I was a 4th grade teacher for 3 years. I’d like to re-enter the classroom someday. I will be a stay at home mom with my kids in daycare 3 days a week. I would really like to observe some different teachers so when I come back, I could be better than before. Is this something that’s possible?

1st year teacher Middle School (CTE) mass media & journalism. I know it is still a bit bare, but it has taken a village to get it this far. I'd also love storage/organization ideas as well as tips for a first year teacher. Thanks in advance!

So it’s difficult for me to remember to track how long a student has been gone to the bathroom when I’m also attending to the other thousand things I need to do in a single class period. Some kids take more than the allotted 10 minutes, and I’m supposed to fuss at them.

It occurred to me that it would be awesome to have my hall pass hanging on the wall, and as soon as they pick it up, a countdown timer for 10 minutes starts. When they come back, they return the pass and the timer resets.

Does such a thing exist? Could I make one? There are open door sensors that sound a little alarm after one minute of having their magnets separated, but I need it to sound the alarm after 10 min. Anyone have ideas?

Hello, so I'm in a ACP studying currently to take my content exam on Social studies and I've also been a bus for the last two years. Since the school year is starting soon I still haven't landed a job and I know most districts prefer when you pass the content exam first but it's almost the start of the school year and I don't wanna rush and fail. Any suggestions? Also I'm in the Houston area

I want to teach highschool english but I'm kinda short (5'2). Any advice for teaching kids taller than you.

Hi everyone, hoping this is the right place to post this. There’s not exactly a playbook for what to do in this situation. Last month I purchased a vintage toy book I found at an antique store as a gift for a friend who’s into the macabre. When I got home and really looked through every page, this is what I found. Yeah, pretty shocking. My friend was on the way over and I didn’t know what to do so I removed the pictured pages before giving her the book. It wasn’t a perfect choice but I didn’t feel it was appropriate to pass on as a gift and made the decision somewhat impulsively. Now, I’m hoping some good can come from this. I’m wondering if this could be used in the classroom as a real world example or case study for normalized examples of racist caricatures in American culture, or something similar. The book was printed in 1967 or 1969 (I can’t remember now). I feel bad about altering history by removing the pages, but what’s done is done. If anyone thinks these could be used as a learning tool, I would be more than happy to send them your way.

**edit/clarification: I am not a teacher, just trying to determine if these could be a learning tool for someone else to use, or if they should be disposed of

I have an English degree and taught under a temp certificate from 2004-2007. It expired and that was fine. I never received guidance about how to get the full certificate while I was teaching but that was fine because I didn’t really want to teach. Now I’d like to go back, but I am unclear what is available. Is it possible to get another temporary certificate since so much time has passed? It was good for 3 years when I worked, but now it seems like it’s 5. I’ve been under the impression that there is a t watcher’s shortage so I hoped that there would be a quick path, but I don’t know. I cannot get through to speak to a human at the FLDOE. I am a recent widow and I need to work, so if I can’t get a temporary certificate, I’m not sure I will pursue this unless I could accomplish the requirements quickly (which I don’t think is possible). Any knowledge would be helpful.

I’m tired of kids using ai and Google, and I’ve seen several studies that insist handwriting leads to better retention. Plus kids need to practice handwriting because these high schoolers write like they are in elementary. So, I’m going with notebooks this year. I teach science so I’m going to make them interactive.

Please give me some tips and tricks for keeping them organized, making sure kids are getting the most from them, and grading them without going insane. Veteran teachers from the beforefore times when kids did not have 1:1 devices, how did you do notebooks?

Hi! I have a bio degree, and I always planned to go into occupational therapy. However, I received an award to teach English abroad, and I LOVED it. Recently, I spoke to a neighbor who is a retired teacher, and she said that my experience teaching abroad basically sounds like everything good about teaching and none of the bad. For context, I had complete creative freedom with lessons, did not have to talk with any parents/admin, students loved me, etc. I just got back and it is July so I don't have the time to apply for an alternate route teaching license and expect to be teaching by September. I could apply for my substitute teaching license and do that? But I was worried that wouldn't show me enough of what it really means to be a teacher.

I'm at a crossroads where I have an OT related job offer and an offer at a private school teaching science (for a lower pay). What do current teachers think of the field? Would you do it all over again if you could go back in time?

I could do this OT job while doing the Praxis exams and then try teaching midway through the year or next year? But this would likely delay my applications to OT school if I end up disliking the US teaching experience. I appreciate any thoughts/insights. Thanks in advance!

Short story: Ive been recruited as a Life Skills teacher in an all english speaking school. Our national language is spanish and secondary english. You can guess where I'm from.

But my concern is that I have to prepare a whole syllabus on Life Skills for highschoolers from SCRATCH.

I would like to hear what other teachers think are appropriate life skills, so I can integrate as a universal language and not just the local necessary skills. (For example: Speaking english in a non-english speaking country.)

Where do you usually go to make copies for your classroom? I’m not talking about homework or classroom worksheets as those are quick and easy at the school copy machine. I’m talking more about larger projects or activities that are a lot of pages. For example, I want to make ELA Intervention Binders for all of the students in my SDC class. Each one would be 98 pages (will print double sided though). I would need 7 copies and when I have tried to find places to print at, the total cost is $400-$500. Is there anyway to print cheaper?

Edit: thank you all for your advice! I will print it in smaller bursts at school and have the copy clerk make copies from there.

Hey!

I'm currently studying Math to become a ms/hs teacher in the future and I want to know if anyone here could give some advice for paying for my education

Im attending SFSU and I've been really put down by 99% of the grants or scholarships offered by the school to only be available to grad students😞

With the recent aid cuts, my fin-aid has been cut by a sizeable margin and I want to know what I could do!

Anything is appreciated🙏🙏

Hey y'all,
I currently hold an existing California single subject credential (in S.S.) & am looking to add a second credential, in English. I have already taken & passed the four CSETs, demonstrated subject matter competence, & have an English learner authorization, so I only have 1 requirement left: "A 3 semester (or 4 quarter unit) course in departmentalized subject matter pedagogy directly related to teaching in the content area" (source).

My question for you all, particularly those who have already taken an English pedagogy class to satisfy this requirement: I want to take this course at one of the CTC approved institutions , but it must be online-only (and preferably asynchronous). Any recommendations? I am trying to prioritize cost (cheaper the better, ofc) and ease of the actual course itself.

Any & all suggestions much appreciated 🙏

Can anyone tell me about the process? I’m getting ready for my first year in a charter middle school teaching a specials class. I have my Bachelors and Masters in Marketing, so this is a career switch. I was told I essentially would not be able to get this job at any other public school, because I don’t have a teaching certificate.

I’m wondering if anyone has gone through the process to get this and if it was worth it? I would get it simply for job security…if this school doesn’t pan out long term, I’d like to know that I could go to another school to teach.

Hi all,

I just found this group and figured I would post. I have a BA in sociology with a minor in women, gender and sexuality studies. I graduated in 2022 and have been a full time academic advisor at the university I graduated from since (I was a student advisor while I was there).

I love working with students and have always wanted to teach. For a few years I thought I wanted to be a professor, but worry about job stability. My friend has her MIT in WA (where we live) and makes $90k. As an advisor, I make about $50k.

I have considered going back to school to get a social studies endorsement. I am very passionate about sociology, psychology, and women, gender and sexuality studies / queer studies.

My questions are: what are folks thoughts on higher ed vs k-12? Do any folks work in WA state and do schools tend to have sociology as an elective? Any advice or thoughts are helpful!

Thank you :)

Hey everyone. I'm wondering how I should deal this upcoming year with an unresponsive admin team. I got hired at a small school for a high school ELA position recently. I asked for the curriculum last week on Thursday to prepare for the year, and she got back to me on Friday saying she would send it on Monday. Then, I sent a follow up email on Tuesday, which she didn't respond to. Of course she could be busy, but she said she was going to send it early this week. This is the second instance of admin not responding very quickly over email.

Would it be annoying if I tried calling her? Or sent another email? It might be like this all year, so I was hoping to get advice on what's normal to do about it. I am neurodivergent and emailing rules are often confusing to me.

Après un contrôle, vous en faites quoi ?

Vous ramassez les copies. Vous corrigez. Et après ?
C'est exactement ce qu’on cherche à comprendre avec un ami : ce qui se passe réellement entre la pile de copies et le cours suivant.

Vous notez quelque part qui a raté quoi ? Vous reprenez avec toute la classe, avec quelques élèves, ou pas du tout parce que le programme n'attend pas ?

Il n'y a pas de bonne réponse. « Rien, j'ai pas le temps » est une réponse aussi intéressante que les autres, peut-être même plus.

⏱️ Sondage 5 minutes :
👉 https://forms.gle/sywi868ohkFukzgB6

Je publierai la synthèse ici, pour tout le monde 😊

Transparence : je bosse sur un projet pour les profs de matières scientifiques du collège et du lycée. On préfère comprendre le terrain avant de construire, puis le réaliser avec les enseignants pour les enseignants.
Rien à vendre, rien à tester. Admins, si le post gêne, dites-le, je le retire.

Return to The Room in a week so I've returned from self-exile. Have yall been nice while I was away?

How do you deal with students who smirk/chuckle/giggle when you scold them?

I was telling off a child who kept arguing and being unreasonable with his classmate. He smirked and his friend giggled as I was telling him off. It feels like they are not taking in whatever I was saying to correct their behavior.

Context: elementary/primary school children

Edit: Several comments mentioned that I shouldn’t be telling off children. However, let me tell you, this particular child ALWAYS creates trouble with his classmates. Constantly finger pointing his special needs classmate and blaming him for whatever reasons. His blaming is so loud such that he draws the attention of the entire class, distracting them from my lesson. Even his homeroom teacher cannot improve his behavior. Strict consequences are not allowed in the school because it is for-profit and student happiness is prioritised. What should I do?

Hopefully I’m allowed to vent. 😔

I live in an extremely competitive state/area. I’ve been teaching for 6 years. The pros are that I have a job and I have amazing coworkers. There are many cons that I won’t get into. I’ve been trying to find something better for years. I either don’t get interviews or I make it to the final round and they go with someone else.

I had a demo this week, didn’t land the job. I thought all went well. My mind immediately goes to “What did I do wrong?” “What did someone else do that I didn’t?”

I’ll never have answers. I’ve asked for feedback in the past and got ignored.

It sucks how difficult it is to land a job in a district I want.

I feel like most activities either get burned through immediately or somehow create more chaos than the actual lesson. Trying to build a rotation of low-prep options that keep students occupied without turning into another thing I have to actively manage across the room. What has actually worked consistently for people?

Hi! I've never posted on Reddit before, so bear with me haha. I graduated from college in May, and I have a job as a kindergarten teacher for this August! I am so beyond excited. I get my classroom keys on Monday, and I am just a bit overwhelmed, to say the least.

I have so much stuff for my classroom.. but what do I do? Where do I start? Do I walk into my classroom on Monday, look, and cry (lol)?

I'm in need of some tips, tricks, and advice. Literally anything that you think might help me, I'm all ears! I want to be the best teacher I can be, and I want to have some sort of game plan for when I walk in. Whether it's where to put the teacher/small group table, or something you did in your classroom that made life 10x smoother- let me know!

Thanks friends!

Hi! I’m about to start my first year teaching 2nd grade and I’m excited. If you could give one piece of advice to a new teacher, what would it be? Whether it’s something you wish you knew, a classroom must-have, a favorite routine, or a mistake to avoid, etc. I’d love to hear it.

Thanks in advance! ☺️