Frustrated

I didn't understand how frustrating teaching can be until I started working here. When the kids don't understand something, it really gets to me. Every single kid in my math class failed their last test - and I feel like it's my fault. Especially since the other section got all A's and B's. Granted, I have the "slower" section, but still! I spent the last week re-doing the entire chapter and they all got pretty good grades on their last quiz. But then, their test grades were B, C, D, and F. The kid who got an F is someone who usually scores very well on the tests. I'm not quite sure what to do at this point. They keep mixing up prime and composite numbers and factors and multiples. They just don't seem to get it. What did I do wrong? I mean, I feel pretty good that one kid went from an F to a B... but what about the others? I wish I knew what I did wrong... what I could do to make them understand it better.

It's the same in English. The kids are having trouble understanding the basic parts of speech at this point. One kid got an F on our last quiz, which was basic nouns. Underline the noun, capitalize all the proper nouns. Some kids underlined verbs. A lot of kids didn't know which ones to capitalize... and this kid in particular didn't know the difference between an adjective and a noun. I've been ripping my hair out trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Am I really that bad a teacher?

Some kids are progressing excellently. I can already see how far they've come. But some of the others... I'm running out of ideas of different ways I can teach the material. I'm having a hard time getting through. I just feel like shit every time someone gets a bad grade.

The kids seem to like and respect me well enough. I KNOW I'm doing okay in coaching. The kids had a great soccer season and I'm actually having a lot of fun teaching them basketball. I just wish I had the same confidence in the classroom. At the end of the day, if they can't strike a ball perfectly or score a goal, it doesn't matter. It only matters that they have fun and they try. In the classroom it's different. If they can't tell the difference between a prime and composite number, or if they don't have a grasp of the basic parts of speech... well, that's just not good. That stuff is important.

I dunno. It's just been a bad week I guess. I guess I have to learn to not take this stuff so personally... but I really get upset when they don't do well. I feel like it's my fault.