I can't believe what a morning I had today! It all started off with coming in to work to a class that can't not for the life of them, BEHAVE!!!. It's like the minute I get here I am already having a bad day, because I deal with such obnoxious kids. In the mornings we have a short period called advisory. In this 25 min we take care of the things that we have to for the day and the students are supposed to be silent reading. (For the life of me I can't get these kids to READ) So two of my students wouldn't listen so I sent them out! So they walk to the office and tell the dean that I literally through them out of the class by grabbing one of the students. Of course this was completely made up; I was so pist off!!! I can't believe the crap that I deal with this crap daily! Working with middle school students makes me want to quit teaching for good! I don't want my success to be measured by students that are not even in the correct grade level. Why should I have to not only do my job, but do the job that the parents should be doing. Teachers get so much smack about not doing their job, but the truth of the matter is that it is the parents not doing theirs. Wow would the parents like to be rated by their children's performance. Let me tell you a lot of parents would be failures! If you aren't ready to take upon the full responsibilities then don't bring any children into this world. I love parents who have 4+ kids and every single kid is a lost cause. Their are great parents out their too, its just that they are really rare now a days. I just need to change my profession.

So I have this one kid in my class that is driving me nuts!!!! He is always not doing his work and driving me up the wall. He distracts everyone in the class and thinks he is a gifted basketball player. He hits and pushes all the kids and thinks that it is okay. I have sent this kid out like a hundred times and nothing seems to happen. I remember when I was going to school how scared we were to go to the office or how scary it was to go to the Deans office. Students at my school think it is a joke to go to the office. I wonder if it has to do with the staff here or if it is the same everywhere else... I can't stand that the students think that they can do what ever they want and their is no consequence. I think times have changed and the students now a days need more of a structure, and I can't do it all by myself. There really needs to be a more school wide support and rules. Every teacher than can follow them and we wont have all this drama. I feel like so much is expected from teachers and we have to wear all these hats and take upon all the responsibilities, but what about the rest. Then when the kids aren't successful then the teachers get blamed! People out there don't realize the stress that we all go through daily. Everyone I talk to thinks teaching is so great! "We get all this vacation time." Now I know exactly why we get all this time off: If you didn't get all this time off you would go to the nut house!!!!! By the time it comes time to go on vacation, you are completely fried!!! I mean TOAST!!!

This was hilarious! One of my sixth grade students hands me a yellow party favor box and says, Mrs. Kara this is for you. So I open it later in the day and find out that it was a party favor to a boys birthday party. I have no idea why he would think that I would need a child's party favor. (I guess it is the thought that counts!) LMAO!!!! These are the days of my life. Can't wait til June!!! Can't believe how done I am with teaching middle school kids. I just can't see the reward in this profession anymore.

So yesterday in our teacher meetings, we had this huge discussion about a fund raiser the high school students came up with. Get this, the fund raiser is to buy pies and throw them on the teachers. Now how many of you would be okay with that???? (Just wondering) I feel like teaching has become such a joke already. Kids are so disrespectful already and I feel like that is just to much enjoyment for them! Sure I would buy and throw a pie at them too. (LOL) I'm sure that will never happen. So why should it be okay for them to throw it on a teacher. I went to college for seven years, so that I can work in a profession that is full of crap. NO RESPECT! NO PAY! TOO MUCH WORK!!! This day in age we can't let students throw pies at a teacher, we are already fighting for respect! I think this would just put us down! Let me know what you guys think???

GETTING LAID OFF!!!

At first when I got the news that I was laid off, I was sad! I really love most of the people that I work with! The saddest part was that I am not going to work with Melissa any more. For all of you that don't know Melissa, she is my bestie. I work right next door to each other and do everything together. I am going to miss having her next door to me and losing the person that I get to drink coffee with and have lunch with. We have known each other for 3 years and I am glad that I got the opportunity to meet her. I have meet such wonderful people here. I also met Lonita and Kristen here, they are also such wonderful teachers and friends. I also lost a wonderful friend last year, her name was Megan, she moved back home. We have become quite a group. I love hanging out with them. We have so much fun. The best part was that we all connected together, because of NOVA. We had so much fun making fun of this place. I will always remember the good times. Working at NOVA and experiencing all that I have here, definitely has made me realize how much I really don't want to be a teacher anymore!!! Especially in the middle school age group. You have to be nuts to want to work with these kids by choice.(AT least for me, this is how I feel). I really never wanted to work with middle school kids, but had to take the job, since their really wasn't much out there. Teaching has changed so much! I hate the direction that it is going in and I can't stand the amount of disrespect from everyone!. I have never had to work so hard in anything; as much as I do as a teacher. It has come to a point that parents nor their kids really don't care about education. At least the majority! Most of them just drop off their kids in the morning so that they can receive their free daycare. I am really tired of being a teacher, parent, counselor, dean, nurse, and psychologist to these kids. Ever since I heard that I was laid off, I am so much more relaxed and stress free. I am so glad that this happened to me. I really didn't enjoy coming to work and having anxiety attacks everyday. The only part that was good was seeing my friends. I am looking forward and I know that something better will come my way. As they say, "When one door closes, another one opens!" I am truly a believer of that!

March 30, 2011

How it's been so long!!! I haven't had a second to stop and write to you guys in a while. Since I just got notice that I will not have a job in September, because of our lovely budget cuts; I have plenty of time to write. Well let me fill you in with all the drama my sixth grade class has been causing. I can't believe how bad the students keep getting every year. There isn't a minute in my day that is boring, thanks to my wonderful, gifted students!(NOT)I really can't stand this class. First of all I have become a special day class teacher. Even though I am not qualified to be one. I have so many special needs kids in my class that I have no idea what to do with them. I truly believe that teaching has become babysitting.
I love when parents who try to enroll their kids with special needs into our school, and conveniently forget to mention that their child has an IEP. I don't understand why as a parent you would do that to your own child. There is a damn reason why your child has a IEP. THEY NEED HELP!!!!!!! They aren't able to function normally and need special guidance. So we got this one kid recently and we had no idea that he had a 30 page IEP. Let me paint a picture for you; he has no social skills, reads and comprehends at a second grade level and extremely in need of a one on one. I have no idea why he was brought to a school that can't provide these services for him. People don't get that we are a small charter school and do not have all the capabilities of a large school. Yet every year we get all these special needs students and are expected to work miracles. I am so sick and tired of worrying about test scores!!!!!!

My sixth grade class 2010

This class is so horrible, I don't even know where to begin. They are the most immature students that I have ever had. They don't listen to directions, they can't stay in their seats, and can't shut their mouth, even if their life depends on it. Today one of my boy students said to me, "Mrs. Karamanukyan, isn't it funny how girls have four lips." Can you believe that. I don't think what he said is funny, I think that these kids need to be controlled better. They know way to much for their age and they try to act like they are older and they are so cool. I have one girl in my class that already has been in Juvi. The worst part is that her own mother sent her there, because she couldn't control her own 11 year old. She is definitly a piece of work. She acts like she is this little tuff cookie, that no one can mess with, but deep down she is just a lost child with no love. I had the students write about an event in their life that they remember and it could have been a good or bad experience. I had 4 students write about a time that they were caught shoplifting something. I was so shocked that they would even share that with anyone. The kids these days have no shame. What has happened to our society. I can't believe the type of students that I have to deal with day in and day out. It's so funny how the everyone expects teachers to work miracles. I think that the blame is not the schools, its the parents. We have to take a step back and see what the parents are doing wrong.

One of my sixth grade students, asks to use the bathroom. Of course I let him go, he comes back in 10 minutes and taps me on my shoulder and whispers to me, that he had an accident and turns around; He had poop all over the outside of his pants. I couldn't believe it. It literally looked like he pooped on himself while he was still standing. After I sent him to the office; I later find out that the whole bathroom stall was covered in diarrhea poop. After all that the student ends up telling my that his mom gave him laxatives and sent him to school. How humiliating this could be for a child. As a parent how can you give your child Laxatives and send him to school. Thank god that my students are nice this year and they didn't make fun of him. This could have followed him for the rest of his life.