u/JayberBieber

Hello hello. Just some background, I finished school in an unrelated field (bachelor of science in User Experience) at the end of May, and struggled to find anything in my line of work; a friend of mine offered to get me on with a new school district as an elementary art teacher, and the opportunity seemed very fitting, especially with my background with artistic mediums (painting, sculpting, crafts, costuming, etc).
However since beginning i have run into SO MANY ISSUES; 1, since starting i have pretty much been doing everything on my own, from figuring out the lesson plans (which i only received access a WEEK after school began) to hooking up IT equipment, classroom management, discipline, and integrated sped students (which I was unaware were even in my class until other teachers notified me). In fact, I had to constantly correct a student who kept getting up during instruction, only to find out he was non-verbal and needed constant supervision during the class.
Outside of classroom problems, I feel completely ignored by admin. I have sent multiple emails trying to get my badge fixed so I could clock in for work, but I have been met with silence, I’ve called with no answers. I’ve even gone as far to email my campus principle and front office to get some kind of direction, and again straight silence.
I signed up for this to make an impact on children, and push kids to be creative in a world that is being consumed by Ai and automation. But I feel incredibly frustrated and honestly overwhelmed.
I have been in my fiancé’s arms bawling my eyes out the past few days because I feel so much regret for leaving my food service job, for a job that has set me up to fail. I just don’t think I knew what I signed up for.
I’m also a first year teacher (if that wasn’t obvious) and really have zero to very little teaching experience with groups of kids (which is usually 20+ kids).
I’m also a T1 Diabetic, and the brief lunches (less than 20 minutes when teachers are late picking up kids) and demand for “standing instruction” has made handling my blood sugar incredibly hard.
At this point idek what this is, I guess a rant and a cry for help?

Edit: thank you to everyone who took the time to comment something. It really means a lot. I have felt 10x better working through the day today, and I feel empowered for the rest of the week. I truly appreciate all of your insights. 💕

Finally had the pleasure of putting my two weeks in this past Wednesday after bulldozing my way through my ASU undergraduate. Received my degree in June, and got my dream teaching job, starting early August. If you are in the ASU program, or still with the company for benefits, the storm DOES NOT last forever. You can finish!!! I’m so ready to regain my sleep and mental health 🥹🥹

Hi all! I just accepted an art position at an elementary school here in Southeast Texas, and I’m still a little giddy about it. This is genuinely a dream job for me, and it’s also my first time running my own classroom.

Some background on where I’m coming from: I have student-teaching experience and I’ve worked with kids through a youth organization, so I’m not walking in cold. My degree is actually in user experience design, which sounds unrelated but taught me a lot about designing things around how people actually think and behave. So human behavior has been a big study of mine.

What I don’t have is a full year of classroom management under my belt, and I’d rather learn from people who’ve done it than figure it out the hard way in August.

Things I’d love advice on:

**•**Classroom management for elementary art specifically, where kids are moving, sharing materials, and making a mess by design  
**•**Building good relationships with faculty and admin as the new person  
**•**Systems or routines you set up early that saved you later  
**•**What you’d skip if you could do year one again

Anything you’d tell your first-year self, I’m listening. Thanks!