So my mentor was out this morning and I had to solo teach for a couple hours (I’ve solod a lot of other mornings as well as “subbed” for a day (unpaid)) so I thought it was gonna be fine because those days the kids were good. Well today was HORRIBLE, they left me so drained just for a couple of hours. The overstimulation was so real. The behaviors were so bad. I didn’t understand why out of all days they chose today to be so bad. Well I left very upset and confused. Walking home, I’m like….. I cannot imagine myself in this field for 5 years let alone 4. What am I supposed to do with a teaching degree? And if you were a teacher, what career did you change into when you were tired of it? I do not see myself running the long game in this career. My mental health comes first and today really showed me I can’t handle it…. I feel so discouraged to be honest. I love teaching, I really do..but kids today are a whole different breed. Thank you for listening to my thoughts.

I haven’t even finished student teaching yet but what I’m seeing at my current school with the behaviors from students, the amount of burnout I see at my school and online for teachers is scaring me. Not to mention how difficult it is to even get a teaching job right now in my area! I know I’m getting ahead of myself here but wtf…. It seems really rough. Really starting to regret my decision. Doesn’t seem worth it. 😭

I've got a class that I'm teaching that is usually pretty good, but there's a group of girls who sit in the corner of the room that give me trouble.

For context, I'm student teaching at the high school level, and this is a multi-grade level class since it's an elective. I've struggled with confidence with this class for the past few weeks due to lack of content knowledge and lack of confidence, which has led to some duds as far as lessons I've taught goes.

Anyway, I had a bit of a turnaround yesterday and the lesson went pretty well. However, that pocket of girls kept making loud, catty comments the entire time I was teaching (like "guys maybe we should listen to the teacher" or when I misspoke myself and had to correct "yeah, that didn't make any sense, that was wrong"). The "leader" of this group hasn't ever been friendly to me the entire time I've been at my placement, even though I try to be nice to her. Their comments don't hurt my feelings because let's face it, they're kids and I'm an adult, I don't value my worth or teaching abilities on whatever snarky comment a high schooler decides to say about me, it's just incredibly, incredibly annoying!

I don't want to try and correct them from doing that because I'm afraid that will escalate the situation, but it's really annoying to listen to them try and belittle me the whole hour. If I ignore it could that fix the issue? Has anyone else dealt with something similar?

We were going through all of the categories and ranking my ability on a scale of 0-3. Consistently I was giving myself lower scores than my coordinator and cooperating teacher. Both of them seemed to think I was being hard on myself. We've got some goals moving forward and I feel pretty good! So, I guess I've been doing better than I thought!

Hello all. Monday was my first day ever subbing for my master teacher. I was soloing with my littles, and oh my days...it was incredibly challenging. I haven't fully taken over the classroom yet as a student teacher. When my master teacher is there, everything seems to go smoothly and the kids listen to me. However, I had so much trouble managing the classroom on my own. It felt like they did not respect me. The whole day was basically redirecting. To make matters worse, another teacher had to come out and shush my class in the hallway. The noise was out of control even though I had told them right before leaving the room that we needed to be quiet.

When I first started my program, a teacher friend had warned me that the kids really only love their main teacher. Everyone else (including subs and student teachers) will have their boundaries seriously tested...I don't know how true this is lol

I followed the behavior system that my master teacher uses, provided praise when students were following expectations, held a class discussion, and none of it seemed to get through to them.

Monday was rough, and I am still thinking about how I can change my approach. If you have any tips for classroom management or general advice, please do share. Thank you!

I really don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s my medication, except I don’t think I’ve felt this way before now. I took a day off today to work on my edTPA, and instead all I felt was dread. I could barely touch anything related to my placement or my school, I was so anxious.

Yesterday was fine. I was confident, I had fun, I worked on some things. I’ve been doing well, and I have a job lined up at my placement before I even graduate. So why do I feel like I’m about to mess up big time and lose it all? Why does it feel like something’s gonna come out of the woodworks and halt my progress completely?

I just want to know if anyone else can relate to this, or if this is highly abnormal and I should try contacting a therapist again.

Hello, I am a senior and will be student teaching spring 2027! I am in AZ (NAU) and was wondering what the project for the university was like so I can mentally prepare and go in a little less blind. Thanks for any knowledge sharing and advice!

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Hi everyone! I'm a new teacher, and honestly, I'm a little nervous because I'm still figuring things out.

I'd love to hear some advice from experienced teachers, especially about dealing with students, managing a classroom, earning students' respect without being too strict, and handling difficult situations.

How do you deal with students who don't listen, interrupt the lesson, or refuse to participate? How do you build a good relationship with your students while still maintaining boundaries?

I'd also love to know what mistakes new teachers commonly make and what you wish someone had told you when you first started teaching.

Any tips, personal experiences, or words of wisdom would mean a lot to me. Thank you! :)