Teacher Misery

Teacher burnout is real… but what happens when the job starts affecting your health, your peace of mind, and your entire life? In this raw and unfiltered episode, we unpack the harsh realities behind teacher burnout. From toxic work environments to extreme parent demands, lack of administrative support, and a system that pushes passionate educators to the edge. You'll hear DeAndre's story of deali...

On this episode, Lauren and Lyndsey discuss the best and worst gifts they've gotten from students and administration. They also talk about hills they would absolutely die on in education, such as teachers not being entirely responsible for student behavior, kids needing to handwrite essays, plagiarized papers always getting a zero, and teachers needing to learn how to pronounce a student's name co...

Teaching while parenting; how much work it is to take a day off; there are no more holiday parties; to celebrate Columbus Day or not to celebrate Columbus Day?; when parents opt out of lessons or units; lowering of expectations in college because of the mass change in parenting; unfair bathroom policies; unbelievable bathroom shenanigans; what level of violence will it take to make you quit?; brea...

Today we welcome Lindsay, from the @Teachertrauma social media. We discuss students gaslighting teachers, parents who believe every word their kid says, disrespectful parent communication, middle school farts, irresponsible parents, disrespect of materials, how underprepared kids are, how admin. feels about teachers on social media. We also discuss the high expectations of teachers, the impossibil...

In this episode, Lauren talks to Phillip M. Holmes, an expert on building strong leadership and recovering from a toxic work environment. We discuss what makes a toxic workplace, poor leadership, why there is so much poor leadership in education, how to know if you can trust your coworkers, when to get out of a toxic work environment, and much more!    For more information, visit Teachermisery.com...

Lauren welcomes her sister Julie back to the podcast, where they discuss their dumb experiences as teenagers smoking weed, how much more potent it is today, the dangers of vaping, chronic hyperemesis syndrome, which Julie suffers from after too much THC built up in her system, differences in tolerance when it comes to edibles, the dangers of vape devices themselves, the time Lauren ate a "space co...

We discuss where we've been the last few months, DeAndre's new job teaching middle school, Lauren's new job tutoring ESOL students, gossiping-ass teachers and admin., batshit crazy teachers, annoying classes you have to take to renew your license, being super teacher vs. the good enough teacher, pressure to be part of the school community, schools that actually have consequences for phones, and wh...

Lauren and DeAndre discuss all the threats schools are getting now and what police are doing about it, the states where it's legal for teachers to carry guns, what it's like teaching kids in their homes, grown-ass kids still wearing diapers and sucking on pacifiers, sex ed. in Florida is now abstinence only, kids watch porn at young ages now, how to explain sex to very little kids (or not), why it...

Teaching with cancer; open house needs structure or parents will annoy the crap out of the teacher; is open school night even necessary? The benefits of teaching elementary kids and how memorable you are for them, the shooting at Apalachee High School and the warning signs that are always there; how much we wanted to help start mental health programs but didn't get much support; how ineffective th...

Lauren and DeAndre discuss the job search outside of teaching and the thoughts that creep in about finding a school with supportive admin. and decent student behavior to work at. Is this even a possibility or wishful thinking? Are we too damaged from past experiences and literal PTSD? We also share experiences from teaching in fancy private schools then we talk about the administrator who was blin...

On this episode, we talk to Bryan, a teacher with teaching experience both in secondary settings and post-secondary schools. As a queer teacher, Bryan has faced many challenges with acceptance and understanding while teaching in Los Angeles, Texas, and New York City. These experiences led him to create an organization and podcast called Teaching While Queer. The goal is to create safe schools and...

Lauren and DeAndre talk to Zohar, a teacher with multiple certifications, including Special Ed., who moved to NYC from the Middle East and ended up leaving before the end of her first year. The pressure and pace at the elite private school she taught at took a significant toll on her mental and physical health, and she found herself wondering if there was a way to make all the paperwork included i...

On this episode, Lauren and DeAndre talk to Dr. Irene Daria, a developmental psychologist and author of the new book I Didn't Believe Him. Irene is a reading specialist for children of famous stars such as Kate Winslet and Tom Brady. We talk about how she realized her younger son was not being taught how to read properly at one of the most elite private schools in NYC, leading her to research how...

First, DeAndre and Lauren discuss the mix of feelings that come with a new school year starting and no longer being a teacher. Then Lauren shares ridiculous, dumb, insulting, baffling, and outrageous comments made by administrators to teachers, and DeAndre reacts hilariously! Look out pregnant women, childless teachers, and newly married teachers! There are some moronic comments coming your way! S...

Lauren and DeAndre discuss some of the most outrageous requests that parents have made to teachers, including getting copies of the test and answer key before the test, teaching a student how to use a tampon, making specific lunches every day, helping students poop in various and strange ways, and even not teaching about gravity because a family doesn't believe in it! This is one of the most hilar...

We discuss what this school psychologist thought the job was going to be versus what it actually is; how administrators affect so much of the job; parents who won't accept a diagnosis versus parents who want their kids to have a disability so they get extra services; parents and kids who use ADHD as an excuse; how hard it is to remember all the different accommodations; accommodations are becoming...

Lauren and DeAndre discuss teachers' what would you do scenarios, such as… what would you do if a student put poop on your desk and said, "This was in my pants;" nostalgic memories are knocked out by reality; weird things kids bring to school like live and dead animals, sex toys, and even the skull of a missing person! We play a game where DeAndre has to guess which awful quotes are from an admini...

Lauren and DeAndre dive deep into the story of the middle school teacher who was fired for having students undo his braids. Is this more about race than the act itself? Is this worth firing a teacher over, or could it have been a warning? We discuss how teachers can't hug students for fear of being accused of being inappropriate. We talk about teachers being put on administrative leave without bei...

Is it okay to share a clip of a teacher properly handling a difficult situation with a special ed. student or is it not for social media? Why summer reading assignments are the bane of an English teacher's existence; corporal punishment in schools is still legal in 19 states, 15 of those include special ed. students; stories from What It's Really Like: Foot fetish kid, H.S. kids who don't understa...

Lauren was in charge of "frogger" at kindergarten field day, and a kid grabbed her chest; little boys can't stop scratching down there; the corn vat; random business ideas; is it okay for admin. to paddle a very misbehaved student? Does it actually deter bad behavior? What should a parent do if their kid spits at a teacher? Where are the truancy officers? What is the "Teachers' Bill of Rights" and...

Lauren was in charge of 5 kindergarteners on a field trip and it was crazy; should Sunday secrets be censored so they don't offend anyone or are they a prompt for conversations? Why the law exists in some states that you can't share a student's preferred gender or pronouns with their parents; secrets have gotten so extremely sad and never fun or funny anymore; suicidal messages and teachers who ar...

It is confusing and hard to find a job outside of teaching; the system makes you feel like you are the problem for not being able to stay; people who stay have unhealthy coping mechanisms; why do administrators bully teachers during such a bad shortage; it's hard to get rid of feelings of anger after being bullied at work, teaching takes away your creativity and wild spirit, how hard it is to leav...

On this episode, we interview a drama teacher (who prefers to remain anonymous) about her first teaching job, which she quit after three months. We talk about the toxic working conditions, violent, criminal behavior of the students, and lack of support from the administration. Then, we play a game where DeAndre and our guest have to guess which of two crazy news headlines about school is real and...

Should teachers be allowed to carry concealed guns? Why don't more schools have metal detectors? Districts are begging teachers to drive buses and offering a pathetic incentive; riding the school bus is a crazy experience as a kid; in Florida, they want to take back brand new pay raises; many teachers make so little money they qualify for welfare and use a food pantry; should teachers have to pay...

Librarians in Texas all have to reapply for their jobs; librarians are a great resource who are experiencing a lot of pressure; do we need computer or tech teachers? Shortages are the biggest stressor for teachers right now; crash course on crazy-ass Betsy DeVos; what happened to the separation of church and state? We talk about shitty billionaires a bit; the meaning of being "woke;" book ban chat...