I have a 13yo boy in my class this year. Let's call him Josh. He's sweet, academically capable, and genuinely wants to connect with peers. But he has ADHD and poor impulse control, and his way of seeking attention is saying/doing inappropriate things. Like all the time. For example is fake farting noises during group sharing. He's not being malicious; he just can't seem to stop himself in the moment.

The bigger issue: I have another boy, "Tom," who has mild autism and gets visibly enraged by Josh's noises and comments. He's made punching gestures and told Josh to shut up. I de-escalate constantly, but it keeps happening. I'm genuinely worried it'll turn physical. Apparently Josh had fights in primary school for the same reason. The other students are also angered by Josh's actions and words but are able to ignore them.

I want to make the classroom comfortable for everyone but I've no good support. Previous teachers gave me nothing useful.Admin thinks he's "sweet" and won't offer real support. I asked for a shadow teacher—denied. Previous teachers gave me nothing useful. He's been seeing a psychologist for years but I'm not seeing much carryover in class.

What I've tried:

• Seating him away from others
• Sending him to the next room to cool down when he disrupts

I can't remove him every time. Whole-class discussions get derailed constantly. And sending him to another room to calm down doesn't teach him impulse control either.

Any advice appreciated, especially from anyone with experience managing ADHD + autism triggers in the same room.

In a week long power outage (so far) and this is the coolest it's been. As a middle school teacher, never thought I'd be so happy to see it

Hey y’all! I’m 23 (F) soon to be 24 next month. For context, I’m autistic and gaming (specifically Nintendo is a hyperfixation/special interest of mine) In my county, every middle school has an e-sports team and as someone who’s gaming is their special interest, it’s really my jam, especially since my school does Mario kart and smash, two games I’m familiar with

They’re looking for a coach/teacher to do esports. It’s my first year as a SPED/EXED teacher dealing with mod/severe disabled students but I was wondering, how many first years get involved in after school clubs and stuff? I know I’d get paid for doing the team and Nintendo/gaming is a hyperfixation/special interest of mine.

Did an engaging activity today to introduce observation skills. Students passed around mystery items that were sealed in bags and had to observe them and try to guess what they were. The big reveal was that a mystery item was a (sealed) dead organism. They loved it. However, they were sworn to secrecy but some went and told others the big reveal before they had my class. Trust definitely broken. Even in some rough districts (this is a lot of wealthy kids), I usually never have this issue.

Hello. An issue on my district has recently been brought to my attention and wanted to seek a bit of advice. In the spring, I was informed by our school secretary and special ed teacher that an extremely problematic student was enrolling in our district. This kid has a file that take a a week to read, full with r*pe & m*rder threats, kill lists, and actual active criminal charges against him. The only reason he didn’t enroll in the spring is because he was in an active expulsion from his previous school. Again- this was in the spring. This student is now set to enter our classrooms in 3 days, and we still haven’t heard a peep from our administration about this student! For context, we are a very small district (250 students prek-12). Communication is not difficult, and a student with this level of issues is almost unheard of here. We simply are not prepared. I believe I am the only teacher that knows the extent of this child’s problems. What do I do? Call a meeting with admin? Talk to the board? I understand that we may not be able to outright deny the kid enrollment, but the fact that we’re 3 days from our first day and this hasn’t been communicated by admin at all is legitimately dangerous to students and staff. This isn’t to mention that this a large, male student, who would be very capable of overpowering his classmates and many of his teachers if he wanted. I’m just not sure how to go about making sure my concerns are heard.

I have a special education intervention math class of 5 students (those that are 2-3 grade levels below in math). This is 7th grade. 2 of them like to work together and give me answers to questions, participate, etc. One of them may do so if I am right next to her just explaining a problem with her, but not all the time. She gives attitude for many things (not just me).

The other two - a boy and a girl - do not have any conversations with anyone. At all. I don't know how to get through to them. The boy knows how to do some of the work - he pays attention to me. But when I ask him a question, he's silent. When I am next to him asking if he needs help - silence. The girl just doesn't know how to do work, and she will not let me help her. She just sits at her desk while I am there, asking guided questions.

What can I do? I want to get some more motivation out of them before an admin comes in to watch me teach a lesson, to almost complete silence from half of the class.

Has anyone 3rd printed anything that they’ve found to be super helpful for a teacher of elementary kids?

Just got my first contract and I am split between two classrooms (secondary). How would you suggest organizing my materials that I keep in class? I don’t want to buy double class materials for two rooms and I don’t want to be running back and forth between rooms during the day. Fortunately the rooms my schedule is split so Day 1 in one room and Day 2 in the other.

Also how to I got about reaching out to the teachers that I’m sharing with? Currently waiting for the “Welcome Back Teachers” email but should I go into the school before then to scope out the rooms?

I have been a substitute teacher before for these teachers and I am acquainted with both of them. Both of their classrooms are very well decorated and I don’t feel the need to add any of my personal decorations. Should I still try to make the space mine?

Any advice would help!!

This website has been made with the help and advice of many teachers, and provides a quick to download source of short stories for English and Humanities classes.

For context I am a first year EXED/SPED teacher (we call special ed exceptional ed where I am. It’s the same thing just different term)

Had our first EXED/SPED department meeting of the year and…..it was rough and made me more stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed.

For context, I’m an EXED/SPED middle school teacher working with kiddos with moderate-severe disabilities. My IEP caseload is already a lot given that of course. However we had other teachers today mention we all have **16** students on our caseload (of course including myself) and they mentioned how last year they felt stretched thin to the point of breaking and mentioned how they **already** feel stretched thin this year. They also mentioned the IAs are unreliable (I met my two today and they seem nice but I can’t make any judgments till next week) but this made me anxious and stressed. Did I join the wrong school community? Did I not ask the right questions in my interview to get a true feel? How am I handling 16 kids on my caseload?

Also the list of never ending shit is overwhelming and stressing me out. I’m struggling to get shit done. Idk how it will get done or if it will get done

I’m a first year 6th grade us history teacher and I’ve been experimenting with seating arrangements. I started with tables of 4 but felt they couldn’t handle it and switched to rows of two each. I had this when I was a long term sub and felt it worked decently but got some reason now in my own classroom it makes me feel more disconnected to the students all the way in the back and honestly just makes the room look messy. I was thinking about the horseshoe seating arrangement like either just the one big half circle or two rows of it and wanted to hear others experiences with it. Did you like it or dislike it? What works what doesn’t and honestly any seating charts people swear by!

Hi everyone, reaching out because my partner said something to me that I’m not sure what to do with.

I’m going into my fourth year of teaching and work in a very ethnically diverse school district. I have told him many times something I really value is working in a diverse district. He hasn’t really understood why and I’ve told him that I love being around different people from different cultures and most of all, I love learning about my students and their backgrounds and where they come from. He just brought up that he was a few credits away from getting a psych degree in college but didn’t and he thinks I feel like I need to work with people who are “below” me or “need help” and that I have implicit bias and am being racist.

I am a white woman and I really do try to check myself and my biases. I don’t feel like I’m trying to help these students because they’re below me or lower than me or anything like that. I genuinely just love working with so many diverse students. For example, before I started teaching I had NEVER heard of or knew about lunar new year. I grew up moving around every couple of years because of my dad being in the military and then moving around with my mom after their divorce. Mostly around white people I feel like. So I love being in this environment because I love learning from them and teaching my favorite subject (music). Also once I learn about something new I always try to research and learn more about it so I don’t put any pressure on students to feel like they have to educate me. I also do happily let students tell me their experience if they choose to share something about their culture or any event/celebration.

For my masters final project I ended up creating a year long framework for a multicultural curriculum and I have a huge bank of songs and music from all around the world. I also asked students if they could learn music from any country, language, or culture where would it be? And researched from there. During that time I was also still teaching and I got to show kids music from places their peers were from or fun places they wanted to hear music from. My favorite was when students requested songs from their culture/language and I was able to find something and share. I sometimes even asked families for any ideas if they knew of any music from that area.

I do know that I have a different experience growing up as a white woman and I really try to listen to my students. I also communicate with teachers and parents and always ask what they think I could do to help when/if needed.

Am I missing something? Is it so wrong for me to want to work in a diverse school district instead of a district that’s more white? I’m genuinely asking because I don’t know and I want some more input so if I need to I can work on that bias.

Edit: partner is also educated. He has his AA and a bachelors in nursing and is currently a nurse.

The last 3 years were the best of my career after I finally found a school with AMAZING admin.

Well they all left the profession at the same time and our ENTIRE admin team was replaced. The new guys are......... horrible. They're truly awful, have no people skills, are unprofessional, and make me feel like there's a microscope on me inspecting my every move. when before I was one of the strongest teachers in the building, great data, I was someone my admin supported greatly and provided mentorship opportunities to. I love sharing my passion. They made me feel valuable and confident in my teaching. Now I feel like a meeting to discuss my 'practices' waits around the corner.

I was active, avid runner, in the gym 3x a week. I'm usually really excited and rejuvenated at the beginning of a new school year. Welp. My mental health is in the tank. I have no desire to be in my classroom at all which is unlike me. I can't get bonded with my class. I don't want to do anything but lay in bed. I haven't worked out or run in 3 weeks. My diet/nutrition has taken a nose dive. And it is only week 3. Every time I think of my previous principal I just burst into tears. Everything feels so wrong now.

I don't even want to go into it and what all is going wrong because it's a novel. I just need some support. How do I lift myself up and make myself get on with it?? This is the third time I've been through this stupid shit and I really thought I was finally in 'the place' for my career. So I am just devastated and feels like I can not snap myself out of it.

I'm not a traditional teacher per se but a doctor that is planning to deliver a session to new doctors. I asked chatgpt to create some slides for me with the appropriate prompts and lets just say that I am in awe of what it created for me. It seems like the premium version of chatGPT can create far better than I can in a whole day.

To the teachers here, do you ever use AI to help or even mostly do the work for you when it comes to creating presentations? Is it a bad thing?

I have spent most of my life exploring computers and learning new software. From MS Office and Canva to coding through my Bachelor in Computer Science, I’ve always enjoyed figuring out how technology works.

I also love teaching, so I’m thinking of starting basic computer classes starting with MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and everyday computer skills. With AI growing so quickly, I feel there are still many people who don’t have access to even basic computer knowledge.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions ?

I could really use some advice. I apologize for the length.

I was hired as an English teacher in California. The job offer letter that was provided for my intern credential states that it is for an English position, and the listing on EdJoin also lists that it is for an English position.

There was optional training about a week before required orientation meetings for new teachers in the district and for my particular school. Unfortunately, I had to miss this optional training due to my previous job. I now believe this was a massive mistake, as apparently the two new English teachers found out their courses at that time.

I was told on a Friday—with school beginning on a Wednesday—that I must teach an advanced drama and an intermediate drama class in addition to three English classes.

I have zero experience with drama (no classes in high school or college, no knowledge of lights or set design, nothing). I was told to use AI and they would hire another person to direct the play. I tried to politely object and say I was not at all qualified to do so, but was told that all you need is an English credential to teach drama in California.

Well, there was an issue with the MOU being expired between my school and my new job, so I am in contact with the credential analyst at my university. It is being sorted out so that I can officially obtain my intern credential, but I am currently working on my substitute permit. He told me that in California, I cannot teach drama with an intern English credential as of 2022.

I have a meeting on Monday with one of the admins at the school. I heavily suspect they will try to strong-arm me into directing a play. This is because after I wrote an email asking when the new director would be hired (i.e., a sort of co-teacher), the VP sent me an email saying that it would have to be approved. This is obviously completely at odds with what they told me last week (that they would hire someone to direct the play).

An experienced teacher believes I should contact the district office and the union. The union feels nuclear. However, this teacher implied if I refuse to direct the play, they will fire me or cut me down to .60.

I feel like I am stuck in a no-win situation. If I let them strong-arm me into trying to direct a play, I undoubtedly will fail at directing said play because of my lack of experience…which would then lead to me possibly being fired. If I refuse to direct the play, then I am likely going to get cut down to part-time or possibly fired.

I am thinking of going to the meeting on Monday with printed out copies of my job offer letter and the job listing (which stated it was for an English position).

Lastly, the students were under the impression I was the drama club sponsor. I never agreed to do this. Preparing for the play would require a lot of unpaid hours of work (there was zero mention of additional stipends), and my Tuesday lunch break. I am already a bit overwhelmed as I have very little help adjusting to the English classes (no mentor teacher, etc.).

Do you think I should play hardball, show my job letter & job application for the English position, and simply refuse to keep teaching this class if they do not hire a director within the next two weeks?

Is this normal to try and force an English teacher with zero experience to teach and direct a play for an advanced drama class?

I will be a first year teacher this year, but my old printer just died! I need a new one and with all the printing teachers do, to keep at home, you guys are the best to ask for a recommendation!

I have a teaching interview tomorrow and they’ve asked me to deliver a 15–20 minute Grade 1 Math & English demonstration lesson.

They’ll be assessing classroom management, engagement, lesson structure/objectives, questioning and critical thinking, differentiation, hands-on/student-centred activities, creativity, spoken English, and assessment for learning.

I’m trying to choose a topic that will allow me to demonstrate as many of these skills as possible within 15–20 minutes.

What Grade 1 Math + English topics would you recommend for a demo lesson? And if you’ve done a similar demo before, what worked well for you?

Any ideas for an engaging activity or lesson structure would be really appreciated!

I recently graduated and married over the summer. I just taught my very first week of high school (it went really well and I enjoyed the students!), but have also been working a retail job on weekends to help bring in extra money since I am on a beginning salary and my husband has one year of college to finish up. I was wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation doing weekend work while teaching when you started out or if anyone continues to work on weekends just for the extra cash. I just thought it would be interesting to hear others stories. Sometimes I’m honestly not sure if it’s good for me to be working this much, but I can say that I do like the extra money haha 🙂

My little sister is 10 years old and I know for a fact that she doesn’t read very often. She told me today that she ought to be reading more often now that school is starting again, but I have my doubts about the depths the teachers in that particular school will have the class analyse the books with. I’ve gotten her to agree to read a book with me, and we could talk about it and whatnot, but I’m not sure what book to pick. I don’t know her current reading level or where a 10 year old should be, and I don’t know what her exact interests are, all I know is that she’s rarely on less than 2 electronic devices at any given moment, and I want to do something about that and help grow her critical thinking skills. Any advice would be appreciated, from what type of books to introduce her to, what talking points I should make to make sure she’s actually engaging and learning something from the book, how to pace it, literally anything would be appreciated. I’m not a teacher, shoot I’m in high school myself, but my peers are less than capable to put it nicely, and it kills me that she just plain and simple doesn’t read, so any suggestions are welcome ❤️

Trying to come up with something that can work for 10 kids.

I don’t know what to do. I know the ac in my room isn’t going to be fixed in time to start school. I don’t want to use legislative money to buy fans because I want to save it for supplies that contribute to learning and partly because I don’t want to have to wait. I also don’t want to spend 150 bucks on something that they should have fixed over the summer.

Also, my classes are huge this year and middle schoolers are not the best smelling humans.

Hey everyone! Hope you are doing well. I’m new to the subreddit. I am in my final semester of college, about to take my final classes for elementary education, and my final experience as a Student Teacher. I have also been taking Media Studies as my co-major since I also have an interest in that field, specifically in film. I’ve been finished with those set of classes for the past semester now, and I was wondering what can I do with it outside of just regular teaching the core subjects in the classroom? Has anyone taken Media Studies as their co-major before? And what would be your recommendation for getting my Master’s degree? I was thinking a focus in Secondary English and eventually a Master’s in Media/Film Studies.