It’s no secret that the teaching profession comes with a lot of challenges. Believe it or not, the challenges we face is not always about the pay.

Planning, organization, copies, meetings, classroom management, staying on schedule…don’t you wish that non-teachers can just tryout teaching for just one week!

Some challenges we face is what I like to call being a great customer service representative. Especially when dealing with parents, admin, and even co-workers. ha! It’s like we have to make everyone happy and satisfied.

Beyond being a great CSR, we wear a lot of hats, not just including being able to hold our bladder! But we are more than just teachers (hence the subtitle to my blog) and we have realized there is never enough of anything throughout our day.

This is why I decided to publish this post. I want people, especially teachers know we all deal with the same or similar challenges throughout the school year. And for you teacher, you are not alone in your teaching journey.

At the end of May, I asked teachers from around the world, and various grade levels and content areas:

“Now that the school year is almost over…or already over for some…what was one thing that was challenging for you this past school year?”

These are the responses I received:

#1

 “A huge challenge this year was creating a community and really putting that effort into my classroom. Logistically it was difficult but also the behavior of the students made it extra challenging. “

#2

“There’s always some tricky parents.  This year it’s one whose child has “individual needs” and she doesn’t seem to understand that we are doing everything she said needed to be done.”

#3

“There are always a little bunch of Year 4 boys (I teach a 3/4 composite) who like to think they can talk whenever they please and get in the way of learning.”

#4

“The thing I have managed to overcome this term: I have pared back my hours to just a little over what is in my contract.  This is huge!  I have gone from 10+ hours a day to about 8.5-9 hrs.  And you know what?  Nothing bad has happened, and my work is getting done.”

#5

“My year is already done, thank goodness. I would say my biggest challenge was the paperwork…trying to stay on top of it. I teach Special education so not only did I’ve have teaching and planning, I also had IEPs, progress monitoring, and data collection to stay on top of each week. I’m getting there though…next term will be better 😊”

#6

“Dealing with a parent who was starting drama between other parents.  It would have been easier to ignore if she was not slandering five year old children in the process.”

#7

“I think the most challenging thing for me this year was trying to fit everything in and not feel frenzied! I was moved to 2nd Grade after 10 years in 1st, plus new programs were added to 2nd this year so everyone on my new team was experiencing the same challenge that I was. I felt like I was constantly reassessing my schedule and time management to allow enough time for each thing that needed to be done. Through the summer I will be reflecting on what worked well and also doing research to find better ways of getting it all in to be even more effective next year. If we’re not learning, we’re not growing!”

#8

“Honestly, I had a difficult time really connecting with my class this year. Some of that is due to the fact that I had some stressful things going on in my personal life and I had a very challenging group of students this year. Not to mention that I feel like my work environment was a good match for me.”

#9

“My class as a whole was not challenging, but I had a group of students that required a lot energy and attention. With that being said, I often felt like I did not have the time or the energy to enjoy my class because I was spending so much time managing behavior. I just kept reminding myself that some years are like that, but that did not always make it easier to accept the fact that I was connecting with my class the way that I would’ve liked.”

#10

 “Disruptive male students. I teach 7th grade.”

#11

“This year for me, it was the challenge of other people’s perspectives. I had some very challenging situations with coworkers and I allowed them to steal joy. I’m glad I recognized it while reflecting so that I can be on guard not to fall into that trap again.”

#12

“My biggest challenge this year was student apathy and bad behavior in general. I’ve been cussed at/cussed out more this year than I have in the previous 7 years teaching total. I’ve struggled a lot with how to deal with these kids who have no respect for others, let alone the teacher. I’ve always had challenging students, of course, but the apathy was the other half. This is really more related to the profession in general. I teach 8th grade ELA, and there are virtually no consequences for students failing, and that directly relates to their performance (or lack thereof) in the classroom. We don’t even have summer school to hold over their heads anymore. 🤷🏻‍♀️”

#13

“What has been hard for me is that it was a bad year for my school; not me personally as a teacher, but it was a pain to deal with all the struggles my coworkers and the student culture issues. Ready for a new year!”

#14

“One thing that was challenging for me was keeping track of paperwork 😩 I have to become more organized and find a schedule to do certain things!”

#15

“MOTIVATION!!”

#16

“I had so many kids out right fail because there was no consequence or motivation to complete work.”

#17

“Getting our MTSS program implementation off the ground in all areas. We are finding out which schools, staff members etc. are stronger in each of the various areas of MTSS. So, this planning year has been an amazing experience and we are headed in the right direction!”

#18

“I have a dual certification in general education and special education K-5 and special education K-12. I am a late bloomer, and returned to get my teaching degree when my youngest was in high school. I have an adult son with high functioning Asperger’s Syndrome. (Eagle Scout & College Graduate) My first two years I taught as a Sped Interventionist. I just finished my first year teaching 1st Grade, Inclusion Class. Everything was new to me (new school, team, administration, schedule, and all those standards and CFAs). I had 2 Sped students in my class, one is only diagnosed with ADHD, but I predict some type of LD as he gets a little older. My other student, in my class all day except for 1 hour daily Sped pull-out and once weekly 30 minutes for OT and Speech, was a student with autism who is non-verbal. Mom has been very wary of Sped teachers due to the publicity they generate. My student was in pull ups. I sent him to the rest room several times a day and he would go in by himself and sit on the potty. In May, he started having BM accidents in his pull up. The Sped teacher told me I was actually responsible for finding someone to watch him so I could change him. I asked the principal in a very diplomatic manner what her expectations were concerning him having toileting accidents. She researched within our county and met back with myself, the Sped teacher and the AP. The administration said they felt both teachers were busy teaching and that they, the administration, would take care of any accidents. Well, that didn’t ever come through. The AP sent a para to watch my class and the principal came to watch, but never offered to take him. There were also too many days to count that my Sped kids did not get their pull out services due to the Sped team assisting with school-wide testing and benchmarking. Anyway, last day of school, Mom confronted me and said she felt like I didn’t like her child because he didn’t get an award at our ‘Honors” Assembly. If she knew how I had pushed to make sure he got his push in services in one of my teammate’s class and was an advocate for him… It really hurt my feelings. I know that he is done in my class. But, I can’t help but think of the hours he wasted sitting in there because he can’t write his name, and needs to be bribed to trace letters… He definitely needs to be in a self-contained Sped class. I hope his mom will allow them to test him more in depth so he can get the services he desperately needs. I care about and love all of my students.”

#19

“Our “well-liked” principal was caught up in a scandal that rocked the core of the small town community, and she was forced to resign and leave town. This all happened in the first week of school. It set a precedent for the rest of the year with faculty and students.”

#20

“I’m a special areas teacher and the challenge was the entire 4th grade. They were dreaded by the special areas teachers. We couldn’t do anything special with them because of the behavior of this grade level. Seemingly there was nothing we could do to correct the behavior because it stemmed down from their classrooms.”

#21

“A couple of my challenges was being department leader for the first time and trying to feel adequate enough to answer everyone’s questions, and another challenge was I tried hard to leave work at work- haha. For a SpEd teacher it wasn’t happening! I would end up staying locked in my classroom all day, through lunch, and run out just to use the restroom. Now, I schedule my “work at home” time for 2 hours after my son goes to sleep. For the most part, that works well. So now, I push everything away until bedtime and don’t think about until then.”

Final Thoughts

I have faced many challenges throughout my teaching career included being burned out. In my story, I almost left the profession. But this blog and my students kept me coming back.

If your facing any difficult challenges this year, please share in the comment below so that other teachers know they are not alone. Thank you teachers for all that you do.