The whole week is about "How do people work together?" and I already came up with 21 lesson plans, but I need two more.

Some other themes from the week are rote counting to 20 with more consistency, reviewing one more and practicing one less, directional terms, reviewing shapes, and comparing data in simple graphs, or deleting parts of compound words and listening for what word is left and identifying more unfamiliar letters if you have lesson plans about that instead.

Thanks for your help!

In July of 2024, I was hired to be a business teacher for a school. I was elated as I had finally achieved my dream since childhood of becoming a teacher. I took pride in making my classroom warm and inviting and a place that the students would be able to learn in.

When first started, I had no curriculum or prior teachers plans to go off of. I searched for a product to help me with my three major business classes and asked to get it approved. I then had to build up my fourth class from scratch with no assistance from administration. I felt isolated and alone as I had nobody I felt I could turn to who understood the classes I was teaching.

On August 22nd, I asked my principal if he would set me up with a mentor. I never received a response from him. A month or so later I asked him again in the hallway if I could please get a mentor. I was overwhelmed and felt like I was drowning because two of my classes had a couple of behavioral issues, trying to be consistent with my planning, was told to curriculum map through an outside school source, and trying to teach and grade. I never was told what I was doing right or what I was doing wrong as I was only given two quick walk through evaluations. I never had a full evaluation last year that could have helped me tremendously. The person he has in mind never connected with me until later in the semester and then we never did set up a time as our preps were at different times.

My goal as a teacher is make sure that my students are learning and growing in my classes. I expect them to put in an effort and complete their assignments. I also request that they be respectful to me, each other and themselves. There were times last semester where we had to reset and go over policies and procedures. Even incentiving them did not work. I even would give grace on assignments and allow them to turn it in late. During the latter part of the semester, I no longer felt heard. It became harder to approach admin because I felt like I was bothering them and would be just pushed away without being heard.

Toward the end of last semester an incident occurred that broke me to the core as I never imagined I would be taken advantage of and treated with such disrespect. I did a rebuttal to their accusations. In my rebuttal I asked again for a mentor. At the start of this semester, I revamped my policies and procedures for my classes and put it into contract form where the students and the parents had to sign it. I wanted to be firmer in my expectations. However, I have had to still deal with disrespect with certain students. Students complain about the work I ask them to do, not turning assignments in on time or at all, talking back in class, and not keeping hands to themselves. I have felt like I have been walking on cracked ice since I came back this semester.

I was anxious and physically sick every time I cam to work and so I spoke with HR. She gave me some hope. However, I never received a response to my rebuttal and just last week the mentor reached out and we were to meet for the first time since I started school but do to this administrative leave we were not able to meet.

On 1/29/2025, I was placed on administrative leave again and was told I had to leave immediately. I was so confused because nothing had been said or done as far as I could recall. It was a normal class day the prior day where we talked about business, Hardwood , basketball and the the new food truck project. I asked for an explanation and was told nothing. Was just told I was not to talk to the students.

At this point the target I have felt since last semester was ten times heavier. I was in shock and disbelief that I was yet again in this position. I asked to speak to the union rep and was denied. I was unaware that we could not speak to them during school time when we were being accused of something. I reached out to my rep who found out why and I was floored.

During class the 28th, we were talking some about basketball and one of the guys likes to throw his bottle away like a basketball. He missed the hole but hit the rim before it hit the ground. I told him that he had missed a rim shot. One of the girls asked what that was. I told her to Google it. I never went to any website. Until this moment , I didn’t even know it had a derogatory connotation. My older brother had to tell me what it meant that night when I told him what had happened.

During that class period several of the girls were wanting me to give them the food truck project in advance and I advised them they would have to wait until the next day when I gave it to the other class as well. I wanted to give the students a chance to get caught up on any missing assignments and when I had looked they both had assignments not completed. They were not happy. On Wednesday, one of the female students had come in mad due to something that had happened to her at home and was being disrespectful to me. I had been going over the food truck project and because they had worked on it before they received instructions they were not happy. tried to help them further by advising them of things they could do to salvage some of the work they had already started.

Around B lunch I was called down to the office to speak to the principal and found him and the assistant principal in the office together. When he told me that an situation had been brought to their attention, I was in complete shock and dumbfounded. When asked, I was refused an answer except to be told there would be an investigation and that I would be on paid administrative leave effect at that time. This has been a nightmare the past five days as not only my character being attacked but I am being falsely accused of something I never said or did.

On 1/30, I went to check on assignments to grade and one of my students had put that he hoped I got fired as the name of his assignment. I was shocked and disheartened as this same student was in my first period last semester and I always was supportive of him and allowed him opportunities to be successful. Another student emailed me and said that she was glad I emailed as they were hearing something different.

I value dignity, respect and character. I had asked prior to leaving on Wednesday that it be told if asked that I had a family emergency, which turned out to be factual as we lost a close family friend on Thursday. I love teaching. I love being at the school. I care about my students and their well-being. I would never do or say anything that would harm them. I have faced and overcome so many life obstacles to finally be able to teach. Is it hard sometimes? Yes but it is always worth it when the kids who you have a hard time with come and tell you thank you for your patience and understanding and that they don’t want to leave your class.

I feel like these false accusations are because I push the students to do their best and complete their work. I want them to be successful. Nobody taught me or told me about this aspect of teaching. I feel like I was set up to fail because I should have had a mentor at the beginning of the school year who could have helped me navigate things and gave me suggestions on how to handle things differently when it came to managing my classroom. I feel like a few students are going to outweigh the students who are doing what I ask and enjoy my classes. I have so much planned this month for the students. Two of my classes are doing a food truck project. My marketing class is doing a branding project which completes on 2/6 with them presenting on after break. My PCC classes are working on their career section and we’re going to review colleges before starting their Shark Tank projects.

I also have a student competing at DECA in March. We were going to take 3 students. I feel like all my hopes and dreams for the next few months are in limbo and fragile. My heart breaks because I just want to teach. I never imagined that I would be targeted by students and hated so much for wanting the best for them. I am praying that this is not the end. Other first years have support from their subject matter fellow teachers. I do not. I asked for help and guidance in August and finally was going to get it and I am instead going through this.

This is my first year as a teacher with little guidance and feelings of support. If you go to someone several times, and you walk away feeling that you were a bother, would you continue to approach them with concerns? Per school policy, first year teachers should have a mentor. I did not receive one. I have felt continually harassed by certain students. I have heard the rumors that the kids were saying about me. I am not a babysitter. I am here to educate and challenge these kids to think about business and their future career and college choices.

I feel lost, sad, depressed, and that I am losing my dream....

I bring this up mostly because I saw some posts that made me think of this and it's becoming more relevant to me for certain things that are happening in my district.

I'll start with inclusion as it seems the most obvious and easiest to cover. It seems we include students in classrooms that have a negative effect on all student learning. It isn't fair to anyone because not only does it hurt other student learning, the student being included won't learn anyways, which ironically is an exception to inclusion at its core value. So, it ends up being a double whammy that hurts everyone including the teachers that have to deal with the BS and then waste time documenting just to CYA.

The solution is to have an intermediate class to assess how they will deal with a general ed environment. If they do well they move on and if they don't they stay.

More sinister and sneaky is UDL (Universal Design for Learning}. Now I want to say at core concept, in a vacuum, it isn't bad. It just seems implementation is fucked, for reasons that aren't the teachers fault. I have seen it and had to do it because I can't leave little Timmy behind so I make my lesson plans UDL which slows down the learning or dumbs down the expected difficulty of my class too much.

This leads into the attempt to have every student engaged. Which is a problem with class sizes that are over 30 or even 25 depending on the students. Teachers become expected to make learning individualized for each student. However it's impossible with class sizes increasing and the baseline knowledge of students in each classroom having an increasing gap between top and bottom performing students.

This leaves out the fact that we need to teach our students to adapt to the world around them. With the poor implementation of UDL we are teaching them that their class will adapt to them. The problem in real life is that when someone doesn't adapt to their job they get fired.

This is a short breakdown but I hope it gets the point across.

My assistant principal has always been out to get me. We got a new head principal this year that’s easily manipulated by the AP. The accusations by the AP of my alleged insubordination and crossing boundaries with students has led to a formal reprimand in my public personnel file. Now I have to claim it if I ever wanted a new job and for the rest of my career. None of the accusations are true and I have documentation to prove it but when I stood up for myself, HR claimed I was being oppositional defiant.

My lawyer said there isn’t much I can do except respond in writing to the reprimand. But I want the reprimand removed! It isn’t fair that I’m getting in trouble for things that aren’t true and that the AP can continue to harass me and other employees. (The lawyer also said it’s hard to prove harassment) Is there anything I can do to get the reprimand removed? Please help!

I’m in a public school in TN. I recently joined PET to get a lawyer. I want my side of the story told and I want to be able to continue doing my job in my community. Can I fight a reprimand?

Have any Alabama teachers had luck getting PEEHIP to cover Zepbound for Obstructive Sleep Apnea? It was recently approved by the FDA for this purpose in people also dealing with obesity. Just curious if anyone has been successful in getting coverage and how. Non-diabetic.

Hi! I teach 11th grade, AP Language and Composition in the deep, deep south. I need some help brainstorming really good speeches for Black History Month and the current climate. I want to push back as much as I can without putting a target on my back. My job is to teach rhetorical analysis, so anything with strong persuasive elements is appropriate. Thanks for your help!

Hello all! I’m a student teacher in a 6th grade math class in a suburban district in Ohio. My students earned a reward day and I wanted to give them the option of a movie or game day. I want to show them Hidden figures as this features math, female mathematicians, NASA, possible career aspirations, and three prominent women in black history.

Was curious to thoughts, especially possible parent concerns. I watched it and think it would be very inspirational and eye opening to students. Thank you!

My school is starting the "no phones" policy in the next couple of week. Unfortunately they are just making the policy be that students have to keep the phones off and away---we aren't collecting them at the start of the day or anything. I am fine with it in my classroom, and can enforce it there without much issue. My worry is about the larger spaces (cafeteria, media center, hallways etc). During study hall and lunch, almost all I see is kids on their phones. How can we enforce the policy in these larger spaces? And if we take away the phones, I'm actually worried it will make the behavior worse. At least the phones keep them subdued....without phones I feel that all the bored students will just cause more problems. What has been your experience with this?

I’m a first year teacher right out of college. I am doing alt cert, so I am learning every single thing as I go.

Before Thanksgiving, I gave a test in one of my classes, for which a student was absent for the original test.

This student was then only available to come into one of my classrooms to make up the test during advisory period when they returned, which is only 30 minutes compared to a normal class period of 90 minutes. They did not finish this test during that 30 minutes, and so I let them come in during three advisory sessions to make up the test.

This student failed very badly, so they were allowed to take the reassessment along with all other students in class on a particular day, for which this student was present. They then failed the reassessment as well.

Nothing is heard about this until the day before winter break, in which this student’s parent begins to say that I never gave the student enough time to take the test, and therefore they should be able to retake it again. I explain the circumstances to the parent, and that at this point grades have been finalized and that there isn’t anything I can do.

The parent then goes all the way to the superintendent to complain, which of course just gets sent down to my principal. Long story short, my principal has my back, but after many accusatory words and calling me a liar and other unsavory things many time, the parent is now submitted a formal complaint with the district.

I don’t believe I’ve done anything wrong, but I’m wondering two things:

1. How far could this parent take the complaint and could it affect my job?

2. Is teaching really worth it if we just get attacked by parents for trying our best?

I just feel like on top of all of the challenges of teaching that come with the job already, and then with the current political challenges to the job, I’m now realizing that this might be the icing on the cake that makes me not want to return to the career next school year.

I have my health teaching license as well as biology but I’d love to teach just health.

Like the title says. Why are we stressing upper grade teachers out - I'm thinking of elementary specifically here since I teach elementary - by ramping up the emphasis on teaching students to read fluently in 3rd/4th/5th? By 3rd grade if a kid can't read fluently, it's basically too late already for them academically. We cannot get a 3rd grader reading on a 1st grade level to read and comprehend the way they're supposed to by the end of the year without more resources, more time, and heavy parent involvement, most of which my district has zero of. When they take our tests and that big standardized bastard at the end of the year, they're going to fail it. We know this already.

Why aren't the big bosses focusing on Kindergarten and 1st and maybe even 2nd grade and figuring out - actually, those teachers have already said what the problem is - why these kids are exiting the lower grades unable to read? Why are 3rd and 4th and 5th grade teachers getting kids who can't sound out words, much less comprehend what they're reading?

(This is not AT ALL a dig at lower grade teachers!)

I start student teaching in August. For the time being, I’ve set up a ton of subbing days. My first day is Monday. As teachers, what are you best practices for subs in your classes? What do you like? What do you not like? What makes a successful sub, in your opinion? Thanks for any info.

High school history teacher.

Black History Month is not directly part of my curriculum, but my lessons involve examining primary sources, making historical connections to modern times, and utilizing effective writing methods- which are all part of my subject's standards.

Purple, non-union state. Republican governor. Republican school board. Upper SES school, but an increasingly diverse population.

I am literally the only teacher in the building choosing to incorporate BHM lessons into my teaching.

Anyone else staring down a barrel, but choosing to fight the good fight?

Like the title says because of the teacher shortage being amplified after the pandemic. Which state do you think is the easiest to obtain? As far as a teacher license?

A sign banning students from speaking Spanish on a Juniata County School District bus has sparked controversy in the community and prompted statements from the transportation company and district this week.

The bus company stated that they were aware of the note but didn't mention there being and internal investigation.

The school district released a long statement that basically stated that they are the bus company were working together to provide quality transportation. Also, the com many wouldn't be used until an internal investigation was complete.

I'd assume that the driver had to have put up the sign. if they didn't how did they not see it? I don't know how it is respectful to the "English speakers" to only speak English. Doesn't that mean that, out of respect for Spanish only speakers, everyone on the bus should only speak Spanish?

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2025/02/central-pa-school-bus-had-sign-that-said-no-speaking-spanish-transportation-company-responds.html

4th grade reading this year is especially important because we are seeing data from students who have a) been minimally impacted by COVID and b) been more likely to be instructed with science of reading research.

Scores are down, but looking at state performance right now is interesting because the blue state/red state divide is less pronounced than in the past.

Of the top ten states (actually 11 because 10th place is tied), 5 are solid blue states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Colorado, and Connecticut) and 6 are solid red states (Wyoming, Indiana, Utah, Mississippi, Florida, and Kentucky).

Of the bottom ten states, four are solid blue (Maine, Delaware, New Mexico, and DC), four are solid red (West Virginia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Alaska), and two are swing (Arizona and Michigan).

While it's also worth noting that only five states are performing at or above the national average of 2017 (Massachusetts, Wyoming, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Colorado), it is really interesting to see if these trends will continue.

Many states (if not most/all at this point) have changed reading instruction requirements in the past 5-8 years to require science-based reading instruction, especially in K-3 (so omg please stop discovering Sold a Story and saying we don't teach phonics anymore - instead say that the oldest students in school may not have gotten strong phonics instruction). What do you think of these trends? Do you think they'll continue into 8th grade reading scores in a few years?

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile?sfj=NP&chort=1&sub=RED&sj=&st=MN&year=2024R3&sscv=MN&sscvsd=desc

It’s exhausting being surrounded by all the negativity both from burnt out teachers and the world in general. So I’ve started writing down one positive a week. And I don’t mean “oh the ‘bad’ student was out this week” or “I survived.” But I’m trying to bring light to all the little nice things that are said in my classroom or things that happen that I may overlook or miss because I’m focused on discipline or admin, etc. just thought I’d see if anyone else does this?

Our school has been on an ESSA improvement plan based on poor test scores for our special education students and poor attendance for the same students. We’ve been on it a few years and I honestly don’t see how we’re ever going to drastically change our metrics. I’m not saying there is not room for our staff as a school to improve, but I’d argue that being a Title I school with a low socioeconomic population, large multilingual population, and transient student population are all contributing factors that are hard to overcome. It feels like we’re just jumping through hoops having these meetings, making more forms, when the real solution would probably be increased staffing and home support. Like we’re set up for failure. Anyone else on a ESSA improvement plan now or in the past? Is there a way for it to end?

OUR SCHOOLS ARE CRITICALLY UNDERSTAFFED! Tell the state to: FUND OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS! Tell our district to: STOP shrinking staff, STOP wasting funds, STOP covering up the staffing crisis!

Staff development days are great days to protest. No harm done to our students and we can still make our voices heard!

I want some imput and advice. I teach 9th grade Art 1, inner city public school and I'm in my 2nd year of teaching. This year has been going well so far with kids wanting to try more challenging art. I noticed the students use a website to create an AI image of their ideas in the most recent project. We are about to talk about references and how to use them creatively. I really want to talk about trying to find real photos/ taking your own photos/ looking at expert artists as references.

My thing I need advice on is how to go about the lesson/ discussion. The primary problem I am facing is even if they look up images on like Google or Pinterest it is oversaturated with AI already and they cannot distinguish the difference.

1. Is Art 1 appropriate for a discussion on AI (like the students understanding it or should it be an Art 2 discussion with students who are more invested in their own art.)
2. How to go about discussing references and how to use them.

3.How do you navigate AI art in your classes? 4.Do you have websites you use for real images and references? ( I'll take all of them from human anatomy to landscapes)

Thank you! I really appreciate your help on this topic :)

I am a first year teacher at a private school in Alabama. I’m hoping to move to a public school next school year but with me having an emergency teaching cert I’m not sure how easy that will be.

My BA is in education just the non-cert program and I’m currently in my MA degree to get my certification!

As the title suggests, I’m a first year teacher and as I’m sitting and doing my report cards I feel like 1. I’m not doing enough and 2. Like the scores I’m seeing aren’t a direct result of what I’m teaching and I’m giving their positive scores an excuse that it’s not coming from me.

All my students have grown in their words per minute from when I first got them and I know which kids always have tested good and have continued to test well but yet I feel like I’m letting them down. I feel like I’m seeing all the 4s and 3s on their report cards as a success but I feel like it isn’t from my teaching or what I do in class. I know it’s weird but I just can’t give myself the credit for it. Sometimes I’ll do a lesson and just think of how disengaged they were or how bad it went and then when it’s time to test I get the results and am shocked at the positive scores. The students who entered my class knowing a lot continue to show me that, the students who are very low continue to be low, and I have some students that have shown improvement from when they started. Am I crazy for feeling this way? Has anyone else felt this way?

Hey everyone, so I don’t know how to deal with this or what to take from this but I have about 4 boys in my class who always want to be near me, work near me, sit near me, help me, and everything else they can with me. My class is heavily leaned towards the boy side but the other kids don’t swarm me as much as these kids do and I don’t know why. I know they always say that being a man and a teacher is good because it’s a positive male figure in their life but they all have fathers and from what I see are all given emotional support, love, and attention at home. The best thing about this they’re my 4 smartest kids in class who always listen and go back to their seats when they swarm me but they also complain if one of them gets something they don’t like helping me pass out papers or even if I pick one of them to give an answer I always hear “you always pick him not me.” Has anyone else experienced this? What do I do?

A co-worker of mine who just graduated from their credential program last year did not get her contract renewed. When she was freaking out, I frantically told her I would write her a letter of recommendation. She emailed me last night cc'ing admin asking if I would deliver on writing a letter.

But in retrospect, I don't actually want to write a letter. She was a terrible teacher who set our kids back in math skills by a mile and triggered tension and friction in our department. I have nothing good to say.

What do I do?

About two weeks ago, we had an unexpected fire drill. Student, who tends to have sensory aversions to loud noises, seemed fine during it. Was calm, and didn’t have any trouble with transition afterward. Normally, we would be aware of the drill and be able to prep the student by getting their headphones and (if possible) having a staff member bring them out right before. Additionally, admin didn’t think it was necessary to contact parents about it because the students iep didn’t have a communication request, and admin felt the student would just tell the parents. (Spoiler alert, they didn’t and parents didn’t know till a few days later.

The next day we had a snow day.

Thursday, student came to school okay, but once in the classroom, began crying. We tried our usual methods of consoling, but ended up calling mom and student was picked up. Parents kept them home Friday, thinking maybe they were getting sick as this wasn’t normal behavior.

Everyday since, the student has had issues in class. Crying, not listening, yelling, hitting, kicking, etc. We’ve offered headphones and they rip them off and throw them.

We’ve been in contact with mom trying to figure out ways to get them comfortable at school again. Mom has also said the student has become fixated on fire alarms, pointing them out everywhere and getting upset.

Before this, they loved coming to class. Was always happy, energetic, and loved playing with the other students. It’s like a complete 180 in behavior.

I know there’s probably really obvious tools I’m not thinking of, but does anybody have any suggestions?? I don’t want them to have a crappy rest of the year, or have a fear of fire alarms for the rest of their life.

What are your personal indicators that it’s time to make a big switch?

So, the data got back from MAP testing and my state, as well as most of them, scored significantly below standard. For my class, I teach 6th grade math teacher at a public school. Every homeroom I have scored collectively on average at a 3rd grade reading and math level.

Our school currently has no RTI periods available for students, and I am stuck having to adhere to common core teaching which includes ratios, exponents, introduction to algebra, etc when these kids don't know their times tables, and didn't know how to divide until THIS YEAR.

Now, for my state, our school scored on average with other 6th graders in the state. We all know public education is drastically failing the kids affected by covid years, but I'm wondering if there are any private school teachers that have been able to revise their curriculums to meet their class where they are? I guess I'm trying to gauge how much public education holds our kids back compared to private schools where the curriculums are more flexible. If you are a private school teacher who has been able to adjust your curriculum to meet where your kids are, has that been successful for you? What has that looked like?

This is the 4th public school I've worked at (all title 1). Every class I have ever had has been 50% or more of IEP or spec ed kids, but they honestly all need a plan at this point. In my state, there are currently only special cases allowed for holding kids back a grade. But honestly, I can only think about 4-5 kids who should realistically move on from 6th grade. How many other teachers are feeling pretty hopeless about being able to help get their kids up to date?

In my first period class, I’m supposed to have 13 students. I regularly have 3, and I never have more than 5.

How do I deal with this, emotionally?

(Educationally, I don’t care. I put the shit online. You either do it or don’t, idgaf.)

But what are some ways to handle this? I try going in with the mentality that I’m not there to teach a class; I’m there to teach the two sweethearts who actually care to learn.

It’s pretty draining and it makes it hard to care when the majority of my students never show up.

Tips for coping?

I’m a GSA advisor and teacher in a blue/red suburban Ohio district. Currently drafting an email to my district admin to ask how the process is going on creating local guidelines for staff and students. I want to “manage up” so they create policy that protects kids. Would love any advice or questions I should ask. To be clear, I’m generally happy with their work. Their ICE letter was about as good as they can do given the 50/50 split of the district. They know what best practice is and they are limited by local politics.

TIA

Hello educators, I am a highschool senior who got accepted into colleges for social science to become a teacher, this way I get my credential during college and am teaching right away. I just don't know for sure though, I like teaching others, and I like social sciences, but I just am worried I am setting myself up for meh pay for the rest of my life, pay that will force my future wife to work and not just me. I also am worried that I am biased as someone that goes to school and sees teachers everyday and whose dad is a teacher, I see their lives and feel good about them, but I just don't know. I see my friends be like "I'm going into finance!" and I get being good with numbers, but how did they get the inspiration to be like "wow I just wanna look at spreadsheets everyday and talk about profits" how did a job like that seem good to them, because I fear that there's a job I have never heard of that's just gonna pop on my radar in 30 years and ill be like "that's the dream job, good pay and its the stuff I love doing" but by then I have already decided my life for the most part. How do I know this is for me and there isn't a dream job around the corner. Does anyone have any thoughts about their personal experience or want to tell me what life is like as a teacher.

For specifics: I am currently working towards being a highschool social science teacher in California, and although I would be going to school in San Diego, I would likely have to move to a smaller town (unless I find a sugar mommy.) I hate math, like the facts and stuff about science, but not the math, I like computers and tech, but none of the coding behind it. But, I also like history and psych a lot, but don't love research or case studies so psych major would not be fun in that regard, I am good at economics although it takes a while for me to learn, because its fairly confusing at times. Yeah I like teaching my peers, family, friends, I am the go-to free school tutor and I love caring for my little siblings. My dad is a teacher and is successful but I am worried because he was being paid early wages of a teacher in a time where things were much cheaper and he could get a house, whereas for me that kind of purchasing power wont come until I am towards the end of my career and I would likely have to rent for most of my life.

Idk I feel like teaching has always been a passion over pay thing, but we are at a point where I will NEED another income to have a family, and I don't want to kick myself in the future for something I decide today.

Thanks to any help