Second grade. Have been having issues with him for weeks. He’s on a behavior plan, MTSS, 504, whatever. All the things.

He threw a chair at my head today for trying to get him to engage in a phonics lesson. It hit me hard in the neck and collarbone. Admin came and took him. He was back in my room in two hours. His consequences were the office visit, parent phone call, and he had to write me an apology letter.

My neck hurts. I’ve never had a child injure me before. I have two other students on behavior plans who are aggressive with each other.

I went to a scheduled leadership meeting after school and neither the principal nor the AP said a word to me or asked if I was okay. I’m not.

I’d appreciate any words of encouragement or advice, I guess.

Some days I don’t know what we are doing until I get in my room in the morning. Some days I’m actually planned out. But I never have time in the day and weekends I really need for my own life. Am I the only one just winging it?

— Kid is blowing up robots or monsters or whatever in their “educational game.” This might go on for a good while without any questions being asked to the student.

— A question finally pops up on the screen. Kid switches to another tab, looks up question with AI, and answers it. Rinse and repeat.

— Kids asked about this will just shrug and say: “Nobody really reads the questions. We just play the game.”

— And yet consultants and administrators hype up these programs because “Look at all the points they have! They love it! They’re learning so much!”

What the hell is going on!?

Seems like the new trend is to ragebait the teacher if you don't want to be in class or can't understand the material that day because you can't read in 9th grade. It's gotten so bad this year. Every day I come to work and expect to have a few students whose entire mission is to aggressively ragebait me until they get their desired negative attention.

I try to ignore it. It gets worse. Today, I did that and a girl flipped over an entire table because I was ignoring her screaming my name for over 15 minutes.

I don't understand this. I would have never done this to a teacher. I didn't want to be noticed.

Is this isolated just to me?

Step 1: Teachers use AI to ceate formative assignments without the AI's output being reviewed let alone modified for their specific teaching style.

Step 2: Students use AI to do the assignment without reading it / attempting to complete it themselves first, without limiting AI usage to analyzing their work.

Step 3: Teachers use AI to grade those assignments and/or to write responses to the student, without the student's work being read by that teacher, without the AI's grading being verified by that teacher, and/or without the AI's responses being reviewed by that teacher.

Rinse and repeat.

One of my kids came in today, saw his grade on his short story and I could see him holding back tears. Like on one hand, I know he put a lot of time and energy into it and I felt bad seeing his reaction. But his story was the lowest grade I gave so far because there were so many convention mistakes, no quotation marks around dialogue, and he had a paragraph that ran for 2 pages without any sort of paragraph break.

So it was difficult to even try reading it, but then seeing his reaction, I felt a bad.

They're going to get a chance to revise their stories, so he's not stuck with that grade.

I've seen the scores, assignments, and even my own test scores. I'm giving my students grade-level-appropriate assignments.

These are things my students did just fine with last year in US History.

They just... don't want to do it. That's what I'm running into.

I'll check in with students and ask what's going on, and they'll say, "Yeah, I'll do it tonight."

I had one student I brought up to other teachers, and I was told, "No, he's doing well in my class." So I asked him what was going on, and he said, "Oh, I just hate history, so I don't want to do it."

"You do know you have to take this class again if you fail, right?"

"Nah. I'll figure it out."

I've always been someone who believes that avoidance usually points to some kind of academic issue. Maybe the work is too hard, maybe they're struggling with reading, maybe there's something else going on. But I'm running into a lot of students who seem to genuinely be saying, "Nah. No thanks."

I mean, I'm failing them. It is what it is. Messages went out to parents, and I've moved on with my life. But I'm honestly baffled by how many students don't seem to care enough to even make a bare-minimum attempt. Hell, some of them won't even try to cheat.

Has anyone else been running into this? Is this just a motivation issue, or am I missing something bigger here?

Thats pretty much it, I’m sure you’ve all read the news, as it seems to be all over various news outlets, at least in CA. The former student attempted suicide, failed (at the time), and is now on life support for the time being. I really am at a loss for everyone involved, it doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know if it’s supposed to make sense. All I know is that two families have been ripped apart by this, and I can’t help but feel bad for the parents involved. As a parent, you have every opportunity to keep your children safe, it’s also just as easy to fuck it all up. Anyway that’s it, I just needed to vent to strangers on Reddit!

I am a high school Earth and Environmental Science teacher in the US. For the past 2 weeks, we have been doing a lot of graphing and analysis of temperature data. Today, after 2 weeks of this, I asked them how they would calculate the difference between two temperatures. Out of a room of 28 kids, the only one to answer said, "add?"

It took myself and my co-teacher 4 different times explaining what we were asking them to do for them to grasp that they needed to subtract one temperature from the other. In the past 2 weeks, I've seen this happen many times. Asking them to calculate the difference should, in theory, trigger them thinking "difference: subtraction" but that association is clearly not happening. They are also incapable of setting up graphs and plotting a few points on a graph. They seem somewhat capable of READING graphs, but actually doing the work is where they get tripped up.

Of course, this isn't all of my students. Some of them are figuring it out without the multiple prompts and hints. But I'd say it's around 70% of my students who can't do these basic word problems on their own.

What's happening here? Is there some deficit in the math curriculum? Is it COVID? I don't want to shame them, but at a certain point this should be embarrassing for them. I also do not have time to go back and teach them basic math. It feels impossible to get them to be able to do meaningful analysis if they're not capable of very basic problem solving.

If someone hasn’t already, I’m sure soon enough an insurance broker will visit your school to talk to all of the new teachers. They’ll be super duper nice and try to sell you on a “risk-free guaranteed lifetime income” after retirement. Do not fall for it. These annuities charge massive annual fees, grow very very little, and can severely limit how your retirement contributions are invested.

If you’re already in one, roll it to an IRA, even if you’re still within the surrender period.

Just a friendly PSA to my teachers out there :)

Wanted to get a consensus on this, but I went to an Olive Garden over the weekend and then my TA asked me if I went to Olive Garden this morning on Monday, I say yes and ask how they know. So apparently, a student (but not one of mine) was there at the restaurant and took photos of me and then posted it to their TikTok. I teach middle school, so many students have phones, but they are not allowed to have them out on campus under any circumstances.

I don’t want this to be a witch hunt of me tracking down a student and truthfully I don’t care that much about it, but has anyone else encountered this? What was the course of action? It does make me slightly concerned for my other coworkers who are maybe more private.

I teach 11-12th grade earth science. It’s an on level science elective credit, so most need it to graduate. We have “notes” days where I lecture, maybe once or twice a week. I tried to tell my students if they can give me 20 minutes of their silence to fill out notes they will have the rest of the class to chat quietly and get anything down from the slides. I have to post the slides online to meet accommodation requirements, and I do graded notebook checks maybe a couple times each 9 weeks. Around half my students quietly fill out notes with their laptop, a handful follow along without their laptop, and the other half just sit there and do nothing. I tell them, at least be respectful of those taking notes and (in nicer terms) shut up until im done. Today two boys were talking not even within 30 seconds of me giving the direction, and i asked them to move away. I told my class if they could not be quiet to expect a seating chart tomorrow. This kid, after telling him to move, gets so defensive saying I am only picking on him and not the other students talking (I was) and then went on about how nobody cares what im teaching about anyways and all of this is meaningless. I have been trying so hard not to let negative talk bother me but it just was so blatantly disrespectful - not even to mention the fact that he and this other student (along with multiple female students they are friends with in another one of my classes) basically block the entire hall around my classroom every single day during 12 minute passing period, and I have to tell them to move EVERY SINGLE DAY. Trust me, I have some amazing students but its maybe 20% of my student body, an overwhelming 50% either are blatantly disrespectful, rude, skip, dont give a shit, or all of the above. I love my course, I love when I can actually teach, but the mixture of students and how the course is designed makes that near impossible. I’m just the shmuck at the front of the classroom.

Just complete entitlement and disrespect and admin has already made friends with these kids that I have seen multiple behavior referrals get ignored in favor of phone referrals. There is no avenue for discipline and I just have to take the disrespect daily, as kicking them out would be good for them as they love to skip and roam the halls anyways. It is so goddamn bad this year. Oh and better yet the school SRO is also best friends with all these kids and basically encourage the hall blocking behavior as he WANTS them to speak to him about gossip or whatever.

7th grade ELA teacher here. Classroom management has always been my strength except for this year. Here’s what I’ve tried:

- Expectations are posted
- Assigned seats (several times)
- Pods then moved into rows
- Contact parents regularly
- Redirect behavior
- Reflection sheet
- Calm corner
- Mini lessons to maximize time working on a task

What we can’t do:
- Take away recess
- Assign detention

What have you tried that works? I’m genuinely going crazy.

I teach preschool. (Ik I’m not a ‘real teacher’ I just thought this was the best place to ask lol.) Last week a child sneezed and I responded “bless you.” I got the dirtiest looks from 3 BHTs standing near. I’m not even religious; that’s just what I’ve heard my entire life when someone sneezes. Is saying bless you to a child wrong/bad/not socially acceptable?

This momfluencer account was just recommended to me and from what I can tell, her brand is mostly telling IEP parents how to fight with teachers for accommodations. And then there’s this post. Basically, she writes how impossible it is to be a perfect mom to a neurodivergent child when you have -gasp- ONE other child?? And society should stop trying to make her feel bad for not following the typical recommended accommodations because it’s actually impossible to meet TWO totally different need sets in the same household?? Girl now imagine that plus 30 other kids. Obviously not to say it’s not hard to be a mom, just that the double standards from what this type of parent expect from themselves vs others are insane.

Editing to say: she’s right! It is impossible to meet even two different sets of needs correctly. I’m only roasting her because she seems to be profiting off of taking teachers to task for the same thing.

So in past schools I’ve worked in - I’ve always made blookets to review with in addition to study guides. I always provide google forms after the test asking students what they primarily used to study. 99% of the time, the answer was “mostly blooket”. I spend a lot of time making my study guides, key terms, big ideas, study questions, rather than just giving them the information. The idea is that students will go through the process of actually studying - relying on the work they’ve done (ex the notes they’ve taken an kept organized, the work they’ve completed etc). When I realized they were just drilling the blooket, I thought to myself “what am I teaching them here? That their teachers should essentially do their studying for them, and they click through this premade game until they memorize the content?”.

In light of this, I’ve done away with the blookets this year, and my students are genuinely angry and confused why I would do this. “All my other teachers do it” “it’s how I study best!”. Heard this a million times over the last week.

My study guides are robust, but require students to 1) to have taken good notes and kept materials organized, and 2)put in the effort of studying to actually get something out of them. I told them they are free to make their own quizlets/blookets/kahoots if they’d like, but that this is how it’s going to me in this class.

I’ll grade their tests later this week and have more data to go on then, but wanted to ask for your opinions.

Is this a hill worth standing on? Should I just go back to doing the legwork for them in their studying and make them blookets? Do I have a fundamental misunderstanding of what studying means🤦‍♂️?

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks! (10th/11th grade history for context!)

Edit: I do make jeopardy review games for in class, but that’s it in terms of gamified studying!

Okay so my school has several "Don't smoke" posters and that's fine and all but students aren't smoking, they are vaping. And vaping is very not good for your lungs. While in theory it's better than smoking, you can always have it in your pocket, and you are vaping much more than you would be smoking. So please don't go commenting "It's actually good that these kids are vaping".

Anyway, we all know that a lot of students are vaping. And these are children as young as 12 who are coming into first year already vaping. And they are vaping not only in bathrooms but in hallways when they think teachers aren't looking. If I turn to write something on the board behind me at least three will take a quick puff. And it smells like literal shit. And its so disrespectful to the students who don't vape, and me. And the ones who vape are always less focused and more likely to get rowdy. And the vape companies KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING! No adult is buying a cotton candy blueberry bubblegum flavored vape. It is preventing other students from paying attention and slowing down my teaching.

I feel like there's noting I can do about it. I wouldn't care if it weren't an issue, I just want to teach my class. In the last class before Halloween break (we get a week off) we all do an atmospheric reading of the raven by Edgar Allen Poe (they have the break to annotate it and write a short essay about what the raven is a metaphor for (or if it's just a metaphor for nothing) before we come back) and we have the lights low and I put on some rain sounds. Usually the students enjoy it, but this year one of the students began vaping in the back of the class and breathing it out towards the students around them, mostly good students who just wanted to read and listen. So I had to go down and tell them to stop, and they said "My body my choice" and I pointed out that there were people around them who didn't want to vape and didn't want her puffing it in their faces and sent them down to the principle. And the vibe wasn't the same after that. No doubt they'll be doing it again next week while I have to correct essays about why the raven is a metaphor for the narrators bad reading choices generated by ChatGPT.

Sorry for a little rant there.

This is humorous at this point😂 I’ve had three walkthroughs so far and EVERY ONE has been the LAST period of the day in the LAST 10 minutes of the period. One of them was on a Friday too😂 I’m sorry but if you’re going to walk into my class at the end of the day every time then you’re going to get what you get and not throw a fit😂 students almost steamrolled my AP leaving the classroom because the final bell rang while he was still in there. Probably going to get a “no exit procedure” comment😂

Last Friday a student grabbed me and body slammed me in the lunch room and then proceeded to pour chocolate milk on me I am done teaching in inner city Baltimore!!!

I've been in the corporate world for almost 15 years and I can't do it anymore. I'm a project manager and I spent 60 hours a week staring at spreadsheets so I can please executives that I've never met. I desperately want to do something that feels meaningful, and for as long as I can remember I've wanted to be a teacher. I loved volunteer tutoring when I was in college, but I went the corporate route because I thought I'd make more money. Technically, I suppose that's true, but I've made enough money. Now I want to be a middle school science teacher.

The thing is, I don't think I can realistically quit my day job in order to go back to school for a teaching certificate. My wife is a SAHM for another year until our youngest starts school. So I'm the primary breadwinner and need to keep my full-time teaching position.

Has anyone here done a similar(ish) career change? How did you bridge the gap?

Forgot to mention I'm in California in case that's relevant.

i dont want to be that teacher who argues with children how do i reduce verbal conflict and increase harmony and respect in my classroom when most of my kids want to argue?

First of all, when I say should, I mean morally and logically, in a perfect world. I think most of us veterans can agree that there is so much money wasted in Texas districts with bloated administrations, purchasing of resources that aren’t properly vetted and pushed by flawed studies, and on campus positions that, at the very least, are not providing high returns on investment (if any).

Because of that, the first place administrations should look to make cuts that make up for money lost to vouchers is within. Who makes the big bucks that isn’t producing actual measurable growth in student success? Who’s making a lot to do a little? Who’s just renaming something that’s existed for decades and calling it innovation? Who’s a walking teacher salary (or multiple) with no roster? Who’s purchasing a new snake oil promising results but just flops?

A couple years ago, when my principal started mentioning vouchers in meetings, this was the first thing that I said to him - yeah, maybe it’s a reality check that needs to happen so the fat can be cut, but of course, we know where the cuts will be made first, if they are made - in student facing positions.

These things can happen, but the board has to be strong, and the workforce has to be knowledgeable and brave enough to bring up these issues and questions.

Wishful thinking, though.

Before I begin, I am on medication and regularly seeing my psychiatrist and therapist. I'm not looking for mental health advice at all, just seeing if any of you have gone through the same thing and have any strategies related to teaching with this challenge.

I am in year 8 of teaching. I'm currently going through one of the worst depressive episodes I've had since college. I usually love teaching and show great passion for my content during my lessons. Lately, finding any energy feels impossible. I'm spending more time at my desk than usual, winging a lot more lessons as I've fallen behind on planning, showing up late to work when I'm trying my best to be on time (I have 1st period planning), and grading has been piling up for weeks. I'm also finding that consistency in my class routines and classroom management is lacking greatly. It doesn't help that the groups of students I have this year are some of the most misbehaved, entitled students I've had.

The part that sucks the most is I'm a big perfectionist. I know exactly what I'm falling behind on and it just makes me feel worse how I haven't bounced back into action. My department is filled with high achieving educators with major awards and I feel like they're judging me, and getting resentful for dropping the slack.

Have any of you been through something like this? I used to be so fun and a fantastic teacher! How do I get my spark back?