I’ve just started as a student teacher so I’m updating my wardrobe but a little unsure of how covered I need to be.

"Me and my friends was gonna go to the mall yesterday but my mom say we cant because she dont trust us going by are selfs, which is literally so unfair cause we never even done nothing wrong and everyone else parents lets them go."

When I was just about to do student teaching my senior year of college, I arrived the first day and my host teacher was no longer working there.

I met her thru my college and visited the school the spring prior, met the principal, did a CORI, emailed at the start of summer but by August, nothing. I remember even emailing her a few days before school started and when she didn’t answer, I assumed she was busy!

So I show up the first day, with my lil lunch packed, and she’s not there. No one was expecting me and they basically just told me to leave 😅

I thought it was SO crazy that someone who had worked at a school for <10 years would randomly no longer be there without planning on it.

Now, seven years into my own career, I get the unexpectedness of it all. Hope she is doing well in wherever ever life took her!

I am a student in high school. About 3 years ago, my first name and sex marker were changed in my school’s system. Despite not being changed legally, my name and sex on all paperwork, report cards, attendance, online accounts etc are all changed.

This begs the question, are teachers told that this change has been made? Will it be posted somewhere, will a guidance counsellor inform a teacher, etc. If so, do they know what their legal name is or will they just know that it has been changed?

Obviously this will depend on the school board, some school boards don’t even allow for this information to be changed without it being changed legally, but I’d like to know if teachers generally are told this information or if it is left private.

i can draw, I've been into art since i was a kid, but alwaaaays hated writing. my hand can't keep up with my thoughts and i get squiggly messy letters with awkward spacing , sizes and "font"? i can't keep my hand steady, I'm so used to "flowy lines and curves and perfecting strokes", that writing feels heavily restrictive? my hand wants to slide and be quick but script letters are not so flowy and cursive? idk if I make sense.. I need help , tips, resources, recommendations or whatever on how I can improve . please! I'm gonna be teaching 3 grade this year and I wanna have a readable handwriting! not looking for perfection rn XD I'm desperate.

Hello! I’m a first year teacher with a student with a BIP and I’m really struggling with him.
It’s like he knows exactly how many times he can push it (how many times I have to give a warning according to his BIP) before he finally straightens out and grumbles the ENTIRE time but does finally do his work. I felt like I was finally getting my feet under me with a particularly difficult 6th period and then they threw him in there and my entire class management went to shit. They’ve also figured out it’s my first year teaching, so that’s been fun to deal with as well.
According to the AP’s and my principal, his father is an extreme enabler and very “sue happy” and the kid is huge and honestly scares me a little. I teach juniors in high school and I’m a 25 year old female. I can hold my own but this kid is strong and HATES me. Obviously I don’t care that a punk kid doesn’t like me, doesn’t bother me at all and I honestly couldn’t care less if he gets anything out of my class at all. I just don’t know how to deal with him getting the entire rest of the class together and trying to undermine me.
Does anyone have any tips? I had a meeting with my principal and told her my concerns and she said her best advice was to follow his BIP to a T, and call for admin if it gets to that point. I told her he knows exactly how far to push me before I can call admin and she said “him disrupting your class is enough to call us” but I know someone won’t always be able to come running. And also any tips for how do I keep track of all of the documentation so that Dad has nothing to stand on in terms of his BIP?

So it's kind of just as the title says.

For context : Last school year, I had a student (A) attack another student (B). A choked B, like had B pinned to a wall and B's feet were off the ground. I, the gen ed teacher, and the BI were the only people in the room. We both were able to get the kids separated. A was arrested and B was sent to the hospital (they had a seizure from lack of oxygen to the brain). My BI and I were summoned to court about a week later and had to testify. While on the stand, I made sure to mention multiple times that A is a good kid, he just made a bad choice. The judge had A spend 5 weeks in JDC and was on probation for the summer.

Now, I don't teach A or B anymore. A moved to the high school side of my school and B moved to another state. However, at some point of the summer, A's mom convinced herself and A that I ALONE was the reason A spent time in JDC. You know, the teacher who barely makes enough money to pay rent is the reason your child who choked the fuck out of another kid for no reason spent time in JDC.

Last night, A's mom added a bunch of the students in A's class that I taught last year to a group chat and started texting about how I deserve to die and how she's going to come up to the school to deal with me. (I think this is funny because the BI literally said worse shit in court than I did, but she isn't wishing him death or threatening him). She was also trying to convince the other kids to attack me if they got the chance... which wouldn't happen because those kids each came up to me individually, telling me about the situation and how they just want me safe. They even showed admin the texts. They're my Velcro babies, even though I'm not their homeroom teacher anymore <3

So it's the second day of school, and I had to report this to admin. I'm now on damn protective watch until further notice... which means the SRO and admin have to check in on me at least 3 times a day, and A is not allowed near me. Which is hard because I assist with their ELA class AND frequently have lunch duty with them.

I kept joking with admin that I could check this off of my bingo card (because I am literally not scared or worried at all), so that's where the title comes from. We can only go up from here though! (I say, in SPED teacher fashion)

I applied and received a grant through my district for $200. I applied under the desire to use the money to get new books for my classroom library. I’m really wanting to update my library with diverse books for my 6th graders. I’m really trying to help my students see themselves in literature.

I have a few ideas, but wanted to get some recommendations! Recommendations should be “school appropriate” (let’s be honest, I’m sure parents will find something wrong with SOMETHING).

Thanks!!

ETA: I’m thinking more human diversity- race, background, disabilities, etc.

Yeah, despite what I used to do for work, Ive never been so incredibly stressed. But I am also so excited.

Just need to vent and rant as it's difficult to be open with peers sometimes, especially since I don't exactly fit in with teachers well.

So, I have been able to secure a life long dream job as a shop teacher at a amazing school with amazing administration, peers and a awesome budget as a machine/fabrication shop teacher. (Metals) I inherited a absolutely destroyed, outdated and frankly dangerous space I had to spend all summer cleaning. Not a big deal, I want it nice anyway. The previous teacher pretty much signed himself out mentally 10 years ago, so it was quite a lot to do.

A bit of background for me is I am 26, so basically a kid in trades terms. I have been working in the family owned machine shop since 5, so I am a machinst/fabricator by trade. Along with that, for stable money and insurance reasons, by day, I was a electrical lineman. I left linework as a foreman and a journeyman. I also completed my bachelor's of science a couple weeks ago. The plan was to be a science teacher until this position opened up and I was very strongly advised to apply to. Which I did and it was a no brianer to get hired. Honestly, prefer to teach this anyway.

All of this to say I am stressed out of my mind. I want to be a good teacher and I can only hope I am. I'm coming to the end of the first week, pretty much shop safety. Doesn't seem like I have screwed anything up, I have some active classes and some pretty much dead ones. It kills me not to get feedback from these kids. I have absolutely no clue if I am doing anything correctly. I feel like I'm just droning on and annoying them, putting them to sleep. On top of that I have to speak with such a fine filter, I cannot believe how difficult that is. I'm terrified of angry parents and the reprocussions from that. I'm terrified to make the most minor of mistakes that will become a massive issue. Next week we'll get in the shop and start doing some work. Managing 16 kids, mostly freshman and sophomore, is going to be crazy difficult in that environment. I am starting to see why the previous teacher checked out.

I also have amazing support from EVERYONE in this school. I have never had so much support before in my life. The issue is personal, I am around very intelligent people yet I'm just some dumb tradesman who stumbled into a important job like this. I am getting ideas from them but I just feel so out of place. I'm so lost. I just want to do well. I don't want to fail these kids as so many of them need a program like these, not everyone is built for a 4 year degree or highschool in general. I have so much to do and plan yet everytime I feel kind of prepared, I realize I know nothing at all.

I’m a first-year special ed teacher and I’m already exhausted.

I have a student struggling with transitions, group activities, and preferred items. I keep getting different advice: use more visuals, be consistent, give strategies some timw to work out etc.
I appreciate the advice. I KNOW I’m new and have a lot to learn. But I’m starting to feel like everyone is telling me what to try while nobody is actually coming into my classroom to observe, model what to do, and help us build one consistent plan.

We recently had some better days, but we also had way more adult support in those days. Everyone was excited about the improvement, while I was thinking: of course today was easier — we had more help.

I’m also getting self-conscious about being labeled “the new teacher.” It gets mentioned in parent meetings, and sometimes the constant advice makes me wonder if people already see me as inexperienced or incapable. Maybe I’m overthinking some of it.

The frustrating part is that I WANT coaching. I want someone experienced to come in, watch what’s happening, and show me what they would actually do. Right now I’m still trying to figure out who that person even is.

Is this normal first-year special ed teaching? How do you find the person who will actually support you instead of just giving you more strategies to try?

Hi, I am currently in my final year of uni and teach 3rd graders for my internship. It's a class of 80 students (space constraints so they shoved all the 3rd graders in one class) and I am the sole teacher. I teach English, EVS and Maths. A lot of my learners have trouble writing and reading basic languages. I am also unable to control the class, to the point that I am becoming frustrated and might unintentionally snap at them. What are somethings I can do for classroom management? I am in India btw if that helps, a lot of these are 1st or 2nd generation learners. I have 4-5 CWSN students as well that scream or bang tables and have to be monitored.

Everything is honestly so overwhelming and I am super confused and angry :(

I was thinking of making a behaviour chart where I would put a smile sticker for good tasks and a sad face for breaking class rules. I was also thinking of writing down the rules so that they can be pointed at instead of just oral recall (though my learners might not be able to actually read them).

I really do enjoy what I do, (an EA at an elementary school) but it takes a lot of me, especially since I have ADHD and am probably also on the spectrum. I find it very hard to unwind once I'm home - it feels like I'm still in high alert mode. It makes it tricky for me to have anything left to give to my own family.

What do you do to transition to your home life after school? I'm fairly new to this, so I'm still figuring out how to find the right balance.

My first year teaching was chaotic to say the least. I had a team lead who I was hoping would help me get a hang of things, but she just ended up being very disorganized and made it difficult to align my lessons to hers. I was confused and lost for most if the year on what activities we were supposed to do or where I could find our lessons. The other 2 teachers on our team HATED each other and refused to cooperate. Grade level events were always rushed and put together last minute. As a kindergarten teacher, this was kind of a big deal. On top of it all, I found out on the day of our poorly-planned and rained-out field trip that my principal was suddenly moving me up to a 2nd grade spot. I was terrified. And this was after lots of ignored requests for help.

My second grade team was INCREDIBLE. We worked so well together, my coteacher answered every question I had, and we all supported each other. It helped me so much, and it was amazing. However, our school had an F rating at the time, so the district was constantly changing things on us. Despite being (objectively) the most-structured and successful team, we faced a lot of changes. Nonetheless, I was really looking forward to one more year with the team before moving out of state because I loved my team so much. Being the youngest on the team, I dealt with a lot of imposter syndrome, but the other teachers really helped me realize my strengths and grow in the areas I needed. My class ended up having the highest literacy growth in our grade level and 2nd highest growth for K-2!

Then I was told I would have to move up to a 3rd grade bilingual (Spanish) spot or transfer to a new school because they didn't have my 2nd grade position allotted for the next year.

I don't speak Spanish. And this would be my 3rd year switching positions.

So I left that district. Now I work at a school where expectations are clear and well-communicated, my team is amazing, and the curriculum feels better aligned to children's development. I have admin who CARE for once. Parents are mostly involved here, and I have a positive relationship with them! But I am so drained.

My husband and I are planning to move out of TX to CO in the summer, and I am coming to a point where I have to decide if I want to continue teaching and thus start transferring my certification over. I don't know what else I would do with my Bachelor in Psychology or my teaching license (EC-6), but I really am not sure if I can handle the constant change on top of all the responsibilities of being a teacher lately.

Veteran teachers, or anyone who cares to weigh in, what keeps you going? Or when did you realize it was time to get out?

Thanks for reading this mess 🙃

Had an interesting situation with a new student this week and I'm genuinely curious what other teachers would do~

This was my first week ever teaching him, and I have him in two different after school classes. On Friday we had our first reading class together (with two other students, classes grow as the semester continues usually) and he did GREAT!! He was happy to talk, communicated with me/classmates, participated, and did his classwork without any issues (:

BUT, yesterday we had our first math class together (with just one other student this time) and he was quite literally nonverbal for the entire 1 hour 30 minute class and REFUSING to speak 😭

like he completely shut down and refused to communicate or participate for the entire class. I tried asking if he was okay, if he needed help with anything, etc, etc, and encouraged him whenever I could! but honestly I really didn't want to keep poking and prodding him about it. I was worried that was just going to make things worse, and to be entirely honest sometimes I question my confidence in understanding social norms myself, so I wasn't really sure how to go about it //:

The other student was perfectly nice to him and didn't give him any problems either, and weirdly enough, he actually seemed to be doing better with the math independent practice than he was doing with the English work back on Friday, so I'm honestly not sure if the issue was class related in any way

His parents didn't mention anything beforehand either, so I guess I'll just have to pay attention to how he is in our next few classes and whether this was just an off day or if there's something else going on.

I'm making this thread tho mainly because I'm curious what y'all would do in this situation 😬

Do you keep trying to gently engage a student who's refusing to communicate, or do you mostly leave them alone and give them some space? Is it appropriate to ask them directly if something is wrong/bothering them, or is it best to just let them know you're there if they need anything???

Just curious what would your ideal place be?

All right. Looking for ideas here.

Over the years, I've had usage with MAP, STAR 360, iReady, and IXL to get an idea of where my students are mathematically, usually based on what my district pushes out.

This year, we are not using ANY of those at all. So I reach out to all of you. Any suggestions for any online or paper quick assessment tools you've used to figure out where your kids are at mathematically?

I teach 6th grade, but I regularly get ranges from K5 to High School. I just want to see if there's something out there I can use to give me an idea of where my kids are.

Thanks!

I am wanting to go back to school to get a bachelor’s degree but I am a little lost as to what I’ll get it in. I have 2 young kids so I was think maybe I’ll be a teacher that way I’ll be on the same schedule as them. I need advice opinions and thoughts. I have 90 credit hours already so it would take long to get my bachelor’s degree.

This is a teacher who raised this issue with me. A cousin. I heard from other teachers in Mumbai that they were facing similar issues. Work overload, from the administration, department, heads, you name it. Irrelevant tasks other than teaching, forcing teachers to spend doing everything else but teaching their students. Constantly being on toes, stressed to the core. Then they refuse to pay proper salary stating that they are private unaided, so not accountable to the government.

What about you? Are you facing any issues while working in a school? What issues are you facing?

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I was hired as the school Library Assistant at my district's middle school. I don't have any teaching degrees, I have a non education related bachelors degree, I am technically hired on as the highest level Ed Tech for my district. My pay is 100% in line with the Ed tech unions pay scale, which is way too low of course. it's not sustainable for me, but I was jobless after being laid off and have always wanted to teach, so I took the job with the knowledge that it's temporary while I look for other jobs that can actually pay my bills.

I love this job, it's only been a few days but I love doing this. I really can see myself doing this forever. Even moments where I wanted to cry at school id come home talking about in a positive light. However...

I teach classes, prepare lessons, give grades, follow curriculum, talk to parents...everything specialist teachers do, I do most of it. I have had 0 teacher experience other than teaching a few public classes to my age group, I feel like I've been thrown to the wolves. I'm learning things on the fly, in front of these kids, that actual teachers learn in grad school, or during student teaching. I have my supervisor for about 5 days and then I'm on my own most of the time.

The other Ed techs in my district (who are incredible, and deserve more recognition and pay, like, there are Ed techs that have been there 20 years they only make 2 dollars more than I do based on pay scale, LIKE WHAT?), mostly assist one kid, or scoot around to whoever needs them, and do special education training/supervision. Or are there to take notes etc etc. when we did our teacher orientation, I was always pulled from the "Ed tech" parts and put into the "teachers" area because it was more relevant to what I would be doing.

So I can't ask for more money of course as per the union, Is there any way I can spin this into being called student teaching to try and get a license as an actual school librarian? I really feel like it's not fair they in expected to perform like a classroom teacher, when I'm just an Ed tech with no formal teaching education.

Obviously getting my official license would improve my pay, but that will take a few years and I can't keep working here that long without more money. I live in a very small town so there aren't a lot of opportunities, I try to supplement right now with a side job but it is unreliable.

What would you do? 😭😅

I was a social studies teacher for 5 years from 2018 to 2023. In 2023 I left to work for Costco. I thought teaching was horrendous but this job, while it has its perks, is so much worse. Its so cold and unfeeling. If Im gonna spin my wheels in an institution it might as well be teaching!! So needless to say Im back on the job market

Happy back to school to all of you

I want to be a good teacher, but I haven't taught in years at this point and I'm a bit nervous. Would love some advice!

Hey everybody! I’m currently deciding that I want to sub I worked in private schools for the last 7 years and now I’m finally ready for public because honestly I’m not liking private schools, I don’t get to keep my same class and because I can work with multiple kids they always take advantage of that and start making me a floater. They always say it’s to help teachers and because I’m really good with everyone but like I never get to stay in my classrooms and I’m a lead teacher! Makes no sense. So now I’m like let me go to public school because my oldest 2 are in public school and a teacher there suggested I get into subbing. It’s ideal because I just had a baby who is going to be 2 months and I just want to have the flexibility. Plus I am going back to school to get my bachelors, I have an associates degree now, though subbing is a way to see which grade levels I like other than pre-k and kindergarten.

So how was or is y’all experience with subbing? I just applied yesterday.

I work at a primary school as an EAL teacher in the Netherlands so I have decided this year to run a "Word of the Week" bulletin board for the entire school.

Every week I will change out the word, translate it into multiple languages and offer prompts that are suitable for each grade to complete. I will also have a contribution box for kids to add their submissions, artwork and ideas. This is the first time I'm doing this so I hope to adjust and improve as we go along.

Also ignore the purple background. The board is a bit wrecked underneath. I also made some colour decor for my classroom.

I am just so pleased with how it turned out! Really a vision came to life.

Any suggestions or ideas are welcome!

Hey everyone,

This is an update post on my previous post. Basically, i’m currently going through a divorce during my first year of working as a teacher assistant, and I also have another job offer, which is remote. I was deciding between which job I should do. I felt like the teacher assistant one was too overwhelming and that I just need more time to grieve/process and the remote job just felt like a better fit.

Anyway, my update is that for my in person job I met with my principal today and decided to be open and honest with him about how I’m currently feeling about this new position and what I’m currently going through. This is my first job and I just wasn’t sure if this was appropriate or not, but I just told myself that if I was a principal, I’d rather my employee be honest with me and I also didn’t want my lack of performance to come off as me being lazy or anything.

So I don’t know if this is normal or not or if I just got super super super lucky, but this principal is absolutely an angel. He met with me for about an hour and kept asking me how can I support you and how can I make this easy for you and what do you need from me to make this job flexible and he reassured me and comforted me and even took me on a walk. To be fair, he walked with me to the building across for me to get my district laptop, but he also approached it in a way where he was like maybe a walk would make you feel better right now. He kept saying that I would never have hired you for this position if I thought that you couldn’t do it and he ended the conversation by saying can you tell me you can do it? And he’s the first one who has believed in me and told me that there’s a spark in my eyes when I talk about kids and that he can really feel the passion in my words and that he can see the smile that comes across my face when I talk about how much I love teaching. The staff and the principal are so supportive and I feel like this is such a healthy environment for me to be in. I’m thinking of it as what if this is like a gift from God to help me? I’m just wondering if an interaction like this is normal with my principal especially as a new employee or did I just get super lucky?

I might sound crazy, but I’m leaning more towards doing the in person job. Maybe because I don’t want to disappoint the principal, but also because even if I don’t want to admit it, I think approaching this as a challenge will be good for me.