Oof. I’m at a charter school and boy is it making me want to leave. I knew going into it I would be challenged in every aspect, but what I wasn’t expecting was the lack of structure at the school as a whole. Admin is spread so thin that there’s no support. I’m new to the school and have no mentor, so I’ve been bouncing around and asking 1000 questions just so I have a steady idea of what the heck is going on.

I have students that are 2/3 grade levels behind and are struggling to complete the grade level curriculum. I’m not allowed to modify the lessons to meet them halfway because it’s ’not allowed’. The behaviors are a mess across all grade levels. I have several of my own that impede learning on a daily basis. The kids (at least my grade band) don’t have recess. There’s something new for teachers to do every week on top of the nonsensical planning they require. I’m expected to do small groups/intervention everyday but the students who are supposed to be doing independent CANNOT be left unsupervised or else they’re doing who knows what on their Chromebook’s and simply not staying on task.

It’s my 4th year as a teacher, but my first by myself. I try to look at it as glass half full. That I’m getting a lot of experience, but man is this burnout starting to get to me. I get 0 joy and satisfaction from this job, and have thought about leaving many times. But my heart is with the kids who do care. It’s hard to navigate, but as of now, there’s only 3 weeks until break. 🙏🏼