Educators with PRIDE Unite

Martina · 08-14-2013, 10:48 PM

Tomorrow is the first day with students. We have had days of meetings and unpacking. There is a new principal who is trying to whip us into shape. *yawn*

We had to unpack because they made us pack EVERYTHING last Spring. They thought we were going to move. We didn't end up moving, which is worse in a way. But I rearranged my room so that my desk is no longer in a drafty spot.

A parent called today to talk about her life and update me on her kid -- a 20 year old with a serious mental illness. He'll graduate from high school this semester. Nice kid.

Anyway, I felt so detached. It worries me. It's not like me to not care or to have to work at it. My father died this summer. I guess I felt that some of her problems were rather "high end." I was not aware that I though that or anything, but I could tell that I just didn't care much about her stuff, and it scared me. I WAS glad to hear that her son had had an OK summer. No regressing, which can happen during breaks.

Grief is weird though. It has affected me in ways I didn't anticipate, like this. I hope I snap out of it pretty quickly.

spritzerJ · 08-15-2013, 05:31 AM

Good Luck Martina! Some years are more detached than others.

Congrats to your student who is near graduation!

Sis... how are you doing anxiety wise now? It is getting closer.

I've been obsessing all summer. We don't start until Sept. 3rd. I don't report back until August 26th. I've been in all summer slowly getting ready. Since I don't have any boarder or decorative items and I am cute impaired I've needed extra time to do that stuff.

As a former special education teacher I know it is common to get the "special placements". So far 4 kids have been placed with me because of my experience and because I won't mind the meetings (I'm not sure if I can handle just being the observer of meetings). 2 from the "behavioral program". Sort of makes me feel at home. It is the 4 kiddos that are super high readers I am not so sure about.

sis · 08-15-2013, 06:40 AM

[QUOTE=spritzerJ;834016]

Sis... how are you doing anxiety wise now? It is getting closer. Not so much anxiety but sadness at leaving all my family and friends. I love living in Manitoba but there aren't many job opportunities!
QUOTE]

Good Morning Everyone! Well, I'm in the last stages of getting ready to start the journey back to work. The cottage is all closed up, I'm in Winnipeg for a couple of nights at a decent hotel doing last minute visiting, appts, etc. Leave very early Friday morning for Guangzhou. Start back at work next Wednesday BUT kids start a week later. We will have the usual meeting, digging out of the classroom, etc. I'll be working in Grade 1 this year so I've got to get my early years mojo warmed up! lolol It is a lot different than working with kids in Grade 4 - more hugs to be received and given with a few tears-wiping thrown in for good measure! lolol Hope all who are getting ready to go back are well rested and have had a great holiday!

Deb

Soon · 08-15-2013, 01:20 PM

IT HAPPENED TO ME: I HAVE PTSD FROM TEACHING AT AN INNER-CITY SCHOOL

ETA: Worth checking out the many interesting and worthwhile comments post-article.

Martina · 08-15-2013, 06:43 PM

That's sad. I have been lucky in terms of students with behavior issues making my life miserable. Except for my first year, I have had administrative support. And I just haven't had a lot of that. I think it's worse in Middle School. My former roommate got depressed and quit teaching. He was a Middle School teacher. The kind of whiplash stuff she was talking about -- first they love you, then they hate you, then they love you again. It's not part of my experience, but I have heard about it. It would be a lot.

But having had two of my students shot and killed in eight years -- that's been hard. I don't think I have PTSD, but like many teachers, I have to work to manage stress. Sometimes I am more successful than others.

Thanks. Interesting stuff.

nycfem · 08-15-2013, 07:12 PM

How many of you can relate to this article? I can. My twenty years of psych and school social work have been intensely stressful and meaningful. I like how she captured so much love for the students while still saying how damaging it was to her psyche. The experience enriches the soul and wounds it at the same time. Are there people who don't work in schools like this? With kids like this? With families like this? I can't say I've had much experience outside of this realm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soon

IT HAPPENED TO ME: I HAVE PTSD FROM TEACHING AT AN INNER-CITY SCHOOL

ETA: Worth checking out the many interesting and worthwhile comments post-article.

RockOn · 08-15-2013, 08:05 PM

I just code software and have never been a teacher so I cannot relate. After having read the article, I want to say I do not know how you do it. Such high stress day after day. nycfem, please leave if it starts ruining your health and not wait as long to leave as the woman in the article.

I take my hat off to all of you doing this type work in these type conditions.

Martina · 08-17-2013, 12:03 AM

That's so funny that the PTSD article was posted and I read it before one kid came back to school -- his first day back -- and blew UP. He was upset that he still has so many credits to complete in order to graduate. He refused to sign his orientation paperwork (threw the papers on the table) and started dropping the F-bomb, blaming previous schools and teachers for not giving him the credits he believes he earned. It was going to escalate when I calmly but firmly asked him to leave.

It is so nice to have that option. My students are mostly 18-22 SDC, and we are in an alternative program. If one of them acts a fool, I can just say, "Go home."

Anyway, an hour later he walked back in, and while he didn't apologize, he was sweet as pie. All went well.

Then I talked to a troubled parent and then to a student who has a crippling anxiety disorder and is feeling nervous about returning to school. I do not quite know how therapists do it. It is a LOT of work to deal with emotionally disturbed folks. I don't think you realize it until you have a break -- like summer break. It was a tough summer, but with the exception of one of my mother's friends and, I suspect, her twice weekly housekeeper, I did not interact with people who have serious mental illnesses -- or at least illnesses that are obvious and require effort on my part when communicating.

When you teach SDC Special Ed, the most average General Ed student looks like a genius, and when you teach the ED population, you get used to that too and think very little of it. But, in fact, there are serious challenges to this work, and they do take a toll.

08-15-2013, 06:40 AM	#3
sis Diva! How Do You Identify?: StoneFemme Preferred Pronoun?: She, Her Relationship Status: Content! Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Canada! Posts: 322 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 4,173 Thanked 1,403 Times in 296 Posts Rep Power: 21474850	[QUOTE=spritzerJ;834016] Sis... how are you doing anxiety wise now? It is getting closer. Not so much anxiety but sadness at leaving all my family and friends. I love living in Manitoba but there aren't many job opportunities! QUOTE] Good Morning Everyone! Well, I'm in the last stages of getting ready to start the journey back to work. The cottage is all closed up, I'm in Winnipeg for a couple of nights at a decent hotel doing last minute visiting, appts, etc. Leave very early Friday morning for Guangzhou. Start back at work next Wednesday BUT kids start a week later. We will have the usual meeting, digging out of the classroom, etc. I'll be working in Grade 1 this year so I've got to get my early years mojo warmed up! lolol It is a lot different than working with kids in Grade 4 - more hugs to be received and given with a few tears-wiping thrown in for good measure! lolol Hope all who are getting ready to go back are well rested and have had a great holiday! Deb __________________ Oh! Please do not touch me! Oh! Please do not touch! Oh! Please do not! Oh! Please do! Oh! Please! Oh!

08-15-2013, 01:20 PM	#4
Soon Infamous Member How Do You Identify?: femme Relationship Status: attached Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: . Posts: 6,896 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 29,046 Thanked 13,094 Times in 3,386 Posts Rep Power: 21474858	Thought some of you may be interested in this article. Please take care of yourselves this year. IT HAPPENED TO ME: I HAVE PTSD FROM TEACHING AT AN INNER-CITY SCHOOL ETA: Worth checking out the many interesting and worthwhile comments post-article.

08-15-2013, 08:05 PM	#7
RockOn Senior Member How Do You Identify?: sitting over there ----->>>>> :) Preferred Pronoun?: .... Relationship Status: .... Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: .... Posts: 3,522 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 9,081 Thanked 10,304 Times in 2,610 Posts Rep Power: 21474855	back to nycfem I just code software and have never been a teacher so I cannot relate. After having read the article, I want to say I do not know how you do it. Such high stress day after day. nycfem, please leave if it starts ruining your health and not wait as long to leave as the woman in the article. I take my hat off to all of you doing this type work in these type conditions.

08-14-2013, 10:48 PM	#1
Martina Senior Member How Do You Identify?: * Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: * Posts: 4,999 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 13,409 Thanked 18,283 Times in 4,166 Posts Rep Power: 21474854	Tomorrow is the first day with students. We have had days of meetings and unpacking. There is a new principal who is trying to whip us into shape. yawn We had to unpack because they made us pack EVERYTHING last Spring. They thought we were going to move. We didn't end up moving, which is worse in a way. But I rearranged my room so that my desk is no longer in a drafty spot. A parent called today to talk about her life and update me on her kid -- a 20 year old with a serious mental illness. He'll graduate from high school this semester. Nice kid. Anyway, I felt so detached. It worries me. It's not like me to not care or to have to work at it. My father died this summer. I guess I felt that some of her problems were rather "high end." I was not aware that I though that or anything, but I could tell that I just didn't care much about her stuff, and it scared me. I WAS glad to hear that her son had had an OK summer. No regressing, which can happen during breaks. Grief is weird though. It has affected me in ways I didn't anticipate, like this. I hope I snap out of it pretty quickly.

08-15-2013, 05:31 AM	#2
spritzerJ Timed Out - Permanent How Do You Identify?: Queer (gender), female (biological marker) Preferred Pronoun?: she will work as a default. Relationship Status: engaged to jac until 8/10/14 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Maine Posts: 3,154 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,307 Thanked 15,802 Times in 2,905 Posts Rep Power: 0	Good Luck Martina! Some years are more detached than others. Congrats to your student who is near graduation! Sis... how are you doing anxiety wise now? It is getting closer. I've been obsessing all summer. We don't start until Sept. 3rd. I don't report back until August 26th. I've been in all summer slowly getting ready. Since I don't have any boarder or decorative items and I am cute impaired I've needed extra time to do that stuff. As a former special education teacher I know it is common to get the "special placements". So far 4 kids have been placed with me because of my experience and because I won't mind the meetings (I'm not sure if I can handle just being the observer of meetings). 2 from the "behavioral program". Sort of makes me feel at home. It is the 4 kiddos that are super high readers I am not so sure about.

08-15-2013, 06:43 PM	#5
Martina Senior Member How Do You Identify?: * Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: * Posts: 4,999 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 13,409 Thanked 18,283 Times in 4,166 Posts Rep Power: 21474854	That's sad. I have been lucky in terms of students with behavior issues making my life miserable. Except for my first year, I have had administrative support. And I just haven't had a lot of that. I think it's worse in Middle School. My former roommate got depressed and quit teaching. He was a Middle School teacher. The kind of whiplash stuff she was talking about -- first they love you, then they hate you, then they love you again. It's not part of my experience, but I have heard about it. It would be a lot. But having had two of my students shot and killed in eight years -- that's been hard. I don't think I have PTSD, but like many teachers, I have to work to manage stress. Sometimes I am more successful than others. Thanks. Interesting stuff.

08-17-2013, 12:03 AM	#8
Martina Senior Member How Do You Identify?: * Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: * Posts: 4,999 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 13,409 Thanked 18,283 Times in 4,166 Posts Rep Power: 21474854	That's so funny that the PTSD article was posted and I read it before one kid came back to school -- his first day back -- and blew UP. He was upset that he still has so many credits to complete in order to graduate. He refused to sign his orientation paperwork (threw the papers on the table) and started dropping the F-bomb, blaming previous schools and teachers for not giving him the credits he believes he earned. It was going to escalate when I calmly but firmly asked him to leave. It is so nice to have that option. My students are mostly 18-22 SDC, and we are in an alternative program. If one of them acts a fool, I can just say, "Go home." Anyway, an hour later he walked back in, and while he didn't apologize, he was sweet as pie. All went well. Then I talked to a troubled parent and then to a student who has a crippling anxiety disorder and is feeling nervous about returning to school. I do not quite know how therapists do it. It is a LOT of work to deal with emotionally disturbed folks. I don't think you realize it until you have a break -- like summer break. It was a tough summer, but with the exception of one of my mother's friends and, I suspect, her twice weekly housekeeper, I did not interact with people who have serious mental illnesses -- or at least illnesses that are obvious and require effort on my part when communicating. When you teach SDC Special Ed, the most average General Ed student looks like a genius, and when you teach the ED population, you get used to that too and think very little of it. But, in fact, there are serious challenges to this work, and they do take a toll.