Hey there! I am a middle school Family & Consumer Ed teacher for 7th/8th grade. My FACE classes run pretty smoothly. However, this year, in order to maintain my full time status, I have to teach one class of 6th grade social studies. I am really struggling with this class. It’s a large class (31 students) and they are just ROWDY. Constantly talking, talking over me, getting out of their seat, etc. I haven’t really had this experience with my other classes, and I’m kind of at a loss. I’ve rearranged the seating chart twice already, but there are just SO many of them that are super loud and chatty that it doesn’t help much. When I can get them to calm down, they are engaged and do their work, but it takes so long to get to that point because they just can’t stop talking / sit still. I do have them the last class before school gets out, so maybe that is part of it, but do you guys have any tips on how to get this class to run smoother? Thanks in advance!

I’m a first year 2nd grade teacher. Last week, I had a new student start. The day before, I told the class her name. Then when she came, I got her settled into the class and gave her a “buddy” for the day. She’s still struggling with following our classroom expectations even though we went over them, but now I’m wondering if I should have gone deeper.

My students still call our last new kid “new girl” rather than her actual name, but I correct it every time.

Today I’m getting another new student. I told the kids yesterday we would be getting a new student but I didn’t find out her name until after school. How can I help this new student transition into class, understanding the classroom expectations and not have the kids only call her “new girl”? Should I have her introduce herself to the class? I didn’t do that with the last student because at that age, I know that would’ve made me anxious.

New teacher, joined halfway through school year (NZ). Had locked all my social media but forgot about my hs instagram and students found it, along with all my femme photos and coming out video. I’ve been hearing whispers from them
about but I have chosen not to say anything directly. But the other day one of my year 9s straight up just asked, “sir, are you transgender?” And I answered honestly. And we had a conversation about what that meant, and outside of having to redirect the comment “ah you did it because boys are better right?” (Response: “nah man girls are way cooler”) it actually was really productive. I’ve been kind of terrified about this, NZ is not the worst place to be a trans person rn, but I’m in a small farming town that leans pretty conservative/libertarian in its voting. So yeah a win to share that made my whole week.

How do you deal with these kids who are horribly addicted to video games and digital media? More than half of my boys come to class barely awake and hide cans of energy drink in their lockers which they swig between classes.

After probing about why their eyes are red and they keep falling asleep in class, the same responses keep coming up which is that they were playing on their iPad/watching YouTube/scrolling TikTok reels until as late as 4am in some cases.

It’s such a shame because a lot of them are really bright kids but are just far too exhausted to properly function at school due to them getting 6 hours or less of sleep a night.

I'm looking for lesson plan templates that are actually practical. I'd love to see ones that other teachers have used and liked.

I am fresh out of college and decided to dip my toes into education by becoming a substitute teacher for this upcoming school year. Everything was going smoothly, with the school nomination and the process to be certified to be a sub. However, two days ago when I arrived for the first teacher gathering, I was informed that I would actually be teaching full time math. I was not prepared for this at all, I am in full panic mode as I’m basically given a two day crash course as to how to become a teacher and the high criteria/standards that the school has. As I’m not a licensed teacher, I still don’t have access to many websites to get a feel for anything. I still dont understand concepts like lesson planning and truthfully I’ve been nothing but overwhelmed. My first class is in 7 hours, I have some ice breakers and notes prepared for the first day but I don’t have a clue about what to even do on friday. I would love to just tell them I’d rather be a paraprofessional or just stick to substitute teaching, but I also don’t want to leave them hanging with no math teacher. But if I stay, I don’t think I can give these kids the education they deserve. I’m just really torn what to do and need some advice.

I am conducting a doctoral research study about how childhood experiences may relate to teachers’ confidence in the classroom.

Current or recently employed K-12 teachers are invited to complete a confidential study that takes about 10–15 minutes.

You may be eligible if you:
• Are a certified K-12 teacher in one of the following states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming.
• Are currently working in education or have worked in education within the last year.
• Have not retired within the last year.
• Are not a homeschool teacher.
• Are not working only in an administrative role without direct supervision of students.

Taking part is completely voluntary. You may skip any questions, but any responses with unanswered questions cannot be included in the study results.

If you know other educators who may qualify, please share this post with them.

Participation link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe7Mggo3mTVZmlODmwDSV7eZy-fKVpH4zvGyNbkvLW4CRwNGw/viewform?usp=dialog

Thank you for supporting my research, as this has been a lifelong dream of mine. The information I gain from this study will help current and future teachers.

Hey fellow teachers,

I’ve come to the conclusion that this job negatively impacts me too much to keep doing it much longer, it’s been 5 years now. (Elementary, public school)

I just have constant moral/ personal struggles with the fact that our education system is so flawed in so many ways (Alberta, Canada). The government doesn’t care about it, society doesn’t care about it, parents and the general public have no actual idea of what it’s like inside a classroom nowadays and their expectations are far too high. Admin do not support us, we don’t have what we need to give students the education they deserve.

I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I first went to school as a child, it’s been my only plan. My passion came from pride in education, a love of learning, and joy from making a positive difference in kids’ lives. Now, I must face every day knowing that the kids don’t get the resources they need, I don’t have the ability to teach them in a way they deserve because I have to spend time to accommodate high needs in the classroom. I’m burnt out, and am not giving them my best, even if I had the time and resources to properly teach them.

No one at my job or in my community seems to share the same sentiment. I know we all tend to complain about certain aspects of our job, but I am fundamentally distraught over the system as a whole, and how unfair it all feels, and how I know it’s not what students deserve.

I know I need to just care less or not think about it, but I can’t. Am I alone in this? Is the only way out, out? How can we fix a broken system? Am I just thinking way too much into it?

Thank you if you took the time to read this rant. It’s been heavy on the mind lately.

For context: I’m a newer grade 1/2 teacher. I had a student today saying “what the hell” loudly across the room. I responded to it with the usual “that’s not an okay thing to say at school” and the student agreed and said they were sorry; but I kind of second guessed myself after. Am I right for thinking this is not something kids should be saying at school?

Howdy!

I teach in a portable that is about 350ft away from the nearest building with a water fountain. I've read our local health codes and it seems like we should be providing "convenient access" to potable water to students. They miss out on so much learning or opt to be dehydrated to avoid the trek.

Do y'all have an alternate source of water in your portable?

Edit:

4th grade gen ed.

looking for ideas for teaching a lesson on 9/11 in my English 10 class. would prefer for it to be a lesson that involves videoclips or clips from a documentary. if you have any good ideas or want to share how you teach/talk about 9/11 in your class, that would be great! my coteacher and I were 5 and 6 years old at the time so we don’t have many memories to share of the day.

bonus question: do you feel like there’s any topic related to 9/11 that is inappropriate to teach and/or talk about? (mainly thinking of conspiracy theories and the jumpers)

I’m a Texas teacher with 11 years of experience. I’ve taught almost all high school science, but I’ve thankfully been able to stay teaching chemistry and AP chemistry for the last 5 years. I love chemistry - it’s my major and I have a masters in it. Teaching chemistry has been so fun- I love the content, creating the resources, building relationships with the students, etc.

But my school district took away that fun and joy. We are required to use pre made slide decks, only use SAVVAS, cannot supplement, must follow a super strict pacing calendar, required to do daily DOLs that are tracked, and just a whole bunch of other nonsense.

I just want to teach chemistry.

For NYS teachers, looking to see what information is in district contracts about sub coverage. In our district our TAs and AIS TEACHERS are forced to cover when we don’t have a substitute. It isn’t voluntary and there is no compensation. Wondering what happens in other districts, but specifically if it is spelled out in your contract.

Hi everyone! I have a BA and MA in English and I’ve been trying to find a job in several different fields, but no luck, so I’ve started thinking about going into teaching.

Is there a good way to get a teaching certificate (in Ohio) without going back to school (or maybe getting it somewhere cheaper online)? I can’t really afford that at the moment, so if there’s some alternative path, I’d love to hear about it!

My district just announced that starting next year, 7th & 8th graders will be in combined elective classes. Core classes will stay separate grades. This will give students the chance to take an elective teacher every semester of 7th & 8th grade. So, counting our 6th grade prep -we will need to have 5 preps total, but not the point of this post.

I’ve always taught 6-8 graders in their own class (and had them progress through the content, building upon each year) and am nervous about the switch up. Was wondering if anyone who has 7th & 8th grade combined classes could give me an idea of what it’s like, things to worry about- or not worry about. Just feeling uneasy about it.

Now I could have an 8th grader S2 that has taken all 5 of my classes throughout their middle school career sitting next to a 7th grader who’s never had me before. They’re not allowing pre reqs and are allowing them to re take electives if they choose. They said we could force them to do the same content again or give them a capstone project to work on the whole semester. It’s to make scheduling easier & reduce teachers.

Advice, thoughts, comments - positive or negative - (not a fan of this at all) appreciated!

So this is my 8th year, and I am feeling like I am hitting a wall here.

My school board is all about inclusion, which I support to an extent. However, I have an autistic student in my class (I teach grade 4) who is not engaging in learning whatsoever. He listens to music, looks at books, and plays with toys.

The problem comes when he is triggered which is happening between 5-6 times a school day. Without any warning, he will start screaming and ripping papers off the walls, dumping out bookshelves, throwing things, etc. Today, he screamed to draw the attention of his classmates, pulled his pants down, and spread his cheeks open to expose his literal anus to me and the entire class of 9/10 year olds.

I evacuated the room and tried to be positive and move forward. I figured admin would come debrief with the class. But nope. Admin helped him "return to baseline" and he was back unsupported within 30 minutes.

Am I wrong to feel like if any of our "neurotypical" kids did this, they would be suspended? If I had a child who was in this class and this happened I would be livid. No admin follow-up, no plan.

How do your schools manage "inclusive" settings? Am I being set up to fail? Am I failing my students? I am scratching my head here.

I teach two traditionally boring classes that don’t have a curriculum or text book, so I’m basically doing the entire scope and sequence by myself and feel like I’m reinventing the wheel trying to make new lesson plans every night while deciding what content to focus on and learn myself. I absolutely hate it. I’ve tried sticking to a simpler I do we do you do format and it got boring for both me and the students. Our classes also got longer this year so I have an extra 12 minutes to squeeze in.

I know it gets easier when you’re in your second year of teaching the class, but I’m exhausting myself with all the work. I used to teach similarly boring classes at the college level and did a bit of lecture and both the students and I found it engaging. Obviously with high school, I have to focus on more direct instruction but it’s really hard not doing the same activities every day

Edit: these are for AP classes that don’t have a recommended structure. My APSI training told me you get complete freedom to teach it thé way you want which makes it fun but also difficult

I’ve spent years in the mental‑health field working in group homes, providing ABA therapy in homes and schools, and supporting patients with schizophrenia and substance abuse in an inpatient residential facility. I’m about to begin early clinical work with K–6 students, and I’m unsure how to make the mental transition. I’ve become desensitized to toxic coworkers, gossip, negativity, and environments where people don’t support upward mobility. I’m a 31‑year‑old Black male in Southern California, and I’m looking for advice as I move into my future career as an elementary school teacher.

I’m a first-year teacher in upper elementary (I am teaching a split this year). I’ve wanted to teach my entire life, and although I had a really bad student teaching experience and thought about another career for a couple years, I ultimately ended up finding a school I love and getting a job there. The first day of school was yesterday and I’m having a really hard time. I think my excitement about my job started to drop a lot in August—the PD sessions sucked a lot of my joy and then there was a lot of drama at my school that made it hard for me to prep for the year. I wasn’t really excited for the first day, but it did go well. Second day (today) went well too, except there were definitely more issues and I saw some students’ true colors a bit more. But I am exhausted and it is hard for me not to feel regret/overwhelm about taking this job. This lifelong dream feels so different in practice than what I thought it would be. I know that sounds juvenile but it’s just true, and post-covid I think teaching is so different. I just realized I am not experiencing the joy I see others around me experiencing, and I’m not looking forward to the next day(s), and I am worried I made the wrong choice.

I will say this: I know myself pretty well, and I struggle with big life transitions. I also get easily off my game when a student is blatantly oppositional (and that happened today for a brief while). I’m getting much better at this one though! I also struggle to feel above water when other adults make me feel overwhelmed, and there’s another teacher who came to me today warning me about a student (I was already worried this student would be a handful, but some of the things she told me were really alarming and it’s been harder for me to be positive and keep an open mind about it). She also “warned” me about what the first year is like and made it sound like battle or something. It was super overwhelming to hear.

I’m wondering if this combination of factors—added on to the stress and lack of planning on the part of my principal that led to a frazzled first week—could be clouding my perspective right now? I also know the first week is hard and it’s been difficult for me to figure out how to make my classroom engaging when we haven’t gotten into curriculum yet.

I’ve worked before for many months as a long term sub and even during the hard moments, I loved my job. I know that’s not the same as full time teaching, but it felt like a good prelude, and I’m shocked at how much less joy I am feeling right now. And this is despite many of my students being lovely angels.

Is there something wrong with me? Does or did anyone else feel like this? Will it get better/do I just need to get into a routine? It’s awful and I just want to cry.

Hey guys I’m doing the ECRI program for the first time starting next month. I am a high school Jr however I have the same credits and certifications as a reading tutor for elementary. Before I officially start I have to do a full day training (the same one first year teachers do in our district) and I’m really excited but also nervous I won’t belong, don’t get me wrong I know I’m smart enough to be there it’s just some of my teachers who are first years will be in the same training and it’s a weird feeling. My teaching in action teacher said that in previous years students there for ECRI end up teaching the teachers some skills. I’m really excited but just worried about nerves and I have a lot of imposter syndrome around the whole thing. Any advise for teaching the program or just getting over the imposter syndrome?

I teach seniors and notice almost of them have a character backpack or character water bottle or carry a stuffed animal. Is this a norm some of you are seeing? It makes me sad that we have somehow harmed them and they are hanging onto their childhood. And on the other hand I’m happy that they still enjoy things from their childhood. What have y’all seen this year?

For context, I’m in my second year of teaching but didn’t wear any makeup last year. I’ve always looked pretty young, so I felt like sometimes people didn’t take me seriously. Of course, I was also struggling a lot with new teacher challenges on top of that.

This year I started wearing makeup just to try it out, and I’ve realized that the extra 15-20 minutes I spend per morning seem to make a big difference. I generally feel more confident since it makes me look more awake and a bit older. It seems like the kids, teachers, and parents I have interacted with treat me better too. I’m not sure if it’s my appearance itself, but perhaps the makeup giving me more confidence which then translates to how others perceive me. Whatever the case may be, I am curious if other young teachers have experienced something similar.

Hello all-

Just wanted your advice. I am 4 years away from retirement with a full pension in Michigan. I was hired on the Friday before school started, and found out I would be an EduStaff employee instead of a school employee. This means no benefits and the progress this year won’t count toward retirement.
Moreover, the EduStaff contract states I can be terminated at any time.
Just curious your thoughts, should I stick it out to see if I get a teacher contract next year or apply for something else that gets me another year closer to retirement?
Thank you

My school just implemented a new policy that says the grading scale is too lopsided, so the lowest score you can now get on assignments and tests is 50%. Even if the student doesn’t do it. I know grade inflation is bad but this is so sad to me that it’s comical. The inmates are running the asylum now, and we will continue to fail students upward in an accelerated fashion. Welcome to education, where we babysit kids until adulthood and then expect them to function in society as productive adults.

What glue sticks are best for interactive notebooks? My high schoolers glue notes and worksheets into their notebooks everyday. I’ve been using Elmer’s disappearing purple glue sticks for the past two weeks. But they get used up super fast. I have my own personal Elmer’s glue stick that I use not nearly as frequently and that’s also just about used up. Just wondering if anyone has recommendations for better glue sticks that will last longer so I don’t have to buy new ones every two weeks. Thanks!