Whether or not you’re a teacher, you know what it means when a teacher says, “I have a tough group of students this year.”

Teaching a tough group is physically, mentally, and emotionally draining.  A tough group can make a teacher question whether choosing teaching was the right choice.  Teachers of tough groups lament the loss of instructional time to dealing with behaviors and conflict.  Field trips are cancelled.  Experiments become demonstrations. Group work becomes seat work.  Thankfully, in most schools there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.  It’s only a year.

Next year that tough group will move on to the next teacher.  They’ll try to split up some of the characters who make the group particularly tough, but there is only so much you can do and you can’t prevent kids from clumping together on the playground at recess or after school.

Sure, a tough group is hard on teachers, principals  and the office staff.  What if you are a student in this group?

Imagine having to spend all your school years with a group like this.