes and I think the only thing I've ever enjoyed in school is the teachers. I remember some of my teachers were a part of the military because they would get paid more. I really wish I could do so much more for you guys, you deserve the world. Especially the elementary school teachers. You guys are incredible and I will always vote for school grants because I go to a small school in Pennsylvania. We have had to get rid of the library cause of budget cuts, and I've watched my school deteriorate over my four high school years. I love learning about the teachers perspective, because you guys are astonishing. I hope you guys have a great school week and God bless

I am so happy that this isn't just me! This is my first year of teaching in Scotland and have primary 4 (aged 7-8). They were in their first year of school when covid hit so they really struggle because they don't have skills in the classroom. Not specifically academic skills but life skills. It's so difficult during transitions with talking.

Do you think that a lot of the inability to listen has to do with the amount of time we’ve all spent on computers?

As a parent to 3 kids during COVId I can't imagine being a teacher. You have to be a special person with a giant heart. I couldn't figure out the entire online schooling, it was horrible. Honestly, if it wasn't for my kids' teachers, my kids would have failed. Because I could not teach in that manner. Thank you to all teachers out there!!! I wish you would get treated so much better because you guys teach our kids, the same kids that will be doctors, judges, etc. One day. Tfs

Lack of support, lack of consequences, and lack of accountability placed on students are the major reason why I have been a sub for years and decided not to teach. Teachers deal with so much. As a parent and trained educator I am so grateful for what they do and wish they had more support.

I'm feeling the same. I've tried everything I can for each of my six classes of 36, but there are those who still want to talk while I'm trying to teach. (It's been worse since Hurricane Ian.) I've reached out for help with basic appropriate behavior with parents and admin, but I feel like I'm getting nothing. It's taking a toll on my mental health, and now my physical health. I love what I teach, but there needs to be a break somewhere. Or, I'm going to have to find another place.

I taught high school Spanish in the Southeastern US for nine years. This was prior to the Common Core initiative, and Spanish was an elective, so I could pretty much do what I wanted as long as it wasn't too outrageous, and I could name the specific vocabulary or grammar the kids were learning. For example, Simon Says taught body parts, Mother May I taught familiar and polite commands and different ways to ask permission. We had fun. With my upper levels, I always did a unit on Don Quijote using a graphic novel (ok, it was really a comic book - only about 40 pages) that presented some of the key scenes and played relevant songs from Man of La Mancha. Because this was the Bible Belt, I always made a point of explicitly informing my administrator of the themes and issues the unit addressed: self-esteem, dysfunctional families and absentee parents, mental health, mental illness, dementia, elder abuse, religious persecution, prostitution, r@pe and consent - particularly in the context of someone who is known to be 'easy' (I'd tell my students, 'Just because they gave it away once does not give you permission to take it the next time'), religious piety and hypocrisy vs actually being a good person (more controversial than you might think in the Bible Belt), nobility of birth vs nobility of character ('nobility' is not so much an issue now, but the idea that well-born people can be horrible and low-born people can be noble is still very relevant), looking past a person's station in life to see who they really are (Don Quijote fell in love with a prostitute), the importance of getting out into the world and having real experiences as opposed to living through books (and nowadays, I would include the internet and social media), and the importance of following one's dreams even when the rest of the world tells you you're crazy (Another big issue when parents just wanted their kids to be able to get a job after school because 80% of my students lived below the federal poverty level and qualified for free or reduced lunches, but pride kept their parents from filling out the paper work. There were days when some of my kids didn't eat lunch and I kept snacks in my desk drawer to feed them). There were probably other things I've forgotten, too. I'd cover myself by sending this information to my principal and assistant principal in an email and giving them a copy of the entire unit including every handout, the song lyrics, and a copy of the book for their review a week or two in advance. I always got amazing support and the response to my email usually said something along the lines of, "They see worse on television and sooner or later most of them will encounter most of these things in real life. Go for it." Then, in 2001, we got hit with George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). I honestly never considered that it would change the landscape for me because my class was an elective. I sent the email and dropped a copy of the unit in my principal's mailbox as usual. This time, the reply to my email was, "I have some notes and observations. What day this week can we meet over lunch?" (His suggesting a lunch meeting was by no means out of line. My planning and lunch ran together, so I had a two-hour block of time in the middle of the day. It was lovely, and most days I would join the principal and a few other colleagues for lunch anyway, so this time, we would just be talking about my unit instead of other stuff.) I picked a day and went into that meeting loaded for bear. I had a three-point argument defending my choice to address every one of those controversial themes. Don Quijote is arguably the greatest work of Spanish-language literature. For many people, it is the only work of Spanish literature they know, even if they've never read it. The fact that this was the first time he had 'notes and observations' told me it was the first time he'd actually bothered to read the full unit. This was my hill to die on. I was going to teach the unit my way, or find another school that would let me, in which case he would have to find another Spanish teacher. I should have trusted my principal. He didn't want to edit out or dumb down a single element in that unit. Rather, he had seen the potential for this unit to meet some of the NCLB requirements and with his 'notes and observations' had turned it into an interdisciplinary unit for me. He wanted the music teacher to come in to talk about how different instruments and rhythms create different emotions (there's a song in Man of La Mancha that is very sweet and soothing in one scene, and with a different musical arrangement and singing style it is the backdrop for a r@pe). He suggested having the school resource officer talk about how the police deal with consent issues. He wanted the school nurse, the guidance counselor and the health occupations teacher to lead a discussion on self-esteem, mental health, mental illness, dementia, and elder abuse. He offered to contact a social worker address issues of dysfunctional families and absentee parents. He wanted me to bring in one of our social studies teachers to talk about the Spanish Inquisition and the concept of 'the nobility.' Several of those people had lunch during that same time period, and we got them on board that week. I think my principal actually covered one of their classes himself to they could come into my classroom for their part of the discussion. It was an amazing 2-1/2 weeks. The kids loved it, I loved it, the other teachers and guests enjoyed the change of pace, we got to have deep discussions about big issues, and every single thing we did met state standards and/or fulfilled requirements of the NCLB Act. It's been over 20 years, and it's still one of my best memories from my years as a teacher. And as far as I know, I never, ever had a parent complain about that unit in all the years I taught it. I guess my point is this: Teachers know how to handle delicate topics. We know what's appropriate and what isn't. We have access to people and resources that parents often don't. With a supportive administration, we have the ability to provide your children with a safe space to talk about big, scary things that many of them will encounter in the wide, wide world. By all means, get involved in your child's education, but trust us, don't stifle us. We want to work with you for your child's benefit, and we have the resources, the capacity, and the desire to do so much good, if you'll let us. If there are problems in your school system, find the source of the trouble and remove it, don't impose blanket restrictions or excessive demands on all of your teachers. If you make it impossible for them to do their jobs the right way, they will leave. Remember, that unit was my hill to die on. I honestly believed it was too important to not do it and that if I wasn't allowed to teach it, then my principal might as well pull anyone in off the street to do the rest of my job. As an aside, I didn't leave teaching because of anything happening in education. I left because my mother fell ill. I realized she wouldn't be around forever and I wanted to spend some time with her, so I moved back home to help take care of her. When I was ready to return to full-time work a few years later, there were a number of reasons why returning to teaching didn't seem like a good plan, so now I'm in my 50s, I have some awesome memories, and I'm content with a J.O.B. that pays the bills. Bless you all, and thanks for your hard work and the love you show those children every day.

Thank you for addressing this school year. Everyone is acting like this is a normal school year- this so far has been that hardest and weirdest beginning of a school year of my career so far. However, the admin and the people in charge are acting like everything should be normal. It is hard to figure out what exactly is off, but something is off.

No denying I'm thrilled yall are out here conveying what many teachers feel which being a secondary music/history/Eng teacher at an adult school, I'm so grateful for. Your points and concerns are so important to discuss and share since even teaching adult students, I see those issues at that level too and then on top of that, instructors are still taken advantage of w/ little pay and barely any resources or they don't work properly. Bless yall!

It took me 3 months to teach my first graders common manners (no hitting, no interrupting, no back talking, listen to lessons, they NEVER want to stop talking). Simple things like taking care of a box of supplies, picking paper up off the floor. Basic socialization skills completely lacking in the majority of kids. The gap between high socioeconomic and lower socioeconomic kids is HUGE, worse than its ever been. The admin. blames the teachers for gaps in learning and low scores, never mentioning it at all. It's 24/7 drill, drill, drill to bring up the test scores. Our afternoon recess was canceled. 12:15 - 2:45 with no break and the kids are 6. Shameful.

I left a job in my district for another job that was out of the classroom after 18 years in the classroom. I never thought I would do that. I still work with kids but it is one on one and I no longer take home 12 extra hours of work a week. If this job had not materialized I would have retired early, moved out of state and done online teaching. These issues predated the pandemic. i was faced with a class of students where a significant minority were malicious and untrustworthy and it just floored me. Previously I taught in an urban area and had minimal classroom issues. I realized I could not put up with the admin gaslighting and blaming teachers for poor students behavior. There are so many people with teaching credentials out there and it is shocking to me that instead of trying to lure these people back, they are hiring people with minimal skills. And yes, I really hate the way teachers bag on other teachers. It is such a hard job. Give each other respect and love.

Some kids are also too over scheduled that they don't have any free time to talk with their peers. We are just too out of balance in so many ways.

As “one of those people off the streets”, I have a masters in accounting and have taught dance since I was a teenager. I was told by a police officer not to do it. I taught for a month in the school from which I graduated. I was hired the Thursday before school started and had two days of PD which was basically listening to an overpaid speaker talking about things I have heard by other overpaid speakers. The pre-cal books didn’t arrive until mid-September. The two rules were 1) No fighting and 2) No vaping. Why did teachers have a dress code but not students? My rule was we all show respect to each other and the classroom. I had a mother who told me her child with a learning disability could show her step-by-step how to work geometry problems because he understand my teaching methods. I was a secondary education major for a time. I was told I”wasn’t a good fit” after the instructional facilitator learned I have ADHD. One student (apparently not the first) wore an ankle monitor and was out on bail for being one of about five people who attacked our police officers with fireworks. I know other students who are in dance or kids of people I know who act like school resource officers using pepper spray in classrooms is normal. Administration is why my niece began attending virtual school in 2015. My students found me on Facebook and messaged me to ask why I left them. They are seniors and I told them the truth. My sophomore principal (my main admin) was fantastic. The senior principal and school principal (who was also an assistant superintendent) were not at all, even when I asked. I had one football player who was reported numerous times for misbehavior and wasn’t punished while others were. While the buildings have issues, there is no problem with the football facilities. I miss my students, but I’m thankful for other businesses wanting me to apply. My sister had sepsis last week and I’m glad I could advocate for my sister at the hospital. I have to call hospital administration to let them know how great their nurses are, even after three years in with a pandemic and they are still wearing masks. Our state’s Department of Education will be hearing the opposite. Every teacher but one was helpful to me and 98% of kids were phenomenal.

Thank you for this video! At the end of the video I love when it was mentioned that these kids Need to see Teachers with Different personalities really hit home for me. In a safe, nurturing environment you will feel comfortable as a Teacher with being your true, authentic self! I am more introverted, quiet and shy in some realms and I feel like many teachers at my school look at me like I don't have a voice, I need to be babied, and not worthy to be a Teacher with a backbone. I'm planning my exit strategy. It's not worth the stress/anxiety.

Just now watching after a few months off. I am certified, and I recently participated in a zoom interview involving four principals. The district is desperately starving for educators yet I was disrespected so much. They would ask me a question and cut me off while I tried to respond. I was offered a 6th ELA position. I accepted with a heightened sense of apprehension and fear! A day later I rescinded. Now I'm working with a special needs foster child also in 6tg grade. So rewarding

I am a first year HS teacher and I have no support. All of the discipline/intervention is placed on us. Scores show that 90% of my students are below grade level, and so many of them are grade school reading levels. These are the kids who act out the most. They talk over me, cuss and blurt out, ignore my directions, and cannot keep their phones away. I am talking about 15 years olds who cannot stay in their seats, stop talking across the class to their friend, or stop tossing things. I have students who will watch videos out loud! They become so aggressive when they are confronted or face consequences. I asked a kid why he would throw something to someone across the room when I had just kicked a kid out for throwing something, and he kept talking back--saying the only reason I am saying something to him about it is because I have a bad attitude. These kids blame me for their behaviors and their grades. They have no sense of responsibility or accountability. I hear excuses and begging/whining all day from the kids who use their phones or want to sleep or talk over me in class.

Such a great episode. Thank you, thank you, thank you! 👏👏👏

Thank you for mentioning higher education, I feel like people don't focus on the fact that we are on fire to. I know not everyone will go onto higher education, but its still important to talk about as many of our skilled professionals (like teachers!) do need at least some further education or higher education experience! Lack of funding, lack of support for faculty and staff, lack of students being prepared for college (i.e. COVID learning loss, behaviors, expectations) are all pouring fuel on the fire!!!

I have a theory on the talking. These kids are making up for lost socialization from the pandemic, and they want to talk. Also, there’s less unstructured play time today than when I was a kid. That’s just a theory, but I don’t have a solution, other than I tell my kid everyday to just stop and listen to the teacher.

I live in Iowa, the governor here wouldn’t allow schools to shut down the whole time that most of the country did. We did have some time when they did online, then it was part online and part in person. The smaller schools went back sooner than larger ones. Then they went back full time. They went back full time and bunch of the teachers got COVID and some were hospitalized, they didn’t have school for 2 weeks and then went back full time, they did have to wear masks. But the problem with our teacher shortage was because parents were having fits about their kids having to wear masks

Omg guys I love your videos so much

I admire you guys being able to speak up. I can relate to a lot of these issues working in the civil service in the UK. We are treated with no dignity by either the public we serve or the government that we help run. I wish I was able to speak up without me receiving an size and desist from my department. Please do continue to speak up. Your voices matter so much. Hopefully you guys inspire more and more people to speak up about awful work environments. Change starts with good words.

"I know my kids are difficult. Sometimes they're little shits. One is probably on the spectrum and ADHD. The other probably oppositional defiant. We're taking them to therapy. We got in home therapy. We are trying meds. We are trying the techniques. We talk to the teachers, give them heads up that the morning went sideways out the gate. I wish I knew how to get them wrangled in so they can function well enough with others. I don't know what to do. I'll try it. I just don't know what to do."

I am in my 25th year as a middle school teacher. My school district just passed a referendum worth millions! We will have beautiful, well set up buildings and classrooms with no teachers to teach in them! It’s currently November, many teachers in my district are leaving at semester. Also, we have no substitutes and are unable to fill some important positions. Behaviors that occur daily are unbelievably CrAZY! Education in America is in a state of emergency! But, let’s keep talking about the economy…..cause they aren’t connected, RIGHT??!! 🤷🏼‍♀️

I went to puberty classes with my school nurse and mom after school, so that my mom had more of a jumping off point to fill in the blanks as opposed to explain everything in a medical unage appropriate way. This was in 06 though

What is a jeans day? My school allows teachers to wear jeans any day.

15:10 everyone in my 3rd grade class gave me wide eyes when I shared that my mom let me go see Saw II in the IMAX theater. My teacher cut me off when I started talking about the details.

I just left an ESL teaching position. 4th-8th grade. You go through teacher training and you get experience teaching and read the research and get good results with your students. And you get hired based on your training and experience and expertise. Then, they hand you a boxed curriculum and say you have to teach this boring curriculum that the kids hate and is completely ineffective. These poor kids are reading 3 or 4 years behind grade level. They speak English fluently. They may speak English better than their native language. But they are in ESL classes because they keep failing statewide testing because they can barely read. And I go into the school and there is no library. And I go into the classroom and there are no books. Only boring workbooks. And I do not have the flexibility to use my knowledge and my experience and have the kids reading and writing and learning vocabulary. I know how to get their reading score up 2 grade levels per year. But the district bought this boxed curriculum and we have to use it. I had to decide whether to be passive-aggressive and do what I feel the kids need and what works but pretend to be doing the lame workbooks, or to sell my soul and to participate in keeping these kids from even being able to graduate from high school, not to mention college. Because they keep doing these lame workbooks that the district buys and they keep failing the state testing every year and falling further behind. We have this top-down system where the district and the administrators, who don't know each subject area, and don't see the students make the decisions and the teachers feel micro-managed and are unable to do what the students need. I wish I could have helped those kids. I am just not a fit in the school bureaucracy.

Thank you for this video. Bless you for sharing your experience and talent that you give to your students.

Thank you for saying all of these things!

Never been this early! I’m not a teacher, but I’ve been a HS/MS school social worker, just YAS 👏🏾 Love your content. Keep up the advocacy❤

As a new daycare teacher at a center, I can't wait to watch this!

I left a 15 year retail career this year to work in special ED. I have volunteered at my 3 children's school for the last 8 years and been their Volleyball coach for the last 2 years. You are so right that these teachers AND students need support and encouragement so badly. It is a completely different world right now.

I've worked in schools for over 10 years. I've been a para, a one to one and now a IA. I have been asked to go back to school to be a teacher.. but even with all the experience I have with working in a class and help create lesson plans I still don't think I can handle being a full teacher. Much respect to all teachers.. I have lots of teachers in my family I'm happy to be class support and back up but teachers pay for way too much out of pocket and all the other time and energy they should be treated better and paid waaaaaaaay better

Snaps to you Tell!!! I have been in education for 30 years, almost left 4 years ago. I realized this is my calling. Thanks y’all!!!

When I went to the school Greg teaches at right now, they used to call in my grandfather every other week to fix something that broke in the AC system. My sister (who goes there now) also told us how they couldn't use the classrooms on one half of the building because the AC system for that half the building had had some catastrophic failure and needed to be completely replaced. Some of these schools ought to be condemned.

You guys are amazing!

I started student teaching in September. I started in 1st grade and it’s no joke! Curriculum assumes all kids are on level and doesn’t allow for accommodations. We have kids that don’t know their letter sounds. On top of that, this is their first year without restrictions. THEY WILL NOT STOP TALKING!! it’s absolutely insane.

The episode really resonated to me. The gov’t & higher admin’s obsession with determining “learning loss” is not as relevant as the change in the students’ ability to self regulate, sense of entitlement, resentment of routines, even just regulating going to the bathroom a dozen times a day that teachers are trying to reacclimate students to rooms with 30+ bodies. Deadlines, working in a focused manner even if you personally aren’t thrilled about the topic or activity, accepting behavior norms are the challenges I haven’t seen as much in 20+ years of teaching.

I am a Speech Language Pathologist. I should have a caseload of about 40 and I currently have a caseload of 102. It is absolutely horrible. I wish I could quit but I can’t. I am a single woman and I only have 7 years to retirement.

Students are still having issues paying attention, listening, fallowing directions at this point of the year. I was soooo happy for thanksgiving break. I think parents didn’t teach their kids how to be respectful during Covid. I blame parents.

There’s a school district that I know of that wants to pass a policy that is so intense that if a teacher even says the word “diversity” they could get fired. They’ve also just set a precedent on banning books in classrooms and the school libraries too. It’s absolutely insane how bad things have gotten.

Why does it always have to be “For the kids”? Don’t we deserve things for Ourselves, like everyone else???

Lack of home training in children has been going on for years and it's become more and more widespread, with the behaviors becoming worse and worse.

I see this every single day in my school I am a special ed aide for kindergarten and 1st grade. And I see this every day and I appreciate my own teachers ten times more.thank you for all you do

omg, we also didn’t have AC in our schools. i cannot explain how terrible it was on 80° days - in uniforms, tucked in shirts, belts, etc - and just dripping in sweat. even as a kid i knew how bad that was for holding anyone’s attention.

My favorite Sunday podcast 💖

Thank you so much for this helpful podcast. I was just wondering about the balance that needs to be struck between parents and teachers and if you've had any guests that were both a parent AND a teacher and if they can come back and talk about this? I realize the irony in what I'm asking cause you guys just talked about being told how to do your job, lol. However, I would love it if such guests could return for this topic. I don't have kids, so I only know one side of this struggle and I know they'll have an insight that could prove helpful. Big-time appreciate y'all. 🙏

some of the teachers are also dealing with radiation in schools too