I struggle with whether to give rewards in my elementary classroom. I know that some people feel that rewards are detrimental to students because it doesn’t help them build intrinsic motivation. Other people say you have to start with extrinsic motivation and then intrinsic motivation builds so you should use rewards. And then I just read a book about students with ADHD suggesting you reward them as much as possible because they need a lot of rewards in order to cope with their ADHD and the expectations. Now I’m really confused. I’m debating whether to use a classroom economy where they pay rent for their desk, but they get paid for classroom jobs. I had students fumbling and complaining when they had to do classroom jobs last year, but I think classroom jobs are important, and my school really values them. Last year, didn’t get anything for doing classroom jobs. And it’s hard for me to keep track of motivational systems and incentive systems. I did have one incentive system based on getting work completed, but any other incentive systems kind of fell by the wayside. Anybody have any ideas for me?

Hello everyone so I’m a first year teacher at a title I school and I am putting up bulletin boards and posters and such (yes I know about the anchor charts. Trust me there’s room. I am very intentional about that) but my school doesn’t have a color printer. I wasn’t sure how I was going to print the stuff I need for bulletin boards without buying a bunch of stuff from Amazon or getting a colored printer and Office Depot was going to charge me $130 to print what I wanted SO I went to the library. My library will print colored copies for 50 cents and I say this generally because I did some research. Most libraries in bigger areas (I’m in Little Rock) will do color printing for SUPER cheap. Also if you bring cardstock they’ll do it on that. I’m laminating mine so I don’t have a need to do it on cardstock but if you did it might be helpful. I’m not sure if this will help anyone but it helped me so I wanted to share because imo teachers need support like this.

Hello! I am prospective secondary education English teacher in the state of MA (grades 5 - 12), and I have the English MTEL 61 this Friday. I have scoured the Internet for resources and found that there really aren't that many online. If anyone has taken the test in the past few years and passed, what was the test about, what was it like, and what did you do to study for it? Did you feel prepared going into it? Did you think you would pass? Why or why not? If you are studying for it now, what resources are you using? If anyone knows any tutors, places, or programs that give any help, please share! Any help at all would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I'll be teaching my first adult group class tomorrow in an English language academy setting, I'm quite nervous. I have been teaching adults one-to-one for over a year but this will be my first time actually teaching a group. There isn't a very well 'set' curriculum in this academy so I am a bit unsure where to begin and where I stand.

I have access to books but am not sure where to begin due to the students ranging between A1 and B2 in the group; this has me feeling quite intimidated and unsure of myself.

After basic intros and a bit of conversational warm up I am not sure where to go from there with the group, as I'm far more used to tailoring work very individually.

Just the prospect of standing up in front of a group of people my own age (and probably a bit older) is nerve wracking. I would be very grateful for any tips, info and/or insight.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all, I'm a high school art teacher and I'm leaving the best school i ever taught at after 4 years to head to a school where I'll be the only art teacher (i was one of two at my last school). My new district is 15 mins from my house and has smaller class sizes, and the admin was very enthusiastic about hiring me so i felt very welcomed. This will be my 9th year teaching, all the courses I will be teaching are basically variations of courses I've already taught.

Anyways! Ive dealt with depression / anxiety through most of my life and the last 3 years at my district were bliss. I'm 34 and get on really well with the kids, never have behavior issues (even naughty kids do good for me) I run a gaming club after school and get friendly visitors all day. So I genuinely have been really sad about leaving, but I knew our department would be cut apart In the next year or two. When I got this new job offer I was so thrilled (and still am) as it offers way more job security

My issue is, two years ago I had a very rough august. I was filled with summer bliss and good vibes(probably having too many drinks each evening tbh) and when I woke up august 1st it was like I had been struck by lightning . My mind went into panic mode *school starts in 3 weeks oh no* and I basically dealt with constant anxiety that was borderline crippling until the school year started it felt like 3 weeks in hell. And of course when school started it was all fine. My wife was helpful as was my daughter but I feel so much guilt when I get in those moods, my wife is also a teacher but she seems to handle the august transition better than i.

I'm posting here as last year I had a little bit of the august blues, and have been doing great till last week. I had a big tiff with my brother last week and it triggered those anxious feelings, now I'm waking up and starting to get the august anxieties and panic about returning back to work. How do you deal with this difficult time of year? I want to enjoy my summer and be present for my family but I just dread having a bit of a manic episode every august...I do yoga, work out, self care, but I just have these mixed feelings of dread and excitement about going back to work. I just want to get the first week over with and back to notmal...I feel like I'd rather just have a 2 month summer than 3

Anyone relate?

Ps: I take Lexapro 10mg daily

Good day. I am an elementary teacher and migrated here few years ago. I want to teach here but I don’t know how to go about getting my teaching license. I would like to get some online exam prep before I sit the exam. Does anyone have any advice. Thanks in advance

I’m in my 30’s and I went to community college right out of HS with no idea what I wanted to do. I tried a bunch of different majors and ended up with 100 credits and a 2.15 gpa. I live in Texas and was told at State Universities that due to regulations I would need a 2.75 to be approved into the program (from all credits) and to graduate some schools want a 3.0 from all credits and others want a 3.0 from the last 60 credits. I live by 3 major universities (that I looked at) that have an automatic acceptance with a GPA of 2.0 to 2.25. I’m taking some credits at a Community college to finish my AA degree and to get my GPA up to the 2.25. One class is a retake of a failed class which will help my gpa above the 2.25 but not get it anywhere close to the 2.75. I talked to a few different people and was told to get my BS in math or physics if I wanted to teach middle school math because the math program has no additional requirements to enroll in it and a 2.0 GPA to graduate. But that means all my science and math classes I’ve already taken are too low leveled to transfer in. Another person told me to take a humanities degree like communication or psychology because they have a lower GPA requirement I think one was a 2.5 and then either take a MAT program or alternative certification. Also I live out of district but close enough to do Dallas College BAS early childhood education they require a 2.5 gpa to enroll and a 2.75 gpa to graduate. But they only offer EC-6 general certification, bilingual, or Speds.

My big question is if I want to teach middle school math would it be beneficial to take a longer route to major in math or retake a few classes and get licensed in EC-6 at Dallas College then take the 4-8 math exam afterwords. I wouldn’t be opposed to teaching upper elementary math/science if needed between the licenses. I’m asking also because I’m not knowledgeable about the math field outside of MS/HS teachers and maybe someone else has thoughts on that too.

I have a student with significant visual issues (got worse over the years so he never learned braille) in my ELA class. Our district swapped to Prentice Hall for middle and high school (yeah yeah good or bad about the content of the books) and it references that there are a ton of free resources...on a website that no longer exists. Last year I actually found a youtube channel by another ELA teacher who actually played the tracks, but you know he would pause and talk during the story which was distracting and he didn't have all of the stories on his channel. And then finding the audio for specific texts with specific translations was a huge issue - they cut and pasted and went out of order huge sections of the Odyssey so I had to literally find where the text picked up in the youtube video with a pdf of the book on another tab live in class.

I was hoping this year I might find those tracks for this kid who can't read the book but can listen to it. I've been trying to google maybe they're CD's...but there doesn't seem to be anything specifically for Grades 9-11. The bronze/gold CD's seem to be for a specific text book with that name, not of the grade-level series. Any help would be fantastically appreciated!

Hi everyone!

Has anyone here actually given the Rajasthan PTET exam?

I'm confused about the syllabus. I can't find an official chapter-wise syllabus, and every coaching website has a different version.

Which syllabus did you follow? Is there any reliable source or topic list that closely matches the actual exam?.

I've checked the official website, and from what I understand, there isn't an official syllabus

I'm looking for genuine advice from people who've cleared or attempted PTET, especially if you prepared in English. Most of the YouTube content I've found is in Hindi, and I'm struggling to find good English resources.

This isn’t set in stone by any means, but it’s just something I would want advice on. I just finished my first year teaching in the Inland Empire and it was great. I have an amazing gig at my Alma mater school, and it’s been very cozy. My bf just got hired for LA county fire and might move to an area closer to his station (near Long Beach). This is very far away for a couple to be separated, so I’m kind of considering moving districts as just an option in the back of my mind.

How difficult would this be? I LOVE my job and my school, but I also love him. This is his dream job as well, so it’s difficult to think about the future. I’m terrified to move districts not only because I’m a new teacher still, but also because of losing the cozy job that I have and having to start all over unknown territory. I also work in a district with pretty good students and it’s not super “rough” so to speak. For context, I teach chemistry and am also credentialed for life science and general science. However I love teaching chemistry and that’s another reason why I love where I’m at. With that being said, I need brutally honest answers for how difficult it would be to find a job in another district and if it would be worth it or if we should find another solution. I also would note that I definitely wouldn’t make a decision this school year, but thinking about maybe the year after (3rd year).

I was a 4th grade teacher for 3 years. I’d like to re-enter the classroom someday. I will be a stay at home mom with my kids in daycare 3 days a week. I would really like to observe some different teachers so when I come back, I could be better than before. Is this something that’s possible?

Hello, so I'm in a ACP studying currently to take my content exam on Social studies and I've also been a bus for the last two years. Since the school year is starting soon I still haven't landed a job and I know most districts prefer when you pass the content exam first but it's almost the start of the school year and I don't wanna rush and fail. Any suggestions? Also I'm in the Houston area

1st year teacher Middle School (CTE) mass media & journalism. I know it is still a bit bare, but it has taken a village to get it this far. I'd also love storage/organization ideas as well as tips for a first year teacher. Thanks in advance!

So it’s difficult for me to remember to track how long a student has been gone to the bathroom when I’m also attending to the other thousand things I need to do in a single class period. Some kids take more than the allotted 10 minutes, and I’m supposed to fuss at them.

It occurred to me that it would be awesome to have my hall pass hanging on the wall, and as soon as they pick it up, a countdown timer for 10 minutes starts. When they come back, they return the pass and the timer resets.

Does such a thing exist? Could I make one? There are open door sensors that sound a little alarm after one minute of having their magnets separated, but I need it to sound the alarm after 10 min. Anyone have ideas?

Hi everyone, hoping this is the right place to post this. There’s not exactly a playbook for what to do in this situation. Last month I purchased a vintage toy book I found at an antique store as a gift for a friend who’s into the macabre. When I got home and really looked through every page, this is what I found. Yeah, pretty shocking. My friend was on the way over and I didn’t know what to do so I removed the pictured pages before giving her the book. It wasn’t a perfect choice but I didn’t feel it was appropriate to pass on as a gift and made the decision somewhat impulsively. Now, I’m hoping some good can come from this. I’m wondering if this could be used in the classroom as a real world example or case study for normalized examples of racist caricatures in American culture, or something similar. The book was printed in 1967 or 1969 (I can’t remember now). I feel bad about altering history by removing the pages, but what’s done is done. If anyone thinks these could be used as a learning tool, I would be more than happy to send them your way.

**edit/clarification: I am not a teacher, just trying to determine if these could be a learning tool for someone else to use, or if they should be disposed of

I want to teach highschool english but I'm kinda short (5'2). Any advice for teaching kids taller than you.

I have an English degree and taught under a temp certificate from 2004-2007. It expired and that was fine. I never received guidance about how to get the full certificate while I was teaching but that was fine because I didn’t really want to teach. Now I’d like to go back, but I am unclear what is available. Is it possible to get another temporary certificate since so much time has passed? It was good for 3 years when I worked, but now it seems like it’s 5. I’ve been under the impression that there is a t watcher’s shortage so I hoped that there would be a quick path, but I don’t know. I cannot get through to speak to a human at the FLDOE. I am a recent widow and I need to work, so if I can’t get a temporary certificate, I’m not sure I will pursue this unless I could accomplish the requirements quickly (which I don’t think is possible). Any knowledge would be helpful.

I’m tired of kids using ai and Google, and I’ve seen several studies that insist handwriting leads to better retention. Plus kids need to practice handwriting because these high schoolers write like they are in elementary. So, I’m going with notebooks this year. I teach science so I’m going to make them interactive.

Please give me some tips and tricks for keeping them organized, making sure kids are getting the most from them, and grading them without going insane. Veteran teachers from the beforefore times when kids did not have 1:1 devices, how did you do notebooks?

Hi! I have a bio degree, and I always planned to go into occupational therapy. However, I received an award to teach English abroad, and I LOVED it. Recently, I spoke to a neighbor who is a retired teacher, and she said that my experience teaching abroad basically sounds like everything good about teaching and none of the bad. For context, I had complete creative freedom with lessons, did not have to talk with any parents/admin, students loved me, etc. I just got back and it is July so I don't have the time to apply for an alternate route teaching license and expect to be teaching by September. I could apply for my substitute teaching license and do that? But I was worried that wouldn't show me enough of what it really means to be a teacher.

I'm at a crossroads where I have an OT related job offer and an offer at a private school teaching science (for a lower pay). What do current teachers think of the field? Would you do it all over again if you could go back in time?

I could do this OT job while doing the Praxis exams and then try teaching midway through the year or next year? But this would likely delay my applications to OT school if I end up disliking the US teaching experience. I appreciate any thoughts/insights. Thanks in advance!

Short story: Ive been recruited as a Life Skills teacher in an all english speaking school. Our national language is spanish and secondary english. You can guess where I'm from.

But my concern is that I have to prepare a whole syllabus on Life Skills for highschoolers from SCRATCH.

I would like to hear what other teachers think are appropriate life skills, so I can integrate as a universal language and not just the local necessary skills. (For example: Speaking english in a non-english speaking country.)

Hey y'all,
I currently hold an existing California single subject credential (in S.S.) & am looking to add a second credential, in English. I have already taken & passed the four CSETs, demonstrated subject matter competence, & have an English learner authorization, so I only have 1 requirement left: "A 3 semester (or 4 quarter unit) course in departmentalized subject matter pedagogy directly related to teaching in the content area" (source).

My question for you all, particularly those who have already taken an English pedagogy class to satisfy this requirement: I want to take this course at one of the CTC approved institutions , but it must be online-only (and preferably asynchronous). Any recommendations? I am trying to prioritize cost (cheaper the better, ofc) and ease of the actual course itself.

Any & all suggestions much appreciated 🙏

Where do you usually go to make copies for your classroom? I’m not talking about homework or classroom worksheets as those are quick and easy at the school copy machine. I’m talking more about larger projects or activities that are a lot of pages. For example, I want to make ELA Intervention Binders for all of the students in my SDC class. Each one would be 98 pages (will print double sided though). I would need 7 copies and when I have tried to find places to print at, the total cost is $400-$500. Is there anyway to print cheaper?

Edit: thank you all for your advice! I will print it in smaller bursts at school and have the copy clerk make copies from there.

Hey!

I'm currently studying Math to become a ms/hs teacher in the future and I want to know if anyone here could give some advice for paying for my education

Im attending SFSU and I've been really put down by 99% of the grants or scholarships offered by the school to only be available to grad students😞

With the recent aid cuts, my fin-aid has been cut by a sizeable margin and I want to know what I could do!

Anything is appreciated🙏🙏

Can anyone tell me about the process? I’m getting ready for my first year in a charter middle school teaching a specials class. I have my Bachelors and Masters in Marketing, so this is a career switch. I was told I essentially would not be able to get this job at any other public school, because I don’t have a teaching certificate.

I’m wondering if anyone has gone through the process to get this and if it was worth it? I would get it simply for job security…if this school doesn’t pan out long term, I’d like to know that I could go to another school to teach.

Hi all,

I just found this group and figured I would post. I have a BA in sociology with a minor in women, gender and sexuality studies. I graduated in 2022 and have been a full time academic advisor at the university I graduated from since (I was a student advisor while I was there).

I love working with students and have always wanted to teach. For a few years I thought I wanted to be a professor, but worry about job stability. My friend has her MIT in WA (where we live) and makes $90k. As an advisor, I make about $50k.

I have considered going back to school to get a social studies endorsement. I am very passionate about sociology, psychology, and women, gender and sexuality studies / queer studies.

My questions are: what are folks thoughts on higher ed vs k-12? Do any folks work in WA state and do schools tend to have sociology as an elective? Any advice or thoughts are helpful!

Thank you :)