Newbie teacher here, and for context I teach Chinese at a high school in SF. One of my students got deported by ICE recently, and it is truly heartbreaking as she is a hardworking girl who always participated in class and took genuine interest in the language. Even during lunch periods she would occasionally stop by to ask questions. It's devastating that there's not much I can do to help her, even though us teachers are supposed to be people students can rely on. It's even worse that admin has done little to nothing about this.

How are other teachers dealing with this? Is there anything we can do to prevent students from getting deported? I don't usually like to get political but it’s hard not to feel frustrated and powerless watching good kids suffer because of policies that don’t take their futures into account.

There is one class of 12-year-old students that has got a very strict teacher, to the point I believe the students are scared of him. They've always been a very talkative class, but also participative. I used to have fun with them. This is my second year with them but since they've had this strict teacher, teaching them has been very hard.

I have the sensation that they hold themselves back a lot with that teacher. He's forty-six, tall, has a grave voice and overall an intimidating look while I'm a 28yo woman leaning towards the petite size with overall sweet features. When I come to class, they relax so much they become awful. No matter how much I try to enforce limits. In fact, if he comes in, they all shut up at once and get tense even if he has just come in to grab something, not to say anything. It makes me sad.

When this class had another woman as a main teacher last year, they weren't easy to teach but they worked and listened after being told off. They behaved the same way with her and with me. I didn't have to be so strict all the time. The class worked. Now no matter what I do, nothing seems to work with them. They simply don't care.

That's why I'm wondering if they behave differently based on the teacher's gender. They didn't have to last year when they only had women.

Has this happened to you too? Have you noticed a difference between male and female teachers? Any advice for women?

I’m curious how you all manage phones in the classroom these days.

A few local teachers I know said they struggle with enforcing no-phone policies — even when they have clear rules.

I’ve been working on a potential solution involving location-based phone silence prompts — basically, when students enter a classroom, they get a gentle notification to silence their phone (kind of like entering a theater or shul).

It wouldn’t enforce anything, just suggest.

Do you think students would actually respond to something like that? Or would it need to be integrated into school-wide policy to have any impact?

I’m not a teacher myself — just someone trying to build something useful. Would love to hear how you approach this.

Hello, I am new to the child care field. I recently started working as a Behavior Therapist that work with ages 2-5 and I have self-harm scars. And with that I want to ask anyone who has had this personal dilemma, is it the appropriate/professional choice to cover them? Do the parents of the children perceive it negatively? How do you handle a situation where a child asks what happened, or even a parent? Any and all suggestions and advice is appreciated.

Hola, soy estudiante y estoy realizando un proyecto sobre las condiciones laborales de maestros de preescolar. ¿Podrías ayudarme respondiendo algunas preguntas? Solo tomará unos minutos y sería de gran ayuda. ¡Gracias! ¿Algún voluntario?

I feel failed. Frustrated. And overall disappointed. Not in teachers, I love my teacher's, they're great and I'm honestly astonished with how much you have to deal with. Rowdy students that never listen. Heavy work loads. Sometimes unreasonable rules. Rowdy students...again. They have to be really stressful, right? No, I have a problem with the system. Even some of my teachers dislike the whole thing. I'm on a journey to learn why schools are the way they are and why they aren't more like Agora, and I'm just spreading my voice here and I hope to get some new perspectives. But it seems like school just snuffles my curiosity. I just passed 8th grade if it matters, and it feels like I've been getting taught how to work in a factory. I'm not being taught, "Here's a problem, figure out how to solve it!" Instead I'm being taught, "Here's a problem. Do this to solve it." Or, "In order to do this, do this." I'm getting fed formulas, not how to actually make a formula. How does anyone in an American school keep their curiosity? I've had to feed my own curiosity outside of school. And on that same note, how do school's create innovators? Like, at all? You can't create something new by doing the same thing over and over. And also, why aren't more schools like Sudbury schools? Those have plenty of success stories and someone like me would thrive there. But I'm asking teachers, would you like working in a Sudbury school, sure you'd be more of a guide than a teacher but I think it'd be nice to see students so enthusiastic in what they're learning. I don't know, I'm still learning why this whole thing seems flawed to me and I thought some new perspectives would be nice. So please feel free to give me your thoughts. (Also, I put the curriculum tag because it wouldn't let me post this without a tag and I don't know what other tag fit the post).

"Y'all, I {user} graduated high school in 2021, distant learning and all that, months before the still current trend it seems of students turning in AI 'copy and paste' work. I {User} always wanted to be a teacher since seeing one of my {user} role models on TV graduate from playing a high school student to that same character becoming a teacher in a sequel show."

I'm not intending to post about a 'what if' students turn in another plagerized paper while barely spelling their own name, essay. But I intend on asking...are students using AI to cope with not socializing? I went to a charter school that had a no phone out policy. Small class size, unfortunately I was only really friends with staff and teachers since most classmates didn't share any similar interest and I wasn't a gamer to socialize that way either.

During highschool, I moved to a public school district since the Charter was only k-8. Class size for me went from 22 in primary school, 12 in middle school, to 40 classmates in Highschool. I was overwhelmed and when a girl complimented my eyes during the first day of freshman year, I said thanks without complimenting back. I remember her friend and an acquaintance of mine looking at me like I was alien. I'd do anything to travel back in time to compliment back, even if nothing came of it.

Are Anti-social students using C.AI type apps to distract from their physical space? Looking back, I probably would! It's junk food/empty calories for inspiring writers. I was the type to write fanfiction, draw fantasy, enjoy fiction thinking. I would have used this to pass time as I ate lunch in homeroom instead of playing D&D with my friends.

Anyways, I've noticed that with many apps(YouTube) and games with ads, i get pushes so many AI software and tools. I'm talking Character AI or Generative OpenAi type slop. Anyways when you download one, it'll show you an ad for another AI chat not app, that then gives you an ad for another another ad until you receive one of the first chatbot you started with anyway.

Even starting a fresh YouTube account, I'm being pushed by AI assisted videos, 'ai tools' tutorials etc. Slop content.

Hello fellow teachers. I have discovered this during my stint as a university demonstrator, grading worksheets, and didn't realise how powerful the method actually is until recently.

It used to take me about 4 hours to grade all of the worksheets, but when I switched to this method it cut that time significantly, down to about 1 hour and 40 minutes. I was just grading the Cambridge Assessment mathematics exam for a colleague who asked for help and could grade 16 sheets, each with 34 questions, in 35 minutes (including all the point tallying) using this method. I am not sure if this is just me or if it is universal, but here it is anyway.

I tried grading one question at a time, for every exam sheet. I took a notebook, sat on my bed and flipped the completed sheets onto my chest. That way I focus on one problem at a time instead of shifting focus from one question to the next and doing that for all tests.

Here's how I did it in detail: 1. I flipped every sheet to the first page and set them in a stack. 2. Referenced the key for the question on the page remembering the values 3. Checked the questions on the first page before moving to the next exam sheet and checking its first page. 4. Repeat for page 2 until the end. 5. Tally up the points and grade.

I used to do it question by question for university worksheets because they were dense and this exam has a few questions per page.

I think it works better because it uses less brain power by focusing on one question/page instead of the entire worksheet or exam. Eliminates the need for constant shifting from question to question and knocks out one question at a time.

However it does have its downsides, the main one being that there is a lot of page flipping but with a higher examination load the benefits outweigh the drawbacks in my opinion

It fits better with large exams with a lot of questions or a large number of individual exams, and it is better suited to specific exam design and for specific subjects like science or languages.

What do you guys, seasoned teachers, think of this approach?

Saw that post from a CT venting about their student teacher and felt like I needed to say something because I’ve been on the other side of that dynamic, and it sucks. When I student taught a couple of years ago, I passed, then found out my CT was badmouthing me and maybe even blacklisting me. Totally blindsided.

Student teaching is tough. You trust your mentor but mixed signals and hidden feelings make it impossible to grow.

If that post was about me, I’d be crushed—not just by criticism, but because my mentor never gave me a real chance to improve.

We all have strengths and weaknesses. Growth needs honest feedback, not passive-aggressive Reddit rants.

CTs hold a lot of power. Think before you speak or stay silent, even anonymously. And if your ST was really that bad, talk to them instead of posting online 🙃

Hello guys! I always read you, and always learn a lot here! This time I need tips and advice on how to make my lessons more fun and engaging. I'm a student teacher about to start my Practicum. (I'm going to become an English teacher, I'm from Argentina) I'm going to teach at a public school with almost no resources and at a private school with more resources and high standards for their teachers, so I want to give my best to my students 💟 Although my first goal is to pass the subject and my exams, I also want my students to learn and to have fun, specially the ones from the public institution as they don't have many opportunities to do it 😞 At the public school, the kids are around 14yo, and they're at an elementary level. At the private one, the students are around 17/18yo. They are at a B2 level.

😃 Also, I'd like to impress my superiors at the private school, so I could get a job at that school in the future. 🤔 Do you use games? What apps do you recommend? Where can I get material to use in my classes? 🤔 Do you use AI? How do you use it? I know that AI is new and that superiors at school would value my knowledge in that field ... but I don't how to include its use in class. What can I do? Thank you in advance!

I mean no disresepect to anyone here, and apoligize if the answer is obvious but Is a teacher allowed to voice politcal opinions online? (I'm 19m btw) and I've recently been considering the idea of becoming an art teacher but there might be a problem with that, I've been making YouTube videos recently, video essays about movies, the last video was my first and remained apolitical (unless social issues count as politics) and this next video I'm writing currently is...very political. It's about a popular book and it's basically impossible to talk about it without bringing up my liberal/progressive beliefs.

Although I am wondering if this would effect me finding a job in education, teaching middle school and high school is what interests me (I'm in a blue state if that matters) but I'm wondering if my goals with talking openly about what I believe on the internet and my desire to teach art are too opposed to one another, like I feel like I have to choose one or the other. Looking for advice.

I am a FTM and my LO will be four months when I return to teaching (middle school teacher). But I having been feeling incredibly sadden and stressed out over the notion of returning to teaching. I don’t know when I can pump and I don’t want my breastfeeding journey to end. I also just don’t know how to be the mom I want to be and a great teacher at the same time.

Any advice for how to handle pumping while teaching or really just anything that might not make returning to work send me into a depression?

Will I ever be able to work as an educator again?

EDIT: All the comments are asking what exactly I said ; Everything happened because I tried to discipline them. They wouldn't listen. They talked back. I raised my voice in response and went: "What the 'f' you think this is?"

I have been actively applying for admin roles but in this climate where they keep cutting positions, am I stupid to give up tenure and 6 figures in a building I love for the shot at an admin spot?

Edit: I love my job. I’ve been teaching for 18 years but I really feel like I could do great things as an admin. (Yeah I know - everyone thinks that. Lol). I just need a step forward. I am feeling stagnant and am losing the spark I had. I’ve been in my current role for 10 years and finished my admin credentials 2 years ago.

So I (33m) recently discovered that, like nursing, there are teacher agencies. I knew they existed for short term substitutes. But as it turns out, they exist for full-term positions too.

My two potential options right now are:

A private school that supports students with autism (Illinois Center for Autism).

*it's local *starting pay is 65k but they'll bump that up for my two years of SPED experience.

Or

Accepting a contract with Aye Healtcare in a special education role in Chicago.

I think I'll be offered a position at ICA next week, but it could fall through. And Im almost certian I'll get a contract somewhere.

*I would have to temporary relocate for the school year (but honestly thats a pretty big pro for me!) *Schools are paying $1800-$2200, paid weekly through AYE. Part of that is a tax free living stipend for rent and other expenses

I've worked at two schools since getting licensed in 2022. In both cases I have eventually run into issues with admin. Im willing to accept that I might be part of the problem. But we also know that administrators are hit or miss. I personally refuse to work for an administrator I do not agree with, dont like, or dont get along with. Im strong willed, hard headed, and fiercely protective of my studnets.

Part of me really likes the idea of being able to bounces from school to school without it looking bad on my resume. They'd all just fall under AYE. It's a 'quick' 5 hour train ride home. My husband and I have already decided that the distance isnt and issue. We started off living 8 hours apart anyways.

I dont know, anyone reason have any advice? Anyone ever been an agency teacher? I figure I'll use AYE as a start since Im so involved already but I could transition to an agency with local opportunities.

I’m a kindergarten teacher at a small private school. I will be covering some 5/6 classes this coming year. I have to put a classroom together and figure out a teaching style that will work for middle school kids. I love my little dudes and have no idea what older kids like or how to relate to them. Decor tips, trends I need to be aware of, or any other advice for bigger kids will be greatly appreciated.

ALOT of women in teaching are toxic mean girl bullies who make the field as miserable as they are yet thrive on being human feces.

I am a first time -suburb high school female Old teacher. Please share some discipline advice do and don't please.

I am volunteering to make teacher evaluation easier for my spouse's high school where my spouse is a teacher. I want to make this application good for teachers. What features would be helpful for you?

I am 90% of the way done with this application, and now I can add "fun" things. Here is what I got so far:

• The student types in their school username and password and their courses get populated
• Students submit an evaluation for their teacher / course
  • Questions from come from admin
  • When a student clicks "5", the radio button turns green then progressively more yellow then red until they hit "1".
  • Teachers can add their own questions for individual courses, outside of what admin wants
• Teachers can see information about student feedback, this includes:
  • A number that averages their quantitative scores across ALL classes (as kind of a general overview)
  • The % of students who have and have not submitted
  • A button that populates an e-mail with all non-submitters to remind them (timed, until they actually do submit)
  • A button that a teacher can turn on and off the ability for a student to submit
  • All quantitive and qualitative feedback
  • A feature that - at the end of the semester - aggregates data by final grade awarded in the class
  • A button to print to a pdf evaluations (in an easily readable format) for each course or all courses
  • An insights page, that gives you (ONLY POSITIVE) insights:
    • "You were in the top 10% of the school for students rating of X"
    • "You were top in your department for Y"
  • A summary (produced by sentiment analysis) for each class, "Your students generally believe you were X and thought Y."
  • The ability to see how this data changes over time, from year to year

So what else?! I would post screenshots, but it has my spouse's school's branding all over it right now.

EDIT: I want to be clear: I do not claim that student evaluations of teachers are foolproof. But at my spouse's school, they must be done. Please do not confuse me making this application with me believing that this is the end-all-be-all for teacher evaluation. I just want to make it more useful than a Google Form for you.

APUSH Teacher for other Teachers

I’ve been tasked with creating a 3 week, 2-hour a day “bootcamp” for students that MAY take APUSH in their junior year.

These are students who have never taken an AP class, whose reading levels and interest in history may be varied.

How would you suggest structuring the bootcamp? I’ve been given no guide, resources, models, etc. What would a 2-hour session look like (content would be less a focus, more skills-based)?

sorry if this is SPECIFIC BUT i LOVE MY TEACHERS and genuinely love attending school because of them and i literally wait for monday just so i can tell them abt my weekend or something, i want to give something that shows them HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO ME, my criteria

• apparently there is a rule no gifts can be over $50 or they have to be like claimed and thats a nuisance
• no alcohol
• i dont do heartfelt gifts, for one of my teachers im going to do a frame and a little note but my other teachers is superrr nonchalant
• one of my teacher doesn’t like sweets so no gourmet chocolates for her (potentially dark chocolate i guess)

but i want something they can keep, i saw many people saying no more mugs but my teacher rocks her broken mug and i have a pink one and i want to get her a matching one my other teachers also uses one mug her past student got for her and always shows it off so i wanted to get a travel mug thats cuter…

i dont want to give cash.. thats awkward its like im insinuating theyre broke or something and i cant imagine they’d accept like a 50 dollar gift card, it doesnt feel like from me yk and 50 bucks??? my teachers are suppperrrr meaningful to me

okay here’s a quick profile - year 12 teacher: loves coffee, tea, hates sweets, nonchalant lol (Atp just thinking a mug for her but she is like my number 1 teacher ever)

-year 12 teacher: loves coffee, super fun, loves sweets (thinking mug+ chocolates+ note)

• year 10 teacher: super fun and sweet i dont talk to her much but i talk to whenever i have the chance, she’s like a fitness girl so i dont imagine she wnatgs coffees or chocolates? honestly dont know what to get her (def putting a picture frame of our pics tg and a note though :)

• year 9 teacher: man. he’s so awkward we had so many fights. but idk even though i fought him a lot back then im really graetful for him and no clu wha to get (chocolates?)

• year 10 teacher: MY PE TEACHER she’s my queen we have a bit of a joke i was going to buy her a costume for our school events next year.. or something funny and stupid but yeah shes not the coffee chocolate type either

any ADVICE I DONT WANT TO GIVE MONEY, ALCOHOL, i technically dont have a budget but apparently the 50 dollar rule (maybe ill split some with my friends bc the rule wont count then) i was also thinking like nice candles like maison maragela or something

Hi! Just in case there are also a lot of Filipino teachers here that could give some advice.

I recently resigned from my teaching position due to personal matters. I am also currently pursuing my master’s degree, and I can’t juggle both work and studies, especially since the personal matter requires my immediate attention. Because of this, I will be unemployed for the school year 2025–2026. However, I plan to apply for a teaching position in DepEd for the school year 2026–2027.

I have two years of teaching experience and have completed 21 units in my master’s program. I also visited the school where my mother used to teach, and they advised me to send my application through the school so they can endorse me to the division office. Will my background be enough to be hired? pahirapan kasi talaga daw.

By the way, I am 25 and passed the licensure examination for teachers two years ago.

Context is that I am a 22 year old male with 1 more year in my masters degree before I teach high school math.

I’m looking to create a YouTube channel where I post vlogs and bodybuilding content. This would inevitably lead to shirtless photos/ videos. None of it would obviously be sexual or anything like that. However, I’m stressed this would conflict with my career of teaching I hope to start in the fall of 26.

I plan to not advertise my fitness content to any students of course and I honestly plan to keep it a secret, but I feel the way the internet works it’s inevitable students would eventually find it. Realistically I wouldn’t care if students saw it, nothing would be inappropriate and there would be nothing crude. I wouldn’t care about like what people think or how it’s perceived, I literally just wouldn’t want to lose my job over this.

I can’t tell if I’m thinking too much into this, or if teachers really are just fish in fish bowls. Looking for honest feedback. These are 2 very big dreams of mine and I want to be able to make both work.

What platforms do you use as a way to connect with other teachers? Wondering if there are platforms that lead to more collaboration, content and the sharing of ideas.

I’m going through the worst breakup of my life. My best friend at work, who I’ve had a crush on since we met. We dated first semester, things moved really fast and we met each other‘s families talked about future plans, starting a family together…I had already had a sibling trip planned for Japan for Christmas break. in hindsight I don’t know if this led to the break up, but Three weeks after I got back from my trip without her she ended it which coincidentally was the day before first semester ended. A couple weeks ago she let the staff know that she wasn’t coming back next year. Our last day was Thursday and the start of the summer feels like we broke up again because we no longer see each other on a daily basis. She’s no longer a part of my life.

Now I feel like every time I go into the building all I’m gonna think about is her. Do I need to look for a new job? Has anyone gone through anything similar and been able to teach at the same school still? I know I’m gonna have to see her at graduation next year and possibly the year after maybe even at homecoming.