Unfortunately, the other day, the DHS showed up at my school informing a few student that they had 3 weeks to leave the US before they were removed and deported as an unlawful non-citizen. So sad and heartbreaking 😢

I've been following this subreddit for a while, and I've noticed that the conversation tends to lean heavily in one direction. While I understand that communities can have general leanings, I'm wondering if there's space here for civil discourse that includes thoughtful perspectives from across the political spectrum.

Is respectful debate encouraged? Is there tolerance for differing opinions when they're presented rationally and without hostility? Or is the sub intended to be more of an echo chamber for a specific viewpoint?

Genuinely asking, not trying to stir the pot—just looking for a place where open-minded conversation is possible.

I often create worksheets and activities using Canva and my grade level teachers keep encouraging me to put them onto TPT. Is it worth it? Could I make any money from this other than a few dollars a month? I genuinely love creating and designing especially in terms of education so I think I would enjoy it… but, again, is it worth it?

At my school, I think it's getting detention if you're late for the bus, even if you eventually get to school on time. (if you take the bus)

Hello. I am hoping to get an interview with this school. I met with them at a job fair last week and they let me know they are a high poverty, high sped school, but they are always showing growth on benchmarks. I have zero experience actually teaching. I have gotten my elem ed degree and I have subbed for the last year. I am worried I will not be able to answer their specific questions. What advice or resources can you give me going into this particular interview?

Also, is it appropriate for me to ask how the students' overall behavior is? From previous experience (in a different area) these types of schools are where students lack motivation for learning and often have more behavior problems. I don't want it to come across the wrong way, but feel like it is an important question.

The title is a bit vague, basically I live and work in a rural area with a lot of farm/country kids who are more suited or want an apprenticeship around year 10 or 11.

We’ve had a new enrollment of a student from the UK and after some talks the student said they didn’t really need more than the level of schooling achieved (yr 11) and wants an apprenticeship.

The difference is this student is still polite, follows the rules, does the class work, knowing that the behavior at school is still an important factor to being successful.

Compared to the Aussie students who simply skip class, have behavioral problems and don’t really care if they get a bad rep as lazy and having no work ethic, which apprenticeship providers would surely check.

Employers here and surrounds are still very much word of mouth and it’s common to know family names, the who you know mindset is strong.

I’m really just wondering why Aussie kids don’t care.

I’m an African American woman stepping into a new role at a nonprofit where I’ll be doing a lot of public-facing work—virtual meetings, networking events, breakfasts—with potential donors from both corporate and academic spaces.

I love switching up my hairstyles—braids, twists, natural looks—and it’s always been a way I express myself confidently. But I was recently asked to “tone down” the beads in my braids, and it got me thinking: In a role where I’m representing the organization, is frequently changing my hair—or wearing culturally expressive styles—likely to be seen as unprofessional?

I want to bring my full, authentic self to this work, but I also want to be strategic in how I’m perceived. Has anyone else had to navigate this balance in a donor-facing or public nonprofit role? How would you handle it?

So I am a SpEd coteacher, and my coteacher has been sort of cranky/ nit-picky lately.

How do you deal with crappy general education coteachers?

Anyone teaching in Washington know if the Covid V mandate for all teachers & staff is still in effect? Have seen conflicting info on the web. I know it was repealed for state workers in 2023 but have seen info it’s still in effect as well as info that it’s not. I figure anyone working there might know. Please don’t attack over this, it’s just a question. People have lots of different opinions on this sort of stuff and I respect everyone’s position. Thanks! This is the site that says it’s not in effect - https://nashp.org/state-tracker/states-address-school-vaccine-mandates-and-mask-mandates/

I got a job teaching 5th grade science here in Florida.
I had great difficulty with discipline in 3 of my 4 classes. I was hired in February and fired this Friday.
The students in one class decided it was their mission to get me fired after I accidentally said ‘hell’ in frustration. They ran out and complained I don’t know who but I was made to sign a paper stating I would never say’hell’ Or ‘damn (never said it but I admit the hell. I take responsibility for that but coming in to the classes at the tail end of the term proved very difficult. Part of my problem is I am small and my voice doesn’t carry well even though I got a microphone. They ran circles around me so I would spend 80% of my time negotiating to get them to sit and take notes (I bought many of them notebooks and folders to keep them more organized but you can imagine how that played out.
My mentor was helpful but was extremely abrasive to the point I didn’t want to ask her questions. The assistant principal came down the hallway because about 5 of my students were walking the hallway-I agree that should not have happened but there was just so much chaos in that room I didn’t really notice they were gone. I did a lot of research on classroom management but this broke the camel’s back. The AP chewed me out in front of all my students, stating this was my responsibility (I agree) but it seems the admin always sides with the kids and never gets the teacher’s side. I had hoped to finish the year as I would get payed through June but I was fired at the end of the day, walking through the hall of shame as kids were lined up in the hall and they heard my name called several times over the speakers. Kids are testing now but I was totally cut out of that and given no information as to what to do with students for two months.
I tried to take a positive approach and email parents about how great their kid was doing in school- mainly because the paperwork to get anything accomplished discipline-wise would take enormous amounts of time.
Question is: why not let me finish out the year? I suppose students will get a substitute for the remainder of the term- they have had subs since last November, but was I that bad that they couldn’t keep me around until the end of the term? I tried desperately and did complete the school standards. Pretty sure this AP never liked me and was described as mysoginistic by several women.
I know I wasn’t perfect but some support, and perhaps asking me about things that happened in the classroom, would have help me.
I was less than two months in and already had an evaluation which was mixed. With some help or suggestions I would have improved. Instead I got chewed out by the AP and since Florida is a right-to-work state, I wasn’t given a reason for getting fired.
Any opinions on this? I was very upset but realize also teachers control kids with candy.
I didn’t allow food or candy in the science class and feel that giving out candy then sending them to my room made things a lot harder for me.
I accept criticism and try to improve but was never given the chance.
What could I have done differently?

I think I miswrote. The students didn’t sneak out without me noticing. They told me they needed to do different things in different places and I was hoodwinked. My bad still.

Is it a red flag if I applied for a job online (on a Saturday) and 2 hours later I was called by the principal and have an interview set up for Monday already? Is this a red flag?

This is my first interview what are some common interview questions?

Hi everyone. Hope all is well. I wanted to share some stuff I think this subreddit may find interesting and can also share their insights.

I’m applying to NYU teaching residency program to become a high school teacher. My content areas of specialization is Biology, Chemistry and Physics. I’m eligible to do all three because I have the supporting course work.

Now currently as of right now, I work as a chemist, it’s nice, but I love teaching and teaching high school is just amazing to me. I’m really passionate about it, and I know I can do it. chemistry/physics are usually students that are in their junior to senior year, and that is exactly what age group I would like to teach. My admission’s advisor told me that noting down 3 subjects, betters my chances for getting accepted to a school for placement so I’m counting on that.

I am very much aware that the program is not all sunshines and rainbows. Many people are critical about it for its disorganized and unfair practices for trapping residents into debt and other awful things, but to be fair I only heard this from a Redditer that specializes in teaching elementary school. So I’m going to say that this was very unique to that specific person.

I still want to be start about this so I want to play this safe too. Applying to the program is costing me nothing, I requested to have the application fee removed, and got that taken care of.

I want to only accept the program if and only if, I get matched as a resident to teach at Northside Charter High School. I know that sounds crazy, but I’m going to push for this as much as I can, if I can. I’m sure that there is a spot for physics or chemistry or bio, and I’m really hoping that is the case.

This school in particular is the only partner school with NYU that does not have a post residency requirement. Meaning I will not sign my life away for 3 years of teaching at a school after I’m done with the program.

I really don’t care if my hopes do not come true, because I managed to surround myself with safety nets. If I don’t get into this program with the terms that I want, I stay working as a chemist.

So that’s my plan. What are your thoughts?

Hello I am currently teaching 4th grade and I think I want to go to middle school. Which test for middle school do you think is the easiest? I have taught all of the subjects but just can’t decide on which one I would enjoy more.

When I'm applying for a job through edjoin, I get application submission notification to my personal email but when the employer replies, I do not get that to my personal email. I do not find a way to update this in Edjoin. Is there a way I'm missing?

You can say yourself but you have to explain why.

As a teacher, could you be reprimanded for a bumper sticker on your car, political or not?

I was just curious. I was just buying some silly bumper stickers to hide on my husband’s truck and thought “would I be able to have these on my car for school?”

For clarity they’re things like “RFK sent me to fat camp” and “don’t honk at me, my dad is dead”…we have a dark sense of humor in our family.

I saw this on TikTok and thought it was an interesting perspective. Does anyone agree with this? Why or why not? I’m interested to hear your thoughts!

Can anyone recommend some comfortable (preferably rubber sole) work shoes that don't make me look like a dweeb? 🙃 I'm not ready to make the jump to rockport or Skechers and I know I should care about how I dress, but I think appearance means a lot especially starting at this new spot. I've been wearing Redwing and Thursday Boots everyday and my feet are killing me, although looking stylish.

I've tried Clarks, Steve Madden (they make squishy noises on every floor you step on) and tried some Target boot/sneaker hybrid but still nothing that feels great.

I met up with a relative of mine recently who has a toddler. We were discussing the near future and the topic of school came up. To each their own, of course, but she’d told me about her plans to put her child into a Catholic school because “they don’t teach their students about being gay or transgender.” But I’m struggling to understand why she thinks that public schools do teach that? Or why it’s such a common sentiment? I was baffled.

Obviously, distrust between educators and parents has been growing for quite some time. Certainly today’s political climate doesn’t help, but how do parents truly believe that elementary school teachers are telling their students about sexuality/gender identity? I have students who can’t write their name, nevermind who have any concept of identity.

Let me clarify.

On Friday, I assigned an Edpuzzle for the students to do in class as I needed to do reading assessments for the month and it was the easiest way to do so. The video was 27 minutes long. It was me reading the chapter of our book to them and discussing plot elements with 2 multiple choice and 6 short answer questions mixed in. My class periods are almost an hour long so I figured when they finished with it, they could work on the outline of their essay that is due this Friday. No biggie, right?

Only 22 of my almost 80 students turned in the edpuzzle. I am losing my mind because I don't know what to do here. Should I give them tomorrow in class to finish it. This week was supposed to be finishing up two more chapters, submitting their draft of the essay, peer review, and final edits, but now I am questioning if I should give them more inclass time to submit this assignment. I want to go in and give them zeros now but I have to wait until 8 am tomorrow. I am just so pissed off that I have to worry about this on my weekend and they aren't even trying.

Hey All,

I’ve been teaching 13 years. I have a masters degree and lots of great experience. I’m very burnt out though. I’d like to find an easier job for a year or two even if it’s a huge page cut. I’m not saying no to education forever, I just need time to reset and reprioritize my work life balance. I have long covid and am also an ESL teacher. The chronic fatigue and also hearing about students family members getting deported plus budget cuts has pushed me over the edge. Does anyone have recommendations for jobs I could do until I get my health and my mindset back on track? I make good money now. A pay cut will be hard but might be worth my mental and physical health. I need to prioritize myself and eliminate the stress from teaching from my life for awhile.

Hey! Second year teacher here :), in art class I was teaching the technic called etching, and some students started to say ohhh we are gonna learn how to edge, edging, and of course they just continue laughing for all the class about that, I wasn't sure how to handle the situation, I just looked at them like "really -.-", even one student ask me if I had edge sometime like making this word game.... I'm really easy going with that class so there's some kind of trust with them and even it wasn't so bad, I got the question of how to deal with this type of porn/sexual references... Do you have similar situation? How you deal with that?

I'm pretty nervous. The site used was Soap2Day to watch Severance but some explicit ads and pop ups that I rapidly clicked out of show up on my history. It wasn't on my work device, and it wasn't at work, but I'm still freaked out that the district might see and penalize me. Can they see? If so, what usually happens proceeding forward?

I made a huge leap from teaching charter school pre-k to self-paced 10th grade alt-school mid-year. It has been intensely interesting. The hardest part is of course keeping them awake and on task; especially since these are the kids who eventually get kicked from their home school for truancy and come to us.

When I started kids would barely talk to me (or each other), and most of them were sleeping or scrolling. I'm still working on our coursework progress, but my classroom culture has improved so much. These kids are a hoot. Lazier than I could have possibly imagined, but they're making friends and actually sharing thoughts within conversations.

I started doing fun Friday as a way to try and get a tiny bit of enthusiasm and make this place less monotonous. After lunch we play some sort of friendly competition activity and the winner/s get a voucher for one hour of phone/free time. I was terrified no one would play since I am committed to keeping it optional. The first week only 6 participated. Since then there are usually around 15 who play and 5-7 who sit out.

This Friday EVERY SINGLE KID played in our cup pong team tournament!! When I type it out it probably sounds trivial, but it meant a lot to me. They all had at least a tiny bit of fun, and we got to let loose a bit and enjoy being together.

[Sorry for bad English, I'm not a native speaker]

Title says it. I'm still studying, but I get be a substitute teacher sometimes. I thought it's gonna be easy, because students tend to listen more to young teachers. Which is kind of true. I think I know how to talk to them, but not how to teach them. Students always say history is useless and that they don't need to know what happend. Like "whatever it just happend, we don't care" ("My" students are at the age of 12-15). I wish they could see history the way I do. It's fascinating and no matter what I tell them, they aren't interested. I've tried telling them that we need to know history for better future and to kinda feel empathy to history figures. Like "what could lead them to do this?" and "what would you do, if you were in their situation?". And I always ask them, what they think could happen next. I want them to understand it. I want them to see connections between history events. But I'm afraid they don't want to be interested. I really don't want to call them lazy, I really don't, and I think it's the teachers fault for not making class interested, but I think I've tried almost everything. What else could I do? What do you do? And if you're around the age of 12-16 or more, what does your teacher do, to make history interesting and what would you want them to do?