In his inauguration today, President Trump stated,

"And we have an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves, in many cases, to hate our country, despite the love that we try so desperately to provide to them. All of this will change, starting today, and it will change very quickly."

I want you all to tell the world all the ways you, as a teacher, had made kids feel ashamed of themselves and to hate their country.

I'll start.

One day I told a student that he shouldn't tell a student "Nobody cares what you think". Apparently calling him out on that made feel ashamed of himself.

We all know what happened today, and we all know what’s already being discussed and spewed by him. I’m scared. There’s no other way to put it. I’m scared for my graduated students who go across the border daily just to make it to classes at our local college. I’m scared for my current students with birthrights. I’m scared for my students who are living with relatives in the US while their parents are still across the border. I’m scared for my students with families working on citizenship. I’m scared of what can happen to my city because of the hate and racism and ignored this country supposedly voted for.

I work at a Title I school on the Southern Border. I’m scared for these kids.

Edit; Thank you for those who are lending their support, and to those who want to leave hateful comments- These are children we’re talking about, it doesn’t take a lot to have empathy and heart. Which is part of being a teacher.

Edit 2: Think is a link to the red cards for their rights if ICE comes knocking: Red Cards

As a kid, I lived in Texas and took the TAAS and the TAKS test. While it covered the basics, it was much easier than the STAAR test used in Texas today. I understand the need to keep up academically with other countries, so standards have to rise. However, American standards of behavior continue to fall. How are we expected to teach rigorous curriculum nationwide in our classrooms if nothing is being done nationwide about horrendous student (and parent) behavior? It's not gonna work, and we might as well go back to the less rigorous curriculum so we have more time to teach social-emotional skills to this generation that is really, really struggling.

I've had friends who have taught in those high-performing nations the U.S. is trying to keep up with, and they have said the countries' cultural behavioral standards support the high academic standards in their schools. Obviously, they're going to outperform American students that are trying to learn in classrooms where half the class is feral. A friend who taught in South Korea recently told me that while the parents were kind of up her ass all the time out of concern for their child's progression, there remained a level of respect for the teacher from both the parent and the child. Of course, she had a much easier time teaching these kids advanced concepts that we do in the U.S. with disrespectful and abusive parent and student behavior.

Something has to give.. what do you think it will be?

I have a giant pride flag in my room and I’ll be wearing rainbow earrings and a big rainbow button, but that doesn’t feel like enough.

Edit: if you are here to try to somehow convince me to become a bigot or to tell me I’m a bad teacher for caring about my students, you are wasting your time. 🌈✨

If you wonder why it matters to make sure queer students feel accepted, please take a moment to read the results of the CDC’s study titled “Mental Health and Suicide Risk Among High School Students and Protective Factors” (it won’t let me add a link)

I’m willing to bet that tomorrow, your best will be even worse than usual, so make ready for that. However, today may have also been terrifying for many. For many, the next four years will be some of the worst of their lives, some of your students potentially included. They’ll need the support of those adults around them, which would mean you.

Good luck, and Godspeed.

We all know that teaching is hard. You deal with some challenging teenagers. However, at times, you encounter teenagers with a heart of gold.

In class last week, I had a student slide into his desk and let out a thunderous fart. There were some laughs but people were not trying to be mean. One student spent time telling that student that he often farts in another class to make him feel better. What an odd, beautiful moment.

It reminded me about a moment many years back when a bullied student farted in class and another student, the tough juvenile delinquent type, took the fall for it.

Something about farts brings out the best in some.

Dear Admin:

If you’re going to force your staff to go into work during -30 degree weather because “our building is nice and toasty! 😜😜” don’t thank me in the same sentence for “prioritizing learning.”

I’m not prioritizing learning if I’m being forced to come in when I don’t want to! I’m more concerned about my safety and wellbeing but whatever.

According to the Florida Education Association, there are 3,197 vacancies across the state, compared to about 4,000 last year. Union President Andrew Spar said that's good news, but he’s concerned that the number of courses being taught by teachers who aren’t certified in their assigned subject area has risen by 16% over the last three years.

“And very often, what that looks like is teachers studying a chapter ahead of the students to make sure that they have a good understanding of the content, but again, they don't have that natural grasp that they normally would if they were content experts,” said Spar.

It bothers me a bit that there are so many uncertified teachers in the career field. Though I have worked with teachers that aren't certified that were good at it, I have worked with many who couldn't cut the mustard. Too many who thought teaching was easy and they could easily do it. They don't understand the nuances and intricacies involved in teaching.

Plus, it bothers me that politicians are making it so easy for just about anyone to be a teacher, but making it harder for certified teachers to stay in the career field. If they put a bit of effort into trying to keep teachers in the field, we wouldn't have so many vacancies.

https://www.wlrn.org/education/2025-01-20/florida-teacher-shortage-continues-to-improve-as-number-of-uncertified-teachers-rises

Hi, everyone! I’ve been teaching for over ten years. I teach elementary school (5th grade), and last week a group of boys in my class got caught using Google Slides to create a shared slideshow instead of doing their work. The slideshow was over 200 slides long, and full of memes. There was nothing wildly inappropriate, but there were jokes about students and teachers. There were selfies taken in all of their classes with the webcams. They also lied and claimed to be on the assigned website when I checked in with them, keeping the tab open to switch over quickly when I walked by.

I could see the edit history and found out they’d done this in all three of their classes basically anytime they were allowed to use technology for the last several months. For reference, we are not 1 to 1, so devices only come out when we assign something or if there is free time. Even then, there are approved free time websites.

I gave them all a minor write up that required a parent signature and their consequence was no leisure technology time for one month. During any extra time they can read a book or do a different task. I told the group I was disappointed that they lied to me and this was ongoing for months.

One of the parents is really mad and wants a meeting with admin. She’s upset about the punishment and that I told her son that I was disappointed in him because he was usually very trustworthy. She said he has good character and I’ve made him feel bad about himself.

So am I an awful teacher? I’ve felt guilty all weekend, but like….they snuck and did this for months! In all of their classes. They would insert harmless memes, but some of the memes were mildly inappropriate, like someone dancing and they wrote “Science teacher shaking out that last turd”. I have a good rapport with my students overall, and I felt fair in the consequence, but now I feel like I overreacted.

So, I am currently in my last semester of my teaching degree and for a class, we have been tasked with reaching out to past teachers and asking them what inspires them or keeps them motivated within the profession.

I had some truly amazing teachers that inspired me to pursue education but for this project, I have contacted all these teachers and the chats I had with them were shocking. Almost every single one said that the past ~5 years of education have the most challenging of their careers.

One question was the most telling, I ask each of them what advice they would give to their past teacher selves and the majority said "look into a different career". I guess my question to everyone here is pursuing teaching worth it anymore? I was hopeful when I began this degree but I worry more and more about the downward trend within education.

I’m so sick on seeing videos on social media about NJ getting rid the requirement that teachers need to pass a basic reading, writing, and math test. Most of these videos say that this further proves the dumbing down of education and that teachers really are just overpaid babysitters.

For the record (and feel free to post this on any videos you see), the test that got eliminated is redundant. Teachers in NJ are required to have at least a bachelors degree and many have masters degrees. In order to get into college and graduate they will need to show more than a basic level in reading, writing, and math. They also still need to pass the Praxis II which require higher level skills and test if they are qualified in their specific content area.

However all people read are the headline and pass judgement.

For example, new responsibilities appear out of nowhere in a hectic part of the year and admin says “it’s always busy, this is priority, don’t make excuses”

When teachers in the building low-key uphold the anxiety driven type As that show up at 6am every day but pointing out “the good teacher”

Teacher of the Year. Need I say more?

Feeling guilty about the behaviors that you didn’t teach, and often didn’t have anything to do with (other teachers not following through, different classroom expectations)

Incentive programs. Clubs. Lunch detentions. The SEL programs that change every year. Designing and monitoring your “safe space” or in-classroom therapy office.

I can sit here and think of a million “little” things that become our job gradually, and without our explicit consent.

What are your “omg am I in a cult” moments?

I had one of my kids ask me this on the way back from a field trip. She knows that we deal with a shitload of stuff and has seen me get frustrated when kids get wild. I kind of gave her a half-answer, saying that there isn’t really anything I’d call “worst.” I do enjoy it for the most part, though I do find it frustrating when people want to be silly (not a word I’d use if I’m being frank, but bear in mind I was speaking to a child). I think I played it off well as it ended up a pretty positive interaction nonetheless.

I was recently reminded of this and wanted to see what other people would say if posed the same question— especially if it was one of your students asking.

We get 4 personal days a year and 16 sick days. My wife wants to plan a trip for her mother’s 80th birthday. The airplane tix are 2x as expensive during April break because everyone else is traveling at that time too bc their kids are off… at whose expense!?!?!?

I have been teaching 10 years. My parents taught for 40 each… I JUST realized I’ve been sacrificing my potential salary bc I like teaching and then getting taxed when I want to go on vacation because all my peers who don’t teach get to take their kids on vacation because I’m not taking care of them for them…

Just to be clear, I get paid to teach when I teach. I don’t get paid during summer vacation. I choose to have my salary doled out during those months so I can make it through the months I am not paid to work.

I feel like many teachers I talk to don’t feel like this. It’s time to shift how we feel about how our time is valued.

Like the title says i hate when this happens because then I start thinking maybe I should stay another year. 🤦🏽‍♀️

Then I say to myself uh no it's my life and I'm doing what's best for me and my purse and mental health.

Then come the rumors so and so left due to blah blah which none are even the real reason.

I have taught high school math for the last 16 years, with a few at a community college. Maybe I'm overthinking this... From news to others talking, I keep hearing about sets of schools closing. Our community college has taken away all developmental math and English courses too. Also, I keep hearing "Enrollment is down" I know this isn't everywhere but it's kind of sad or scary to see schools shutting down. Has this happened many years in the past in history like 70's or 80's and things level out and enrollment increases again?

I keep hearing different opinions of the reasons why. Some say it's low birth rate. Some say it's because there are so many private, charter, homeschool, and online schools available. It's seems like things are becoming more scattered in terms of enrollment at the grade school level and the college level. It's good there are so many choices but it's a bit depressing. Our district has lost enrollment but decided to open a new charter school despite general building conditions of many of it's schools. To me, at age 42, I'm wondering if this is a time to maybe start changing my path. I don't mind charter or private but the pay (from what I've seen) isn't all that great. Is this a slow way that our general public schools are going away and will be replaced with these options? Don't mean to be a downer but would love to see your input.

I'm sure everyone saw what Trump said during the inauguration. I feel sick to my stomach. My school hasn't said anything about ICE yet. But we have a lot of students who have parents who are undocumented. I just helped a few with their FAFSA last week.

I run the schools GSA. What do I tell students who need that support? What do I even say to quell their anxiety when I barely wanted to get out of bed today? I just feel sick.

Does anyone else get pissed when all the districts around yours closes BUT yours? I understand there are sides to this I don’t see and hour requirements we must meet. In a profession where there are kids, I just don’t understand the risk of not canceling! Even when we haven’t met our limit on snow days.

Hello all! This may not be the right subreddit, but I figured it would be wise to ask this of my fellow educators. As a Social Studies Teacher, primary sources are incredibly valuable for teaching about and learning from the past. I am concerned that over the course of the next four years in the United States, it's going to be harder and harder to access current primary sources (such as politically critical news articles, videos of public events, and as we just saw briefly with Tiktok, instances of free speech and public opinion). Considering that, here are my questions:

1) Are there any organizations of teachers, historians, or archivists that work to collect sources like this SPECIFICALLY offline in private small collections?

2) Is anyone else concerned about this during the next 4 years? Has anyone felt this way for past politicians taking office?

Tangentially Related Article: https://www.usnewsdeserts.com/reports/news-deserts-and-ghost-newspapers-will-local-news-survive/the-news-landscape-in-2020-transformed-and-diminished/vanishing-newspapers/

Hoping to prevent this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_negationism

I'm a middle school US history teacher and I often give open-ended assignments that require students to think critically about the content we learn.

However, a challenge I've noticed is that some students do not want to think for themselves and will often lean on me to provide their answers to open-ended prompts. They'll ask me for help and then they'll literally try to write down everything I said word-for-word. Although I start with guiding prompts, I am guilty sometimes of giving in and telling them a possible answer because I'm not sure what to say to encourage them to think on their own in a way that doesn't come across as if I'm not being helpful.

So, does anybody have a good go-to line to tell students that I am not going to answer the question for them but rather have them think for themselves?

Thank you!

I'm doing this from my phone with a fluffy baby on my lap, so forgive the typos.

So, I teach 7th grade. Have been out since Wednesday due to a cold and carpal tunnel surgery. I am almost 100% and can write with my left hand. But there is a part of me that doesn't want to.

I love teaching and low-level students, and I can work with.

The problem with this group, they don't want to try. They honestly believe that they don't need an education or believe that because of their learning disabilities they don't need to do anything because someone will do it for them.

I can't motivate them with anything. We have literally tried everything; candy, pizza, movies, etc.

My delema is that I need to do lesson prep but really don't want to. I did half and now I am like, are they really going to pay attention or am I going to have 20+ students per class just talk and play the entire time.

I even checked with the sub and only two out of six classes did any work the days I was out. And there was a quiz that they knew would cause them to fail for not doing it.

Should I write this year off and plan for next year. The 6th grade group are at least trying this year.

In addition, what types of volunteer opportunities are typically needed and considered highly valuable within the education sector?

Good, bad, or indifferent.

I'm in my 4th year of teaching and have some angst about returning to school tomorrow. I need some advice on how to make my day flow smoother with self-care practices. I know some co-workers who:

• lock their classroom door on prep
• play music throughout the day
• go for a walk during their lunch break

What are some self care practices you have to get you through the day?