In recent coverage, 91制片厂视频 Week reporter Madeline Will wrote about how teachers can curb the 鈥淥ctober Blues,鈥� a term coined to describe an often-challenging month in the school year. For some educators, the excitement of the new year has worn off and the difficult realities of teaching set in by the time 鈥渟pooky season鈥� rolls around.
Some educators responding to the article said that the teaching challenges faced during the month of October don鈥檛 hold a candle to those in other months. We wanted to learn more.
Using a , we asked teachers to weigh in on the hardest season for teaching, and over 2,400 of our followers participated in the poll. The top season selected? Spring, which accounted for 40 percent of the poll鈥檚 votes.
(Our poll is based on a convenience sample, not a nationally representative one, so the results aren鈥檛 definitive.)
Across other social media posts, we asked teachers to name the most challenging month of the school year for teaching. Here鈥檚 what they said鈥攁nd why they said it.
Fall (September, October, November)
鈥淪eptember. All new students, curriculum planning, meetings, setting up units, updating resources and more鈥� That鈥檚 just my work now I have to go home and be a parents of a student.鈥�
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鈥淥ctober is usually the hardest. Students are finally getting routines but can tend to revert back to previous behaviors. Plus it just feels long.鈥�
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鈥淥ctober is TOUGH! It鈥檚 hard to maintain routines in school and for our own wellbeing outside of school. There鈥檚 always more to do and students get restless which makes us restless. Is the 鈥楩all Wall鈥� over yet?鈥�
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鈥淚 think October is the toughest. The honeymoon is over and students start to test their boundaries. It is certainly the time that tests classroom management and there are no days off.鈥�
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鈥淥ctober. There are extra (unpaid) duties that require after hours work like homecoming, senior night, parent-teacher conferences, bonfires, etc. also, beginning of the year good behavior honeymoon comes crashing to an end.鈥�
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鈥淣ovember. The honeymoon is over, you鈥檝e identified who needs extra behavior or academics support, but you鈥檙e still trying things out to see what works. You鈥檝e usually gone without a day off since Labor Day. It鈥檚 dark, but without the holiday cheer of December. And to top it off, I always get sick.鈥�
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鈥淔all was the most difficult for a retired kindergarten teacher. A lot of kids had separation anxiety. Trying to establish new routines wasn鈥檛 easy. Some students were not completely potty trained. Discovering food allergies that parents were not aware of was tough. Understanding students learning styles took time. But, I would not have traded this profession for any other. The successes outweighed anything else.鈥�
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Winter (December, January, February)
鈥淒ecember. So much going on and kids are excited about the holidays.鈥�
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鈥淛anuary. No breaks in sight. It鈥檚 cold. Weather interruptions. Kids hyped from Christmas. The honeymoon phase is over and the year still has a long way to go.鈥�
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鈥淔ebruary. Cabin fever is at a high, everyone has had too much together time, winter break is far behind you, and spring break is nowhere insight.鈥�
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鈥淔ebruary. I don鈥檛 know what it is about February, but it鈥檚 always rough. I save a personal day for when I just can鈥檛 with February.鈥�
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鈥淔ebruary. Long winters in ND so we see [seasonal affective disorder] in kids and adults. Everyone gets antsy from being cooped up and behaviors tend to rise. Very few school breaks between January and March.鈥�
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鈥淸W]inter because kids cannot go outside as often to burn off energy, it is dark and seasonal depression hits people, everyone is sleepier, a lot of melt downs from putting on and taking off snow pants and snow boots, and kids forget how to behave at school during the winter holidays. The winter months are a slog in the midwest.鈥�
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鈥淚 used to think spring, but winter brings on a lot of seasonal depression in students and every week you鈥檙e begging for a snow day...which is beautiful until you realize trying to get caught up on content missed and keeping your sections on track is a nightmare. Fall definitely brings the best buzz all around, and there鈥檚 hope in spring.鈥�
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Spring (March, April, May)
鈥淢arch. No days off, the possibility of snow days severely decreases, and we鈥檙e all so ready for spring break.鈥�
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鈥淚n RI. March. No breaks. No holidays. April vacation is so far away. Senioritis. Halfway through 3rd quarter. Still cold and snowy.鈥�
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鈥淢arch is trash. No breaks. Everyone is exhausted. Rushing to get through content before state testing. Admin is rushing to finish evaluations. Pink slips go out. It鈥檚 all garbage.鈥�
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鈥淎pril. Because once that state test is over, the kids think the year is over.鈥�
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鈥淎pril. No time off, final scramble before state exams, teachers are just as exhausted as the kids鈥� April is miserable!鈥�
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鈥淢ay definitely May. Everyone is tired. Weather is nice. Kids are anticipating the end.鈥�
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鈥淪pring is when I highly feel stressed about running out of time to teach my students all I need to for the year. It is also the peak season for interruptions (i.e. spring holidays, state testing, transition IEPs, etc.). 馃う馃徎鈥嶁檧锔忦煓囸煆烩�嶁檧锔忦煠︷煆烩�嶁檧锔忊��
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鈥淓verybody who teaches on the east coast knows, it鈥檚 Spring. Simply because the kids, staff and instructional staff are all running on fumes at that point; the weather starts to warm up and we all want to sit on a warm beach, holding a cold drink and get outSIDE!鈥�
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