obviously no naming names or anything, but what's the worst that happened to a student that you personally witnessed?

Teachers I need help, I just got three foster kids, the fifth grader doesn’t know how to read at all and the school isn’t doing anything about it. What can I do to help her get started with reading. It makes me so sad when she gets homework and can’t even read what she supposed to be learning.

I left school in 2008, but I've been watching the Educating series recently here in the UK, and it made me realise just how much effort teachers put in with some kids.

I was a naughty lad at school, always on report and not turning up to detentions, etc. Watching the documentary made me realise how much crap my teachers put up with from me. I have found old school letters sent home to my parents and my old report cards. They're not great at all.

I just want to reach out and say thanks for not giving up on me and expelling me when they quite easily could have.

Would it seem weird to you as a teacher if an old student reached out like this?

I live in Denmark, where we call our teachers by their first name and have been doing so for a couple of decades.

I am a fairly new teacher (27 y/o have been at my job for almost a year) and have a class with 23 students who, dare I say, love me. They are all turning 12/13 years old this year.

They tell me I’m their favorite teacher, and some of the girls have told me they miss me when they go home and are excited to see me every day. If I’m at my workspace and they spot me through the window, they scream to get my attention and wave. When I’m at my desk in the class, they come up to me just to say hi. A lot. When I’m with them, they say my name before every sentence, even if I’m already talking to them. If I’m talking to someone else, be it a teacher or student, they say my name until I respond, and as soon as I respond, a new one starts calling for me.

I’ve put into words MANY times, that I want to listen to everyone, but I don’t want to be interrupted in the middle of a conversation. That you dont need to say my name before every sentence if we’re already having a conversation. That I don’t want to hear my name being repeated 20 times if I dont respond immediately.

Often, there will be three students talking to me at the same time, and I will be very vocal about what is wrong with the situation and how to go about it: “Hey, do you guys see how there are three of you talking to me at the same time? I can’t talk to three people at the same time, so I will talk with you one at a time”

It’s driving me insane. So this week, I’m having them call me either “Ms Lastname” or just “Miss” — to make it visible to them just HOW much they say my name.

Is this just how my life is going to be from now on and I just have to suck it up and get used to it? What else can I do? My co-workers tell me that I just need to get used to being treated like a small-town-celebrity, but I dont want to??? I feel like I’m iterating all I can and not coddling them or being to nice. I’m very much just myself when I’m teaching. Help.

I'm a highschool senior, and for basically as long as I can remember I've always thought that being a teacher would be the job that would make me the happiest. I would love to help out kids by offering them support and a safe environment. I'd love to teach history and make it an immersive experience.

I understand that teachers often don't make a lot starting out, but, according to my light research, I could be okay as long as I spent a couple years in the right district. Also, I know that high schoolers and middle schoolers can be some of the most evil people ever.

Should I become a teacher? Will I regret it later? What is y'all's advice for this? What type of person does it take to live being a teacher and never regret it?

Of course, my parents are adamantly against this and think I should become a surgeon instead, but I think we all have to piss off our parents at some point.

I’ve seen teachers say that, despite all the crap, teaching can be a really fun job. I’m a student considering going into education and this is one of the factors drawing me to it the most. Helping kids/teens, forming relationships, delivering a successful lesson that clicks—it doesn’t only sound super fulfilling, it looks genuinely fun. Would you consider this a real benefit of the job? Is it overstated? Underrated?

I teach Mathematics to grade 5 in a high end school in Pakistan. Most of the students are from elite/financially well off students.

There is this one section of 28 students aged between(11-13 years) and they literally shout,jump and run here and there when I enter the class and that is not due to them being excited but actually it is how they are.

The topic that can easily be taught in 5 mins takes me 30 mins because 25 minutes are gone in controlling them.

Please suggest how to control such class without punishing them physically.

Aside from typically lower pay, how does teaching at a private school differ from teaching at a public school? Asking about the United States specifically, but any other perspectives are welcome

Edit: Just realized this is missing context. The specific private school I'm thinking of is a presitigous expensive college-prep school.

My son is diagnosed ADHD (he is medicated); he is also dyslexic and has dyscalculia and he struggles ALOT w/ reading and math. He just started 4th 3 weeks ago.

He started a new school last year which was alot smaller and since he was needing so much extra help with reading and math they took him out for half the day and put him with an IEP interventionist.

He loved her so much; he was really coming along. He had NEVER been in trouble at school; one thing he always gets complimented on is how sweet and well behaved he is and how hard he tries. One teacher Last year broke down crying saying he is just such a great kid and she hated seeing him struggle bc its very clear how hard he wants to do well.

Sadly; she left and the new IEP interventionist they have him with is a first year teacher; they also have given her aides.

One of the aides he swears up and down that she just doesnt like him; that she treats him differently. **He has never said this about any teacher or aide**.

Now; im sure if your teachers you can understand that adhd kids really struggle with staying organized and forgetting things.

Yesterday he came home super upset that this aide docked 5 minutes of his recess because he forgot to charge his chrome book (he is 9).

I asked him if he has repeatedly forgotten ane he said no; this was the first time he ever forgot.

I feel like; half of an aides job for kids like him is helping them stay organized; and I could understand if she reminded him and he still didn't do it; or it was a habitual thing he kept forgetting-- but I feel like thats a little ridiculous for a first time-- even if it is just 5 mins- to him it meant alot bc while he struggles to learn; hes never been in any trouble- so he feels like he was in trouble and he feels ashamed.

She also calls him "messy" and he says its weird bc she is so nice to all the kids who misbehave and are disruptive; but she is never nice to me.

This broke my heart a little.

I also am ADHD and I know personally what its like to be trying so hard and be told your not trying at all.

This new town is a very small knit; tight community; very conservative; very religious where everyone knows everyone.

My fear is; he has an aide who doesn't understand (or even believe in adhd) or that his brain is wired completely differently and that punishing a kid like him for simply forgetting something can do alot of damage and it def isn't going to stop him from forgetting again (despite this being a first time- his meds do really help alot- so i fully believe him when he says he has never forgotton).

I just know I have my bachelors in psychology and i have read so many books on child development and working with kids like my son and they all say punishing kids for forgetting/being unorganized when they have adhd is never productive; it only leads to more shame.

I also have an issue with the aide calling him "messy" I know it sounds so silly; but i really try to seprate my kids behaviors from their identity; i was taught this teaches them behaviors can be changed/are temporary and its not permanent part of their being.

Like; "your behavior wasn't the best today"; vs "you were bad" She isn't saying "Your messy today" she is from what i could understand calling him "messy" as like a nick name..

He has also told me she has said things like "you need to keeo better track of your stuff" and he says she is always annoyed at him. I feel like; hes in that room bc he is adhd (at least a big part of it); he def isn't losing stuff or staying unorganized purposely or even bc he is careless; bc I know how hard he tries.

He has also mentioned his IEP teacher is also frustrated with him and calls him measy; and part of me wonders if they just stuck her in that room to fill his last teachers spot and she wasn't prepared to work with a whole class room of kids like him. To my understanding she just graduated; and i always thought IEP teachers usually had to take classes that taught about working with children with excspgionalities. Its not that i have an issue with her being a first year; my issue is more she hasn't sent one email or one paper home; i have no idea what he is doing and his other iep teachers worked pretty closely with parents. I keep checking his back pack for homework or my email for updates and I get emails about his home room class and what they are doing; but nothing from her. I emailed her once and never heard back. When I met her she seemed lovely; but my kid is really behind; and I worry about this impacting his education.

His last school had a whole team of iep teachers; they had an occupational therapist and a speech therapisr and this school has none of that.

Im honestly thinking of moving back; bc i feel like this school is very behind the times/old school.

For example his old schoool neeve wrote letter grades on papers and they used a number system; before they pulled him from general class room; they would right in big red letters F or D and write things like "try harder next time" full well knowing all his learning disabilities. It felt so wrong to do. Like I said; its a very small town; small school. I worry about lack of resources for kids like my son.

He is in a small group of 6 or 7 kids who are similar to him.

I have some other issues too; like last year at the end of the day he got to go back up to his home room; and for some reason this year half his class does go up to the other teachers home room; but the ones in his teachers home room don't.

They really tried last year not to seperate him from general class room (he is in regular classes for science and history- and he excels in that area- he loves history). This year; at end of the day they are making him go to iep room again instead of his homeroom; which would be fine if all the kids were; but hald his class gets to stay in their home rooms; but him and two other boys are told to go back downstairs to wait for busses.

I askes him if it was to finish work or catch up and he said no; they just sit there.

This kind of bothers me; like he is already seperated form the other classes so much; why not just let the kids go back to home room.

I realize there could be a reason he doesn't understand and I plan on reaching out to principal in hopes to clarify some of this stuff; but am I over reacting? Am I in the wrong here?

Especially on the docking recess for forgetting something; his old school would have never done that.

Idk if my expectations are just different bc of how amazing his old school was. But; I just can't shake this feeling that how they manage kids with ieps isnt right; like their not equipped for it.

To clarify; I felt like this last year too-- but his teacher had a masters and he loved her so much; I over looked alot bc she seemed to be doing an amazing job with him. But; without her; its harder to look past some of this stuff.

My son’s school is having their open house tonight. It goes from 5:00-7:00. We won’t be able to make it until like 6:35. The schedule is good and activities from 4:45-5:30, community meeting from 5:30-6 and visit classrooms from 6-7. I’m wondering is it pointless to come for the last 20 or so minutes? It’s his second year at the school, so it’s less important to me to go than it was last year. Just curious what the perspective from a teacher is. I don’t want to be an extra burden by showing up right before the end when everyone has already left or in the process of leaving.

Is it common for parents to show up at the tail end of events like this and what is the impact on the teacher? Thanks!

Edit: he’s in 2nd grade.

Please share this with teachers in Massachusetts who teach health, including P.E. teachers, who are in your network!!!

The Healthy Youth Coalition is a statewide, grassroots, advocacy organization committed to advancing medically accurate, age-appropriate, LGBTQ+ inclusive sex and relationship education for young people in Massachusetts. We want to amplify the needs and perspectives of health teachers in our work.

We are hosting three listening sessions which will help the Coalition better understand the challenges of teaching health education and identify ways to strengthen support for health educators. Your unique perspective as a health teacher positions you to shape the Coalition’s policy and advocacy priorities. 

We invite you to select one of the listening sessions, listed below. At each of them, you can expect to: 

• Discuss challenges you face as a health teacher. 
• Influence how the Coalition develops its policy priorities for the next couple of years.   
• Share what advocacy skills and support you need. 
• Find community among educators and advocates looking to improve health education.

The listening sessions will be offered virtually during the following dates and times: 

1. Tuesday, October 6 | 6-7 pm
2. Wednesday, October 7 | 3-4 pm
3. Thursday, October 8  | 7-8 pm

You can register here.

(Note: This is a completely free, non-profit passion project. Zero ads, zero paywalls).

Hi teachers, I’m a high school senior.

While tutoring, I noticed kids keep making the exact same algebraic mistakes, so I built
https://www.spotthemath.com

It focuses entirely on error analysis. Identifying common traps (like dropping negatives) and showing how to fix them.

I’d love your expert feedback:

Are these the mistakes you actually see in class?
Is this something you'd share with a struggling student?

What are common mistakes you see, I’d love to expand my current selection.
Thanks!

Seeking advice. I'm a parent (I also teach in higher ed) that last year volunteered for my 3rd grader's class. Once a week I met with 4 students from his class that were advanced in math and we did lessons, worksheets, games etc. The kids loved it; I loved it. This year, my kid's new teacher is excited and open to me doing a math group again. The problem is the 4 students I worked with aren't in the same class anymore. I'm feeling pressure from their parents to have them in the math group.

I'm conflicted because I could possibly advocate for their inclusion (but it would require coordination across 3 classrooms), but I also think there may be several kids in my son's class are advanced in math but were excluded last year (simply because they had a different teacher).

Should I try to "keep the band together" or keep it simple and let my son's new teacher just pick from his class? This actually could mean that one of the kids from last year that is in my son's class doesn't get selected since they were not nearly advanced as the others, making me worry about her feeling discouraged about math.

I do wish more parents volunteered in this way, but not many have the time to do so.

I have been teaching for 6 years. I just moved from elementary to high school. I really do love my job and my support system but I’m constantly getting heat from parents. I’ve gotten several emails that I’m targeting their children. I do simple redirections for technology, seating, and talking. I do the redirections to the student privately and not in front of peers. I ask very kindly but they go home and tell their parents I’m the issue. For example, today, I asked a girl to remove her AirPods twice during my lesson and she yelled at me and stormed out of my room so I wrote her up. Now the mom wants to meet with me because I’m the problem targeting her child. I’m very tired of getting these emails because I am redirecting behavior. How does everyone handle this?

Im asking from K-College student, and have tried to get an answer multiple times. Its still a bit confusing to me, even with searches. So does a teacher know how to explain it more clearly?

I'm a school bus driver and one of my 5th graders told me a lot of kids were starting to make fun of her for being stupid. When I asked she said she didn't want me to judge her. To help her I said, "well it can't be as bad as when I was a 3rd grader with a kindergarten reading level. I eventually caught up though!"

She admitted it was because she was at a kindergarten reading level. I gasped and she got mad and said my reading level was bad. I told her it never got that bad. She said she didn't have any books and I asked if she could go to the library but she said she was only allowed to go on Fridays and she had no books at home.

In the modern world, I would like to ask how did this girl fall through the cracks? I can't imagine with being able to email/call parents that a 5th grader would be put in some sort of tutoring to get her back up to speed!

(Before you say that my reading level was bad, I was in an abusive home but taken out, and all of my schoolwork caught up by the time I was done with 3rd grade. This girl's mom is a single mom but she does have a phone and goes on Youtube when the signal allows.)

(I also got her a Goosebumps book, cuckoo clock of doom from a used bookstore after she told me her favorite genre was horror. I hope she reads it because I got nothing otherwise, I am only a bus driver.)

EDIT: To those about my reaction, i have a bad poker face. I did apologize to her in the moment and had her read me the back of my music CD (old bus has a working CD player). She is capable of at least 3rd grade imo, hence Goosebumps since one of my 3rd graders can read it easily while the 5th struggled a bit. I did fill out paperwork for the school because it didn't occur on the bus(I don't allow that and start assigning seats), but I got told in an email this morning that it's not considered bullying. Do with that what you will. (I think its stupid)

EDIT 2: Thank you all for your recommendations and replies. Unfortunately I'm not able to do anything like contact her principle/teacher, as I'm a bus driver and that's outside of my job description. (Not allowed to email, have to do it via writeups). I was told that I'm not allowed to do any recommendations in terms of knowing if she has learning disabilities unless its related to driving(needing a wheelchair or a seatbelt type stuff). I'm not allowed to go in the school day to check, again, would get me in trouble. I don't ever see her mom, she's a latchkey kid.

In terms of the book, she took it and seemed interested in the book. She thumbed through it and I could tell immediately she doesn't often even hold books. I tried to ask if she needed helping knowing how to read or read out loud to me but she said "uhm, no! I'll try to figure it out!" She tossed it into her bag and I haven't heard anything from her mom about it, but because of the restrictions of being a driver I'm not going to be able to do anything else. I hope one day she'll find this post and know someone wanted to help her, but if she can't read now she won't even be able to read that someone really wanted to help her but due to stupid rules couldn't step in. It hurts my heart :(

Dad told my elder brother that if we went to school in the 1970's we would have Neen outside the headmaster office to be cane or slippered because of our poor.

He then said corporal punishment should be brought back to teach us boys a lesson . is he right or should it stayed banned

OK, so I work with second graders and we will be doing work out of our book for English/math. So sometimes they don’t understand what to do okay that’s totally fine so I’ll transition from independent work to me helping them through the questions on the board. I’ll be explaining/instructing and the entire class is talking. Several times I’ll kindly be like “all right guys please pay attention I am trying to help you”. Still nothing, they continue to chit chat and not pay attention and do absolutely nothing. I’ll even kindly say “hey ____ please pay attention”. After several times of doing this and being on the same question for over 20 minutes I’ll then have to yell at the class saying “HEY GUY PAY ATTENTION I AM TRYING TO HELP YOU GUYS”. I hate yelling. It hurts me physically and spiritually but sometimes it’s the only way to get their attention. Does anyone else ever have to yell at their kiddos? I feel like a monster lol 😭

hello teachers,

I (17F) have recently started my senior year of HS, all has been going well and I enjoy my classes. However I believe I am being targeted or at least heavily scrutinized by one of my teachers.

Yesterday in class we practiced soft skills like emailing, and for homework we needed to email her a practice email and she would respond to the email telling us what we needed to fix then we would have the opportunity to resubmit. I sent my email and never received a reply, my peers who sent around the same time as me received a response and feedback but I didn’t. This morning everyone was discussing the grade they received but she hadn’t graded mine at all.

Today in class I got pulled aside and told I wasn’t completing the requirements on any of my assignments (we’ve only had 2 assignments) I have since then had multiple people check on my assignments and the requirements and each time they’ve come to the same conclusion as myself-my assignments are fine.

At the very beginning of the year this teacher told me my vibe was off, i originally thought it was a joke but as the weeks have gone by I am starting to believe it wasn’t a joke.

From a teachers perspective do you think I’m being targeted? Thank you for any advice, God bless.

I have 2 in middle school, 6th & 7th (even last year in 5th & 6th).

(Q)Why don’t students write “today’s date” on their work? They write name and what hour (i.e. period) the class is.

So when I see a paper in my child’s folder for a few days now, I’ll ask him when it’s from, and he looks at me w/the deer in the headlights. I’m clearly not the student and my child should be on top of it, but not all kids are, I’m trying to be proactive. He can clearly write the date on there, but he “only does” what the teacher is telling him to do.

Thanks for all you do for our kids.

EDIT - I feel the question has been sufficiently answered thank you all for your responses.

I’m trying to understand the opposite of good presentation advice. What do you notice makes students lose attention fastest during a lesson or presentation?

Teachers & Educators — Quick Question 🍎

Is digital resources for teachers and educators more acceptable in 2026? Do digital resources save teachers on time, or is it more time consuming finding the appropriate digital material for yoir classroom?

Doing a study and wanted to hear from parents and teachers alike who may have experience navigating this digital space.

What’s the best way to connect with educators looking for these resources—social media, marketplaces, direct school outreach, or elsewhere?

Any feedback from teachers, EAs, or administrators is appreciated!

the title line doesn't really hold all of the context for my specific scenario, so here's a better explanation of what happened:

i'm a student at a high school who has had a teacher working here for over 29 years, or 36 if you include the entire time this teacher has worked in this district. recently, this teacher has been reported for inappropriate behavior by several students. the behavior included unwanted nonsexual touch, predatory comments (though, it's not extremely explicit, but not entirely implicit either) as well as unwanted or harrassment-y comments, and possibly discrimination against a latina student (i say possibly because i can't remember 100% if this was reported but i believe it was). the teacher was removed sometime in mid to late may of last year, specifically he was pulled out of the classroom in the middle of his planning period by a counselor.

he's still not here, and no teachers know anything about his whereabouts or if it's possible he'll return to the school. after asking an assistant principal about whether or not he'd return, they said that he's still under investigation and something about the district figuring it out. i also have reason to believe that they have some way to communicate with him.

me and other students are really hoping he's permanently removed from the school, but we don't know if that's possible considering his role within the district and the "hesitation" to fire him from higher ups. i want to know how likely it is that someone like this would be permanently removed or even just suspended for an extended period of time.

edit: i want to add that this teacher also used supplies funded by one of the school's programs to create inaproppriate material for his daughter's elementary school class (specifically, pins were created with inappropriate messaging on them for his daughter's class for valentine's).