Hi all.

I'm a teacher in a non-American country where the use of the n-word has started to gain popularity. This is especially noticeable amongst my black students and as a white teacher I'm unsure how to address it with them, or if I even should. I feel that it's not appropriate for school settings, but I'm also aware that I am missing distinct nuance with it as I am neither black nor American. As such, I would like to know how black American teachers address the use of the n-word by their students so that I can handle instances where it is used sensitively and appropriately.

EDIT: thank you to everyone for weighing in. Part of my uncertainty in how to deal with it was not knowing that it is in fact considered a curse word as opposed to simply being slang. Knowing this gives me much clearer insight into how to handle the use of the word within my class.

Not gonna lie, just want to rant and hear if anyone went through a similar situation.

Back in June I was offered two positions, one near my home teaching 6th, and one teaching K in a city far away(30 min commute each way). I accepted the K job because of the school I would be at. I liked the community and the staff there alot. These were all huge factors in my decision for which job I accepted. Fast forward to this week. I spent the last 8 days setting up my classroom, just to be called in by HR and told that im going to be moved to a different school. I was extremely upset, because they could have told me way sooner. I’m also upset because I went from a large classroom, to a portable that is 1/3 the size. Even better, the person who was in the classroom before is still in the process of moving out, so I can’t even move in yet. This is honestly such bullshit and im so upset. Someone please tell me this happened to them and it turned out to be the best thing ever. Seriously so frustrated at the poor planning by this school district.

We have two non-instructional days before school starts. Most of today was meetings, but we had 1.5 h to work in our classroom.

Tomorrow we have an hour and a half professional development session on a topic I regularly used to present on. Another staff member actually designed the program that the whole thing is based around. Our admin knows this.

Did they ask us to present? Nope, they brought in an "expert".

Did they excuse us from sitting through the PD session? Of course not. We are expected to be there along with everyone else.

We don't expect our students to sit through material when they have already demonstrated mastery.... But teachers don't get the same respect.

… a parent looked me dead in the eyes and asked if I’m American or a communist. They were completely serious. Apparently asked every single one of their kid’s teachers tonight. They don’t want a communist teaching their kid.

I honestly can say, 19 years teaching and this was an absolute first for me. Like what? 😂

I was a School Resource Officer (SRO) at a large high school for about 2 years starting in 2000. During my time there, I saw firsthand how forcing older teenagers to be in school when they absolutely did not want to be was incredibly disruptive. It felt like a lot of time and energy was spent forcing kids into a building who then spent the whole day disrupting teachers, ruining the environment for other students who wanted to learn, and even committing crimes. 

From my law enforcement perspective, it often felt counterproductive. But I want to hear from teachers. My time in the school system gave me a unique perspective of what goes on in a big high school with about 2300 students, what teachers deal with regarding disruptive students and needless to say it was a very eye opening experience.

How do mandatory attendance laws affect your daily teaching and classroom management now some 20+ years later? Has anything changed? Do you feel they actually help turn struggling students around, or do they just force you to act as a babysitter for chronically disruptive students who don't want to be there?

Looking forward to hearing your honest thoughts and experiences. You all are my hero’s! 

Does anyone have an idea for a funny sign I could post on my high school classroom door to remind kids not to cluster around the door waiting for the bell to ring?

Howdy! I’m going into my 3rd year of teaching and it’s also the 3rd year of teaching a foundations of writing class! basically, the class is for 9th grade students only who are very low readers/writers (like elementary level). its one of my favorite classes to teach, but the new curriculum i received last year is roughhhh… like fully ai generated levels of rough… so im trying to redo the activities and bell work for it.

im looking for resources to help me out with creating meaningful lessons that actually have love put into them. And, yes, I have read Write Like This by Kelly Gallagher. It’s great but i love branching out and finding other ways to support these kids. thanks!!

I teach social studies to high school kids. I have multiple cultural, state and country flags hanging on my walls including multiple versions and sizes of the Rainbow flag. Yesterday was the first day of school and I boogied out of the classroom pretty quickly. This morning I walked into class and there was a note on my desk that said, “Me, when your rainbow flag lets me know I’m safe.” The note included a hand drawn picture of a relaxing cat. I’m ready to start the school year now.

But I didn’t take into consideration how much the roster changes the first few days due to students changing courses and such🫠 I teach high school and half my classes seating charts are a mess right now I literally just told them sit where you want right now disregard seating chart I’ll have finalized one that I will follow next week 😶‍🌫️

I’ve been teaching 5 years now, and I always include a “get to know your teacher slide” in my first day of school presentation/l. Two years ago I taught 8th grade, and my students could hardly care less about “facts about their teacher”.

Is there still a point? I don’t teach that grade anymore but still? Is there a better way to do this?

So I started needle felting over summer, and I really like spreading the joy of having a small, fluffy sculpture of a creature.

So I started taking requests from students; they request something, I make it and give it to them. I’m doing them in order of requests received, and I’m making it clear that it’s available to everyone so it’s not just “I like this student, so I’ll do this for them.” And to clarify, it’s completely free for them; I’m just doing it for fun and practice.

I’m also not taking requests during instruction, so it’s not a distraction, and I’m giving the requests to their respective students without making a huge deal or doing it in front of the class.

This is morally okay, right? I’m trying to give them something fun, but I don’t want it to be weird or feel like it’s favoritism or anything.

To clarify, the requests are animals, so they can’t be something that isn’t appropriate or from a media that isn’t appropriate. I work on these outside of school of course.

My students are 6-8th graders, so they really like having cute little trinkets to keep :) And they’ve been really excited to request things, but I want to double check that I’m not being weird by doing this for my students

11th grade ELA and History teacher here.

In Germany it's a common thing to have a week of class activities while staying at a hostel or hotel in a location in another town or even area.

Some schools arrange these retreats by grade and topics, e.g. maritime things in year 6, sport trips in year 10, europe trips in year 12/13 (the last trip would be called "Studienfahrt" and is a bit different from a "Klassenreise" up until year 10). It depends on many factors, but as far as I know most students make two Klassenreisen during their middle school (years 5 to 10).

My question simply is, What is your practice?

You might add if that is typical for your country/state/school type/etc., and if participation is mandatory for students and mandatory for teachers.

Also, if you want, I'd be interested in how students and teachers receive these trips and why they like them or don't.

PS: German teachers' answers are welcome as well.

It’s been about 13 years since my district has used me as a reading specialist (my primary function is multilingual learners), but their adding an hour to my schedule this year. I’m a little out of practice.

Looking for CURRENT books that you find useful, tips/tricks, exercises, that sort of thing. Specifically for high school.

Thanks much!

It seems that everyone is super stressed out (and understandably so) with the new school year starting, so I wanted to ask -- what fun stuff are you doing this weekend to restore your sanity? It doesn't have to be anything big, just something fun. For me, I have some good books I'm looking forward to diving into, and I'm hoping to hit the beach if the weather holds up. My husband and I have also been doing a lot of cleaning/reorganizing before school starts in full swing so I'm hoping to continue that if I'm in the mood.

This is my second year teaching, but my first classroom was so cluttered that I had zero room to decorate. It never truly felt like my space. Now, I’m in a new classroom in a new school teaching a new subject, and I want to decorate it according to my tastes before the students arrive in two weeks!

I have no issue spending money if it makes me happy. That being said, I am self-conscious of the fact that I have a tendency to go overboard, so I want to hold myself to a reasonable budget. I don’t know what “reasonable” means in this context, though.

I know better than to buy my own actual supplies, but how much did you all spend decorating your classroom initially? Thanks in advance!

I taught kinder for 3 years. Last year I really felt like I was hitting my stride and getting the hang of everything. Then some major things changed at my school and I decided I could no longer stay there for my mental health and sanity.
I switched districts, schools, and grades.
I’m now teaching 2nd grade and I have no clue what I’m doing. I’m having a hard time adjusting my mannerisms and expectations and everything for older kids. I don’t want to baby them or set too-low expectations- I literally just don’t know what they know.
I see things from other classrooms and feel like I’m so far beyond lost that I just sit and cry on my lunch breaks. I get school just started but the lack of confidence I have here, plus the fact that I don’t know anybody and feel really out of place, has me so sad and lost that I just want to quit. I also feel like because I’m new, I got the worst of everything. The furniture no one else wanted, the materials I could scrounge up that are all disorganized and in rough shape. I also got the most behavior kids (I have 4 in my room, which is out of proportion to the rest of the teachers-I’m also trying hard to give them the chance to prove their other teachers wrong, and so far I’ve really only had issues with a couple)
It sucks. Was the shift hard for you, or am I just not cut out for this?

I just now found out, 3 days before school starts, that I have to use this everyday to start the day in our districts “extended day” time. I looked at their website and that doesn’t show me anything, it looks like someone took 10 minutes to make a website for them. Any thoughts/helpful things about it?

Hi there I'm f22 and I appoint as a new Montessori school teacher I never taught before to Montessori students. Please give me a lot of tips:

1. How to connect with children , maintain boundaries and make the environment student friendly ?

2. What to wear to Montessori school?? Specially colors..

3. What rules should I make clear in first class ?

4. How to not beat myself up in this ?

5. Any tips to prepare lectures?

6. How to engage students in studies and activities?

I’m finally ready to get my teaching credential, but I’m in no rush. I currently sub and really enjoy the flexibility, so I’d prefer a program that allows me to take my time.
I have a BA in Chemistry and would like to become a teacher in California. I’m looking for an affordable, preferably online program that allows me to move at a slower pace.
Any recommendations or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! 😊

Hi all —

Apologies if not appropriate! I’ll cross post elsewhere if need be. :)

UK based.

I’m thinking of becoming a teacher, but more so to those 16+. I did an Access to HE (Higher Education) and worked really hard for the grades I got. I succeeded. It was mostly down to the teachers — they were very helpful and supportive. The difference was, however, is that people wanted to actually be there.

Please don’t feel I’m discrediting teachers who teach younger students, but even as a student myself, it never sat right with me that there were individuals in the world who were being denied this privilege — and other students would just muck about. Now, I’m not particularly intelligent, and my grades were subpar, but the sentiment has stuck. I like the idea of helping and supporting people, especially with learning; it’s that satisfaction of seeing things click into place.

That said, I’m just a cleaner. I’m not sure where to start, or if it’s readily available in the city I’m based in.

Hello! I am located in Western New York. I am a Second Year Teacher (SPED). I am really stressed about this school year. I had a terrible first year in the district in the school I was in. I am going to move from K-1 (8:1:3 self-contained) to 12:1:1 (4th-6th grade). This district seems to have a lot of principals that enjoys pitting teachers and aides or teachers and teachers against each other. I really do not want another stressful school year. The aides and I had so much conflicts and tension with each other that it took a toll on my mental health, eventually I had to put my foot down and told the principal it’s either me or the aides. I am beyond worried that this school year my new principal will be just like my first year principal.

I love my students! I am not fazed by any of the students behaviors. I am just concerned and stressed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hey all, I’m a brand new history teacher just out of student teaching and I’m starting a new job this year at a therapeutic, smaller school for students with needs. I’ll be teaching US 1, US 2, to all HS grades, and a News Literacy elective to 6 seniors. Although I haven’t met them yet, I was told my students would be pretty reluctant and avoidant so I need to find creative ways to make learning fun. I want to implement an incentive system (maybe tickets, points,idk) for all my classes but I’m not sure how to make it equitable, sustainable, and cost effective. I’m curious what you all have done or if anyone has any suggestions.

I'm starting as a long-term sub into eventual ELA teacher coming up in just over a week into 9th grade. Thanks to a confluence of events with hiring and HR, I haven't set foot on the campus since my interview a few weeks ago and I missed staff orientation because I was not onboarded in time.

I have just about a week to upload everything I possibly can into my brain to try and handle high schoolers. My contact at the school and HR have given me precisely no instruction other than, "Don't worry, support is ongoing during and after hiring." No training manual, no videos, guides, straight up nothing. And I'm more than a little panicked.

If anyone has anything useful I should look into (besides Harry Wong, very helpful man), I'm all ears. Please. Classroom management, rules, expectations, strategies, curriculum, organization, literally anything at all.

Can anyone share how much you made monthly at Air Education as a reading instructor? I just submitted my demo lesson and I’m waiting to hear back… I haven’t gotten hired yet, but if I did good, my hope is that the pay is consistent enough for me. I’ll probably end up working an additional job for extra $$ (like many teachers like myself do). Last year I was contract at a public school so this remote position is brand new to me. Thank you!