r/AskTeachers

This is just a small vent because in reality, it’s not my kid and I can’t force people to do what I think they should. But I’m just getting it off my chest as an SLP and friend 🙃 my friend lets her kid skip school minimum 1-2 times per week if he throws a big enough fit. It’s 2nd grade, and she feels like it’s not that big of a deal because “it’s only second grade”. Except now he has an IEP for behavior and support with math and reading. She says he’s doing “good enough” and I’m like ????? Do we not want him to do great? To not fall behind before he even gets a chance to start? We talked it through last year when they got a truancy letter and it didn’t make a difference. I understand a day off, we all need one sometimes. And illness? Yeah stay home. But every week?? I try to do things with her son to help him enjoy learning, I’ve gotten him games and books and stuff but I kind of want to shake her and say “you need to do better”. Maybe I can offer some visual supports and reinforcement ideas but honestly I already kind of overstepped when I told her I was concerned last year and it wasn’t well received. Torn between “mind my own business” and “don’t let this child fall behind”.

Your 16 year old is not a kid. They are almost an adult. Many of their peers are studying for their EMT exam so they can ride ambulances at 17.

Some of them are in prep academies to join the military at 17.

Some of them have started their own successful businesses. Have had children of their own.

Where I’m at a quarter of them have jobs. Many are a major breadwinner of the household.

Yes, you were wrong to infantilize your teen during middle school, and now they are going to be NEETs between 18-25 because you kept delaying the age where they had to learn to be responsible.

“But why didn’t school teach me financial literacy?!!!!!!11”

My daughter's K teacher mentioned at conferences that some kids are "more ready than others." Mine isn't. I want to start phonics work over the summer and a teacher friend mentioned that parents sometimes teach things wrong and it causes problems.

So which is it? Do you want parents proactively doing this, or does it complicate your job? If you want it, what should I focus on? I'm trying to be helpful and not the parent who shows up in september with a kid who learned everything backwards.

I teach lower elementary and send a newsletter out each Friday with what we have learned, things to note and important dates.
We have an important event happening this week, and it has been in my newsletter for SIX WEEKS. I had 2 parents ask me what time the event is happening and another ask me if the event is happening???? It’s at the very top of my newsletter!!!

Why do I spend time putting communication together? And why can’t people look back just to see if they can find the answer to their question in the communication I have sent???

What are your thoughts? Is it a generational thing? Do I need to communicate more? Less?

The communication is pretty straightforward and predictable. The same format of a newsletter sent every Friday. I’m at a loss, because this is common!

hey! I'm a 15 year old sophomore in high school and I have 2 questions to ask 😄

1. My teacher commented on one of my assignments (2 months ago) that extra credit would be applied at the end of the semester and the semester ends in two days (the other teachers' classes has already gotten the 20 points). should i remind her? As a teacher do you like to get reminded of things like this or should I just wait for the semester to end and ask her, I feel like if I do that then I'm being a nuisance tho
2. Idk if my teacher rounds but I'm scared to ask, my grades are 96.5 (a+ is 97) in biology and 97.46 (a+ is 97.5) in english. would u personally round? we don't get to see our scores until the end of the semester and I'm just curious 😃

thats it!!

Doodling some hermit crabs and these guys are pretty complex little creatures. Im trying my best to keep it simple, but where do you draw the line? I’ve thought about making them into math/English sheets. (with the original available for easy coloring as well)
Although there’s already a lot out there, my goal is to give teachers free non ai resources that raise awareness for hermit crabs & have little facts on the page

Hi! I'm a sophomore in hs and I'm getting worried because all of my friends are so close with their teachers when there are really only 2 teachers I feel close with (my history and english teachers)

*sorry this is so long lol!*

general question to both students (ur perspective on how to get close or like how you feel about this) and teachers

honestly have no clue what to title this so sorry if its misleading my real questions is more like "do teachers like people who are friendly with them (as in talking about their life and joking) more than others"

I feel like I'm a pretty shy/unsocial person in general and its really tough for me to talk to people older than me because I feel like I'm constantly bowing my head or I'll like say something wrong. Don't get me wrong I love my teachers but everyone I see around me is almost like friends with them. I want to be close with my teachers. I have good grades, i pay attention, raise my hand during class but I know you probably need more than that to get a good letter of rec or even just a good relationship and I have no idea what to talk to them about.

My friends talk to our teachers all the time about stuff like movies and stuff but I honestly just stand there like that one standing man emoji. I genuinely appreciate my teachers but sometimes it feels like a parsasocial relationship except they arent fictional characters and I talk to them on a biweekly basis.

I genuinely want to be able to talk to my teachers but I'm such an awkward person, this is the case especially for my newspaper adviser. I really want to major in journalism or bioengineering but both my biology and newspaper teachers don't really talk to me. My newspaper adviser is close to everyone in my class but me and like 5 other people; they have inside jokes etc. I have no idea what to do because shes my adviser again next year and she already knows I'm pretty shy so I don't think she wants to make the effort to talk to me especially since everyone else in my class is so social

I’d like to read a few books TO my kid over the next few (summer) months.
What would be your top 3 recommendations?

For context, I am 21 years old & in college for an Elementary Education program. I have done student teaching, subbing, teaching my own Kindergarten class (after a teacher left mid year). While I love children & teaching those who want to learn, I’ve noticed that the behaviors in the classroom are out of control. Even the veteran teachers I student teach under have major issues with behavior students.

This is upsetting to me because, again, I adore teaching the ones who want to learn. But it seems like every class has students who disrupt everyone, & the teacher’s attention always has to go to that student. I’ve experienced such behaviors, including being punched in the head & had chairs thrown at me. From what I’ve experienced, it also seems like parents do not help with discipline.

I’m starting to lose my spark for teaching & I haven’t really even begun. Teachers I’ve talked to have also said they are so burnt out. I’m wondering if this is a career still worth going into.

Also, side note, I recently went on a vacation to PR where there were so many stray animals. I’ve always had a passion for animals & feel more & more compelled to go into a career along those lines each time I see a behavior problem.

I genuinely don’t know how to handle this because I was this girl when I was their age. How do you address when your female students are making nasty remarks at one another and bullying one another, especially based on looks.

I just turned 30, no kids. Same could be said for a lot of my generation and onwards.

For those teachers who have been teaching for 30 years or so have your class room numbers gotten fewer?

My daughter is finishing up first grade and is really behind on reading. On her most recent assessment she scored in the first percentile at nine words a minute. She was homeschooled until January so I think some of the issue is poor testing ability as she reads better than that at home but she’s probably about where a kindergartener should be at the end of year. Her school now is a charter and doesn’t offer much in terms of reading support but the support she has gotten hasn’t helped. She was testing a bit higher when she came to the school in January even. Next school year she will be attending a public school that has so many resources and a lot of support for kids.
The principal of the new school is allowing us to decide if we want her to do first again or move onto second grade next school year. I’m pretty torn on what to do because aside from reading and being a bit slower than her peers with handwriting she is right where’s supposed to be everywhere else. I’m thinking a full year at a really good school may be enough to get her back on track. However, if it isn’t she will likely repeat second grade which socially would be harder as it’ll be at the same school. I have concerns with a first grade retention as well though because she’s really good at math and when homeschooled was ahead. She’s already done the second half of first grade math twice and knows it really well. I worry it’ll kill her love for the subject being so bored. She already hates reading so her love of math is really important to me to foster.
I’d love input from teachers in here on how to handle this. Her teacher now doesn’t communicate at all and really didn’t have an input on what we do.

F16

From 4th grade and up I've always been obsessed with stories, and as I've gotten older i keep writing stories and stuff. I've gotten into Fan-Fiction on AO3. I've trained my writing skill since childhood, so it's extraordinary. My english teacher is always suspicious if I'm cheating or using AI (i would never) because the stories are so good. Can they tell if i write fanfics? And if they scan my texts, can they find my ao3 account and posts because of similar writing?

Really worried cause I've written a lot of gay nsfw on the internet and use the same writing style for school🥲

What does good look like? I’ve heard:

- leading the witness
- doing the work for them
- coaching ie questions to help them figure it out
- being present but letting them do the homework and if they get it wrong, so be it
- letting them try first, then correcting it all before they hand in it in

Obviously the first two are not it (and yet it happens in our circle of friends), but what would you recommend?

I want my child to keep they’d love for learning, but also dare to make mistakes ie learn.

Context: I am in Washington and I finished my student teaching in December. I am endorsed in social studies and am testing for ELA next week. (And yes, I know my content area is very over saturated). I have good references and I have been substitute teaching since January.

I have been on the job hunt and have applied to several schools with no word back. I’m not picky with schools/districts; I am just trying to get a job.

Some of my teacher buddies said it took them 2-3 years of applying in order to land their current teaching position.

I have been really discouraged and disappointed with the job market here in WA. It kind of feels pointless to keep applying. I am going to keep doing applications but it sucks because it eats up a good chunk of my time to fill it out just to not hear anything.

So I am curious: How long after student teaching did it take you to find a job? Any advice for me?

I'm going into high school next year and wont see some of my favorite teachers anymore and want to get them a thank you gift or something. How much do you think is appropriate to spend for a gift from a student? Like I was thinking $15-$20 but idk if thats too much and against anything. Thanks for the help!

Edit: I will def write a note!

I always wondered if there's a legal consequence for doing such a thing, especially considering the fact that College Board really doesn't like to release the multiple choice sections of most exams.

How bad really is it if you run out with the exam?

Asking as a parent who is trying to figure out if this matters as much as I think it does. My 9 year old used to be into books when she was small. Now its all tablets, apps, whatever her friends are into that week. Her school says she is behind in reading comprehension and focus. Grades are okay but the deeper engagement isnt there.

I have been wondering if the reading at home thing is connected to what teachers see in class or if thats just something I am telling myself because I want her to read more.

For my own kid she has adhd tendencies and gets defiant when I push anything too hard. The second it resembles school its over. Teachers especially, does it show when a kid reads at home?

Hello teachers! My oldest child is turning six soon and finishing kindergarten. We are totally new to the US school system and still learning how things work here.

Since he was a toddler, teachers have told us he is advanced. We just got his kindergarten MAP test scores, and he scored in the 99th percentile for both math and reading. His math score was 189 and his reading score was 181, with a Lexile range of 225L to 375L.

We want to make sure we support his growth and keep him engaged without burning him out or putting too much pressure on him. Since we are new to the US system, we aren't sure what programs, resources, or avenues typically exist for advanced learners.

Thank you so much for your guidance!

Hi teachers, I'm hoping to get your opinions and advice regarding a situation regarding my son. I received a phone call from his teacher yesterday and she said that the art teacher told her that my son showed his penis to his friend(girl) in class. I'm absolutely stunned by this because I have hammered into his head from toddler hood that penises are private and art is his favorite class so he has no problems staying on task. When I asked him about it, he said that she showed hers first and asked to see his. But then he said he isn't sure because he's not sure what is "real." I'm so concerned because I feel like this could be an indication of abuse for either child. His teacher said she was shocked that my child did that because he is normally so well behaved but she didn't seem overly concerned and told me to remind him that privates are private. I'm absolutely freaking out. And of course, this child is the daughter of a very well known/respected family in our community. Please help, I'm spiraling and don't know what to do. Thanks so much. I'm not sure if this is important but my child is much smaller and less mature than the kids in his class, does very well academically though.