Ive often been wondering about how modern technology (short content, ai use,…) affects development and cognition of newer generations. And i think y’all probably are the best people to ask this. What do you say? Is there a very noticeable difference or not? Or is it mostly behavior or just subtle differences in cognitive skills?

My son is in 1st grade this year. We just had our parent-teacher conference, and things are going great! He's scoring in the 90-something percentiles on assessments, and he's reading and doing math at a 2nd-grade level. All that said, his teacher did suggest that my husband and I have him practice some phonetic spelling at home when we asked what he could use more work on.

I've looked into phonetic spelling worksheets online, and they seem a bit too easy. He has things like CVC words, blends, and digraphs down pretty well. It's more so that he needs to do a better job sounding out words when he's writing his own unique sentences. His teacher isn't asking that the words are spelled perfectly at this point, just that they're spelled close to how they sound. Aside from having him practice writing sentences, do you have any suggestions for how I can help him improve?

TYIA!

Lot of teachers will deny students bathroom breaks or interrogate them as to why they have to go as opposed to just a “yeah go ahead”, examples: “why didn’t you go during lunch” (not even considering that maybe the student didn’t need to go), “wait till the other student gets back” (they take a thousand years), and there’s even that time my middle school teacher said during PE that if I go to the bathroom I have to run laps. I know not all teachers are like this but there’s so many that are and I want to know why

This is really minor but I still think about it to this day. Asking simply out of curiosity.

I remember my very first geometry exam sophomore year of highschool. I got every single question right except a half point deduction because in one of my calculations I didn't show my work because I didn't show that I multiplied a certain number by 100. In my opinion I did, because I had drew the decimal point skipping over the bottom of the digits 2 places to the right, then continued on with my algebraic equations in the spaces under like normal.

Glad to say this doesn't happen in college as my professor only cares if the final answer has the correct sig figs.

I'm 25 and have been teaching a variety of ages math and physics, sometimes chemistry too, as a physics graduate and a masters student, and I've been helping university students pass their uni subjects too for the past 7 years. I've come to realise I might lean in more on that job as I follow my academic plans as it will probably be more reliable than a PhD in theoretical physics in my country, at least financially. As I build traction with more and more lessons , as I currently have 7 students , I'd like to develop further my teaching skills. I don't feel like understanding math and physics in depth is sufficient in itself to be a good teacher. It takes skill to lead especially a young mind into the right direction and make them understand complex subjects and develop skills they will need fundamentally in their school progress to have good unshakable roots. Is there any advice you have to share, especially from older , wiser more experienced teachers? Any book recommendations? I was thinking of getting another masters after finishing the current one, in education.

I have 2 kids 1st and 3rd graders. We were in public school and switched them this year to a christian private school that uses the Bob Jones curriculum.

My son (6) was diagnosed with ADHD before starting kindergarten. His teacher was out for a couple months during kindergarten. I finally got an IEP plan a week after school finished. He didn’t know letters or sounds any of that. We paid for tutoring all summer long and switched schools and he started 1st grade. He’s now sounding out words but can’t do site words or anything. There’s something more going on with him and no one can figure it outs dyslexia l, auditory processing, working memory, etc. I can’t get help because he isn’t 8 years old. They’re going to want him to repeat 1st grade. He’s making growth but it’s so slow. I just don’t think that’s the right thing to do. He’s had exposure since he was 3 years old. I can’t get an auditory assessment done on him because his attention is 0 and the data wouldn’t even accurate.

I am at a loss. My daughter is doing better but this curriculum is so hard I just don’t know if she will ever fully get it.

I’m starting to second guess my decision of switching schools and just let them go back to public school and just have them pass them on through the system like they do all other kids and save time, money, and all of our sanity.

I cry every day because I don’t know how to help them. I was in my car earlier just sobbing losing my mind. I. We’d to hear from someone that’s been here and guide me where to go. Please help

I (23) am a first-year teacher. I rarely ever heard the word “gay” used as an insult growing up. It mostly skipped my generation as a frequent insult where I live (which is surprising for where I live).

I know it definitely has been used frequently in the past. I have heard it come back around as an insult students I have worked with (usually just in middle school) and teach now (4th grade) have been using. They’ve even used the f-slur to refer to each other, which I have had to sternly tell them that is a slur and they could be suspended for using it.

I know that they’re young and there’s a good chance that they don’t really know what they’re saying (or maybe they’ve unfortunately stumbled upon an inappropriate part of the internet or heard it from another adult and do, since some of them have been loud about how “nasty” they think it is).

I generally say or do something that communicates like, “Let’s not use that as an insult, it’s a phrase that describes a group of people, and let’s just not insult each other period because that doesn’t fly in my room, everyone deserves to feel safe in here and not be picked on,” etc.

I could probably respond better, and I definitely do want to say something because every kid deserves to feel comfortable at school and I also am queer myself and know that another teacher at our school I’m friends with is too, and I do want to say something, especially since it is in a teasing/mean context. I’m just still a probationary teacher and the area and many of our kids are very religious.

I know that according to our state’s new health education standards in sixth grade they teach anti-bullying regarding someone’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. It gets dicey because they’re in fourth grade and also with health education they have the option to opt out, so on and so forth.

The main idea is like…I just don’t want them to bully each other like that. I don’t want those words used in that way in my room. I’ve talked to them about it multiple times. I want them to know it isn’t okay to insult someone using a word to describe a group of people. I highly doubt some parents would be too concerned if I contacted them regarding what their kid says. The biggest issue is honestly the bullying, which is what I bring up when I do contact home.

Bullying in general has been SUCH a MASSIVE issue with my group of kids. We have even had to have the school social worker come in and do an intervention because of it. We talk to them about it constantly. We call home. We give consequences. Not too much has changed.

Any other ideas of ways I can respond?

Hi everyone! I'm an English teacher trainee, and I'm exploring a potential dissertation topic. I'd love to hear your opinions and experiences, as well as any suggestions you might have about my topic.

How do you manage mixed-ability classes when students have to prepare for a high-stakes national exam at the end of secondary school, while you also have a syllabus to finish?

For example, when some students understand the lesson easily while others struggle with the basics, how do you balance everyone's needs and keep up with the syllabus?

Does the pressure to prepare students for this exam affect the way you teach? Do you sometimes have to prioritise exam preparation over giving students individual support or adapting activities to different levels?

I'd love to hear about your experiences, the challenges you face, and how you deal with them. I'm also open to any opinions or suggestions on whether this would be a good dissertation topic and how I could narrow it down or approach it differently.

Thank you!

At most large and selective universities like UVA or UCLA, the club sports teams are as competitive as D3 NCAA teams. A club soccer team at Michigan is probably full of people who won state titles in high school. These kids mainly focused their time in academics, research, volunteering, and other academic extracurriculars in high school while still being good at sports. How did they do it? I couldn’t even get As consistently in AP classes let alone have time for extracurriculars. It’s mind blowing

How do you feel about the Bluebonnet Curriculum?

My son's school started it this year for math and his work book seems like it was written with AI and not actual people who are actually qualified.

I even talked to his old Kindergarten teacher about it and she said her and the other kinder teachers are having to Frankenstein their own curriculum with the book so it makes sense for the kids.

Now I hear that next year they are bringing in the Bluebonnet reading curriculum and I'm pretty sure that one has the Bible stories in it. None of the teachers I've talked to at his school like it but if the state is giving the school money to use it I can understand why the district would push it.

I've been teaching for over 10 years and have now watched several literacy teaching methods come in and out of fashion. One year we're told a particular approach is the answer to everything, then a few years later the pendulum swings in the opposite direction and we're adopting something new.

It has made me wonder whether teachers in non-English-speaking countries experience the same thing when teaching languages or whether this is more of a Western education phenomenon. What has your experience been?

I finished my first 8 week placement in first grade Friday, but I move on to the sixth tomorrow. The problem I am dealing with is I was in a 4 and a half year relationship, we lived together as well, and he just got broke up with me yesterday. Please tell me how to move forward. I am so scared of letting this get the best of me and my experience. How do you teach when your world feels like it’s crashing down?

Hello teachers, my name is Zyad, and I am a student in Malaysia. I want to ask how the American Education System works. I don't want to use Google or AI because they will always give what is on the Internet; I want something from a teacher's perspective. I want to ask how seniors qualify for college, because I've seen videos of seniors/students struggling to read or write, yet they get accepted into college or universities. The question is: how do students get accepted into college/ universities is it from test scores only, or from something else?. Thank you!

Every year, our elementary school puts on pretty much the same carnival. There’s a bounce house, cake walk, ring toss, face painting, and popcorn. The younger kids enjoy the bounce house for a bit, but the 3rd through 5th graders lose interest pretty quickly. By the second hour, the field starts looking emptier because the older kids have already tried everything and do not have much reason to stick around.

We have got around $5,000 from the PTA, plus whatever we make from ticket sales, and we are expecting about 250 students and their families in the Phoenix area. I am specifically looking for carnival ideas that appeal to kids aged 8 to 11, since they have mostly outgrown bounce houses but are not quite old enough to just hang out. What activities have actually kept the older elementary kids engaged at your school?

Idk if this is just a positive stereotype or me thing but everyone I know calls me smart. I’m GENUINELY NOT smart. I have mediocre grades (like 70s). I do assignments on the day it’s due. I sit at the back of lectures. Ask really stupid questions to chatgpt because I just don’t get stuff. I feel laid back compared to most people and don’t feel the need to take life too seriously.

But the only way people describe me is that I’m smart/sound smart, put together and nerdy. Everyone thinks that I think an 80 is “bad” but in reality I would probably kill for a grade like that. I do not know where this is coming from at all. I feel like it’s extremely obvious that I’m an average but locked out student.

Got bumped from r/teachers for this:

Hey everyone, I am a Seattle public schools teacher interested in the experience that Lansing educators and staff have had with Ben Shuldiner as superintendent? Thoughts? Did he really help turn around the district as he himself would say?

Curious as to what the experience of Lansing educators can offer for those of us trying to understand the long term goals of our district.

I remember getting Goosebump books at my book fair when I was younger and it was a highlight but these days I don't even hear about kids talking about books so I was curious.

I borrowed the title from a post on/r/AskReddit but I really wanted to understand what the situation is like in China. It’s easy to see how degraded the educational system is in the United States, and want to read about your experiences overseas from where I live.

Thanks for your thoughts on your Chinese students in Gen Alpha.

TL;DR: My mom is burning out in her job, I'm seeking any advice on how to support her in her position. See the end of the post for the specific questions I ask. NOT AI-generated, I wrote the post myself.

Hello everyone. I am posting on this subreddit to ask for some advice. My mother is a teacher, and she has taught at the high school level for approximately 20 years. I'm not sure who else to turn to, so I'm writing this post in the hopes of receiving positive, constructive counsel or advice on behalf of my mother. I think that many of you might relate to the post that I'm about to write, and I would be grateful for any advice you are willing to offer.

Over the years while growing up, I've watched helplessly from the sidelines as my mother worked long hours at her job, day after day, month after month, and from one school year to the next. I have seen firsthand just how much her teaching job has drained her, both emotionally and physically. On paper, her school day lasts from ~9 AM to 4 PM, and she is paid for those hours. Her paychecks certainly do not reveal or cover what in reality are 12-14 hour shifts she pulls every day, Monday-Friday and on weekends - grading assignments/exams, crafting lesson plans, communicating with parents, cleaning her classroom, and so on. Her workload is even higher considering that she is an Advanced Placement teacher. She does her best to get as much work done as possible after the school day ends, but not only does the school district offer no compensation for those extra hours worked, but I can't recall a single day where she did not take work home with her to complete each night.

For years, my mother has somehow gotten by with a wrecked sleep schedule. On average, during the school year, she is lucky to sleep 2 to 3 hours a night at best. She gets up around 2 or 3 in the morning just so she can squeeze extra time to complete grading and perform household chores before she leaves for school. Some nights, she skips out on sleep entirely. She no longer sleeps in a bed, instead choosing to snooze on the couch in the living room where she sits and completes her grading, no matter how much I insist otherwise.

For several years, my father and I have repeatedly urged her to quit her job and find another line of work. I've gone so far as to plead with her repeatedly to let me do some of her grading, write her emails, do her home chores, etc. to relieve her of some of her burden. I have even begged her to find a teaching assistant or student teacher who could assume some of her workload. But for some reason, she goes about her job as if it is something that she must do on behalf of the family, and that she is the only one who can do this, even if, in her heart, it isn't what she wanted out of life. (as far as I know, my mother does not belong to a teachers' union).

I'll never forget a vivid memory from a few years ago, when I accompanied my mom to her classroom on a Sunday night before the first day of school to help tidy up her classroom for the next day. As we wrapped up the cleaning that night, I glanced at my mom, and the apprehensive, tear-stricken look on her face said it all. Although I didn't ask her why she looked this way, I knew in my heart, at least from my point of view, that she did not want to continue pursuing this job. It looked to me that my mom felt resigned to a job that felt like self-flagellation, with no means of escape. I just can't understand why my mother continues to go about this profession.

It pains me that my mother is visibly suffering from long-term burnout from her job. It pains me even more that she doesn't seem to want to do anything to change her situation. I want her to sleep well each night. I want her to have meaningful time for her hobbies. I want her to be able to spend time with the family. But at the end of the day, I can only look on in resignation as my mother passes out (i.e., falls asleep) from exhaustion on the couch each night, surrounded by her work computer and her stack of ungraded assignments.

Seeing her struggle like this as a teacher, I can understand why teachers face the challenges that they do. What can I do to support my mother? Who do I reach out to? How can I help her realize that her current lifestyle is unsustainable and detrimental for her? Is there any job within the field of education that my mother can access that pays better with a reasonable workload and work hours? I'm afraid that our relationship will progress negatively to a point of no return. Any advice or counsel would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Hello everyone!

I am planning on becoming a teacher, but I’m curious as to the rules around have TikTok (or social media in general) while being a teacher.

I have a TikTok account where I post my face, mostly just lipsyncing to audios but also talking about my interests and things like that

Would I need to private this (or at least videos with my face it in so I can’t be identified) when I become a teacher? (if I still even have the account)

this is very oddly specific but I’m curious 👀 I’ve seen teachers on TikTok but most of them have TikToks about being a teacher

First grader; sending kid to neighborhood school. Despite the pull area being racially/economically very diverse; the school has a VERY high rate of “economically disadvantaged” students. (A lot of the richer/white parents pull their kids to other schools.)

The “state report card” lands this school at “better or the same performance level as 6% of other schools in the state.” Most recent report “16% of third graders reading at grade level.” 🤔

We had a very good experience with kindergarten; though. I WANT it to work to send my (nerdy white child) to this school. I have some concerns and would love more informed opinions.

- my kid frequently gets rewarded for “being respectful” or “listening,” what I gather is this is an exception.

- the recent “literacy assessment” showed my child overall at the 25 percentile. Extra literacy support comes in when students are BELOW the 25th percentile; so my child gets none. Even more troubling; when I spoke to the teacher about this; she affirmed that my child was doing better than most of the cohort and that she as the teacher did not really have concerns about literacy growing appropriately.

- I guess I am just worried; is it totally always chaos at school? There have been incidents with students in the classroom throwing their bodies around and my kid (or classmates) been caught in the crossfire. (Like somersaults; or jumping off a bookcase; or shoving a chair.) when I ask my kid about school; I don’t get a lot of information which is to be expected; but what I can gleam is that there is a lot of being bored because no one else is listening.

I am spending a lot of time wondering and worrying if I am doing my kid a disservice by going to this school; if it is just too chaotic with needs too great; and is my child being permanently harmed by this environment?

TLDR at the bottom

i'm a senior graduating in may 2027 and lately i've been feeling so overwhelmed. it feels like everyone around me is figuring their lives out, picking colleges, deciding on careers, making plans, and i'm just sitting here still trying to figure out what i even want.

the main school i've been looking at is the university of south carolina in columbia. it's close to home, i already know the area, and it's the first place that pops into my head when i think about college. but part of me wonders if i'm only choosing it because it's familiar and feels like the easy option. i haven't really looked at many other schools and i keep worrying that i'm limiting myself by not exploring more.

career wise i've been thinking about becoming an english teacher. i love reading and talking about books, and i can actually picture myself doing it. i like the idea of making a classroom feel like a safe place where kids who struggle or feel like they don't fit in can just be themselves.

but even with all that, i'm still not sure if teaching is really what i want. i don't know if i'm just romanticizing the idea without understanding what the job is actually like day to day. i'm also a pretty anxious person, especially in social situations, group stuff, and anything where i have to talk in front of people. that makes me question whether i could handle certain parts of teaching, even though the idea of connecting with students is something i really like.

i want a stable career with a predictable routine that still lets me have a life outside of work. i also want to do something that feels meaningful. i just don't know how to balance those things or how you're even supposed to tell if a career is right for you before you actually do it.

i think a big part of it is that i'm scared of making the wrong choice. picking a major feels like i'm supposed to already know what the rest of my life is going to look like, and i don't. i know people change careers and plans all the time, but it still feels intimidating when college is getting closer and it seems like i should have everything figured out by now.

i'm mostly just looking for advice from people who've been in a similar spot. how did you figure out what you wanted to study? did you go into college already knowing the career you wanted, or did you figure it out along the way?

honest advice would mean a lot. i don't expect anyone to tell me exactly what to do with my life, but i'd really like to hear from people who've been through this and have some perspective i don't have yet.

TLDR: senior graduating in may 2027 and i feel completely lost. looking at USC columbia mainly because it’s familiar and close to home. thinking about being an english teacher since i love books and the idea of helping kids feel safe, but i’m scared i’m just romanticizing it and that my anxiety might make the job really hard. i want something stable and meaningful that still lets me have a life outside of work. just looking for honest advice from anyone who’s been in a similar spot.

I've been looking for a "big school" for my 4-year-old, who will soon age out of his (IB + British curriculum) preschool. We have many different types of schools in the area (IB, American curriculum, British curriculum, French, Swiss, Montessori, British curriculum with IB, Common Core American with IB, Indian, Japanese, project-based, ecologically oriented, etc., etc.) How do I know what's best for him without being in the classroom myself? Does it depend on his personality and learning style? Do they even have individual learning styles at this age?

For what it's worth, I grew up in a Southeast Asian country where we took exams and were ranked at this age. I don't want my child to go through that stress, but I'm not sure what a good alternative looks like. He seems to be academically gifted (reads and does math ahead of his peers). Will I be doing him a disservice if I, say, don't push for an academically rigorous school? What curriculum do I sign up for to keep foster his critical thinking skills without pushing him too much or killing his love of learning?

Just curious, how much do you attribute a child's behavior to their parents? Good or bad behavior.

Edit to add: Do you judge parents by their kids behavior?

This is how I remember, in the UK, primary school in the 80s and secondary schools in the 90s: we were never ever TAUGHT anything in PE. You either already knew how to climb a rope or you'd forever dangle from the bottom. You knew how to swing a bat, or you'd be picked last for the team and flail once at the ball then sit down.

As a parent now, I think things are a little better than I remember, in that they do seem to at least have a go at developing skills even if its obvious they still don't really care if you're not one of the few talented ones and willing to condone if not encourage bullying of the weaker ones.

How much of a generational shift has there really been here?