[Purpleorchid5]

So I have been teaching at the same charter school for three years. This has been the only school that I have worked at full time. It is a mainstreamed high poverty school with unique circumstances. I have dealt with extreme behaviors each year...I can never catch a break. Next year, I have another student with severe behavioral issues. I just can’t take another year of it.

I have applied to our other sites in our district. I have talked to other teachers at other sites...they don’t have behavioral issues that even come close to mine.

I am hoping that I get a job somewhere else. How do I deal with the possibility that I may be stuck at this site for another year? How do you cope with it?

[kahluablast]

I actually have had a really nice group of kids 3 years in a row. The group 3 years ago wasn't easy, but that was due to learning difficulties more than behaviors.

My class coming up has 1 major behavior and I will have him. I am spending my summer in denial. Hoping he grows up and matures. Hoping he moves. Hoping things are better for me than they were last years teacher.

I know that isn't an answer, but I am going to spend my summer enjoying myself and letting the worry about how to handle things happen in August. I say you spend your summer refreshing your mind. Do things that make you happy and relaxed. Find hobbies that will take you through the year next year, and join me in denial.

[rissable]

We cope by thinking about the big picture. That we will make a difference in at least one of our student's lives, but more likely in the lives of multiple numbers of students. Their misbehavior is usually not their fault. The fault lies with parents who can't say no, or are not around, or are distracted, or are just trying to hold it together. So they have us. We exhaust ourselves by being a consistent presence in their lives, by jumping through ever increasing higher hoops, unrealistic demands of a curriculum and unending tests.

The teachers who do not have challenging behaviors may have a higher threshold or not the same passion.

Hang in there......

[destination2]

I too work at a school which has a lot of behavior problems. It is very stressful to have to deal with this behavior every day. My advice is to work where you will be happy because stress is very unhealthy so do what is best for you.

[teachwonder]

Sometimes making it through is all you can do!

[linda2671]

I can only think of 4 years when I have not had severe behavior issues in my classroom. One of them was this last year, when I'm positive they gave me the easy kids because I had just gone through cancer treatment. My principal actually wrote in my recommendation for my masters' program that he found himself putting the most difficult students in my room because he knew I could handle them. The only way to survive is to find positive ways to deal with the behaviors. Like a pp said, it's often not the child's fault.
Even if you get a job somewhere else, there is no guarantee that you will not get severe behaviors in your classroom. There are more and more kids every year who have severe behaviors. Where I used to get one or two, now I get 3 or 4. Then you add in about 6 with marginal behaviors, and it's exhausting. But I just take one day at a time, and try to notice the good things that happen.

[Kinderkr4zy]

As someone who also tends to get the behaviors and also has at least one ED identified student I cope with it in several ways.

1. I leave notes around my classroom reminding me to breath and to be the teacher that I want my son to have. I notice them and stumble upon them when I need it the most.

2. I eat lunch away from my students. For me it is very helpful to have some time in the day to decompress.

3. I vent to my grade level team when I am feeling frustrated by it.

4. I give myself happy gifts. Coffee, candy, lazy evenings reading. I let myself have them I wont feel even a little guilty about it.

5. I really buckle down and keep ABC data and keep trying proven methods for success and let my data guide me. Keeping a lot of data can be a challenge. When I am struggling with it I wear an apron, like a waitress, and I put white sticker labels sheets, cut in half and pre filled in with Antecedent or Behavior or Consequence, in the pockets with a pen and a small timer. Then when the behavior occurs I just reach into the pocket and document. Once or twice a week I pull the sticky labels off and put them in my documentation binder and I take 10 minutes to think about them, draw conclusions and see if anything needs to change in the environment or in the behavior plan.

6. I lean on my behaviorist and I dont hesitate to call her in when I need her. Since I also get the behavior hot cases in ESY with severe behavior autism and ED kids we know each other well.