Teachers/Educators Thread • Page 19

Quit teaching in mid-October due to being burnt out and being forced to teach lockstep across two different grades. I hope I go back someday, but at this point I am content learning to code by day and running food at night at my favorite movie theater.

I loved the personalities in 10th grade, but 11th grade English and AP Lit were by far my favorite classes to teach!

 

broke up a fight Monday in which I did not realize that the student I grabbed had brass knuckles.

this student brought a deadly weapon into school. They used it in a fight.

they got a 3 day suspension.

 

that’s the same suspension I gave a kid who showed up drunk to our fall dance. Brass knuckles is basically the equivalent of a few beers, right?

 

Idk if this is appropriate to post in here cause I'm not a teacher anymore, but as someone who now works on the other side of things with some pretty troubled kids, what would you guys recommend as a fitting punishment for things like that? I only taught preschool but they were traumatized high risk kids and I've been punched and hit and and have tables thrown at me and called every sexist slur in the book by these lil guys but we had a rule not to suspend or keep kids from class for a variety of reasons. Now I work with kids and youth who seem to want to get suspended or expelled and then they get what they want and it can be really hard. But then of course I know staff and other students deserve to feel safe and have a constructive learning environment. We have a therapeutic school here for elementary kids but imo it's very lacking. And nothing at all for older kids except alternative school which isn't exactly therapeutic. Do your districts have solutions for those kinds of kids that still supports the child/youth? I guess I'm just curious because I don't work for a school district but I work alongside them often and we usually struggle to see eye to eye on solutions.

 

Any school counselors here? I'm in my 10th year of teaching high school math and my last year of grad school for my Masters on School Counseling. I'm so exhausted. At school, I basically don't have a prep because that's the time I'm using for my internship hours. So my day is non-stop plus after school help or class. I'll probably have to wait awhile before counselor positions open up in my district, but I'm looking forward to doing something else in the future.

 

to me, if you bring a weapon into school, or if you’ve been suspended 5,6, 7 times for fighting by December—you gotta go to an alternative placement. At that point imo it is clear that this is not the LRE for you and it’s just not helping you succeed or the other students around you succeed.

but our district has gone so far the other way to try to address inequalities that it’s now near impossible to get these kids to another placement. It’s awful and they make the school an unsafe place to be for everyone.

 

Oh man I feel my school district is the opposite. They try and push kids out to alternative options so quickly and seem to barely try and work with them even if they have an IEP so I'm always getting into it with the school administration lol

 

oh hell no, here it’s literally virtually impossible to get a kid with an IEP to another placement lol. If you’re really lucky maybe one or two of them will move quickly but usually it’s not until February or so when you start seeing them disappear from the hallways hah

 

I think every situation needs to be treated individually, while still taking into account precedent. Each student is different, and the context surrounding one incident can be very different surrounding the same incident elsewhere. For example, two kids punch a classmate, but one of those kids mom just died - I’m not rolling with the same punishment even if it’s the same thing. It just can’t be cut and dry like some people may want it.

general rule of thumb - I push for an out of school suspension any time it’s a disciplinary incident that impacts the safety of someone else. If it’s a disciplinary incident that is unrelated to safety or an academic infraction, I’ll push for an in-school suspension.

My favorite disciplinary response is the Saturday morning detention. Don’t see too many repeat issues when they need to wake up and come to school early on a Saturday to do some manual labor, especially the younger kids who need to rely on their parents for rides.

 

Yeah granted I only see a certain subset of cases, but they put a lot of pressure on parents to push their kids out and usually they give in eventually because they're unsupported and feel guilty or ashamed. All of my kids have significant trauma so it's hard to see. Granted it doesn't mean those kids should create an unsafe learning environment for others without consequences, but admin can be shady. They won't flat out kick the kids out but usually the parents break down because its easier to switch than fight. I've had admin wait until I leave the meeting to try and pressure the parent to move their kid out of the district. Tho of course ~not all admin. I work with a variety of school districts so your mileage may vary and I also have encountered very lovely staff.

The kids I work with are HARD so I don't blame school staff for not knowing what to do or for not having the resources to support them. I just wish we could figure out a better alternative but I'm not sure what that is quite yet.

 

Weapon in school with intent to harm? Immediate alternative placement.

 

Might as well post this here too

 

Would love cell phones gone!

very grateful that today was our make up exam day, so we only had about 15 students on campus.

 

Me too. Our district has used ESSR funds to totally bloat their admin and then work to justify firing teachers. At the same time they are talking about closing schools and are building a 4 million dollar football stadium for a football team that hasn't won in 10 years.

I know I'm going to be let go in the next few years because I'm the newest guy on the team, so I'm teaching like I don't give a fuck, daring them to fire me. I'm just going to push it as far as I can go.

 

Hey everyone. I'm new here. I've been subbing for about 3 years and I am a year away from getting my license (taking my PRAXIS exams this summer). Any words of advice/encouragement? This school year was a really rough year to sub.

 

It took me around 4 years to feel like I was half decent at my job. Recognize those first few years are going to be overwhelming but that doesn’t mean you aren’t doing your best or getting better.

Try to be yourself in the classroom, to an extent. Relationships are crucial to a positive classroom environment.

Figure out who the experts in your field are. I teach English, so I have read every book by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher. Finding fresh ideas and constantly experimenting will help you get better, help you figure out what type of teacher you are, help you feel more refreshed day to day. Then when you “figure it out” you’ll have tons of ideas and lessons at your disposal.

Finally, try not to compare yourself to other teachers. Sometimes i feel like shit about myself when I see all the creative things my colleagues do. Instead, use those things as inspiration for your own ideas. (This one is easier said than done.)

 

This is a load of great advice! I truly appreciate it. I'm going into English secondary education, so double thanks for book recommendations. I'll add them to my summer reading pile! Also thank you for the positivity of your post even after mine was a bit doom and gloomy.

 

Don't be an asshole or try to posture yourself to be something you're not, the kids see right through that shit. That's the best advice I can give going into year 10

 

This, honestly, is probably the best advice you can give. I’m in my 15th year now (it makes me feel old just typing that), and I remember early on feeling the need to “be this” or “seem that.” If it’s not genuine, it’s not going to work. It takes a little time to really find your stride.

I taught middle school English for 14 years, and this year I moved up to 11th Grade and AP Literature. It was probably the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my career. Not sure what grade level specifically you’ll be teaching, but good luck in that position. It can be a lot of fun.

 

In my 11 years as a hs classroom teacher, best advice is: culture first, content second.

in my 3 years as an administrator and dealing with bigger picture issues and overseeing student life, I’d adjust it to: culture first, culture second, content third.

the teachers that struggle, it’s generally because of their ability to manage the personalities of a classroom. If you focus on personal connection and develop relationships, that stems the majority of disciplinary problems you would face, in turn making the job more fun and less of a drain.

be yourself, set realistic expectations for the specific student population in front of you, and lead with kindness rather than authority.

 

Be consistent. Establish predictable routines. Make content easy for yourself. Not everyday is a homerun. After you've set everything up to run smoothly. Go hit some home runs and plan fun creative projects and lessons. Make this class the one that students love walking into.

The advice above is spot on as well.

 

Our school is having a ton of turnover this year. We lost a great English teacher, our Principal who had been there for 8 or so years in that position was moved to be the AP in another school in the district, our long time health teacher retired and moved to Cali, our culinary teacher left, and now our very long time AD retired. Oh and our just won teacher of hte year spec ed department chair got one of the dean jobs, while our long time dean that was basically the "where the bad kids go to hang out and get their shit together sometimes" guy left to get an AP job in the district.

There's just gonna be so much different at my school next year.

 

we have a decent amount of turnover for this year too, but not a crazy amount and some of it will be addition by subtraction. what's been crazy has been the hiring process - we've had a really difficult time finding candidates but did manage to fill all of our positions.

i'm actually excited for this year. rightly or wrongly, we won't be "dealing" with covid protocols which has made the past few years so challenging. with some of the more negative colleagues departing, i think that will help faculty culture improve, too. mostly, i'm just excited to have the kids back. the building is so desolate during the summer!

 

Starting at a new school this year. Very excited

 

In over 10 years, this is the first time I know my subject, know my students and am teaching what I taught last year so I can actually build a curriculum. Never been happier with it. Hopeful for this year.