why i quit teaching after one year | my teaching experience

I quit teaching after one year... here's why. I explain in detail why teaching is so difficult and why I made the personal choice to quit. I taught Kindergarten, first grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade at 3 different schools. I miss my kids daily, but it was the best decision for me.

So thankful for you all!

[scz]

I always wonder what would happen if teachers collectively chose not to work after contract hours. Everything would fall apart. I also taught a year and went through all of this as well.

[ZIM]

I totally get it. I decided during my teaching program that I was not cut out for teaching. I dealt with all of the same problems but with middle and high school students. I was only a student teacher and I never got a break. I was constantly bringing work home to grade, making lesson plans up to the last minute, and trying to get all of my assignments from my regular classes done on time. I worked 7 days a week at full throttle. My physical and mental health suffered because of the sheer stress of it all, it was unbelievable. It was, without a doubt, the worst experience of my life; I have never been unhappier, ever.

It's a tragedy, really. The week that I quit my program, two bathrooms at my high school were destroyed, two students were found unconscious with evidence of drug abuse, and another student attempted suicide. Police officers were stationed at every bathroom for the rest of that week. The email I got from the principal said things like this had become a regular occurrence at the school. And mind you, this wasn't at an inner-city school with a large number of minorities from poor backgrounds where violence and drug abuse are stereotypically associated. No, it was in a predominately white school in a fairly affluent neighborhood in San Diego, California.

My advice for those thinking about quitting. Do it. Save yourself. You will be much happier. For those who're thinking of becoming teachers, make sure you know what you're getting into. Very little to nothing you learn in your teaching college will apply to the actual classroom. Your students, while forgiving at first when they meet you, will eat you alive and walk all over you when they sense weakness in your teaching. They have no self-discipline, no self-control, and no interest in learning. You won't actually be teaching, most of the time you'll be scrambling to get the students to pay attention and follow instructions. You'll only have an hour (if you're lucky) to get what you need to say out there, but each student has so many peculiar needs that you won't be able to help them all the way they need to be helped in the little time you have. Forget having the weekends off or even a social life, if your students have homework, then you have homework; have fun grading 150 papers every week Not to mention the petty office politics and toxic gossiping between teachers and administrators. It's just a bad deal, overall.

If you want to be a teacher, then you have to be obsessed with teaching. I'm talking about the kind of obsession where you can't sleep at night if you're not teaching or thinking about teaching. If you have the faintest hint of doubt, don't do it. Save yourself the time, money, and headache.

[emilyrose]

I quit my job as a registered job last two years ago after almost 10 years in the field, it was not an easy decision, but life is too short to dread going to work everyday. No amount of money can buy real happiness lol but friends I'm not asking you to resign from your job or abandon your business but be wise!!

[ravenpriestess]

Thanks for being so transparent. I have taught for 20 yrs and now I'm exhausted and looking to pivot. You're very self aware and just know that the teaching profession is extremely difficult now. Kudos for you taking care of yourself!

[joleecolchado]

I started teaching 31 years ago. My mother was a teacher and I followed in her footsteps. Teaching has changed so much. It seems that every time teachers got a raise, new responsibilities were added. There are more forms to fill out, more tutorials, more expectations of you and the students. I love my students ❤️. I've been with some horrible principals and wonderful principals. I teach because I care about the students I'm entrusted with. But I am now looking at the light at the end of the tunnel. The bureaucracy is definitely beginning to outweigh the love of teaching. I can't imagine a new teacher coming into this. The stress is real. Good for you to be brave enough to walk away. Thanks for sharing!

[DrewRueDoo]

I quit after 5 years of teaching. It was the best decision of my life.

[natalie]

I can relate- I was never a licensed teacher, but have worked as a long-term substitute teacher for the last two years and it soured me from going into teaching for a lot of reasons that you mentioned. No matter how much I loved the kids and the teachers I worked with, the higher-ups, entitled parents, and student motivation/discipline issues made it too difficult for me to keep going. I know of three teachers at the elementary school I worked at that are quitting at the end of the year, and one of them even cautioned me against teaching. It's heartbreaking

[johnlopez]

I am a 29 year veteran at the elementary school level and this year has been extremely difficult. I have felt like a first year teacher at times because of all the new things administrators want teachers to do, and they can be very overwhelming. Sometimes administrators forget what was like to be in the classroom and so they make decisions without really thinking how they will affect teachers. Thank you for your video presentation.

[CC]

Teaching was a great gig until about 10 yrs ago. I quit too. Good for you. System is broken. All the best!

[esraal-abduljabar]

I guess our entire new teacher generation is crying like me :') I'm glad I'm not alone, this was so relatable to watch. Keep posting.

[MassGainingGuy]

This is my first year teaching, and after three weeks, my life has been turned upside down! I'm stressed, the work overload is unbearable. I wish I would of known all of this before signing the dotted line.

[RangerGirl]

Glad you left after 1 year. About to start my 8th and I’m completely done! Making a plan! Happy for you and best wishes 💜💜💜 Micromanaging is the main reason I’m leaving

[briang.]

I graduated from H.S. in 1968. I only remember one problem kid he was in my health and safety class. He was disruptive in class. Teachers were treated with respect and kids behaved well. I don't recall any real problems.

[josephneal]

I understand exactly how you feel! I quitted teaching at two schools within 6 months. The first time was at a rural high school; I was forced to resign due to a student and his parent lying about he didn't do this and that to me. The principal and superintendent took the student and parent side due to fear of getting sued. After leaving the high school, I started teaching 8th graders at an inner-city middle school. Those students were HORRIBLE! I couldn't teach nor control the class. The principal was an old school simp who sided and kissed the students <SS. I walked out on the job after a student approached me while going to lunch and threaten to physically harm me. After I told the principal on the telephone that I didn't want to return, he hung up on me. The problem is a combination of many issues; the primary problem is no administrative support and ineffective discipline methods. My personal solution is expelled disruptive students; but the problem is students have a right to due process. By expelling students, that shouldn't be the school's problem but the parents. The bottom line, it's all about the school systems generating money. This is why they don't throw them out.

[ericmiller]

Nearly twice your age (Gen X), a career changer, now English certified, grades 5-12. After a semester long long term sub English job, I agreed to a Special Education Teacher job with a co-teacher and adjustment counselor, and 8 students with “social-emotional disabilities.” Though I did a great job, it was stressful, too much work and not enough support, even from my two colleagues. I resigned effective the end of this school year and am counting down the days. I have a strong work ethic and don’t get sick so, unlike my two co-workers have 7 of the remaining 18 days off—thank God! My two long term sub English jobs were not much better, so I’m thinking about earning my Master’s degree full—time, probably in Creative Writing, which is something I’m passionate about. Thinking I could teach community college where my students actually want to be there!

[marcocarbajal]

It's a thankless profession. I stayed longer than I should have but finally got out :)

[fredflintstone]

Teaching colleges will share a statistic with their students that ~50% of those who graduate from teaching college will give up their teaching careers within 5 years. This was true decades before Covid-19 which of course only made the career even harder. I do appreciate the points you make in the video of why you didn't enjoy teaching and those things are of course common to the profession, especially more so as the government has gotten more involved in the education process over the decades. Government tends to wreck everything it touches that is outside of the scope of what they were originally put in place to do. Add to that of course of the degradation of society in general and the lack of structure that parents tend to provide for their children and the classroom becomes an almost impossible place to work and only people with a certain mindset and toolbox of skills and ideals can cut it.

[amena]

Kudos to you for leaving and taking care of your mental health! I’ve been teaching for 9 years so far and it’s still extremely hard even with having a supportive admin (extremely rare and the top reason I’m not leaving my school until I leave the profession).

[chelliechipcookie]

I quit teaching 8 weeks before I received my credential. 😅 I just knew, based on everything I'd seen, that I'd never use it. And since I knew it'd just expire, I figured there was no point finishing. It broke my heart to leave the kids at my placement, but I still feel like it was a good call. Thank god I didn't have to teach during COVID. 😵

[jeannettasmith]

I’m glad you were able to figure out all of these things before you spent years as a teacher. I resigned as a classroom teacher of record in January of 2022 after nearly 20 years in the classroom. My physical and mental health are both so much better now. Best to you and yours.