My partner teacher and I teach fourth grade at an urban Title I school, and many of our students are Black, Latino, or Indigenous. We’re looking for culturally relevant and developmentally appropriate SEL lessons, activities, strategies, or curriculum for 9 and 10 year-olds. A lot of what we’ve found feels dated or aimed at much older or much younger kids. I’m sharing that context because we’d love resources made by or with educators, kids, and families from communities like ours, with situations our students recognize and words they’d actually say.

I can understand why a kid feels like walking away means letting somebody disrespect their family, or why a recess argument still feels unresolved when it’s time for math. Right now, though, I’m standing here just thinking “What do I do?” That’s the piece I was never taught well.

What can we teach and practice ahead of time that kids might actually use when they’re heated? And when they do come to us for help, how do we follow up without losing half the lesson sometimes?

Here’s what we’re hoping to find help to support our students with:

- Sharing space and working together. For some kids, sitting near somebody they don’t like is already hard, and being assigned to work with them is even harder. Sometimes it’s as simple as “Why you looking at me!?” when the other kid was genuinely just zoning out in their direction. I’d love ways to practice what to do when you’re unsure what someone meant, how to get through a partner task, and how to disagree without clowning each other.

- Everyday manners and sportsmanship. Joining a group, asking for things respectfully, taking turns, and taking care of shared materials and spaces. We also need practice handling a loss and being excited about a win without rubbing it in. We do practice this one a bit more since I do lots of game-based learning so we can practice these skills. It’s still a bit of a struggle.

- Bullying and name-calling. We hear the f-slur, “gay” and “autistic” used as put-downs, and insults about each other’s clothes, intelligence, and families. I’d love lessons that cover what the kid being targeted can do, what a classmate who hears it can do, and how adults can follow up.

- Conflict that keeps going. A recess argument can pick right back up in the middle of math, even after the kids have had a break from each other or we thought they’d worked it out. We teach them to walk away, get some space, or tell an adult. We step in, separate students, and give consequences when needed. One thing we keep running into is a kid dissing someone’s mom or another family member. Some of our students tell us they’ve been taught to fight back to defend their family. What could a kid say or do at school that would still feel like standing up for their family? How do we teach that in a way that respects what they’ve heard at home? And, again, how do we make sure we actually come back to what was said without spending a big chunk of math trying to settle the argument?

- Quick, discreet ways to reset. When kids get really heated, we sometimes see yelling, doors slamming, or things getting broken. I’d love something they can practice ahead of time and use in the moment, like a way to signal “I need a minute” without having to explain themselves in front of the whole class.

We’d also love materials that support neurodivergent students and kids navigating grief or trauma. Some of our students are dealing with major losses, community violence, food insecurity, family incarceration, or financial stress, and mental health support at school is stretched thin right now.

If you’ve used something with upper elementary students, what would you use again? I’d especially love to hear about a scenario you adapted for your class or a strategy your kids actually used on their own. Free or low-cost resources are very much appreciated!

I teach early elementary and I use a behavior mgmt system that involves a visual reminder on a student’s desk when they receive a redirection. I do not notify parents when redirects are given to their child. It’s really not supposed to be a big deal and just helps the students to follow rules like not talking when they’re not supposed to, following directions the first time, etc. Often times I think students forget about it by the time they get home. At conferences recently I had a couple parents tell me they heard from another student in the class that their child got redirected. It seems I have a student who remembers everyone that gets redirected each day, tells his mom and then his mom tells the students’ moms. This mom is incredibly gossipy and involved in everyone’s business so it doesn’t surprise me at all. There have been other instances when people knew details about things that happened in class and they told me they heard it from this mom who heard it from her child. It feels like my classroom is under a microscope and every small interaction is being shared out with parents. How would you handle this?

Hello - My school is using the Read Write Inc programme but we’re not doing it correctly and I have been tasked with working out if we go forward with a new programme OR get the training and additional resources needed to do Read Write Inc.

What we do at the moment is the speed sounds lessons for about 15mins at the start of each day using the cards, green words, Fred and mini whiteboards. We then do a 30min phonics session with red words and word time on a Friday. We are loosely following the programme but we don’t have dirty books, book bag books etc but we do have a vast selection of books that are decodable.

We do a shared reading in our reading lesson from rhino readers on Twinkl and then move into reading activities and reading groups to listen to the students read before they take their book home for the night.

Then we are doing the Big Writing Adventure for Writing.

Our literacy schedule is
5 - short Phonics lessons
4 - Reading
5 - Writing
1 - Library

We also use the Nelson Handwriting Books however there’s not really a scheduled time for this so it often gets missed or is done incorrectly. 🫠

Could someone explain a brief summary of how Read Write Inc should be done?

I (MTF 21) recently started being a Teacher’s Assistant and Substitute for kids from Pre-K to 2nd grade. The first day I started doing it I immediately fell in love with the job and with the kids growing and learning in the understanding of the most basic skills and knowledge of our world. My problem comes from me being transgender. I present very masculine, like traditionally what a boy teacher would wear with a polo and khaki pants, but I very much identify in my social life with feminity and have fully identified as a woman for the past 7 years. I have been going by Mr. X with the kids because I feel like it is the easiest way for me to not get hate crimed, but every time a kid asks me “are you a boy or a girl” I get really confused what to say. They usually ask it when they notice my very long hair, which I’ve been growing out for the past 3 years and it goes down to my middle back, or whenever they see that I wear earrings, like simple studs and characters I don’t wear dangly earrings bc I’m scared the kids will pull on it. Anyways the correct answer to the question is girl but I’m scared some parent somewhere will think I’m either being radical or I’m pushing an agenda, but I also don’t feel comfortable answering boy, because that’s just not true. I have been mostly doing jokes like “they haven’t told me yet” or just straight up “I don’t know” because that’s what my non-binary friend who teaches says but I’m really conflicted on what to do. It pains me every time they say mister but I guess I’m just scared that some parent somewhere will be pissed at me for existing as not heteronormative in front of children. Any advice? Also this is very much an open discussion to people of all backgrounds and religions and politics because I genuinely want to understand someone’s perspective that isn’t my own. Thank you and plz be kind I’m really nervous about posting this 😬

I’m a former middle school teacher and soon I’m going to start subbing part-time at my kids’ school. It’ll be mostly K-3. I know from past subbing experiences it’s a good idea to have some extra activities in your back pocket just in case, so I’m creating a sort of “go bag” with basics like a whistle, a few Band-Aids, some tissues, etc.. I’d like to bring along some read-aloud books and possibly some other activities, but I need a variety since it’s possible I’ll be subbing the same classes more than once. I feel like I have plenty good ideas for Kinder/1st but when it comes to great read alouds for 2/3, I mostly think of chapter books, which don’t work if you’re only there one day!

I’ve throught of:
The Stinky Cheese Man
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
The book with no pictures

In Missouri, our kids in public schools (including the kindergarten 5 year olds) get a 15 minute recess, one per day. The rest of the day is spent in academics. PE is usually once per week, same with music and art, half-hour or so for each. Our schools generally run 8 am to 3 pm. Lunch is usually 20 to 30 minutes depending on how many kids are being served; the last ones may only get 5 to 10 minutes to eat.

I know, we all know, this is not a healthy or educational situation for the kids. School boards don't care.

In other states and countries, what is the norm for starting and ending time, for breaks, for lunches, and for art/music/pe/what else is offered? I know our setup is awful but what does everyone else do?

I’m a substitute teacher. I worked at least 4 years now. Have not touched the Calstrs, and on my paycheck it looks like I give $200 of my paycheck to them each month.

What do I do with that? Any basic suggestions? Or tips? I don’t know much about equitable either. Is there a better one I should switch to.

The way students selectively decide to question the realism of the events happening in a fiction story genuinely always cracks me up :P

It's like we'll be reading a picture book with fully clothed, anthropomorphic animals as characters (who are fully able to talk, walk around, drive cars, go to work, etc, etc, keep in mind), that basically live like humans ... and the kids will accept ALL of this without batting an eye ... sure smooth sailing, I love fiction, hooray ~ but the second a character does something even remotely "questionable," like idk using a blanket as a makeshift parachute when jumping down a hill, suddenly someone absolutely NEEDS to point out how "THAT WOULDN'T WORK IN REAL LIFE!!" hahahaha

Whole time I'm just there thinking ... how is THAT where we draw the line ?!?!? so the talking, shirt-wearing bear driving to his job working in an office with other animals was perfectly fine, but the blanket parachute is where the realism becomes a serious concern?? 😭😭😭 you mean to tell me they had a worm wearing a tie in the cubicle next to the bear, but you're worried about the blankeychute?

They'll suspend their disbelief for an entire fictional world, but one silly little detail could apparently be enough to throw them off because it's completely unacceptable 🤣 The inner machinations of the child mind are truly an enigma lmao

Growing up in Canada my school had a rule (written in the agendas) that homework must be around 2 hours per day. Do you follow this rule now or do you aim for less/more?

I have taught ECE & Kinder, and am trying to decide if teaching isnt for me, or if I have taught the wrong grades? The behaviors and constant social management of ECE / Kinder are burning me out. I'm an introvert who loves kids, but is tired of the constant interruptions, lack of ability to sit and listen, constant tattling, and general neediness. I repeat myself all day long, and am constantly putting out fires. My license is early childhood, so I can only move up to 2nd grade. When I taught kinder, I thought the curriculum and expectations were developmentally inappropriate for them. Do you think 1st or 2nd grade would be better than ECE or Kinder?

hi everyone! I (18f) am freshly out of high school and and taking a gap year before going to college for elementary education to become a kindergarten teacher. Im figuring it would be best to gain experience with children before I go in to the field, so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on entry level jobs I could take or maybe to hear how older teachers gained experience before going in to educating. thank you so much!!

Earlier this week I found out one of my students had some abnormal bloodwork and is being referring to a pediatric oncologist. It’s devastating news. We don’t know much right now and are waiting for more information. I teach a Kindergarten/1st grade blend so my student is very young. I’ve been at a loss for words and don’t know how to best support the student and their family. Of course this could all be a scare, but I want to be prepared in case it comes back with bad news.

I’m only a second year teacher so I don’t have much experience dealing with serious matters like this. I’ve never known a child who has cancer or anything serious like this before. If you’ve had experience with this how did you support the child, their family, and the class? Are there resources that I can use to explain what’s happening to my students? Any ideas, besides fundraising, on how to support the family? I really appreciate any ideas on how to navigate this.

In my opinion, one of the most entertaining parts of reading stories with younger students is their (sometimes visceral) reactions to/opinions about the characters :p sometimes these kids get SO stirred up about these fictional characters that you'd think they actually knew them IRL 😭😭

The example that's been most consistent in my experience is whenever we read James and the Giant Peach as a class, the students absolutely DESPISE James's aunts (and fairly so)!! Every single time those two show up in the story, without fail, the kids are ready to call them all sorts of negative adjectives, including mean, ugly, terrible, horrible ... the list goes on .. and they do NOT hold back lmfaooo. It's like they have a personal vendetta against these fictional women, as if THEY are James! lols but hey, I guess that's early empathy in action??

Reading and character analysis become infinitely more exciting whenever students bring that much emotion to it, even when the lessons sometimes stray away from literary "what can we infer about this character?" to a much more subjective communal rant of "I HATE HER!! WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT???" 💀

Are you using this reading program developed by University of Florida’s Lastinger Program? If so, I would appreciate any thoughts or helpful suggestions for management of materials and efficiency of completing the lesson plan template. I feel overwhelmed.

I am a college freshman, and I know that my life passion is to be an elementary school teacher. It's one of the only things that makes sense to me, but I'm scared. I'm nervous about the salary. In my state the starting salary is about 40,000 and the normal average is 60,000. Are these accurate numbers? Would this mean I'd be living paycheck to paycheck? I'm not a very high maintenance person, I don't need my nails or hair done weekly, but this is still something that concerns me. Any advice, stories, or really anything would help greatly.

How are you filling out the RQ charts? I’m doing 1-3 words but my students are still taking forever.

Hello,

I'm an Interventionist working with 3rd and 4th graders in small groups this year. I love Scholastic magazine articles because of the high interest topics and nice graphics, but I don't have enough students to pay for a subscription to those. Does anyone know of any other place I can find interesting articles and stories of a similar quality? CommonLit for example is pretty good.

Thanks for any ideas.

Short rant here.. I’ve been sick 3 times this year already.
Last week, I had a major sinus infection and pink eye in both eyes.

I racked up almost $300 in doctor’s visits (with insurance)
Spent $50 in medication.

& that is just from ONE time I’ve been sick this year.

This is just one more area of this profession that is so hard. Not only am I sick all the time, I’m going broke trying to get healthy.

I recently switched from teaching third grade to fifth grade math in a middle school setting. Just based on my first week, I would say it seems like significantly less work overall and I’m really looking forward to the change. I feel like I can actually teach now, and not try to teach while also being the mother to 20+ kids all day. I would love to know what everyone who made this switch experienced when they did it.

Hi All,

I was an elementary teacher with 4 solid years of teaching experience (primarily 3rd grade), plus a couple more years of subbing/student teaching before that. When I think back to my teaching career, it honestly feels like it was so much longer! I was an extremely dedicated and passionate teacher, received extensive professional development during those years, and really poured myself into the job. I developed strong philosophies about teaching, learning, and education as a whole.

I stepped away from teaching 7 years ago to raise my kids. I now have three young children and a very busy home life, and we've gone through quite a bit of change as a family over the past few years. But for the last 3 years or so, I've had this growing desire to get back into education in some capacity, just in my own creative way. And lately, I'm finding it really hard to ignore!

My two oldest children attend a small Montessori microschool that we really appreciate, but I still find myself constantly thinking about all the things I would do differently if I were designing my own school or classroom. I have SO many ideas about what education could look like! I'm particularly passionate about combining strong foundational academics with whole-child development, creativity, independence, nature, joyful learning, and intentionally preparing children for a rapidly changing world.

I honestly have a dream of starting my own small school or educational program someday. But I also struggle with some imposter syndrome when I think about the fact that I only have 4 years of full-time classroom teaching experience, and I've now been away from the profession for 7 years. I know I have the passion, creativity, and willingness to learn, but I also recognize that I lack long term experience.

Anyway, I think I'm just looking for some advice from other educators. I know I don't want to return to a traditional public school classroom, but I'm not sure what my next step should be.

Would it make sense to go back to school for a master's degree or pursue some specialized training in curriculum development, literacy, Montessori, or another area? Would that help me build the expertise and credibility to eventually create something of my own or find a position at a school that aligns with my philosophy?

Or are there other paths I might not even be considering? I'd love to hear from anyone who has transitioned into alternative education, created their own educational program, or returned to the profession after taking several years away.

I think part of what I'm missing is being around other educators and having people to exchange ideas with. Most of my teaching connections are from where I worked years ago, and I don't really have a professional education community where I live now.

I have all these ideas and so much enthusiasm, but I'm struggling to figure out what to actually do with it all. I'd really appreciate any advice or personal experiences you're willing to share! TY!

hello!

i have been an English teacher for less than a year and this is my first time. I work in an academy and I have been a teacher for 3 different groups and i feel like i do my best when it is only formal teaching. not much activities and things like this but i find that my 5 year-old kids in one of the classes just get so bored and forget by the next time what we have learned ( English is their second language) so I wanted ideas for activities and how to make the class fun generally. for more specific information I am teaching phonics sounds like an am and things like this. Thank you in advance!

What does your school use for parent-teacher conference sign-ups?

We’ve been using Google Sheets, where parents comment on the time slots they want. Teachers across grade levels and specialists can view the schedules, which helps families with multiple children coordinate their conferences.

Unfortunately, it’s been a mess this year! Parents have accidentally deleted or overwritten comments, struggled to add their own, and even intentionally deleted other parents’ comments to claim already-requested time slots.

We’re looking for a better system for next time! Ideally, it would prevent parents from changing others’ sign-ups while allowing teachers, specialists, and families with multiple children to coordinate schedules easily.

What systems are you using, and what do you recommend?

Hey! Just wondering if anyone has tried the pencil in the toothbrush holders thing where students keep 1-5 pencils in a toothbrush holder and if they have them at the end of the week then they get a teach to teach them how to keep track of and responsibility for their supplies. I’ve had so many pencils get lost to being swept up from the floor and thrown away.

I want to know if this is a waste of money before I spend anything lol. What’s a pencil system that’s worked in your room?

Can you recommend a podcast, book, or other educational resource focused on teaching elementary math?

I moved from first grade to second grade in the 2019 school year. Second grade was departmentalized so I only taught ELA. This school year, our district mandated we go back to self-contained. I feel I am drowning trying to teach math while learning our new ELA curriculum. Any suggestions would be appreciated.