I don't want to go to work tomorrow

Post Reply New Topic

Tomorrow (Monday) I go work with my kindergarten/pre-kindergarten special ed kids. I'm not thrilled about it. It's not the kids, so much....well it is. First off, there's only so much you can do with this age group, and it's mostly stuff that's mind-numbing to an adult. Second, I think I'm just burnt out with "special needs" kids...they're just so, well, needy.

I'm also burnt out with this crappy job. I am a part-time itinerant spec ed teacher - I go to different schools and help out with special ed classes or special ed kids who are being mainstreamed. In other words, I'm a glorified teacher's aided. When I'm not doing this, I'm occasionally a substitute teacher, which I'm also sick of doing. I'm getting a wide variety of teaching experience in a short time span, but the pay sucks and the erratic schedule is grinding me down. I'm sick of this school district too. I'm glad I'm leaving this district. Next year, if I don't get a regular ed class and a regular teaching contract, I may do something else for a year.

I wish I could just skip Monday and go straight to Tuesday, when I work with my 3rd graders at one of my favorite schools.

You have to do the dirty work before you get the plum assignments. Unless you know someone who can help you get ahead faster.

Jesus f'ing christ. Why is it when someone else vents around here, they get tons of sympathy, and yet I try it, and I get crap? f**k you. Seriously.

I was venting. Not grousing. I've got a couple more week of this job, I'm just trying to survive it and Ineeded to let off some steam. Yes I have a damn plan for next year to get out this job. Hell, i moving to another city altogether! But until then, I've been f*****g trooper and teamplayer. I've tried to keep a positive attitude and "pay my dues." Nonetheless I'm tired, burnt out, exhausted, as any normal person would be. Don't you get that? And the last thing I need is snideness and platitudes.

This is why people don't stay in special ed very long. We're expected to be f'ing saints and miracle workers with endless amounts of energy and compassion and zeal. No one else have a f'ing clue how hard it really is, yet they all seem to have the f'ing arrogance to give us the evil eye if we make even the slightest complaint.

Thankyou for doing such a great job. I know the teacher aide's that work with my son do a fantastic job for poor pay.

So ....

Thankyou!!

get a job which you don't have to whine about

I know it must be difficult doing a form of work that you feel is not right for you. Everyone is different and a job that is great for one person can really grind another person down.

It must be rewarding to work with chidren with special needs, but (as someone who has worked in childcare in the past and who has a close relative with autism, learning difficulties, ADHD, OCD, violent tendencies etc.) I can understand that it is also very draining and that, after a while, you wonder whether the positives still outweigh the negatives.

I think, as you suggest, it might be worth looking at another career choice. If you still want to work with special ed children, you could always do this in the form of some voluntary work a couple of times a month, or perhaps on a part-time basis, while you pursue a new career choice.

I now work in the area of disability, but in more of a 'co-ordinator' role, arranging outings, recruiting and training volunteers and staff etc. which I really enjoy. I also do voluntary work and disability equality campaigning work. I really enjoy it and find it rewarding but I don't find it draining in the way that I did when I worked in childcare (although that could have just been the AS).

You certainly shouldn't get to burn out point. This happened to me (although not, in my case, for work-related reasons - there was other crazy stuff happening in my life at that time that I won't bore you with) and it took me 3 years to recover. Believe me - burn out point is to be avoided if at all possible.

Good luck with your future career path!

You did get sympathy, Cade.
Just don't expect any sympathy from me after writing a load of s**t about music the other day.

My sister-in-law has worked as an aid for special-needs children,including some very ret*d kids,for over a decade in the public-school system.She is a simple woman with the self-image of a "saint",very "NT",and even she gets extremely burnt-out by the work,kids,teachers,doctors,bureaucracy,etc..It is not work most people could do,let alone do well.