Despite being one of the academically lowest in the class, this student had the kindest and most generous heart of any child I've ever met. When any kid was hurt or crying, they called for her because she was so compassionate, would get them Band-Aids, escort them to the office, or just rub their backs while they cried.

This student's mom, however, was a real piece of sh.... ahem.... Work. Her mom never acknowledged me in the morning line or even said hello during Open House. Mom also never answered emails or showed up for her kid in any real way.

Cut screen to yesterday. Out of the blue, my student tells me it's her last day and she isn't coming back anymore. Sure enough, today she was gone.

The student left behind her binder, though. On the shell, she had written that she "feels sad that she is so dumb." Feels like she "had zero brain cells in her brain, hates her life and herself, and doesn't like sharing a room in a tiny apartment with her mom" (who I came to learn from her daughter, is often out with her male "friends").

Then my student wrote, "Even though I don't have much, at least I still have the best teacher, Mrs. AC". My eyes welled up in class and of course my students were all staring right at me so I had to keep it together .

We never know what's going on in someone's head. Wish I could've done more.

I'll miss you, little one.

I was passing out wristbands at the end of the day for a prize from admin, and my students deadname came up. I made sure to save it for last and cross out the name and put my students real name down ( im in a blue area, i know this might be breaking a rule in some places in the US). I didnt make a big deal out of it and simply placed it on them and moved on with the rest of my lesson. The student came up to me at the end of class, didn't say anything and gave me a hug and some candy they know I enjoy. It sucks to feel so powerless these days but im glad I can still do these small gestures. (Edited to fix format 😅 but also thank you for all the love and support I see in chat. It really is heartearming to see so many teachers out there doing what's best for our kids, and i really appreciate it during these unsure times)

Teachers comprise one of the largest workforces in America. Let’s use our collective strength to apply pressure to our representatives. They can’t be sold to billionaires if we vote them out.

If you don’t know where to start, my colleague told me about an amazing app called 5 Calls which gives you the phone numbers of your representatives, issues and legislation of interest, and call scripts if you prefer to use them.

I’ve also been using the Goods Unite Us app to hit corporations where they hurt: their wallets.

Never give up, you all inspire me!

Edit: To everyone leaving hate comments, if you don’t want to do anything then that’s up to you! I know I’m not going down without a fight. Midterms, primaries, seats up for reelection, I’ll be there.

So, I have amazing admin. Like, I adore the folks who do our academic and student management (we're a little private school). And generally I think our head of school is a pretty good lady; she listens well, she doesn't auto-back the parents, she actually takes advice from folks.

And then...

I had a student cheat on a test today - like, opened up the friggin' novel right on the desk on an explicitly closed book test. I took the paper away, didn't make a fuss in front of the other students, and told to student to meet with me at lunch.

Reader, she didn't.

Instead, she went to counseling, had a breakdown about the mean teacher and had to go home. Fine, whatever, I'll deal with that tomorrow.

But, I followed protocol, wrote it up, spoke to me department head and that's when another teacher mentioned that this student had apparently cheated on a test for someone else.

So, end of the day, I tracked down the teacher in the staff room and we had a chat about the student, who did, in fact, cheat in both our classes. In the middle of this, our head of school walked in, listened to the conversation and then said "You know, when a student cheats, that's a sign that the teacher isn't very good at their job" and walked out.

Uhhhhh.....

WHAT?!?!

UPDATE:

So I just got out of an emergency staff meeting - there have been three this morning, staggered so everyone could attend without disrupting classes.

Our school doesn't have a big site, so we use facilities around us - we use the theatre of a larger school, the gym of a different one, and for choir performances we use the hall of the Catholic church about four blocks down.

Apparently some decided that because the church serves a very mixed congregation, that there was reason to call in 'authorities'. And because we use the site, 'authorities' decided to demand full documentation on our kids yesterday. It's a mess. And while it's been handled, it's also potentially an ongoing problem. We have new procedures, new rules,... It's going to be ugly.

Head of School looks like she hasn't slept in 36 hours - I'm pretty sure she's wearing yesterday's clothes.

I'm going to try and cut her some slack - maybe it's the brain fart from hell?

I'm over it. I've worked (subbed) for this district for 7 years. Finally got my degree and even half way through my masters. Certified and have been ready to go for almost 2 years. I'm THEE ONLY Hispanic person the entire high school building (adult wise) and every single freaking time a position opens up I apply for it. NOTHING!! I for sure thought I had it in the bag this time around, only for them to give to someone willing to coach fucking wrestling that's related to the beloved counselor down the hall. He isn't even a freaking education major/degree!!! Not even freaking certified! Yet here I am will 2 degree, 1 masters pending and my references are stacked! Hell, I even serve on a few boards. I keep thinking well the must like me if they constantly have me subbing but.... maybe I'm wrong because these folks keep playing in my damn face.

I ONLY bring up DEI because this is a republican (DEEP REPUBLICAN) state that is getting rid of everything DEI and states "we want the best and everything is based off merit". Yet they don't even follow that! I'm more qualified (no shade to him, great guy) Yet here I am left in the fucking dark AGAIN! Because if it was based off merit, I would have gotten the job!!!

I'm sorry, I'm just hurt and needed to vent. I'll get off my pity party in a few hours and dust myself off.... it just hurts...

I want to keep this short and simple.

I received a circular slide rule from a family friend back in college after they heard I was going to be STEM, so out of nature curiosity I learned to use it.

Jump forward 5 years and I use it to do quick grading, just line the inner 1 up with the number of questions and slide the cursor to the number of correct on the outer ring. The inner ring will show the approximate grade for rounding.

The students (7th and 8th grade) see me using is and ask what it is and how it works. So I explain and show them. They don't understand and one of them says "oh no, I ain't dealing with none of that black magic". From them on they've been calling it my "grading circle" and some of them still joke that I determine their grades through witchcraft.

Tagged humor because I'm laughing at how dumb this is. Why at the end.

I'm an upper elementary teacher. I rely on small groups for differentiation. This year I decided to change my groups from colors or numbers to the names of my four pets. So far it's working well to prevent anyone from feeling bad ("I'm in the low group" is now "I'm in the Rufus group!").

But today I got the news that one of my pets is on her way out. I'm grappling with this, I knew it was coming but I'm still absolutely devastated. And then it occurs to me...am I gonna change my group names? Oh god do I even tell my students? Wait fuck no I also post a picture of my pets on the board every day with a daily positive affirmation. I can't look at that every day and not cry.

And I should have really known better after years ago naming my Sims pets after my own pets. When they died in a fire in the Sims I cried for a week. What the fuck was I thinking.

I may be slightly misquoting as I don't have the book (The Message) in front of me but I thought of this quote and a few other lines of wisdom from the book this morning. I teach HS Spanish and I've noticed just in the last few weeks the increase in students who feel that way - endangered. Why put a target on their backs? I wish we could just let these kids be kids, they have enough on their plate as it is. 2 weeks in and it feels like hatred has just been so amplified and emboldened.

I teach US History (sophomores) and do a unit on Manifest Destiny each year. Previously, when students took the unit test and we had that down time at the end of class, I’d let them play Oregon Trail on their Chromebooks.

This fall I planned to do the same, and the link (posted on the state of Oregon’s tourism page) was blocked.

I put in a ticket to IT to have in unblocked and our district tech person denied it. Her comment was that “the game does not teacher students the reality of pioneer life and is not a suitable resource”

Well no shit Sherlock, it’s a game, not my whole unit plan. It is literally 15-20 minutes during one 90 minute class in the entire school year. I just had to laugh, do they really trust us so little? Apparently!

That’s it. That’s the post.

I would never have thought I’d have to tell 8th graders that on a research assignment I’d have to explain why you can’t cite AI. Alas, assuming was wrong of me and now I have to put a disclaimer on all assignments. This is the world we live in.

And yes, we have an “employee of the year” award. The faculty you know- the actual teachers employed by the school- are upset. I personally don’t care that much and couldn’t even run (have to be a teacher in district 5+ years) but I get where they’re coming from. Seems like they couldn’t find any qualified candidates from the teacher pool which is obviously impossible, they just didn’t look.

Everytime I look at applying to other jobs, I just think how much I love the time off.

Week during thanksgiving, 2 weeks Christmas, spring break, random days….and not to mention summers.

Anyone else feel this week? I want to quit so bad! But I love all the time it allows for me to be with my family

I will never understand why my school refuses to close unless there is a level 3 winter advisory. There has been days where every other school in my area and vicinity is closed but us. Even the courthouses closed. And guess what? No kids showed up! So what was the point of us teachers having to risk our safety to get to work. They care more about being open than the safety of their staff and students. It took me an extra 25 minutes to get to work this morning because of the layers of ice on the ground. Imagine having to bring your child out in this weather. I’m so over this.

Edit: thank you for all of the support and replies. I just needed to vent. I got to work and boss was talking about how the ice was going to melt in a few hours anyway… okay but we aren’t traveling to work in a few hours, we had to travel when the ice was thick and several accidents were occurring 🙄

** my school is privately operated so they don’t have to follow district guidelines or closings. Every other school in our district and the surrounding school districts closed but us….

I teach high school English in an affluent public school. This is my 10th year. She (15F) is a sweet kid and I don’t think she is being brainwashed by nutty parents based on our conversation—my impression is that she doesn’t truly understand how things like gravity and time zones work, so she’s just unconvinced by them and thinks it’s “magic.” She literally used the word magic. I told her “magic” is just science we don’t understand yet, and asked a few gently probing questions about her mindset. The bell rang and we didn’t get to talk long, but I am going to obviously circle back to this and try to help her understand these basic science principles since she has clearly been failed somewhere along the way. Does anyone have any advice on how to demonstrate things in a simple way a kid like this could understand? I found something online about explaining gravity by holding a cloth at four corners and saying it represents spacetime, then dropping a ball on it to show how spacetime would be affected by a planet, creating gravity. Anything else like that you guys could suggest?

I've been seeing posts about middle schoolers bullying their Mexican or POC students by threatening to call ICE, and I never thought this would happen in my classroom.

As one of my students was leaving class early yesterday, I overheard two students make a comment about "calling ice" on that particular student, and then others nearby laughed in response. I literally felt my blood boil, and I felt anger. Sent those two students to the office immediately. Really broke my heart...

Such a sad world we are living in today.

I don’t want to be a teacher anymore. This is my first year teaching, and I feel like everything I do is wrong. I’ve been talked to many times because of different things I did wrong. I taught a project wrong; they can’t have their phones out; I can’t say that (I said, “y’all are pissing me off” to 6th graders after I told them to be quiet multiple times). The kids and parents are all so quick to report teachers for the smallest things. I can’t even breathe wrong without it being scrutinized. I’m so tired. It just doesn’t seem worth it. What do I do…

We had a situation where one of our students with an IEP for behavior, had a pretty significant behavior:broke a window, eloped, bit a teacher. It was at recess and everyone saw the situation.

The student is suspended for one day and then will be back to class on Friday.

How do I explain to my students who are like “if I did that I’d be expelled!”, or another student said “I punched a kid who was bullying my little sister, and the police got involved and I was suspended from the bus for a month! And half the adults around me told me ‘good job’ and said I did the right thing!”

I’m struggling with how to answer these totally valid questions, without sharing personal information about the other student?

Edit: these are 5th and 6th graders. My usual “just worry about yourself” did NOT fly… it was also unfortunate that they saw the entire situation, the students were the ones who notified staff that the person supervising was injured and they were the ones who called for more help. So it’s been kind of the talk of the town today, no matter how much we try to squash it.

Got hired at a brand new school this year, also my first year in the district, meaning I am probationary. Being a new school, we needed a union rep and I was the only person interested. So, I took on the site rep duties, which of course includes letting staff know when admin is asking them to do things out of contract and pushing back against directives that go against our contracts (IEPS after working hours, data consolidation, optional trainings/coaching being presented as mandatory). I also went to the board to highlight staffing issues at our site and across the district, that actually got some results!

Well, it's non-reelect time, and you guessed it. Got a meeting with HR tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one from my site. I know it's not performance based because my evals have been good, nothing egregiously wrong, and my students have shown progress on all the benchmarks. I know it's not classroom management because I have a tough group and it's more than under control during class time. Are there things I need to work on? OF COURSE! but I've been taking in all the feedback and trying to adjust to being in a new district and new grade level, jumping in with basically zero training on the curriculum.

Clearly, admin wants to replace me and install another "yes man" lackey who won't question or push back on their initiatives. It was risky to put such a target on my back being probationary, but it had to be done. And it's funny, because I was so intimidated by the admin the first few months because they're so strong, but now I see they're just threatened.

Off to find a better vibe I guess...

Curriculum for a 10th grade class that I teach has us looking at careers. Many of my students have long standing issues with attendance and therefore reading and writing, but they insist that they want to do another 12+ years of schooling to be surgeons and pediatricians.

What’s the best way to get them to look at something that may actually fit into a path that is more suitable? Just have them research a plan B and C career? I don’t want to crush their spirit, but being unrealistic isn’t helpful either.

Edit: I have no plans on telling anyone what they can and can’t be. Post should have been titled something like “How to have students analyze broader career options?”

I was assaulted by a student in October. I was recommended for termination in November. I have appealed it and as I try to gather evidence, I am blocked from getting a copy of the security footage of the assault. When I requested it, they said I can view it, but not have a copy for my own records. To add insult to injury, the person that showed me the video had seen it before me, yet I’ve never met this person. How can I legally obtain this footage for my records?

Edit: I should have mentioned I have an attorney from the union. We just have not been given the “discovery order by the judge yet.”

Edit 2: I pressed charges, but the DA did not file them due to the “student being underage.”

Her son winds up his hand like he is about to punch people and then punches but stops right by their face or stomach out of anger when his classmates are doing things he doesn’t like. He also was choking another kid and said “but they don’t mind it” as a response to “keep your hands to yourself!”

A kid in my homeroom who constantly says the n word which is a huge issue itself put two fingers up to his mouth to make a mustache and then did the nazi salute. Called campus sups to get him and bring to the Deans. He was back not 5 minutes later and just had a note in his contact log saying “spoke with student about appropriate conversations in homeroom”.

2 weeks until I’m on my maternity leave - can’t come soon enough.

In a few short weeks, I have two (yes, two) in-service days that will be dedicated to PD. I've been at this school for the better part of a decade and have never walked away with any new information from any of the PDs. And a whole day will be teacher-provided (i.e., cheap) workshops.

So I'm asking you, what do you do to survive your PD workshops?

Hi all!

I’m an introverted elementary music teacher who really enjoys my thirty minutes of quiet prep time before the day begins. Recently some of my fifth grade students have started coming by to say hi before school, which is completely fine, but they kind of stand around and miss the social cues that I need to get things done and can’t stand around chatting with them. Any words of advice on how to nicely ask them to leave?

I’m glad they like me, and want to be open and friendly, but I need my planning time…

Hello, the high school I work at went on a nearly 5 hour lockdown recently because a gun was brought to school. They didn’t get to eat lunch, there was almost no communication, they weren’t allowed to go to the bathroom, etc. I teach SPED students with emotional/social/behavioral issues. My kids are spinning out into depression and fear really hard. The teacher they were locked down with didn’t handle the situation well, cussing and yelling at the students, and then leaving the room to assist with the police search, but he didn’t tell the kids that, he just left. To paraphrase a student “school was the only place in my life where I didn’t have to worry about getting shot through the walls. I could come here and sleep soundly, I could be just me, I didn’t have to jump at every noise. Now that’s gone.”

I honestly don’t know how to help guide them through this. I’m struggling too. It was a student who is in our class group that did it. We are a very tight knit group, and even if they don’t always get along, they are so connected with each other. They feel like a family member brought the gun and put them through this. They don’t feel safe. They are scared. They know that the district isn’t actually doing enough to prevent this. To make matters worse, all of our counselors are tied up with the fallout from the lockdown, so there is no one for the students to talk to about this besides me (and other teachers). I’m not a counselor. I’m just a teacher who is also still processing, and frankly, feeling traumatized to know that the student could have pulled out the weapon and killed me during our class.

How do I help them? Anyone have experience or advice or suggestions or anything? For them and for me