Making the Decision to Leave

The Decision

I worked at my former school for three years. The first year was a honeymoon stage, because I believed in the leader of the school. During my second year, I went back into the classroom and became a 4th grade homeroom teacher. This is where I met the most wonderful and best friends a girl could ask for. They were the reason I stayed, without them, I would have quit. The second year really opened my eyes on the leader of the school. I was graced with one of the trouble students from last year. Now, we were giving him the benefit of the doubt, new year new you... My whole decision to continue to teach would be questioned because of this student. This was the domino affect that truly made me realize, working here was no longer a happy place for me.

Let's call this student Big Foot, since it was his favorite thing to talk about among other things like World Wars. Big Foot had a really nice honeymoon stage, until he was asked to complete work that all other 4th graders were asked to complete. He believed himself so smart, that school was irrelevant. He should just be able to read his book the whole day and not be bothered by peasants. When the peasants bothered him or asked him to do things, he would cause chaos and take away learning from the other students. He would walk around the room humming, crawl under tables, and cause the class to be evacuated from the room. Now, Big Foot was a what I like to call a favorite and there were some perks to being the leader's favorite.

Specials to being the leader's favorite:

• Behavior chart with special rewards such as: big candy, petting the chickens, getting chips, and a full paid for by the leader a World War gas mask from amazon.

• Sit up front during car riders

• Throw down in the classroom with no consequences.

• Sent to the leader? Come back and tell the class you got to read or play computer games.

I mean there were some real benefits for the student, but what about the other students? The ones that do what they should every day with no complaints. Unfortunately for you the only way to get that kind of attention was to be bad, you may have gotten a "hello" though or a "good job."

Things continue to get worse that year with the one student, I truly saw what it was like to be the leader's favored. My last year at the school was pretty smooth sailing, the students were great! But there was impending doom on the horizon. I knew what kind of students were coming up from third grade. I watched as they passed by my room and did whatever they wanted in the hallway. Those are all things I know the routines and regulations in my room would fix. The doom that was coming, came in the form of three favorites of the leader students. After dealing with the one favorite, it was not going to happen for three favorites. So, I made the decision to move else where and separate myself from the negativity that was creeping into the fourth grade walls.

Job Hunting

Job hunting for a new teaching position closer to home was no joke. I tried to stay as positive as I could when no calls were coming in to interview with other schools. My dream at the time was to work with the school that was fifteen minutes from my house. My niece and nephew were going there and it would be really fun for Ana to be with them. I went to one interview and was pretty nervous the whole time. I didn't feel as prepared as I would like. So, I knew that job wasn't going to call me back. I put a lot of my hopes that God would lead me to the school He needed me at the most. When I got the call for my current school, I knew I wanted to go in prepared and make sure I have the points I want to talk about. The funny thing about me is that I get so nervous that I can't remember anything I have done, so writing out a list of things I wanted to mentioned really helped me. When I left the interview for my current school it felt like I was glowing and walking on the moon. I had to go back to my old workplace for the teacher work day, but my friends could definitely see a difference in me. I almost gave up that feeling though.

During a training, I got the called I had wanted for so long. The call for the school that was fifteen minutes from my house, the "dream" school for me. I accepted the interview then called my friends and luckily they reminded me of how happy I was after my last interview. So, I called the "dream" school back and declined coming in for an interview. I was already getting things settled with the school before the dream school to be hired. I am really thankful that my friends told me not to go in, because I would have lost the actual school God needed me at. Now, thinking this all over I realize that the "dream" school was like an apple being held out to me and take me away from God's plan.

In the end, I did take the job at my current school. I have really enjoyed the change of atmosphere and that students have consequences at this school. No one at the school is a favorite child and they are all treated the same. No one leaves the office with a piece of candy, snack, or reward unless they worked hard to earn it. If I could leave you with any advice, it would be to put yourself out there and leave the toxic environment you are currently in. Things do get better and not every school is the same!

With love,

Erin