u/SpecificResource5402

Just seen I got $1500. It’s nice if there is a second disbursement. Thank you.

Long read. I started at a new center less than 2 months ago. children were not being challenged academically and had fallen into repetitive routines. In my first two weeks, I made significant progress with the class. Though the coteacher left shortly after and got a new coteacher.

Since then, I feel the classroom has regressed in behavior, routines, and academics. As the lead teacher, overall success of the classroom reflects on me, but I have struggled to gain support from my coteacher. She is very set in her own methods and often tries to change our curriculum to fit a more traditional approach, even when it is not effective for the children. For example, she recently had the children sit and count blocks for 30 minutes, which led to restlessness and disengagement. I mention other suggestions and she takes it to heart and gets defensive when I only have good intentions and want the classroom to have lots of engagement leaning activities. This activity also made me restless. Her lesson planning could be used for 1 year olds and we have 4 year olds.

The lack of support during circle time is what drains me most. Class of 20 children, she will sometimes leave to complete lower-priority tasks, such as sweeping, or washing paint palettes rather than helping manage the group. When I ask for assistance with challenging behaviors, she often seems frustrated. At the same time, she prefers completing prep work and classroom tasks independently rather than actively supporting instruction and classroom management. She ignores the behaviors around her and continues the task she’s doing. Which I find strange because what makes her think that’s ok. Does anyone else find that ok?

I have worked incredibly hard these past two months. Taking over a classroom, I have been managing behaviors, establishing routines, maintaining the environment, coordinating an open house, conducting parent-teacher conferences, preparing for a STEM fair, dealing with criticism from my co when I’m busted my a$$ off and handling many other responsibilities. Despite these efforts, I am being blamed for inconsistencies in behavior and routines, even though I cannot effectively run a classroom of 20 children without support.

What is especially difficult is that parents do not see the work happening behind the scenes. Because I am often busy managing classroom responsibilities, my coteacher has more opportunities to interact with families during pickup. As a quieter person, I sometimes worry that others assume I am not contributing or do not know what I am doing, when in reality I am carrying 90% portion of the classroom’s responsibilities. And I can’t carry all of it and when I ask for help I get things incomplete, have to consistently ask for things, and what I mentioned her focused on the task and ignoring everything else. She also doesn’t see things that need to be addressed. I can’t keep stopping everything to assist her. I explain and write notes and message her all the time but then end up doing the work.

I also seen my coteacher take down a parent’s number. I really don’t trust her especially since she already tried to make me look bad in front of people, who knows what she’ll say behind my back. And strangely the parents who she’s friendly with seem to change their tone around me. Less enthusiastic. But it sucks knowing I carried the class and my coteacher had even mentioned the children behaving differently when I’m not there.. but anyways I’m so stressed!! The comments she throws in when things are chaotic or to throw jabs at me absolutely wants me to scream. But I have to keep it together in front of the kids and it’s just not who I am. I’m also just trying to make the class a better place. When she makes comments I am always appalled and when I speak up to justify my reasonings - my coteacher walks away or ignores what I have to say. It’s pretty immature and disrespectful. She loves to talk about my personality as well like I could really care less because I’m just here to teach these children.

I used ChatGPT a bit to make it shorter.

My admins and their assistant do too much. Everyday I get handed a stack of unnecessary paper to handout to parents or to fill out. Making my job more stressful. Like I can’t ever just sit and BREATHE. Events on events and then they want me to take care of 22 children. Doing assessments soon for conferences. Mother’s Day gifts, two weeks then Open House and so much other events. I don’t get paid enough.

It also stresses me out that my aide wants to add extra 💩 as well and I tell her sure, but you have to do it because I already got a bunch of stuff I have to do. I don’t tell her that way, but yea. Last time she made me sit with her for 30 minutes making a card on Canva which she waited until the last minute to do. She didn’t even know how to work Canva so this why I had to sit with her and the children were soon getting up from nap and I was getting frustrated because she wanted on particular gif which I couldn’t find and I told her I had to prepare something for the class. She told me to take it easy it’s the end of the year, but she also tells me to add more work like worksheets into our day! Like girl, yo can’t even finish half the class, why add more.

Like I don’t know what to do with all this stress. Should I just voice my opinions? It’s also not my classroom management - it’s just work overload because there were already two teachers complaining to me about it and I hadn’t even asked. Also tell my aide that this is my classroom and if you have anything extra you want to do it is on you to do it?

She always criticizing how I run the class. I’m firm, but I’m new so I had to gain their respect and let them know I don’t play no games. lol. But I’m also fun and engaging, but lately I had lost that sense because I have to be extra firm! She’s also new, but oh my if she came lead I think they’d walk all over her (they do already). But I turned that class around, but since she stepped in they are going back to being disrespectful. She sets no boundaries. They could throw a pair of scissors across the classroom and she’d just be like “oh they’re four, it’s expected of them to act this way” or allow them to climb up the slide or four go down at the same time and then kids start crying. She just watches it happen and then I’m having to comfort the crying child or speak to them all. Children also had thrown food and playing under the tables during lunch and so much more disrespect behavior.. but she allows it?

She also always keeping 👀 on me, talking to our admin about me, giving me attitude when I ask if she could step in or help with something. Isn’t that what an aide is for? And it’s like four times a day I ask for help because I know she’s going to get upset. She literally blew up on me because I was with half the class while she had the other half. She left that half alone and I asked if she could stay with them because I have this area handled.

But it annoys me is how she’s the aide but tell me how to run the class. When I was an aide I also thought my lead was pretty stern, she was very scary lol but I respected her and never got upset and called her out. That classroom was also sooo good.

Wanted to mention she cannot even handle 10 kids on her own. So I want to see how she will do with 22 children and. She lets them walk all over her and she even says “are you a baby? do you want to go to the baby class?” When they are not listening to her. The audacity to speak to a child that way! And if I mention something about that I’m sure she’s going to be offended. Like imagine a parent walking in and hearing that. At least the admin knows I had turn the class around and they’ve been thriving so had other teacher mentioned and parents. I just cannot allow disrespect for the classroom materials, the children disrespecting each other and disrespecting teachers. There’s a time and place for play as well. our transitions are alway held back because at least I’m taking her advice to be less “stern” but now the classroom is back to day 1. Not working. I’m drained but cannot just say stfu you talk to the parents when a kid is bleeding or choked on food (because that literally almost happened) I have so much 💩 to say to her but gahd at least i say it nicely and not criticize