Teaching is a Hard Job

Not to complain or to say we teachers have it worse than anybody else, but listen to this:

My poor student teacher Ann is having quite a day. Today is her first day of "solo student teaching" where I'm not supposed to be in the classroom at all. I've been sitting out in the hallway testing all the 2nd graders on their reading so I've been able to listen to what's been going on.

She did a great job this morning during the literacy block. All the kids were on task and even though the charity dentists were here and taking kids out of the room right and left, Ann was able to redirect all the kids when they came back in and they all did great. She made one mistake which seems like a little thing but it's still biting her you-know-where:

She left 3 minutes early to take the kids to PE. Doesn't seem like a big deal, right? Well, she forgot that our Autistic boy J. was with his special group and when he came back to the classroom, the other kids were all gone. Didn't matter that the special ed teacher was with him. Didn't matter that I was there and was able to talk to him about where the kids were and how we would go find them together. J. just shut down: crying, sobbing and refusing to move. I finally stepped in (remember, I'm not supposed to be helping at all...Ann is supposed to be dealing with everything but there's no way I was going to leave this all on her) and I got him to at least go to PE. J. just sat there the whole hour and then refused to come back and sit down.

When J. refuses to do something, he means it. He stands as still as a rock and you have to use all your strength to pull him along. Then he finds something he can hold on to so you have to pry his fingers up off and continue to pull him. Then he keeps crying and dragging his feet while you're pulling or lifting him to where he needs to go.

J. did this during writing after PE, on the way to lunch, after lunch and just now again. I stepped in every time because it's hard for me to deal with it gently (actually, we're not supposed to touch the kids at all, but what do you do?), let alone poor Ann. Now I just went and had a talk w/ my principal because I finally got J. to respond to me and not just refuse to do anyting I asked of him: he is sitting here next to me happily playing on the computer while all the other kids are taking a math test. Is that fair????

My principal said to just let him be and for Ann to try again tomorrow. I have spent about 45 minutes dealing with J. today: imagine if she were by herself? There usually isn't a seasoned teacher sitting out in the hall for new teachers to call on for help when one of their students gets out of control. Are they supposed to leave the other 23 kids alone while they deal with the one???

No wonder 1/3 of all new teachers quit the profession after 3 years of teaching...mabye the average salary of $29,500 per year just isn't worth it to put up with the J.'s of the world: while you're supposed to be testing and teaching 23 other kids...