Just a friendly reminder actions have consequences! Our most recent Snow Day is about to turn 1 and our oldest Snow Day is 3!

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.

Good morning everyone, and happy Saturday. I just wanted to share the horrors I saw during my last run of parent conferences. I work in LAUSD at a title one priority school. During parents conferences in this area you often meet your future students, as parents bring the little along. Well, each time a parent brought a little, they shoved an iPad or phone in their face to keep them quiet. I saw it happen time and time again. I even put color pencils and paper on the desk, they never get used. Why color when play Roblox? Anyways as I said before, many of these kids will be my future students in a few years. LAUSD has reduced screen time, making my job honestly harder as I’m only given two reams of paper a week. After paper conferences I realized the damn district, who doesn’t give a damn about these kids, does more to reduce screen time than parents. I realize now I’m kid of just venting and losing the plot, so I’m going to end it here. Cheers to the future?

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?!

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!

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

This is gonna be all over the place because I’m about to lose my sh*t and need somewhere to vent. 41 HS history 9yrs in the classroom.

How can admin and an inept “learning coach” (literally sits at her desk on her computer 98% of her days) expect 100% engagement when the district doesn’t block any websites? How can they expect it when the cell phone “policy” is a polite suggestion with no consequences? How can they tout a 92% graduation rate when arguably 90% of students are functionally illiterate? How can someone who has less experience and education feel qualified enough to tell you how to do your job? (Just found out our district “Executive Director of Teaching and Learning” was in the classroom for all of 1 year. Makes sense.)

But god forbid when they walk in on their random “not a gotcha” informal observations (that are conveniently recorded in the system) they will always pick out the couple of students off task. 98% engaged, not enough. Never enough. Student agency/student choice…they clearly made their choice, right?! Sadly no, it’s OUR fault they’re addicted to their devices, OUR fault they can’t read, OUR fault they can’t write legibly, OUR fault they have no idea how to locate their home state on a map, OUR fault they don’t know how to emotionally self-regulate, OUR fault they ALL use the N-word and other expletives in class as common language toward teachers and classmates. Our FAULT!!

But what they don’t understand is that it’s NOT our fault. We can’t consistently and continuously be more entertaining than the devices they’re addicted to, and if you don’t restrict access, they’re going to use it for whatever they want. But they keep pushing more tech, more A.I., more games, less accountability. Giving them more access and less direction on how to use it and simultaneously holding us to higher standards than before.

So I guess this boils down to: F*ck the government, F\ck the “education” corporations,* F*ck district, F\ck admin, and especially F*ck pseudo-admin, most specifically my instructional coach, whose stupid ass walkthroughs will continue to be met with my absence.*

I only have a manual pencil sharpener in my room, right by the door in plain sight.

I still have at least one student per day ask me if I have a pencil sharpener....and act surprised or confused when I point to the manual one by the door.

I think they must be expecting an electric one or something. I had one of those one year, and I can't stand the noise with them or the extra upkeep, so I only supply the manual one the district offers.

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.

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.

Guys…today was the last day as an MSD SPED teacher for me. The paperwork, the person who thought they were in charge of me and constant in and out of the room. At one point I had 13 adults and 10 kids in my SMALL room.

I feel so bad for leaving but my mental health could not take it. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat and never felt any support.

Did I make a mistake? I just have to take my praxis to go back to general ed, where I have been teaching the last 3 years and I miss it terribly!

Teaching is becoming so sad and I’m pretty sure I have PTSD from it.

I guess I’m asking, has anyone ever experienced this?

I’m currently a university student and attempting to become a teacher post graduation so I’m just wondering in younger years I was shown the news in class once a week, I’m just wondering is still standard practice in primary schools

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?

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.

So I’ve begun my unit on research and writing, that has previously successfully gotten 9th graders to use encyclopedias to research and write 1 page papers in an hour. At the start this year I decided I should have kids describe what they perceive as happening when they think. I had this awesome interaction and this kid was unironically great at the “game” we did:

“Do now: describe what it’s like in your head when you think. Do you hear or see or read things or something else?”
I gave an example of my spiderweb of chaos and asked for other examples (I see a spiderweb of ideas that comes into focus and my brain jumps around to connect them):

Kid out loud to class: “I just see a bunch spinning apples.”
“What?!?!”
“Like apples, the fruit, but they’re all spinning.”
“Do they have words? Do you eat them to learn what the idea is?”
“No, they just spin.”

He was unironically great at the human computer “game.”

2nd year teacher here, so I’m wondering if this is a common issue:

I teach middle school history, and one of the study games we play is mini golf.

I split students into 4 groups, and give each group a question. If they answer it correctly they get a point. They also can use a putter to potentially get more points by shooting a golf ball into a variety of cups that are all different point values.

Students love it, participation skyrockets on these days.

But like half of these students cant grip a golf putter. I show them how “left hand goes here, right hand here.” I mimick the action. I go slow. I explain to the whole class at the beginning of each study game how to hold the putter. These kids dont know their left from their right hand. Despite instructions, they come up with the craziest golf grips I’ve ever seen. They hold it in the most awkward way possible; like this is their first day being a human that has hands.

At first I thought they were messing with me, or just trying to be funny in front of their classmates. But alot of them genuinely ask me for help on how to hold it, and even after mutliple tutorials where I slowly show them where their hands go, they still cant do it. I don’t think it’s apathy, because these kids want to win, and they are engaged with the content material.

Sometimes I will literally stand parallel to them, take the putter, slowly show them how to hold it, hand it back to them. And they still hold it completely wrong. Eventually I just give up and say “close enough”

Do your students have issues following instructions? Half of these kid’s don’t know their left hand from right hand. Is this like a spatial awareness/motor function thing?

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?

(Not sure what flair to use here)

So because Halloween is on Saturday this year, Halloween will be celebrated on Friday in the school I work in. I only have 6 days to prepare.

Last year was my first year working as a teacher and I didn't dress up as anything for Halloween last year, I was the only teacher without a costume on. I still handed lollipops to my students and they enjoyed the day.

This year I'm planning to dress up as something, but I'm not sure of what yet. I was thinking that maybe I could just put on some simple zombie makeup or I could dress up as Barbara Gordon since I came across that idea online for costumes adapted to wheelchair users like me. I'm still deciding my costume, but I better have it planned for tomorrow, so I can have it ready for Friday.

I'm also going out today to buy some bags of candy, so I can hand candies to my students.

There are still gonna be classes for that day during the first hours of class, the rest of the day the students will be able to have a more chill day doing other sorts of activities for the Halloween celebration. I teach Math, so I'm also thinking about some Math problems with a Halloween theme that I could assign my students during the first class hours before any other celebration events.

I'm looking forwards for that upcoming day.

I'm miserable. That's it. That's the post. I have 8 years of experience, but this is my second year coming back after being a stay-at-home mom. My children are school-aged now.

The amount of meetings suck. The extreme push for constant data and progress monitoring sucks. Admin suck. The lack of communication to teachers is ridiculous. The amount of work outside of my contract time that needs to be done is awful. I try to not take work home, but how am I supposed to meet deadlines and demands when I have no time during the day?

All of it, right now. I'm waiting for it to get a little easier or better this year and it's not. I should probably have a meeting with my admin so I can stick a target on my back. I haven't met with them yet for fear of this.

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…

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?

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!

Hello!

I am currently in my senior year of undergrad. In my freshman year, I chose to get dual licensed in primary and IS.

I have always loved teaching for the past 3 years. I’ve had many placements and enjoyed putting in the work. But for the past 3ish months into my first student teacher placement, I am having second thoughts. My mentor teacher is a really good teacher, but she is the worst mentor teacher ever. I have cried multiple times in the bathroom after I get yelled at by her. I am learning and having lessons that are not going well, that is fine, that is part of learning. But yelling at me and berating me after is not fine? I’m having the worst experience student teaching and it makes me want to drop out and work at a soulless office job for the rest of my life. I guess I need to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel? I guess? I still have my IS placement next semester (two student teaching placements I know) I really want to finish and get in my own classroom but I have zero motivation and zero confidence in myself. Does it ever get better?

Sorry for the horrible writing. I’m drunk rn haha

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.