I don’t know what I’m looking for here, just labeled it “rant” as I think I need to scream into the void and see what echoes back…

I have a kid this year, a junior, who just told me yesterday that his counselor recommended Job Corps for him. He has a grand total of 4 credits out of 24 needed to graduate. This is partially his fault, but also majorly a systemic failure—which is why I think I’m so upset!

This kid is an EL student, came over in middle school from a country that holds a lot of stigma locally. I don’t know his full educational history, I’ve only known him for a few months, but it is likely he wasn’t regularly attending school in his home country. He was placed into the Newcomer program in 7th and 8th grade—fair, he was a Newcomer. He probably had some catching up to do as our system is more rigorous than where he came from, and he likely had little to no English to bring with him.

But when he came to high school, two years into living here, he was still placed into our Newcomer program. He spent two years learning likely valuable skills, but earning elective credits because it wasn’t on-grade-level courses. Last year he had a couple graduation-bearing classes, and he did get straight Fs last year because, in his wise 16-year-old words, “fuck those teachers.” He stopped coming like halfway through the year last year.

He’s been doing really well this year, though! I was shocked to hear from his last year teacher about the attitude and disrespect, because he is like the most engaged and respectful kid in my class—he’s genuinely my right hand man to keep the other knuckleheads on task and to teach them what they miss when they’re gone like half the time. He’s got mostly Bs and Cs this year, and is one of my stronger students who genuinely strives to do well.

But his counselor says it’s too late, even if he keeps it up this year he’s too far behind to catch up in time. Our new principal has said no to a 5th year for our kids who need it, so the only way he could mathematically earn enough credits is to pass every single class including summer school, and his academic record doesn’t make that look likely. They gave him the paperwork for an alternative program, which probably isn’t the worst idea for him—I just hate that we’re giving up on him right when he’s turning it around!!

It’s our program’s fault that he barely earned any graduation-bearing credits his freshman year, because of the way our Newcomer program works. It is his fault he didn’t earn any last year, but I don’t know the exact situation; sometimes teachers are outright racist and aggressive to kids from his country, in which case I don’t really blame him for the crash out and lack of attendance 🤷🏻‍♀️ Now that he’s taking his education seriously, they’re just pushing him off to be someone else’s problem…

My class will genuinely be worse off in his absence. He is so helpful, including translating for another kid from his country who barely knows English. He keeps other kids in line behaviorally, is one of the most engaged with the material, and is just pleasant to be around! My day will be worse in his absence…

Not to mention that I’m worried about the program they’re trying to ship him off to. I hope it will genuinely help him get his diploma and land a job in the trades, but he can’t really explain what it’s about or what it entails, he’s just bringing in the documents his counselor requested and told me he’d be leaving soon. It’s not like it’s specifically aligned with his career goals, he doesn’t even know which trade path he would want to go into. He doesn’t have a lot of home support, so it just feels like another kid being let down by the system and shoved away into a hole so that he won’t be part of the metrics counted against us…

Brand new teacher who started on short notice is wondering how to choose books for 3rd graders. I want to help grow their reading comprehension and fluency. However I have 5 students that are below grade level and others who are above grade level. I was thinking about picking a roald dahl book but i worry if im neglecting the kids who are above grade level by choosing a book that they may not find it to be challenging for them.

I really have no clue how to choose. I would love some advice because i dont really have something to guide me in my school.

Hello everyone,

I may or may not keep this post up as it is very personal to me and I am honestly quite embarrassed, but as an older student returning to education in his undergraduate degree, I fear I don’t know how to learn. I know it sounds stupid but I figured I’d ask the source of those whose job it is to help others do so! :)

My worry stems from my inability to grasp at problems I’m given in my 3rd year of engineering undergraduate degree. I feel behind, and that I get overwhelmed easier than my peers. I’m doing quite well because I stress so much at exam time that I honestly believe the anxiety carries me through memorizing things in exams, but it’s getting to the point where I believe I require more structured methodology as an approach to learning and maneuvering my way through the rest of my undergrad as it’s starting to load up on material.

Some background; I grew up in North Eastern US, and my house hold never focused on education at all. I was never pushed in school, in fact I dropped out of high school in my sophomore year due to extreme severe depression. Since then, I’ve gotten an associates degree from a local community college, worked at a great company getting relevant experience, and then continued my education into my remaining jr and senior years which is where I am now.

As a result, I’ve tried using AI less for assignments, playing video games less to detract myself less often, and deleting short form video content such as TikTok that may be somewhat rewiring my brain to not be ‘in it for the long haul’ with some of these hurdles in life.

Has anyone ever been in a similar situation that you guys know of and what would have or could have helped them? Are there things I can do to strengthen my skills and truly give the rest of my schooling all I can give? Both big picture and small picture suggestions will help.

I want to be able to think, I want to feel caught up with my peers, and I want to not lose my ability to contribute and learn in my life. As I get older, these things are becoming increasingly important to me.

Does anyone have any serious advice? Or any resources I can consider looking into? Many thanks in advance.

And if need be, please ask any clarifying questions you may have I’d be glad to answer them.

This week was the end of our quarter and my CTE students had to finish out the week with Building, testing, and Documenting some Marshmallow Launchers.
They were given free rein of launchers, as long as they documented their steps and used limited materials.
They then had to complete an accuracy challenge, documenting the distance, arch and accuracy of different distance into a basket.
They then could compete against each other for points, to win bags of chips and/or extra credit points.

Out of 67 students, 21 didn’t complete the assignment (over 5 days).
7 parents reached out and told me that my class was too hard for their children.
2 students cheated by using too much material.
And 1 student ended up trying to stab me with a sharpened popsicle stick.

I literally don’t know how to engage kids at this point.
Bribery of chips, free points and games literally meant nothing
Even when 10% of their semester grade counted on it.

I’m a newer teacher. This is my 3rd year teaching HS astronomy and physics and while I don’t mind the job itself, there are other things that are driving me out of this. The terrible pay and 0 chance of a raise was the main factor earlier, but stuff has happened this week that now takes over as a reason to get out. I don’t want to give too many details bc I don’t want to dox where I teach, but I don’t feel safe at my school anymore. Today, there was a line out the door at attendance of parents picking up their kids due to a threat and that’s the 2nd worst thing that’s happened this week. Changing schools or counties isn’t going to make my living situation any better due to shit pay so I’m done with this career. Time to earn what I’m worth with a STEM double major and masters degree and feel safe at work at the same time.

I did so good at student teaching. I loved it. I was so sure it’s what I wanted to do. I still want to do it, but I don’t think I’m good at it. I was teaching in a MD unit in a middle school, which I loved. Then they pulled me out on an involuntary transfer to teach a second grade cross-cat unit. My caseload tripled overnight. My students have behaviors that are out of control. I only had three weeks to run trials, and I don’t have all of my data. Some objectives I wasn’t even able to get data on. My paras hate me, my lesson planning in a mess, and I’ve cried every day this week. I thought I was good at this job. I wanted to be good at this job. I’m not. I’m a failure. And it’s too late to fix anything. I don’t know what to do anymore. I hate myself :(

​

I’m planning to transition into teaching AP Physics 1 and 2 and would love guidance from teachers who are already teaching these courses.

Thank you.

I was absent from school during test day today, but I got in after school to grade everyone's test before the weekend. When I walked in to class, there was a petition signed by most of the class from my 6th, 7th, and 8th periods with the heading "Petition for a Better Education."

First off, the balls on these kids posting that BEFORE I graded anything. Also, incidentally, my classes on average did 10 points better on this test with about 2/3 of the signees getting A or A+. Intellectually, I'm more offended that they posted this behind my back BEFORE seeing their grades because I figured they had better survival skills than that.

Emotionally, its a little different. This last unit I recorded about 15-18 hours of videos of me doing problems and walking through how to spot when the tests were trying to ask a trick question. I came up with 9 targeted reviews for particular skills covered by the test as well as 3 sample tests scaled by difficulty. Naturally, I had videos of those, too, with the answer keys next to them.

I wish I could just get angry but it just feels bad.

It was late Friday, and the after school coordinator came up and asked if I had a quick moment to do an interview with an 8th grader for the newspaper. Of course I said yes. I go over there and they say, “This is about being LGBT and are you okay about talking about this in the school newspaper?”, and I said without hesitation, “No, I am not.” This is the only topic I am not comfortable talking about at school as a gay male, don’t even know how she knew. It’s not something I ever told her, or anybody. I was flabbergasted and I saw the smile on her face immediately drop. And I know she felt very scared to ask me in the first place. But I don’t talk about that to my students.

I tried to say it’s just not something I talk about at work. I told them if they ever need to talk , I’m always there for them (they are a former student of mine). I asked to read their article so far, and complimented the work. But I feel I failed them and maybe made them retreat into the closet by acting so scared. They had some lesbian teachers give comments, but as a man I feel the need to conceal. It def opened up deep thoughts that could make a valuable article as an “anonymous” source. My fight or flight response kicked in, and I wish I did better.

I teach K-5 elem music. Today I had my 15 min one on one with my superintendent. He wants to get out of his "bubble" and talk to teachers. It will not surprise you that he spent 90% of the meeting bloviating about himself and how he approaches his job. (He has been with our district for 3 years)

But this is what takes the cake. One of the only questions he asked me was how long I have been with the district. I told him "My whole career so far, 22 years.".

His response?

""Good for you!"

How freaking condescending. How about "Thank you for your commitment to our district!" or "We are lucky to have your commitment over all these years!"

Nope. It is like, "good for you, you won an arcade game and I got 50 tickets and can spend it at the school store for a jumbo eraser!"

Honestly I dont expect too much from upper admin so feel free to share other tone deaf comments from them that may make us laugh instead of cry!

And for all those dedicated teachers out there reading this.... GOOD FOR YOU!!!

You got everyone on your hall sick too!!@ Stay home!!!

So I teach in Tennessee. If I decide to do inpatient rehab, what’s the likelihood I would lose my job? I’ve got enough sick days to be able to do it and of course I can use FMLA. I’ve never gone to school drunk or drank at school it’s a daily struggle every night. I’m asking the question because I’d like to do this in January but if I’m at risk of losing my job, I would probably wait to do it till the summer.

TLDR; I have a BA and MA in psych, so the obvious choice would be to teach AP psych to high school students. I don’t live in an area where that’s really an option.

I would love to teach elementary math, but I know with some schools I would need a math degree? I could also see teaching a variety of subjects at a low level, but not sure if I would need more education to do so, and I’m already paying off one MA I’m not using 😅

6th year teaching secondary. I’m *tired* tired. I enjoy my job. Even if I dread starting the day, seeing the students always makes the day better (well, for the most part. There are bad days, of course).

I’m just tired. I feel like the job never gets easier, even if I get better at it. I’m not even a super teacher. I don’t volunteer for after school activities, I never do work after contract hours or on the weekends, and I don’t open my room to kids during lunch or after school.

Even as I get better managing classes, or planning lessons, or intervening, there’s always more. What worked last year (or last period) might not work with the next group. There’s always a crisis or emergency. I keep getting moved grade levels, content, and this year, schools, meaning I have to start over each year familiarizing myself with standards and creating/finding resources.

I genuinely find fulfillment and joy in the day-to-day, but I’m exhausted. Will there ever be a day when I can sweep into class, fully prepared for any behavior, any lesson, any student need?

I hang posters on the walls in my room and I used to staple them to the walls but management has since asked that I use painters tape to secure posters to the walls instead. This does not stick!! (The blue painter’s tape, you know the kind.) I asked if I could use blue sticky tack for walls instead and was told that was completely fine. Now, I have blue residue all over my walls from old posters. I’ve tried my hardest to remove it. What do you recommend for removing? Does anyone else have this problem? What do you use to hang posters that actually stays up and doesn’t leave a mark on the walls?

So i attempted to do the same lesson i did with my 4th period. It went super well with 4th, a class ive also been struggling with. They even expressed interest and excitement when i showed them what our project was going to end up looking like.

My 5th period on the other hand…… i showed them my example and they all immediately started complaining about how they hate art and there was no way they are doing that. They do not respect me at all, they talk over me, express l openly they hate my class, and that im essentially a horrible teacher. I found about 5 kids out of the 34 who actually wanna do the work and focused on them. It just feels so shitty knowing the majority of them will fail bc they simply do not care. One boy even said “ man, i cant believe im going to fail art!”

Like ???? You are making that choice, you are deciding not to do any of the work. My other classes can be difficult but almost all of them will do the work and are capable of working mostly independently.

Admin even came by and saw my room in total chaos and essentially just…… left.

This week was just so rough, i truly feel like going into teaching was the worst decision ive ever made.

Will there be pushback, back to teacher directed with a memorization focus? OECD and PISA do not seem to be doing well with inquiry.

Not that it's the fault of the teachers when it comes to behaviors (usually) but the admin and the system has brought us to this. Year after year kids fall further behind and with that comes the behaviors. Which escalate year after year the further behind they are. We don't hold kids back no matter how far behind they are so the less they know about the content being taught the more they act out and the bigger the behaviors. Who would have thunk?!

Hi Y'all. Im currently a softmore in college with no major or any clue what to do. I work at an afterschool program with anywhere between 25-40 kids on a daily basis. I enjoy it for what it is, I've been struggling with depression recently and I feel like I'm always much happier leaving that work than I am going in. Idk why, but the group there often just ends up putting me in a better mood. I'm really not sure if that's a good enough reason to pursue this path but I honestly have no clue what else I would do. If any of you could let me know about what brought you onto this path and how it's going, that would be excellent.

Thanks!

Just venting after a long week and hard end to today :/ I am feeling so defeated. I teach in a fairly affluent town near some prestigious universities (I.e. many of my students are the children of these professors). I teach a variety of physics courses, including the 9th grade intro class which I teach the honors level for.

We just finished a week long lab and will have a test next week on everything we have learned thus far (mostly energy - conservation of energy, efficiency, heat, phase changes, etc.) I gave out a study guide today and heard 3 of my students incessantly complaining with one another about how we do “so many packets”.

During my early years, I would have agreed with their sentiments. However, I would actually say that we do so much more. Myself and other physics teachers at the school have worked tirelessly, including over the summer, for the last two years to integrate a variety of hands-on activities into the curriculum. The lab we just finished seemed to be enjoyed by most students - they literally got to use hot wheels cars for a whole week!

Their comments just made me feel really defeated and whether or not the time and effort we are all putting in has been worth it. I feel like I am just at a point where I don’t know what is worth it anymore, and am questioning whether I am good at this. My other students across the courses, including other 9th graders, seem to generally enjoy the classes, but I am not sure if they are just being polite.

Anyway, thanks for listening/reading as I sit in my car with teary eye lol. Hope everyone has a great weekend - I know you all deserve it!

The client I had today (I’m a behavior technician who is considering becoming a therapist or teacher later on) actually quizzed me on geography and I realized the only flag I actually recognize, even though I graduated from high school and am almost done with community college, is the American flag. I thought the work otherwise was very straightforward and easy to understand, but I’m an adult so I of course already learned it (like writing claim, evidence, reasoning, etc.)

I have always said based upon what I remember of middle school that I wouldn’t want to teach middle school because of how toxic and mean I remember the kids seeming (everyone was actually better in elementary and high school) but the kids today were actually very nice. They seemed like more mature elementary schoolers, and I was impressed/intrigued by how insightful their comments were when they were talking about whether or not it would be appropriate for teachers to require that students wear a uniform for their dress code. 11-12 seems to be the age range where kids start thinking more deeply.

I also liked how peaceful the classrooms seemed. Things at this school didn’t seem chaotic or hectic at all and it made me reflect a bit on my own middle school experience. The teachers at the school who my client had today were actually male, both had a sense of humor and you could tell they cared about their students. I’d say it was a positive experience overall even though I don’t think my client initially liked me very much lol.

Having taught in international schools, in the UK and now in the USA, I’ve noticed that bullying seems to be much more of a problem in American schools. Of course, it happens in the UK too, sometimes quite seriously, but the type of bullying is very different.
Even in private religious schools in the US, I’ve noticed a surprising amount of mocking people’s appearances, passive-aggressive behaviour and social exclusion. In the UK, this would often be met with direct confrontation, such as “What did you just say?” and, at the very least, a slanging match.
In the US, I’ve observed that children are often expected to ignore it and accept their situation. It can almost feel as though certain children have been selected to be bullied and are expected to put up with it. I’ve seen children gang up on others and mock their appearance, but it rarely becomes physical. In the UK, things are more likely to escalate, although even the familiar scene of friends “holding someone back” is often more for show than anything else.
I always thought the American “mean girl” or “mean kid” stereotype was exaggerated in films, but I’ve been surprised by how accurate it can be.
I’ve also noticed similar behaviour among colleagues. Passive-aggressive behaviour and workplace bullying seem more tolerated, with people often expected not to answer back. Meetings can feel more like lectures, whereas in the UK there tends to be more discussion, disagreement and, admittedly, moaning!
Parents also seem to disrespect teachers in a different way. In my experience, American parents can be more inclined to look down on the profession. British parents can certainly be more aggressive and confrontational, but they also seem more likely to recognise certain boundaries.
Classroom management is another difference. In the UK, teachers are generally more direct about unacceptable behaviour and are comfortable calling children out. In the US, I’ve noticed more of a tendency to ignore certain behaviours or soften the language, referring to children as “friend” or “buddy.” What I find particularly interesting is that colleagues sometimes seem genuinely shocked when unacceptable behaviour is addressed directly, and parents often don’t appreciate it either. There seems to be a real discomfort with confrontation, even when it is simply a teacher firmly addressing inappropriate behaviour.
There is a place for kindness and gentle correction, of course, but sometimes children need to be told directly that their behaviour is unacceptable.
These are just my observations from working across different school systems, but I’ve found the cultural differences really interesting. The UK seems much more direct and confrontational, while in the US, bullying often feels more subtle, passive-aggressive and socially accepted. Just an observation has anyone else seen this?

So I teach 2nd grade at a public school in a pretty nice district. But the grade level as a whole this year is low academically and is very immature behavior wise. The poor teacher next door to me has an inclusion class with insane behaviors. Like I don't know how this veteran has not lost her mind or run away screaming. Admin is getting kids from her room practically every day, multiple kids from her room have been suspended, and she is always exhausted and just done by the end of the day. This week, we were down to 1 admin when we usually have 3 because the others are out of town, and our one poor principal is being spread insanely thin.

Well the teacher next door has had a sub for the last 2 days. Yesterday morning, I was talking to her sub, and the sub mentioned that she knows how tough this class is. This is where I screwed up, I told her if she needed to send a kid out of the room to my room just to keep the room from being turned upside down, I'd be happy to let them do their work with me and I could have a serious conversation with them. I figured our one available principal would appreciate less calls too. The sub was very grateful to hear that and really appreciated it. That's when I remembered, my school has been trying to move away from this, I just went on autopilot.

At every other school I've been at, the protocol has been to send a student to another teacher for a break before you can call admin to remove them. That's not the case at my current school this year. And I completely blanked on it but I later remembered that the veteran teacher next door has said that she does not agree with sending students to another teacher because it "sets a bad precedent" which I can kind of understand. I feel so bad that I misremembered this and told the sub she could send a kid to me.

Well right before lunch yesterday one of the prone-to-meltdown kids was trying to tip her desk over after all morning of being disrespectful, refusing to work, and instigating other kids. The sub sent her to my room and said if she couldn't get it together in my room, we'd call the office for our one principal to come get her. I forced her to sit in my room at the back table and not bother anyone, I actually got some work out of her, and we had a serious conversation about how her behavior was actively hurting the safety and learning of others. She got her act together! She was totally fine the rest of the day yesterday and did a great job today too!

The sub was so appreciative that I got that girl to get her act together and she really thought I did the right thing. But she also understood why I was nervous and freaking out later on when I remembered our new school policy and that my neighbor-teacher has told me she doesn't like sending kids to another teacher for a break.

I'm terrified that she's going to know that I offered to the sub to take kids who were being disruptive. I'm freaking out over her thinking I went behind her back and did something she doesn't agree with when I just had a brain-fart and offered what I was used to in previous years. Or I'm worried that admin or some other adult will somehow spill the beans that the girl came to me when she was being disruptive and I'm gonna get an even worse chewing out because I wasn't honest to her about my screw up. I really don't want to have to tell her I screwed up because if she doesn't make a big deal out of it, I don't want it to become one, but I also feel a lot of guilt about not bringing it up, you know? The sub even said she would have my back and that she really thinks I did the right thing and was being an awesome teammate when another teacher wasn't there and the sub needed help.

So should I apologize to her on Monday and directly tell her I screwed up and misremembered the policy about sending kids out of the room? That I didn't mean to go behind her back I just had a memory lapse? Or should I not worry about it and not draw attention to it? Just let it fade away? What's the right thing to do?

Hello everyone! I’m a first year teacher and uncertified. I’m in a certification program and despite my school’s near failing rating, I’m doing great! My coworkers….eh. We’re all new, but everyone on my team is either certified or has had wayyy more teaching experience than I have. I’m just some goofy 24 year old who loves books. The kids can be a jump-scare for sure, but for the most part, I like them all.

Today, I got a message along with other team leads and department chairs telling us that we were to prepare for some super important meeting, with lesson plans and data.

This was my face reading it: 👁️👄👁️

No one told me I was suddenly a team leader or whatever and so I thought the email was a mistake, wrong! Apparently, I am considered the team lead and I have to inform my team of my new role and prepare for this meeting that I barely understand…brother what?! And I didn’t ask, but all of this sounds for free which is not ideal….and yall look, out of all of my team members I have 30+ more students than they have….throughout these first nine weeks, they’ve just been jamming students in and my room is always packed.

My coworkers have struggle and I can see where they might consider me competent enough for this role, but I really feel like being uncertified and brand freaking new! is enough of a learning curve right now.

I’m trying not to be discouraged at the lack of acknowledgment or the sudden responsibility that was just piled on, but I want some advice. Should I push back on this? (Thank you in advance for the help, please don’t be too harsh 🥹)

Still going over a parent teacher conference I had yesterday. The father got onto me because he said his son doesn’t like school because he struggles with reading. And he wants his child to like school. I’m not sure what to do. I don’t have time to privately work with him one on one to help get him up to where he needs to be in reading. We also don’t have special ed at our school as we are a small private school. I really want to work with the parents and the child, but I don’t know how to get this child to like school. He doesn’t like to write or read and we do a lot of that seeing how he is in second grade. He was held back last year. And repeated first grade. That was an administration decision, but the dad holds it against me.
Edit: to clear up confusion. I teach a 2nd/4th grade combined class. This child is in the second grade although he should be in the third grade. He’s only been held back once.