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 How to end the 1-3 year teaching career 
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We've all heard the statistics of how many teachers quit teaching after 1-3 years of teaching. I've always wondered why that stat is so high and what are some ways that it can be prevented? Any ideas?

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April Wilkinson


Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:55 am
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I wonder about the same thing. It's obscurd to think that teachers go through all of the hard work to become a teacher and just quit after just a few years. I'm sure that it has a lot to do with the administration of schools, from the principals that pressure teachers to the school board members who sit at the board of education office and make the so-called "rules". I feel that if teachers were left to do their own thing once in a while, instead of stressing out over things like objectives, standards, and lesson plans. I know that personally, I am a very creative person and would love to share that creativity with my students, but I fear that I will become either one of those teachers that either just quit after a short period of time or get so bogged down by the rules and requirements, that I will just stick strictly to a perfectly layed out lesson plan and not be able to have fun with my students. I certainly hope that this does not happen to me, or many other teachers, but with nothing being changed, I fear that it will.

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Dana Currin


Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:48 pm
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I believe that it may be that we are more often than not spoon fed in life. This seems to be a trend that affects our generation more than others. Some of us are never put into a position to think for ourselves. We are always reminded of deadlines. We are given information and expected to spit it back out for a test; however, not all classes are like this, a lot are beneficial and actually make us think! When we get out of college and into the job force, the ones who never learned to think for themselves are shocked at the amount of work that has to be done. There's no one there to hold our hand. Those folks can't handle the work because it's not easy. We are not always spoon fed our duties once we get out of college. I believe that this may be a large part of the reasons why a lot of teachers do not make it.

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Justin McCrary


Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:14 am
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Somewhat along the lines of Justin I think that teachering is thrown off as an easy job. So, you can't be a lawyer, doctor, etc. why not be a teacher it's an easy job, you'll only have to teach 10 months.
I don't think that teachers are taken seriously enough and young students who want to become teachers do not realize all that they are getting themselves into. It seems that they want the summers off and getting home by 3 in the afternoon. However, teachers have papers to grade, tutoring to administer, curriculums to follow. I think all these factors and more seem too much to some starting teachers and they don't want to take the time and effort to put in the hours to have a successful classroom. Teaching definitely isn't an 8-3 "I'm done let's go home" job.

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Lauren Jennings


Wed Sep 24, 2008 3:12 pm
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I am just going to toss out another side to this. My sister is a second grade teacher in Raleigh and she absolutely loves teaching. She has committed to 4 years in NC for teaching fellows but then she plans on going back to grad school and going in a completely different direction in terms of her job. There are those teachers that definitely just get burned out or don't really realize how hard teaching actually is and then can't hack it but there are those who simply want to try something new. Luckily my sister has the opportunity to go back to school and take on something different because I know a lot of people don't. It was strange though because when she told me that she wanted to go back to school after she finished her four years and do something different my inner gut was telling me... but you're adding to the number of teachers that leave after 3-4 years. Of course I am happy for her but the thought was still there.

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Emily Suzanne White


Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:43 pm
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I'm sure there are all sorts of reasons. There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying something new other than teaching. However, there's probably just a slim majority that do it for only that reason. I mean honestly, look at the pay of teachers. You get paid WAY less than most professions requiring a 4 year degree. While college students are happily living off of their parents, money probably isn't much of an issue. However, once they're on their own and have to give up all the luxuries they're use to like brand name everything, I'm sure it's not as appealing as it once was. Also, I think a lot of teachers get the impression from movies that they can go into any urban system and change everything within their first year. While that is a great goal, it isn't the norm. I've always heard you learn the most about teaching THROUGH EXPERIENCE. Those beginning teachers who don't know what they're getting into and get a bad taste in their mouth just give up. I mean look at the turn over rate for city schools. It's a sad thing. I think if you're going into teaching, you must go in with a full heart and a strong head on your shoulders otherwise teaching can be a bumpy road.

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Jessica Placke


Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:12 pm
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I think that most young teachers underestimate the pressures and responsibilities teaching can bring. They look forward to the “benefitsâ€

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Kerry Crosby Smith


Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:32 pm
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Recently I attended a seminar on the topic of beginning teachers and the phases they go through during the first few years in the field. Basically there are five phases for all teachers. The first phase is the anticipation phase where the person is still in a sort of fantasy about what teaching will be like. This is where the expectations are extremely high and the teacher is almost overconfident about how things will work in their classroom. This leads into the survival phase. This is where the teacher begins to realize that there is a lot of time committed in the profession. They are overwhelmed by work but still hopeful in their outlook on the profession. From here they move into the disillusionment stage. Here they find themselves having their first parent conferences, formal evaluations and often being exhausted and sick (from those great illnesses students bring with them from home.) Here is where that 1-3 year end of career choice is often made. They are overworked, tired, and no longer hopeful about the potential of themselves as teachers or their students as learners. This great feeling of stress causes many to completely give up on teaching. For those who survive this phase the next two are much easier. The fourth phase is the rejuvenation stage. Here they are rested and have time to reconnect with life outside the classroom. They now begin to feel accomplished about the work they've been doing all year. From here it goes into the reflection phase. Teachers now have time to look back on how the year(s) went and plan changes for the future. This is a time for celebrating the successes and figuring out solutions for the trials that they faced.

Unfortunately many teachers don't realize that they are not alone in the disillusionment phase. They don't have the support needed to overcome the stress and remain hopeful about the rest of the year in the classroom. If schools could figure out a way to help these teachers have the support they need to survive this stage we would have less teachers leaving the field so early in their career.

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Katie Tyndall


Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:32 pm
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