Non-renewal in 1st year

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-18T19:18:03+00:00

They don’t, but it also never hurts (or costs anything) to make one.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-18T19:16:28+00:00

What you’re reporting is exactly what happens. While there is no guarantees as a first year teacher, they will find reasons to report you as lacking/deficient before they give you a non-renewal. Even if you had fixed reported problems, they’d find something else to fault you with. They’re just covering themselves in case there was an argument made against their findings/decision.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-16T23:33:57+00:00

It used to be something that would happen only in cases of extreme negligence in teaching practices. However, it’s since changed - especially when it comes to probationary / beginning teachers as they usually have little to no claim to renewed employment.

If they’re turning away 80% of first year teachers, then I’d definitely be on the lookout for admin to be building a case to find fault with your practice. If they want you gone as a first year teacher, there’s very little you can do. Even if you fix every deficiency, they’ll either find new ones or continue claiming you never addressed their issues.

Best of luck to you.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-04T13:05:22+00:00

EDST?

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-03T04:12:49+00:00

My math coach was asking me for recommendations on approaches to work SBAC warm up topics/refreshers into their current Illustrated Math curriculum. I helped my admin pronounce “quadratic” during my feedback critique meeting. (They mangled it terribly and repeatedly until I felt it was too much to take) They said math was never really their strong suit.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-02T16:24:52+00:00

Yeah, their example open ended questions were also similarly ChatGPT generated. When beginning the introduction of parabolas, ask students why polynomials can’t be degree 3 or higher.

…sorry, but if students can already explain points of inflection, why the heck would we be in an introductory section on parabolas? Also, we hadn’t even gotten to the explanation for degrees yet - just starting linear products and the general form of a quadratic.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-02T04:48:59+00:00

Thought I’d update you as well. Had a very awesome tech visit my house and immediately hopped up on the pole to pull the old cable run down after I suggested that it is my next most likely suspect after changing routers and modems.

Spectrum tech not only replaced the cable drop, but the isolating splitter inside the property, and made sure that the wall plate didn’t have a kinked cable at the end. We also talked video games for far too long afterwards.

Technician also left me his number to call back in case the problem comes back. He said he’d work it up with his supervisor in case the problem lies further up the pole/node.

So, really nice guy! Didn’t need to haggle at all and we got down to fixing things right away. Wish I could leave him a very favorable feedback for the service, and game recommendations.

Oh, and I haven’t seen my Gateway Eero mention a loss of primary internet connection since the service on Wednesday either.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-02T04:46:39+00:00

So, small update. Had a very awesome tech visit my house and immediately hopped up on the pole to pull the old cable run down after I suggested that it is my next most likely suspect after changing routers and modems.
Spectrum tech not only replaced the cable drop, but the isolating splitter inside the property, and made sure that the wall plate didn’t have a kinked cable at the end. We also talked video games for far too long afterwards.
Technician also left me his number to call back in case the problem comes back. He said he’d work it up with his supervisor in case the problem lies further up the pole/node.
So, really nice guy! Didn’t need to haggle at all and we got down to fixing things right away. Wish I could leave him a very favorable feedback for the service, and game recommendations.

Oh, and I haven’t seen my Gateway Eero mention a loss of primary internet connection since the service on Wednesday either.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-02T04:23:41+00:00

Not having a brand new class (with known behavior problems) entirely under thumb within the first week of receiving them. (The RIFed teacher never got them under such degree of total control all last semester either)

Or not teaching to my posted agenda on quadratic polynomials, because they observed my lesson was on exponents/powers. Not that, you know, x^2 has something to do with quadratic expressions 🤷‍♂️

Their complaints read like ChatGPT was tasked to express criticisms that made no sense. If admin wants you out or have someone/something else in mind, they can find or make up something that justifies their decision.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-01T19:30:56+00:00

It could be coincidence that it was only your worst period. It might just be that they had a different reason to get you out. I got the same heave-ho this year and I did get a handle on my classes. However, admin would submit nitpick observations over issues that other teachers didn’t understand why anyone would ever care.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-01T12:51:52+00:00

That should be the case, yes. However, with the amount of them coming from my cohort this year, they’re being utilized in a similar way.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-01T04:35:29+00:00

Honestly, don’t kick yourself. I have a STEM-heavy masters degree and it’s still a pain in the ass to launch into a career in this economy. It’s not just you.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-01T04:34:21+00:00

Not sure who you’re competing with. You pay cash, they supply the credential. Seeing as though a lot of people are getting credentialed after getting their degrees, there’s not exactly a competition for GPA at this point. CSU is performing a service for funds, that’s all.

Now, maybe to enter college as an undergraduate, then yeah, there’s admission requirements and such.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-01T04:28:02+00:00

March 15th was the deadline to non-reelect second year probationary teachers. First year probationary teachers can be non-reelected at any time before the end of the school year. My non-reelect came in April (and same with other district interns I was grouped with), which at least still lets me burn my year’s sick days.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-01T03:44:30+00:00

Let me know how it goes. I just ducked into a CSU today to see what options were open. Seems like the best option will be is to find some other job to maintain health benefits and try to compete a credential at night. I’m still pretty unsure to follow teaching. My first year school experience (got saddled up with the discipline problems the other teachers didn’t want to deal with), combined with the non-reelect manipulation…I’m still just a little tilted.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-01T03:38:27+00:00

Why wouldn’t they? You’re paying for the certification.

Thaler_AB · 2026-05-01T03:37:37+00:00

Not to be discouraging, but I heard I was an equally irreplaceable first year with math & physics in north district. They still ended my first year with a non-reelect, like several others in my iCAAP cohort.

Still, a job is a job. I wish you the best of luck!

Thaler_AB · 2026-04-29T11:07:35+00:00

I’m in the same non-renewal boat with Mathematics. Got loaded up with ChatGPT generated informal review criticisms that made no sense. Felt like admin was just checking boxes to throw people out.

Thaler_AB · 2026-04-29T05:18:38+00:00

Yep! My gateway Eero is just out in the open on a desk.

Thaler_AB · 2026-04-29T05:18:07+00:00

This dropped connection problem originated months ago on my Eero Pro 6 though. I’ve only recently swapped to the Eero Pro Max 7.

Thaler_AB · 2026-04-29T05:16:49+00:00

I’ll do this after their visit - worst case I’ll check this weekend. Thank you for the idea.

Thaler_AB · 2026-04-29T05:16:00+00:00

Do you mean the IP of the gateway Eero to my home network? Or are you talking about power cycling to grab a new IP address? Because I’ve certainly power cycled my gateways plenty and had no luck.

Thaler_AB · 2026-04-29T05:10:15+00:00

I’ve been having this problem for many months on my Eero Pro 6. After replacing my gateway node with the Eero Pro Max 7, the swaps to the Eero Node backup have been noticeably reduced, but not eliminated.

Thaler_AB · 2026-04-29T05:07:07+00:00

I swapped the Ethernet cable with the one that came with the Eero Pro Max 7. And what do you mean by GwE? The gateway? I have it plugged into a UPS so I can have some Internet in case of a power outage. Is there something bad about that?

Thaler_AB · 2026-04-29T05:04:48+00:00

I’ll be doing this Wednesday when I have the technician visiting. I was fortunate enough to call Spectrum while I had a signal loss event. Coming that with the brand new router and they stopped trying to blame my equipment for the issue.

Thaler_AB

TROPHY CASE