I placed a hidden prompt in an assignment that I gave the class (size 2 font, white text). It ended up catching 7 students. They gave me the no I didn’t, but when I pressed about the nonsense that was unrelated…they admitted it.
I notified parents of the academic dishonesty, and all have been on board with the results. 😁
Because you KNOW some poor kindergarten teacher spent weeks preparing that graduation. Practicing songs. Making decorations with their own money. Keeping 5-year-olds alive long enough to learn when to walk across the stage.
Everything is beautiful for about 8 minutes.
Then from the back near the Capri Suns you hear:
“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING TO?”
Every teacher in the room immediately hits DEFCON 1.
At that point I’m not breaking up a fight. Absolutely not. I teach comma rules and figurative language. I am not qualified to stop two grown women named Crystal and Nevaeh’s aunt from throwing punches beside a balloon arch.
I’d be evacuating children like a war reporter while admin does that useless fast-walk they always do when chaos starts.
Meanwhile the kindergarteners are probably having the time of their lives.
“THIS graduation is awesome.”
And you already KNOW the follow-up email would be:
“Reminder to continue fostering positive relationships with families 😊”
Ma’am. Someone’s grandmother just got shoved into the cupcake table.
Today I kept an 11 year old student in from recess because he was constantly distracting other kids; calling out; being rude to me; and generally ruining the learning for the children who actually wanted to be there….
The funny part is: the other 2 students who were also being disruptive completely stopped after one warning. They understood that if they carried on there would be consequences. This child however decided to continue and then acted absolutely shocked when he lost his recess privileges.
So after recess we had the classic restorative conversation….
And suddenly I’m told:
“I feel like you’re picking on me.”
“You’re acting like I committed a crime.”
“I didn’t even do anything 🙄”
“Apologise to me and I shall apologise to you “ Fu** No.
Ah yes. The ancient middle school defence mechanism:
“I didn’t even do anything.”
My brother in Christ; you were doing SOMETHING every 14 seconds directly in front of my face.
Teachers: how do you even respond to this line anymore without internally ascending into another dimension? Because I swear some kids will interrupt a lesson 47 times; argue back; distract everyone around them; then genuinely look at you shocked when there’s a consequence.
Like sir…. the evidence was LIVE. We all watched it together.
Okay basic summary. I was teaching a section of World Mythology that I created from the ground up. I mean I created every unit, used donnors choose to get a copy lf the Iliad graphic novel. I scanned texts, recruited students for this year and next year. I sweated blood building this class and even spent a good chunk of the Summer designing the first half of the year. Today I found out I will not be teaching it next year and they need me for the core subjects only. I am pretty pissed off. I mean I personally recruited dozens of kids for this course for next year. I sweated blood to create it and they basically screw me out of this! Without consulting me beforehand, without any communication. I have no qualms teaching the class they need me for but this is what pisses me off.
I was asked to sit in on a disciplinary meeting for a teacher (A) who failed to report another teacher (B) for vaping while alone in their classroom. It was witnessed after school and on pupil free days. There were no students and neither were teaching.
Admin asked A about concerns for B, because others have complained to admin about other issues with B. That is when A shared what they saw.
So A got written up for not reporting what they saw. In the meeting, admin sited all the policies about using substances on district property. I asked what policy did A violate by not reporting. No child was endangered and A wasn't the one using substances. Admin said mandated reporting includes reporting teachers breaking district policy. I know vaping/smoking on school property is against the law, but seeing as how no child was affected in any way, I can't understand why we would be mandated to report it. If this happened around children or during the school day on school grounds, of course we would be mandated to report it.
I'd like to ask, do the rest of you know this policy and am I just ignorant? Is it common sense and we should just know? Or is it nuts to mandate teachers to report on other teachers when no one was harmed , especially no children?
Edit: the principal used the words mandated reporting, not me. I'm just quoting what she said. I know it as mandated to report children endangerment/neglect/abuse. That's why I'm asking. Also, I'm not excusing the vaping. The person is a dumbass for smoking on school grounds. I'm asking about the rest of us getting written for not telling on each other when children are not involved.
Soooo I just had a new experience today in my 10th grade social studies class. Maybe some of you know about it, but in case you're unaware: students can go to Google, take a photo of their paper, prompt Google AI to "answer all", and it will generate answers. Even in-class work is not safe from being done by AI. I am FED UP!!!! Why do these children insist on doing anything BUT USE THEIR BRAINS?! We are SCREWED!
Here my biggest concern has been ChatGPT; students use the app on their phone before even trying to research on Google. I had no idea we were up against Google too (aside from the gemini top results). WHAT DO WE DO?!
For context, I’m 26(M) years old and I just transitioned from another job into teaching. I’ve noticed that students obsess over finding my social media, LinkedIn, etc. Why do they do this? I noticed some of them taking photos of my LinkedIn profile pic (from when I was 20) phones.
There's a parent who is consistently late picking up her child. Regular, sometimes long minutes, not a few here and there. It often feels hard for me to stay behind as I want to ensure the child's safety. I'm trying to be patient and understanding, but it's interfering with my schedule and energy for my other part-time second job. I don't want to be disrespectful or selfish, but I feel my time is a little disrespected, too.
How do you do this professionally with the parent in order not to endanger the relationship, when situations like this occur repeatedly?
I teach 9th grade honors English. If they want to take English 10 honors, there are some requirements: they must have a B or higher in their current class and their current teacher must sign off on their scheduling paper, which we can refuse to do if we have good cause.
A student came to me today wanting me to sign off on their English 10 honors.
They currently have a D in my general English class. They refuse to do work, ask for makeup work weeks later, don't do it then either, and are also generally a behavior problem. So of course I said no. All else aside, they don't meet the grade requirement.
This child threw a fit. Like a full on tantrum. Too bad, maybe do your work next year. I can't fathom why they want to take honors anyway, given their current attitude toward doing work.
I had a senior yesterday come to my room during lunch asking what they could do to improve their grade. I asked what grade they were hoping for. They said C.
Seeing as finals were done and they missed the final, I offered that maybe that would be a starting point.
Silence.
Ok, let's look at the grade book. 0 work done the whole semester. No tests, no quizzes, no notes, no participation.
More awkward silence.
How could this happen? Let's look at the attendance record. Over 110 days this year they weren't on time, most of those absences.
Still silence.
I offer, "What can I do to help you?"
A minute or two more of awkward silence and the student leaves.
The most incredible thing is that I checked this atudent's grades, and they have mostly A's across their whole transcript, a few B's, and two subjects they got 1 semester of credit for in junior fall with 3 semesters of Fs of that subject afterward (including mine).
I am a fifth grade teacher just finishing my 25th year of teaching. I teach at a kindergarten through eighth grade school with just about a thousand students. About 5% of our students are the real troublemakers, and they take a toll on their teachers, the students around them, and the administration. They do absolutely no work, wreak havoc throughout the day, and are basically babysat, or there are interventions being used to change their behavior. The kicker is that these students have been at our school for years, and there has been no improvement in behavior or academics, for that matter.
After talking to my vice principal today, she admitted that there really is nothing else we can do for these students because there's nowhere the district will send them, no matter what interventions, no matter how many suspensions, no matter what. We have to follow a behavior matrix that essentially places the responsibility solely on the school, not the district level, not the parents, and not the students. Since there is nowhere else for these students to go, am I to believe and work as if education is stuck and only going to get worse?
I'm usually very much a glass is half full kind of person, but I'm trying to look at the bigger picture of the connection between society as a whole and education. It seems that the denigration of society is very much affecting the denigration of our school system. Being so close to retirement, I'm really beginning to question how much longer I should stay in it.
My questions for this group are:
-What is the consensus for the future of education?
-Is my perception based on reality?
-What are your personal thoughts on all of this?
Long Post Alert...
Hi! HS English Teacher from Ohio here. This is a true story that happened to me today. Enjoy!
Today was the last day of school. We had a very small number of students and they were helping us with various tasks. While I am corralling a group of them, another group comes to me and another teacher saying something about raccoons.
I asked the most trustworthy of the group, "What is going on?"
"There's a raccoon in the dumpster. We can't get the trash in."
"Did you tell the Assistant Principal?"
"No."
I walked over and told the AP and she said "I'm not dealing with raccoons."
My school is in an urban/inner-city area. I am actually from the city where I work. I have lived in a smaller rural city for the past few years. That, along with watching a lot of nature YouTube and wanting a raccoon as a pet, has really desensitized me to them. So, everyone was surprised when I grabbed a broom and marched outside to free the raccoon.
I opened the top of the large dumpster to see if it looked rabid or was sick. As soon as I lifted the lid, they-- you read that right-- lined the back wall of the dumpster. The first one stood facing the corner looking up, a couple tried to loaf to not be seen, one stood up facing the wall with its arms out and a couple were huddled under one very big one. I initially counted seven very healthy raccoons.
"Hey guys," I said in a very stern voice, "I am going to get you out of here since you're stuck. Hear me well: if you try to attack me, you will become a hat." The big one covering the other two tried to come at me and I, in essence said, "Whatchu trying to do? I will make you a hat. Please try me." Actually, I cursed it out.
I opened the top of the dumpster, grabbed a pallet that was nearby, and leaned it into the dumpster. I learned that raccoons get stuck in dumpsters because they can get in but don't know how to get out. They aren't trying to live there. You should grab something they can use as a ramp, and they will use it to get out.
I walked away and watched and counted them as they left. I counted seven, so I walked to the dumpster to get the pallet. However, I look in and see two. The big one in the right corner is staring at me and is covering a smaller one. There were nine raccoons total.
I look at them and said "Are you going to get out?" The big one, now named Raccoonathan, puffed up a little bit. The smaller one, now named Raccoolian, didn't like how Raccoonathan moved and hissed at him. "Umm, sir. He is trying to protect your ninja-looking behind," I said as I backed away from the dumpster.
I message the other teachers asking for peanut butter or marshmallows to lure them out. No answer. I googled ways to get them out. One of the ways is to make noise and hit the dumpster. I did that. Nothing. I threw a flattened kickball. Nothing. I even tried oatmeal raisin cookies. They looked at me like "What the hell is this?" So, I started an air assault with student workbooks that were going to the dumpster anyway.
Eventually, another teacher and two of our custodial workers come out to see what's going on. One of the workers whispered, "They are dangerous." I reassured her they were fine. She threw a bag of trash in and I guess one moved because she ran back.
The other teacher and I kept throwing away old workbooks making sure to not aim directly for them. I peeked in and Raccoolian was trying to climb the pallet and froze. I stepped back and waited. We continued throwing the workbooks in until he finally peaked his head up. I took a picture and put it in the chat. Others were catching up on what was happening. There was a debate on how cute they were.
I asked the workers if we had peanut butter. We didn't but we had sunflower seed butter and bananas. They went back to grab those items and the teacher and I kept throwing workbooks. Eventually, Raccoolian started climbing the pallet and would freeze periodically. It had been an hour and I was just over it. So I went to go poke the pallet with the broomstick. He hissed at me. I said, "Well, get out then." The teacher and I stepped to the side and watched him climb out.
I peeked in the dumpster and Raccoonathan was left.
"Dude, just get out."
It looked at me and puffed up.
The workers came back with the butter and bananas. I spread some of the butter on the pallet and threw some to him directly so he could catch the scent. Then I peeled the bananas and placed some of it and a peel on the pallet and threw some to him as well. The other teacher and I watched for a bit until we decided to go in and check back later.
I work on some things for a bit and then check in with some of the staff. My principal appears from her office laughing.
"Why are you trying to get raccoons out of the dumpster?"
"The kids needed to throw some things out and didn't feel safe"
"I do not want to be the one telling your kids that their dad got rabies from dumpster raccoons."
"I checked for visual signs of rabies. If it was foaming, the dumpster would become their forever home."
We laugh, and she returns to her office as I go check the dumpster.
As I am walking, another staff member asks if I need help. "No," I replied, "I just need to see if the raccoon is gone."
Thankfully, it was.
I teach middle school civics and have been a teacher for over 20 years. Please explain to me how I am denied permission to show Hamilton to my 7th graders as an end of year video due to “content”. Further than that, I was told that I’d be charged with conduct unbecoming and insubordination if I showed the movie anyway. However, I have colleagues that are showing Avengers movies as their end of the year videos without any consequences or repercussion. I’m not saying that they shouldn’t be allowed to show an Avengers movie, but why can’t I show Hamilton which actually relates to my content and I use clips from during the year?
Last week, I got told that I would be impacted by budget cuts within our district. My state/district operates under "last one in, first one out", so I always knew that I'd be impacted by budget cuts. It's the second straight year when it's happened, but this year hit differently, because it feels so much more arbitrary than in past years.
A running list:
I share a classroom with a teacher who is regularly arriving to school either five minutes after the first bell, sometimes ten to fifteen minutes afterwards. Our contracts dictate for us to arrive around fifteen minutes before first bell rings. Mind you, he has a first period class, so there's just a class of kids just hanging out, waiting for him to arrive. One time, he just didn't show up until forty minutes into class. I had one of my colleagues text to see where he is (I stay in the room because it's my prep), and he arrived ten minutes later. He forgot what day our schedule was on; he just wasn't there, because he forgot the schedule. His position is completely safe. I get cut.
We're constantly reminded to have our gradebooks updated. I keep mine regularly updated after every week, because I believe it's only fair to my students and parents to have an idea as to how things are going, and what's missing. At lead teacher meetings, our principal regularly laments that some teachers have zero grades into the gradebook, after almost five weeks of a quarter. We had faculty meetings during second and third quarter, because teachers were not putting grades into the gradebook. So, halfway into fourth quarter, and guess what? Some teachers still don't have grades in the gradebooks. In spite of constant reminders. In spite of warnings from administration. In spite of administration sending emails to teachers who don't have grades in (I know who, because the teachers complained about our admin doing it). None of their positions are even remotely threatened. I get cut.
We got our summative evals back, one week before I was given the news I'd be laid off. I either received proficient or exemplary in every category. There are two other teachers in my department who have received "needs improvement". None of that matters: I get cut.
At this point, I'm not even mad at my colleagues. They have an administration that is feckless, and ineffectual. Want to know what our Lead Teacher notes said, when the topic of missing/no grades came up for the fourth time this year?
>No grades in Aspen will appear in Teacher Evaluations.
Why wouldn't they put in grades? If that's the worst that's going to happen, why wouldn't you exploit it? If you knew your job was safe, because it was just easier to cut new teachers who are non-PTS, why wouldn't you take advantage of it? If anything, it's admin's fault, because they created an environment that implicitly states that it doesn't matter how effective you are.
Again, the more time I spend in the education field, the more it feels arbitrary. It feels like decisions are made based on seniority. It's exhausting to feel like I'm under constant threat for my position, but others can coast along. And to be fair to those who coast along, why shouldn't they? If the only thing that matters to your job security is if you received tenure, then of course people will phone it in.
We are witnessing the downfall of education in real time, and one of the biggest reasons is the complete lack of accountability being placed on students for their own learning.
The State of Texas Biology STAAR test is a required exam for high school graduation, yet students only need around 25% of the questions correct to pass a heavily multiple-choice test. On a test where most of the question has four answer choices (A, B, C, D), a student could randomly guess without reading a single question and still have a high chance of passing.
Biology STAAR Conversion Chart
Instead of addressing the literacy crisis happening across this generation, the solution from educational leadership seems to be lowering standards and lowering expectations. We are creating a system where failure is almost impossible, even when students cannot read, write, or perform basic academic tasks independently.
Districts proudly advertise 98% graduation rates as if that automatically equals success. But what is the value of a diploma if a student leaves school unable to communicate effectively, think critically, or function independently in the real world?
We are prioritizing numbers, optics, and appearances over actual education. The truth is many students are drowning academically, and instead of helping them develop discipline and accountability, we continue pushing them forward regardless of whether they have mastered anything.
At some point, we have to stop pretending everything is fine. Students need support, but they also need standards, responsibility, and consequences. Without accountability, we are setting an entire generation up for failure long after they leave the classroom.
My job will contractually let me go 1 day before the end of my 5th year, which they would have to pay me a $5000 tenured bonus. Very egregious and scum behavior in the charter school system. I developed a strong relationship with my principal and she would manipulate me and empathize with my feelings just to fire me via telephone
Does it bother anyone else when students sit at the teacher’s desk? I’m talking high school. I hate it. I think it’s a boundary issue from both teacher and students. I don’t let it happen but I see many colleagues allow it. It’s happened a few time in my room with my own students. I can’t believe I had to tell them no and that I had to say it out loud. The reason I don’t allow it is for said boundaries but also student privacy because at any given time my computer could be open to the grade book, I could have papers I’m grading, notes about student behavior, tests sitting out, etc. I hate when they even come in my desk space behind me. It’s my private bubble! Or take my pens from my desk or grab the stapler on a shelf behind my desk. I’ve been at a few schools and this has been the only one where this happens on a consistent basis. It’s mind boggling. What do you all think about this?
Edited to add : apparently I was the last person to report. The teacher in question was arrested a half hour ago at school.
I reported a colleague today for inappropriate relationship with a student. I have screenshots of emails between the teacher and the student, on school emails, which is crazy to me. The emails were disgusting. It’s worded like a father daughter sort of relationship, but there’s lots of wording like you’re irreplaceable to me, I’ll never find another one like you, etc. I’ve also physically seen them walking around campus together before school, during lunch, and after school. This apparently is a well-known thing that has been happening. I know of several teachers that know it’s been going on and the students all know what’s been going on because they talk to me about it. I submitted the screenshots to my title IX AP and made a report through the district.
I guess that that’s all I can do? Several students have already gone to the principal with this and have been threatened with suspension for intimidation and bullying. I was afraid to go to my principal at all so I went to my AP. The school is so toxic right now and this sucks for me because this was my dream school that I wanted to go to. Like I know that it’s not on me to investigate, and I should’ve let it lie, but I feel so helpless. I guess I just needed to tell someone because I’m afraid of what’s gonna happen if it comes out that I reported and how to go on after this.
Edited to add: I was able to submit this completely anonymously to the Florida abuse hotline. They allowed me to submit the screenshots as well.
I’ve said this line myself, but I’m realizing that it’s not really true. My on-level classes are generally fine, just a little apathetic and phone-addicted. I redirect them, they comply, whatever.
But the behavior in my honors classes, especially right now, is kind of trash. I’m out here confiscating hacky sacks and pulling kids out of class for ripping up their peers’ work, lobbing nerd clusters at each other, and being rough with laptops. The only write-ups I’ve done this year have been in honors. Granted it’s a minority of kids, and there are also very dedicated, intellectually curious students who just want to learn, but the immaturity present in each section is insane.
I’d worry it was a me problem—I like my classes chatty and enthusiastic, and it can be difficult to strike the right balance between fun and controlled—but the veteran AP teacher above me, who has excellent classroom management, was saying similar things about his students. The level of classroom management required for honors and AP now is ridiculous. And the kids causing the problems aren’t academically ready for the work anyway.
My regular classes are Juniors while my honors classes are Sophomores, so that’s definitely part of the issue. Sophomores are loveable but annoying, and Juniors are a highly-requested grade level for a reason. I get that.
But no, I don’t think that honors and AP classes are just regular with better behavior. They’re regular with regular behavior, and the kids who just want to learn are suffering as a result. So while I support having multiple ways for students to qualify for honors—a test, teacher rec, portfolio, etc.—open enrollment with no requirement beyond “isn’t credit deficient in the subject” is not equitable or conducive to a genuinely rigorous class.
I was in the staff room the other day and we were talking about tips for an upcoming PD.
My favourite one follows:
Always clean the whiteboard up and down,
Side to side makes a jiggling butt cause to students to frown.
Would love to hear some more!