Additional software, gamification? Your experience? I have only one week to prepare class. Need ideas - thank you!

I have 29 6th grade students, and 6 of them are breezing through our regular curriculum. What do you do with a group like that? I want to challenge them, and I think they could handle much more challenging stuff, but I don't know how to balance that with the rest of the curriculum, and the other 23 kids.

I'm a second year teacher, and last year the kids were just barely hanging on, so I didn't really have this issue arise.

I appreciate any suggestions!

This is primarily math, though they do pretty well in other subjects as well.

Kids screwing around most of class and then all copying each other to turn in a lab. Rushed. Illegible. I grade them accordingly, but it doesnt seem o do much.

Hello,
The curriculum my school uses (HMH Into Reading) has us (4th grade) using a historical fiction text that uses the phrase “colored people.”
It is my first year and I am the only 4th grade teacher, so I do not have a grade level team to consult. What would be the best way to address the use of this phrase in the story to help the students understand that it is no longer appropriate to use? Should I float the situation by my principal to see what she thinks, or am I just overthinking this whole situation?
Thank you for any opinions and advice. I keep going back and forth on what the best way to handle this piece of curriculum would be.

New teacher and idk how to be less anxious/stressed, especially when my admin is strict

First year high school math teacher… Any advice to help with the exhaustion. I’m on the verge of falling asleep at about 7 pm every night and the self care is definitely lacking. I’m too tired to wash my hair, do laundry, or cook most nights. Any advice? The caffeine isn’t working anymore 😂😂 Starting to feel like I don’t have a life outside of teaching.

This is my 4th year teaching middle school math(7th grade). I had a really great group of students last year and really enjoyed the job. Towards the end of last year I felt that I could keep doing this job for awhile and was enthusiastic for the future. My new group this year is much tougher, the students are much more childish and lacking in conflict resolution skills and general emotional regulation. My days are exhausting. Last year I was praised for my classroom management skills, this year my management is just not working even though I’m doing all of the same things as the year before and even some extra honestly. I feel like looking for a new career path because I’m so exhausted at the end of everyday, and it’s still never enough. Is this a blip where I’m just not connecting as well with these students? Some people say to wait it out til year 5 and you’ll feel truly confident with everything, is that true? I get that some years I won’t connect as well with the students, but having to spend a whole year with a group that drains me this much has been such a challenge. If this happens every couple years even that feels unsustainable long term. I guess I’m looking for advice, have you had years that sucked, how did you get through those years? How often have you had years like that? Is this just not the path for me if I can’t make it work with all students?

Middle School teachers: Are you assigning only in-class essays at this point, or are any allowed to be done at home? I am a middle school English teacher, and I have only done in-class essays so far this year.

My coworker ended up going on maternity leave a month earlier than planned due to medically required bed rest. (so excited for her to have her baby. this frustration is not aimed at her at all). so the long-term sub came in without any training as I understand it. she is constantly late to recess duty and specials due to problems with behavior management. she did not know how to grade or enter in grades. when I shared our first grade teams selected grades for the quarters along with rubrics to her and our instructional coaches. I was told to explain it to her and it turned into me helping her grade for 4 hours of my own time after school. report cards are coming up and I'm super nervous that my whole teacher work day is going to be spent helping her. I feel like I shouldn't have to do this. what is the expectation for team members to help a long-term sub? who do I go to if I am putting in too much work to tell that she needs support?

Hi all,

So, I’m an elementary school teacher. My last school was a nightmare in many ways. My principal truly did not like me. I am convinced that this principal thrives on intimidating staff, being “powerful,” and making people feel uncomfortable. Not to mention, the support was lacking, but so many things became “my fault.” The stress of the job built up inside of me, and ultimately made me suicidal. My heart was broken because I had only ever wanted to be the best teacher I could be. The job that I had always wanted almost killed me.

I ended up hospitalized due to this situation, and somehow, my principal found this information out. Unfortunately, it’s a small town and everyone finds out everything. I wasn’t granted tenure and was forced to leave the district. Even though the job made me completely miserable, the fact that I lost my source of income with no back-up plan also made me spiral and I had to call 988 multiple times.

Fast forward to now, I’m in a much better school environment. Every school has its stressors, but I feel like this environment is much more manageable and healthy. Administration is much more supportive. However, at least 2-3 times per week, I find myself having nightmares where I am back in my old school and interacting with my old principal. I’ve had nightmares that consist of me being “disciplined” by my old principal over ridiculous things. The other night, I woke up nearly in tears after one of these nightmares. Has anyone been through something similar? How long does it take for the brain to forget the toxic work environment?

So I am a 2nd year PE teacher at the elementary school level and I had a pop up not a informal observation just a random pop up with 7 people in my gym some from the admin team some from the county. I got a response from the admin saying I wasn’t teaching which I don’t get. The kids were learning how to carry a football since it’s football season I demonstrated how to carry a football had a kid come up and demonstrate it and also made sure each kid knew the proper way to hold a football. I also do something called the word of the day which ties into the lesson the word of the day was fumble and I explained we carry a ball like this to reduce your chances in fumbling. I’m very confused and this is my 2nd time my admin team said I wasn’t teaching…. Didn’t have this problem last year but this year I do and I teacher the same way. I feel like my admin team really doesn’t support me and nitpick at everything now, like they gave me a 2 on of my observations because they said I should add a word wall IN THE GYM!!

Good morning everyone, and happy Saturday. I just wanted to share the horrors I saw during my last run of parent conferences. I work in LAUSD at a title one priority school. During parents conferences in this area you often meet your future students, as parents bring the little along. Well, each time a parent brought a little, they shoved an iPad or phone in their face to keep them quiet. I saw it happen time and time again. I even put color pencils and paper on the desk, they never get used. Why color when play Roblox? Anyways as I said before, many of these kids will be my future students in a few years. LAUSD has reduced screen time, making my job honestly harder as I’m only given two reams of paper a week. After paper conferences I realized the damn district, who doesn’t give a damn about these kids, does more to reduce screen time than parents. I realize now I’m kid of just venting and losing the plot, so I’m going to end it here. Cheers to the future?

I’m an American teacher who’s spent most of my career overseas, and lately I’ve been thinking pretty seriously about moving back to the US

I taught English conversation/simple essay writing etc in South Korean high schools for eight years. I have a bachelor’s degree in Professional Writing, completed the Moreland/Teach-Now alternative certification program, and an Illinois Professional Educator License in secondary ELA.

This year I finally made the jump from ESL/conversation teaching to secondary ELA at an international school. I teach six periods a day with five different preps, one being AP Lang. I really like the subjects and the age group, but im drowning. Part of me wonders if I’d have a better experience teaching ELA in the US with some mentorship? I’m not sure if that actually exists in schools, though.

I’ve also been finding myself longing for America lately. I’ve loved living abroad, but after so many years overseas, I’m getting tired. Traveling doesn’t excite me the way it used to (I know, what a privilege). I’m 37, and I think I’m just ready to settle somewhere, build a community, have a stable career, and hopefully put down some roots.

I’m considering Illinois because I’m already licensed there, Missouri because I have aging family there (although living with them isn’t an option), and Washington or Oregon because I have access to free housing in Seattle or Portland. I’m not sure whether Washington or Oregon would accept my alternative certification, though.

The whole idea of moving back is pretty intimidating. I’m worried about finding a job, securing housing, figuring out health insurance, and potentially being unemployed for a while. One nice thing about international teaching is that so much of that is taken care of for you. I have some savings, but I really don’t want to burn through them trying to get established.

I also have no idea how to approach the job search from overseas. Should I be applying for licenses in other states before looking for jobs? Can I realistically apply to districts and interview while I’m still abroad?

I guess I’m just looking for general advice. Is this a realistic move? Anything you’d recommend doing now to make the transition easier?

Tldr: American teacher abroad for years, currently struggling with the transition from ESL to ELA. Thinking about returning to the US to teach

I’m a newer high school teacher and it’s my first year teaching AP classes to juniors. I’ve got 2 requests for a letter of recommendation and I’m not sure where to start! I’m a solid writer, but my confusion is how to phrase a letter of recommendation for these kids applying to UCs and state schools. Does anyone have any templates or websites with inspiration (no ai please!) that you consistently use or a general phrasing/flow of how you order your paragraphs? They’ve both given me incredibly detailed academic resumés, so should I be pulling from those specifics or purely speaking from my first person point of view of their academic performance? I just need an outline to get me going! Thanks for any tips!! :)

Explanation Rant

I have been teaching in Philadelphia for four years now (4 1/2 if you count student teaching). I have taught African American History, US history, World History and 9th grade English and I am tired and miserable.

I am sick of being overworked putting on multiple hats, I am sick of the negativity from colleagues, who complain about the same stuff day in and day out. I am sick of not having my own classroom or even my own space. I am sick of not having a key to lock the door in the case of an emergecny. I am sick the same arguments, PDs, and fights year after year like clockwork. This year I feel drained and miserable. I feel like I am back to my first year. Unable to eat, anxiety attacks. I am now at the point where I feel wired and angry all the time and I don't like it.

Three preps and no real classroom is putting me down (I admit I did ask for it though) I am also working with data and another group of teachers to try keep the tenth grade class on track to graduate. Also, the lack of space to do anything is getting old.

Done Rant.
Anyway I am looking for schools outside of Philly to teach in. Ideally I would like to stay close near my family but will move if need be. Here are my questions for leaving.

1. How bad is the market right now?

Are we in a teacher shortage or a student shortage? Philadelphia just closed 17 schools so I am nervous about leaving thinking I am competing with a lot other teachers. That is one thing that is keeping me hesitant to jump ship.

2. Is my background going to be a hinderance or benefit?

I have four years experience and would like to stay on the payscale. I also have a Master's Degree in education and a Bachelor's in History. Will this make me look experienced in the eyes of potential hires or am I tainted by my years of experience?

Should I get an English cert?

I taught 9th grade English on an Emergency certification but have since not taken it. I now teach a Mythology course I designed from scratch alongside my two other history preps. Would being dual certified help at all?

The recent post on this subreddit ( https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/s/cVxoBFuS84 ) made me think... I worked at schools where at some point in the school year a principal would dress up as a hot dog and then students would pour mustard and ketchup on them. It was not a fundraiser. I also saw a video where some schools duct tape the teachers to the wall and allow students to keep on adding duct tape. This WAS a fundraiser. Regardless of it involving money or not - how is this not demeaning? I can't wrap my brain around it. I did not grow up in the USA and in my country teachers used to be respected (not anymore though). What is it teaching our students?

From autumn 2028, Swedish students will be graded under a new system. The new grading scale will have 10 steps (1-10); the lowest grade will be 1, and the highest will be 10. Grades below 4 are for when standards are not met. At the end of year 10 in the obligatory school, final national exams in five subjects (Swedish, English, Mathematics, one random Science and one random Social Science subject) will be held. These final tests will not be graded locally, but by the Swedish School Agency, and the results will not be known before the teachers have submitted their grades.

The next step in Swedish education, upper secondary, is tracked and at new schools (gymnasium). Students will compete for a place using their merit, a combination of their grades and the results on their finals. Finals will be worth 30% of the merit to ensure attendance. Grades will be worth 70%, but the grades will be calibrated first. This is done by comparing the combined mean grade of the finals for all students and the mean grade for all students at the school. The calculation is a bit more complex, but basically the difference between the school finals mean grade and the mean grade of the school will reduce/increase the grades of each subject for a student.

Sounds complicated, right? Let's give a few examples,

At A's school, the mean of all grades of all the students in his year is 6.7. However, the mean of the finals for all students turns out to be 7.5, a difference of .8 . Then all of A's grades will have 0.8 added for the calculation of the merits.

At B's school, the mean of the grades is also 6.7, but the mean of the finals is 5.2 instead. The difference of 1.5 will be deducted from all of B's grades when calculating the merit.

The same grading scale and similar finals systems will also be used in upper secondary education.

What do you think? Do you think this is a system that will reduce grade inflation? Is it good or bad?

I’m moving to Illinois with an ESL K-12 state so I would start with a PEL in that. Should I apply with just that? Or should I take a couple Pearson exams where I could add history/English to my credentials?

I know more certs means more hireable but would that really put me in a good situation? Or could I wind up teaching 3 different things one year and make life stressful for myself?

i am a college student working for a nonprofit that places us in different underserved schools to serve as classroom support/teacher aide. my class is 5th graders and the girls in particular have taken a liking to me very quickly. one of them has an older sister who is also a college student in the area. she has said several times “you remind me so much of my sister,” “you and my sister would be best friends.” the sister is a nail tech. the girl showed me her nails and said her sister does them and that she has a tik tok i should check out. i wasn’t sure if it was appropriate so i repeatedly tried to brush it off but she wrote down her sister’s account on a post-it and gave it to me.

would it be inappropriate to book my student’s sister for a nail appointment ? i know i am not allowed to get my students’ contact info at all, which makes sense, but does this also apply to booking a service with her sister after the student gave her tik tok to me ?

edit: thank you all ! i simply get paranoid abt what is acceptable or not since i am autistic with social anxiety. i will book her sister😌

How on earth do you not get buried in work each week and weekend? Last year I was at a public school and always got behind. This year I'm at a private school that is super rigorous. Each week and weekend I'm always behind and doing work! The past 2 weeks I've been staying up till 1 am getting caught up(family emergency caused me to get behind) and even though I WORKED every second I wasn't teaching in front of my kids or helping one of them, I still ended up bringing work home. I'm both sure what to do. I truly love teaching but the grading, the planning, the keeping track of the random little things. Not to mention being on a 2nd-ish year teacher, at a new school and a private school after only working in title 1 public school for 7 years. Needless to say I'm getting burned out and I don't want to be this burned out already and it's not even November. I don't want to fail at this job and I don't want to fail at being a good teacher for my kids. But man I cannot keep bringing work home every freaking night and weekend. I truly don't know hoe other teachers find balance. Even if I did this for 10 years I don't know how I'd find a balance. Someone help!​​

First year HS teacher here. It's only October and my mental health is struggling. I am generally a positive person, and feel like my interactions and instruction with students is usually good! However, all of my coworkers seem to have a super negative attitude and gossip about eachother a lot, and I am feeling anxious and sad at work most of the time. I know that the state of education in our country (U.S.) is not great, and I am not trying to invalidate anyone's feelings. Is this normal for the first year of teaching? Is there anything that I can do to help my workplace culture? Any advice is welcome.

I am a teacher from Norway working at a school where the majority of the students perform below grade-level. I’ve found that direct instruction (not necessary Direct Instruction with capital letters) gives my students a better chance at learning more. It’s just a shame that our school more often than not promotes methods that are the antithesis to the method. Luckily here in Norway we can choose our own methods. Any similar experiences?

Currently I’m a student teacher who’s been hired to be the long-term sub for one of the art teachers at my placement, as they left early in the school year to go work somewhere else. Eventually when I graduate in December, I’m meant to take over as the new art teacher. When I initially sought this opportunity, the now former art teacher told me they’d do their best to clean the room before I came in.

Long story short- they didn’t. The room is a mess. I don’t even know what’s in there, or where I’d find anything I might want to use. Not only that, but I’m expected to clean up the room sometime BEFORE summer. Not during summer, when I’d have free time and would be getting paid appropriately, but sometime DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR.

This might have been fine, if not for the fact that I have zero curriculum prepared for the classes this art teacher taught. So now I’m trying to prepare lessons for three different classes (all with different curriculum), finish out my student teaching, AND clean up this awful room.

Luckily some of the students have agreed to help me clean up the room as a chill final project time (Studio Maintenance as I’ve decided to call it), but I’m still incredibly annoyed.

Has anyone recently taken the Middle School Math MTEL? The practice test is so incredibly hard and the only person in real life who I know has taken it told me that it is very different from the practice test but she unfortunately doesn't remember anything that was on it.

Obviously, I don't want to know what was exactly on it - I would just love to hear your experience and whether you found it easier or harder than the practice test that is available.

Yesterday, I found out that I passed my WL Praxis. I’m an emergency-certified teacher and have been stressed about getting into a cert program and also the imposter syndrome of not being "qualified" to teach the language I do. Well, I can’t say that I’m not qualified now :)