u/GroundbreakingPear12

Hi everyone I am in my first year of teaching, teaching first grade. With the end of the year behaviors and end of year data coming back I have been pretty stressed and honestly pretty hard on myself when a lesson doesn’t turn out how I wanted it to or a students data didn’t look as good as I expected (specifically on the MAP). Yesterday I got my DIBELS data back and cried because I saw so much progress in all of my kids. I have one whose ORF percentage was at 8% in the fall, and is now 90%.

Anyway before school this morning my principal walks into my room and says that she is so proud of me for the great work I have done this year, and that I should be really proud of myself, as I have done a great job. This year was supposed to be a one year position but the person I was covering isn’t returning and I signed my contract for next year (also in first grade) in April. My principal told me she’s so glad I am going to be able to stay on next year. I smiled and said thank you but honestly those words made me feel so appreciated and were so helpful, as I have been feeling like a failure.

Also today we had a first grade picnic with families and so many told me how happy they were that their child has me as a teacher and that also made my day. I just feel very grateful.

Hi everyone I am in my first year of teaching, teaching first grade. With the end of the year behaviors and end of year data coming back I have been pretty stressed and honestly pretty hard on myself when a lesson doesn’t turn out how I wanted it to or a students data didn’t look as good as I expected (specifically on the MAP). Yesterday I got my DIBELS data back and cried because I saw so much progress in all of my kids. I have one whose ORF percentage was at 8% in the fall, and is now 90%.

Anyway before school this morning my principal walks into my room and says that she is so proud of me for the great work I have done this year, and that I should be really proud of myself, as I have done a great job. This year was supposed to be a one year position but the person I was covering isn’t returning and I signed my contract for next year (also in first grade) in April. My principal told me she’s so glad I am going to be able to stay on next year. I smiled and said thank you but honestly those words made me feel so appreciated and were so helpful, as I have been feeling like a failure.

Also today we had a first grade picnic with families and so many told me how happy they were that their child has me as a teacher and that also made my day. I just feel very grateful.

Hi everyone I 25F am in Massachusetts. So long story short I went to undergrad for elementary education and graduated in 2023. I took my first teaching job in the wrong school and ended up deciding that teaching wasn’t for me. In 24-25, I went to grad school for counseling but stopped that program to go back to teaching (where I plan on staying). When I left grad school, I simply did not register for any more classes (I was matriculated). Now I need to apply for grad school again bc in my state u need it to keep a teaching license. Is this gonna hurt me or is grad school not gonna care that I took some grad school and didn’t finish?

Hi everyone I am a first year first grade teacher in a gen ed classroom. Overall most of the time I do love it but I am really struggling. We just got back from April break today and out of 19 there is about 5 kids in my class who are not following any directions. I started the day with going over whole body listening and i had kids talking through that. I had kids during math just talking over every direction and wandering the room. I would have kids go to their seats for behavior which helped a little but they kept shouting out. I rewarded those who were listening by allowing them to put Pom Pom’s in our jar (a whole class reward system). We happened to have a fire drill and a couple of my kids just would not stop talking even through that. During WINN I had 3 of the boys reading to self and they all got into the corner where I can’t see them. And they were just chatting still. I told them to go to their desks as they all sit at different tables and only one complied. The other two eventually moved but spent the rest of the time wandering the classroom instead of reading. I did tell them that tomorrow when they’re on chromebooks they will have to make up the reading time. When we transitioned from Winn to phonics it was still chaos. The same kids kept talking and walking around the classroom while I was trying to start phonemic awareness. I had everyone return to their seat, reset expectations, had a model show how to make the transition and tried again. The same kids did not follow the plan. We did it a third time as a group. I had them all practice being silent for a minute at their seats because that’s what I expect on the rug. That’s when a special Ed teacher the kids know came in for push in and it went much smoother after that. I have also instated a strike system in my class so when kids are not following the plan and get three strikes in a day they lose 5 minutes of free choice Friday for each day. So if they get 3 strikes on M and Tuesday they owe me 10 minutes. Kids seem not to care about this but also I don’t want to take away recess as I know kids need it. One piece I didn’t mention also is that usually i have a para in my room but she’s out today and there’s no sub. It is the first day back from a week long break but I feel like a failure. Transitions are taking 10 minutes and I feel like I can’t teach to the best of my ability because I need to redirect behavior every 30 seconds.

As far as what admin thinks, I am in a one year position as a LTS right now but the person resigned and the day before break I signed a contract for first grade again next year. My principal and AP seem to think I’m doing well. Even tho I feel like a failure. Most days are not this tricky but today it feels impossible. Is it too late? What am I doing wrong? I know next year I need to be clearer with expectations and give consequences earlier in the year but I’m having a really hard time reigning it in now that I know better and feel like a complete failure.