I'm sure your daughter does have stories, Steph! I will say, things have gotten better the past couple of weeks. Most of the kids have settled into a routine and gotten used to my expectations. One of my two heavy-hitters seems to be done testing me and is much less argumentative than he was the first month. The other one is still obnoxious, but he missed 3 out of 5 days this week due to a doctor's appointment and illness, so I had a relatively easy week. It's amazing what a difference one child can make. I hate to admit it, but my class and days are much more pleasant without this kid in it. 😬 At least his parents are supportive and don't make excuses for him or deny that there's a problem, which certainly helps. It would be a thousand times worse if his parents were obnoxious, too!
Parents who don't want to parent are definitely a growing problem. We see the effects of kids who have grown up with far too much screen time. They have no attention span and can't handle being "bored" or not being overstimulated all the time. And some of them are definitely lacking in basic skills. I have 4th graders (9 and 10-year-olds) who can't tie their shoes or tell left from right. And we've seen an increase in kids that age who frequently have bathroom accidents (both kinds) at school without any medical diagnosis that would explain it. It's like some of them are not even being properly potty trained. I never thought I would have to deal with that kind of stuff as a 4th grade teacher! I understand why there is a teacher shortage. I'm grateful to have good administrators and a good union in my district that try to make the workload more manageable, but even with decent working conditions, it's a difficult, demanding job. And I've certainly heard horror stories and seen those videos from teachers in other districts who have it much worse. I would never want to teach in Texas or Florida, for example!
I've taught many kids on the autism spectrum, and while some of them were a handful, most of them have been very likeable and often among my brightest students! Sometimes I hear horror stories about students from their previous teachers, and then they turn out to be fine in a different setting with a different group of kids and teacher. I had one last year that one of my former principals, who's now in charge of a different school, told me was the most challenging student he'd ever had in his 25+ year career. After having this kid in my class all year, I wouldn't even put him in my top 5 most challenging students! He had his moments, but most of the time he was fine for me. He was a quirky old soul who knew a lot about pop culture from even before he was born, and he had a great sense of humor, so it was easy for me to find commonalities and bond with him. Sometimes it just comes down to personalities meshing, even between adults and kids.
