Chapter 4The Ungrateful Class: A Teacher's Exodus

I was so angry my neck hurt.

The students did work hard, but that study habit was only formed because I constantly pushed them.

To put it bluntly, the students in Class 6 had a poor foundation, weak basics, and lacked any initiative to study. If they had been given a teacher with even slightly less sense of responsibility or slightly weaker skills, they would have been absolutely impossible to lead.

Over the past two years, I had stayed up late countless times designing personalized teaching plans suited for the students in our class.

I gave up my daily rest periods to offer one-on-one tutoring to the students, often just grabbing a piece of bread and a bottle of water for dinner.

I gave free tutoring to the students at my home on weekends and holidays.

I bought various study materials and prizes for the students out of my own pocket.

I dare say I put more heart and effort into this than any other teacher in the school.

But now, this group of parents was saying the students' grades had absolutely nothing to do with me.

Absolutely nothing!

Furious, I typed: "Since everyone feels the students' grades rely entirely on themselves, then how does me doing my own things during my off-hours affect them at all?"

The parents all started arguing back at once.

"What, do students only care about grades? Let me ask you, what if my kid doesn't get enough to eat at school? What if they forget to drink water? What if they didn't wear enough clothes and catch a cold? What if they feel sick?"

"The kids are already tired enough from studying. The homeroom teacher should be responsible for chores like cleaning the classroom."

"Evening study hall ends too late every day. If you ask me, the homeroom teacher should be responsible for taking the students home."

Ms. Roberts sent me a private message.

"Are these parents insane? Do they think a homeroom teacher is a babysitter?"

Watching the messages constantly popping up in the group chat, my temples throbbed.

I took a deep breath.

Using my very last shred of patience, I said sincerely:

"Parents, there is less than half a year left until the college entrance exams. I implore you all to trust me and give me one more chance. I promise I will do my absolute best to fulfill my duties as homeroom teacher."

But a single sentence from Matthew's Mom instantly broke my composure.

"You really are shameless. Are you just planning to seek revenge afterward and make things difficult for our kids?!"

That single sentence completely broke my composure.

Fine. Fine. Fine.

I quit!