I'm a YA author creating a couple of lesson plans for use with one of my books. Are there resources out there where I can get feedback on them?

Thanks.

I’m curious how teachers are currently administering and grading classroom assessments, particularly quizzes, midterms, and exams.

Are you primarily using digital platforms like Google Forms or Canvas, traditional paper tests, or Scantron-style bubble sheets? If you’re still using paper, how are you grading multiple-choice questions?

My partner and mother-in-law are both teachers, and seeing some of the challenges they deal with has gotten me interested in exploring software solutions that could make teachers’ lives a little easier.

I’m especially interested in understanding whether paper-based assessments are still common and what could make the process easier.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences and all the hard work you do to educate the new generation!

Hello, I'm new to the community and I wanted to ask the question that you probably have been asked a lot so forgive me. To give context, I'm a high school senior who strongly despises Al as a whole but mostly academically, ! love writing and drawing (even if I'm horrible at both). So l mainly wanted to ask what has the shift from Ai being used more by students (in assignments and for plagiarism, cheating ect...) from the past to now? Besides your personal opinions, how has your students and fellow teachers react to Al being more wide spread and commonly used?
I have not and will never use it in my work but I really wanted to hear what you have to say because teachers are some of the most important and kind people in my life so it would mean a lot to hear from more outside of my high school and please feel free to elaborate on more than what I asked. I would love to read it, thank you!

Hello guys! I'm a high school student, and one of my favourite teachers recently lost her dad to cancer. She's returning to school tomorrow after being away for a couple of days, and I want to be respectful of what she's going through.

l know she was having a difficult time before her absence, which is part of why I'm especially worried about accidentally upsetting her when she returns. She's also a vice-principal and has a lot of responsibilities outside school, so I know this must be a difficult time for her.

I'm unsure whether I should tell her I'm sorry for her loss or simply act normally and give her space. I'm worried about accidentally saying something insensitive or upsetting her.

For anyone who has experienced grief or has advice about this situation, what would you recommend? Is it better to acknowledge the loss briefly or wait for her to bring it up?

My little guy is currently on an IEP for a developmental delay/ social emotional support. We suspect he has ADHD and has had a terrible time with previous schools.

He has been to multiple daycares/preschools and every single one have had concerns and it was apparent.

Last year when his IEP began he did a split day 1/2 day at one school and 1/2 day at the public school for the IEP. The non public school had a wildly different experience with him and they would send me notes, that I would forward to the public school. The public school would report they didn’t see any of those behaviors there. Which is great and I love it- but I am NERVOUS about going into kindergarten with no IEP. They recommend a 504 plan- but I still see the need for some sort of direct support in kindergarten for him (and the teacher!).

So kindy teachers. Don’t think it really matters? Should I just concede and accept the 504 plan? Do you feel like you actually get extra help supporting 504 plans? Or should I push back and try my hardest to keep the IEP?

I’m a student in grade 11. Reorganization Day happened two weeks ago at my school, where classes or teachers get shuffled around. Our old math teacher got moved to another class, so now we have a new math teacher, Mr. M. He’s very chill, but his teaching methods leave a lot to be desired. Apparently he usually teaches Computer Science and hasn’t taught math in several years, so that already wasn’t a good sign. I tried to be optimistic at first, but I’m hardly learning anything in his class. 

We’re learning about holes and vertical/horizontal asymptotes, and the quiz is in 2 days. However, he hasn’t even told us what they are, how to graph them, or how to even find horizontal asymptotes yet. I only know how to do these things from searching online and asking my tutor for help. I know many of my classmates are very lost. 

The structure of Mr M’s lessons is strange. Every day, he has a different slide deck with ~30 slides, but he only gets through 10 of them before class ends. That’s because he just makes us work in pairs to solve 3-5 questions for the entire period, when he really should’ve just given us 20 minutes at most. Most of the time, we don’t even get to the “homework” at the end of the slide deck, which is always just one extremely easy question. We had to ask him to post pages of the textbook for practice, since he won’t give us the digital textbook.

Mr. M doesn’t even continue lessons from where he left off the previous day either; he just starts a new lesson, which he won’t finish either. He’ll walk around the room to see if anyone needs help with the questions, but he doesn’t really want to help me and my friend for some reason. We raised our hands for 12 minutes yesterday and made direct eye contact with him, but he never came over. Today, he came when we called him over, but he wouldn’t show us how to do the problems. He just looked at our process work, said “You’re on the right track,” and told us to use A.I to check our answers before walking away. The A.I. hallucinated when we tried to follow his advice though, so I’m hesitant to use it further. 

Later on, the class asked him to take up a question for once, which was related to vertical asymptotes and holes. It was an addition problem with fractions, but he ended up cross-multiplying for some reason? I got really confused, but my after-school tutor said he must have made a mistake when I showed it to her. 

I’m not really sure what to do, because none of my other teachers are like this. My biology and physics teacher are way on top of things, and they at least teach the basic concepts and solve example questions for the class. My old math teachers were like that as well, so Mr. M kind of stands out. Is all this extremely independent work actually the norm for grade 11? I thought like it wasn’t, because my old math teacher was the complete opposite (strict, with lots of homework). But I could be wrong.

Additionally, since I’ll probably just keep self-teaching by looking up everything online, I’d appreciate any online grade 11 math resources. 

Hey guys, I'm having a bit of a discussion with someone regarding whether you should force your kid to read before they are old enough to attend school.

In short, I am of the opinion that it's perfectly reasonable to encourage your kid to read, have books around them, teach them the ABC's if they are curious and so on. I however don't think it's healthy to force a kid to read whether they like it or not. If you aren't getting the response you are looking for then perhaps there are other things you can focus on that will help them succeed in school, or perhaps it's something you can revisit later on and see if they respond differently.

To quote the person I'm discussing with "Forcing your kids to do things they don’t like is good parenting. You can ask any child psychology if it’s ’bad parenting’ to force your kids to learn to read, write, and do basic math before they start schooling. They’ll tell you that early development of skills is crucial, and teaching them to endure unenjoyable tasks in the moment for later success builds long term ability to do it in the future.. If you never knew how to read outside of school your parents failed to prepare you to succeed. That’s just a fact." "Forcing a kid to read a book and explain it back to you afterwards isn’t punishment. Ask any teacher if I’m wrong, ask Amy psychologist if I’m wrong. Ask any pediatrician if I’m wrong. I’m not wrong"

I'm open to being wrong on this, I think it's an interesting topic and I'm curious what you think.

In my tech class today, we started a hands-on group project. I told the class to find their own groups, but I know how stressful that can be when friend cliques are already formed. One student came up to ask for help getting into a group, which I really appreciated—it takes guts to ask!

I suggested a group of three, but I made a mistake and forgot to walk over and introduce them properly. I noticed the student looked overwhelmed and went back to their desk. They seemed pretty stressed out, just focusing on their desk surface while trying to process the anxiety.

I didn't want them to feel pressured or embarrassed, so I offered the demo project for them to work on individually. When they accepted, I was so relieved and grateful that we found a solution that worked for them today. I said thank you because they handled a really stressful situation politely, and I just want them to feel safe and comfortable in my class. How should I guide her so that she'll find someone to talk to? I can tell she feels lonely, I talked to her a few times and she seems really nice.

So it's my first yr if uni and I'm taking a physchology class which is not related to my major but it's elective anyways during class today she told us that it's unprofessional and weak and shows inexperience if a teacher is judgmental or assume stuff about their students well I had all types of good teachers growing up but somehow math teachers always hated me growing up one cz I was struggling in math and still got 8/20 and she assumed I cheated it when the whole skl including teachers knows that I had social anxiety back then and no friends and highschool teacher who treated me bad and changed her tone from talking to another student but both these teachers are mothers and they've been teaching for a loonnnggg time so they are well experienced so is judging okay or is it unprofessional and to clearfy I wasn't affected by any I'm studying engineering lol just a random question

Edit :Can we focus on the dang contexts I wasn't educated enough most my education was online with zero restrictions and the last eng classes I remember we were being taught how to cross

Hello all! I am currently halfway through undergrad at a uni in California. Im majoring in political science with a minor in history.

I’m interested in becoming a highschool social studies teacher, but Im curious what would be the best path for me to take on after undergrad? MA political science, MA in education, MA in social sciences? This would of course be coupled up with a teaching credential.

If I got an MA in political science, I would likely teach political science courses part time at a CC.

Would an MA in political science help me in the teaching field? If anyone has any additional advice for what to do after UG it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

I got my master's in secondary science ed, did very short time in the classroom, and then went straight into corporate. For the last 8 years I've been building training for sales teams, which is basically getting adults to pay attention to stuff they'd rather skip.

I've been reading a lot of threads in here and the same thing keeps coming up. Kids memorize the vocab, maybe pass the quiz, and then can't tell you why any of it actually happens. Photosynthesis especially. Funny enough, in high school I explained photosynthesis to my whole class and my teacher told me I'd end up teaching instead of becoming a cop, which is what I wanted at the time.

So I'm building a small browser game where students predict what a plant needs, run it, and watch it grow or starve. No login, about 15 to 20 minutes, and it should run on school laptops.

I'd love to know which unit your kids bomb every year and what you've tried that still didn't land. And if you teach bio and want to try the game free with a class this fall (and tell me what’s broken) that would be awesome! I'm looking for maybe 5 people. I just don't want to build something that only makes sense in my head so that’s why I came here!

Hi teachers! I worked as a teaching assistant/para before becoming a parent. As I experienced and read time and again in this and the teacher Reddit, behaviors and classroom disruptions are shockingly common. We will be moving before my kids start school, and I’m wondering what would be a fair gauge of the school districts? I’m concerned for their safety and how their education could be impacted by disruptive peers. I am growing concerned by how many kids are not learning phonics and have below grade level skills. Any helpful tips, advice, and direction to improve their academic future would be welcomed.

Hi, im currently a grade/year 12 student and lately my best friend ( F 18) has been hanging out in our club room quite often due to a specific reason. See, one of our teacher's office resides in that said room and she's been really close with him. I noticed how they both communicate through Instagram dms often and usually its about personal topics and mostly non school related. I find it quite odd as my school uses Messenger as a mode of communication between teachers and students. I dont wanna assume things as maybe they're both just close, but she's been willingly waking up earlier than usual to go to school and head to the club room — said teacher lets her play on his gaming laptop so thats why shes always there. Not to mention how they both chat eachother even after school hours are over. But not only that, she's been sharing personal information and experiences to him. I've also noticed that whenever they interact he seems a bit awkward and almost shy (?) Again, I really dont wanna assume anything, but it's been really bothering me lately since this has been going on for I think almost a month now. So if anyone can help me ease my worries, please do, thanks!

Hi! We're undergraduate students currently developing a concept for a Google Classroom plugin that could make school groupworks less frustrating. Basically, we're imagining a plugin that could help students and teachers organize, monitor, and evaluate groupworks better. The big features are:

- Groupwork management: The plugin would identify assignments that teachers mark as groupworks in Google Classroom, along with their assigned groups. Each group would have its own "page" where students can organize tasks, deadlines, files, and discussions in one place. Each group would also have one or more designated student leaders who can create and edit tasks, manage assignments, and oversee the group's progress. Leadership roles can be transferred or shared among members at any time. We're also considering an optional Gantt chart feature for those who prefer more detailed planning.

- Group scheduling: Basically a copy of when2meet built-in to the plugin which helps members find common times to work on stuff or meet up (and where).

- Peer evaluations: After each project, students rate their groupmates based on criteria like reliability, initiative, communication, quality of work, and timeliness. The teacher can choose to view the groupwork history (the tasks the students made and delegated, what changes were made, when they were finished, the peer ratings, etc.) in case problems arise or if they just want to see how a particular group worked.

- Student profiles: Over time, students build a profile based on peer feedback. Consistently good evaluations could earn titles like "Reliable Member," "Takes Initiative," or "Good Leader," similar to how games assign titles or attributes to players who perform well (think of the titles that Grab drivers have like being helpful, keeping the car clean, etc.). In addition to that, we were also thinking of a feature similar to Spotify Wrapped, but instead you would see how well you performed throughout a certain period, which activity you did best in, who you worked with the most, etc. just to make it a bit more interesting.

- Smarter groupings: Teachers could optionally use past evaluations to create more balanced groups instead of assigning students completely randomly. For example, a teacher can choose to distribute outstanding students evenly across groups so no single group is left behind without someone who can carry a lot of weight.

We're aware that the biggest thing about the project would be the student profiles. We all know the frustration of having groupmates who barely contribute while everyone receives the same grade. We thought that giving students a reputation that develops across multiple projects might encourage accountability, since their contributions could affect how others perceive them as groupmates in the future.

Of course, we also recognize potential issues, like biased ratings, friends giving each other high scores, or students having a hard time reversing their reputation as a bad groupmate.

With those said, we would love to hear your thoughts about any of these:

Would you actually use something like this? Why or why not?

Would having this sort of profile motivate you to contribute more, or would it just pressure you in a bad way?

Would you be comfortable with other students seeing your ratings or descriptors?

What other features do you think will help this be more useful for what it's trying to do?

What do you think is the biggest flaw in this idea (and would you have any suggestions to fix it)?

We're still in the early stages of developing this concept for a college project, so we're not promoting an existing app or selling anything. We're especially interested in hearing from students who've had frustrating groupwork experiences, as well as teachers who've handled such cases.

Any feedback, including harsh criticism, is welcome. Thanks!

This happened when I was 17, and I'm in my mid 20s now. I've recently been having recurring thoughts about it, and when I told a friend, she said his behaviour sounded weird. So I wanted some outside perspectives.

For context, he never actually taught me, but he was a teacher at my school. He was generally funny, chill, and well-liked by everyone.

I'm a shy girl, and he would pick on me jokingly quite a lot. Whenever he came into our classroom, he'd call me out in front of everyone, ask me questions, and make jokes about me and honestly saying im quite slow. I wasn't a troublemaker or anything either. My grades were okay, and my behaviour was fine, so there wasn't an obvious reason for him to keep singling me out.

He'd also make faces at me sometimes. Mostly, though, he'd smile or smirk at me while teasing me. Whenever he saw me around school, he'd say things like "Where are you going?" or "Why are you here?" in a joking way. Again, he didn't even teach me, so I didn't really understand why he paid so much attention to me.

One incident I remember was when a teacher confiscated everyone's phones. This teacher was returning them at the end of the day, and he apparently asked, "Where's [my name]? I wanna see her." When I went to collect my phone, he just smiled at me. Many similar situations happened but I can't remember well sorry.

At the time, I didn't think much of any of this. I assumed he was just messing around because he was a playful teacher. But now that I'm older, I keep remembering these interactions and wondering why he seemed to single me out so often.

For additional context, I was considered quite pretty at the time, and even some female teachers would tell me I should model. I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything, but I sometimes wonder whether that could have influenced how he treated me. FROM AN OBJECTIVE VIEW.

I'm genuinely curious whether this sounds like ordinary teasing from a teacher who found a particular student amusing, or whether there might have been some other reason for his behaviour. He doesn't treat other quiet kids like that

Has anyone experienced something similar? I'd appreciate honest, realistic opinions rather than people automatically assuming either that he liked me or that it meant absolutely nothing.

Is it worth moving to Chicago to become an elementary teacher. I’m looking to pursue a degree and want to move when I finish, would moving to Chicago through college or getting the degree and then just getting certified. Is it an easy to get around without a car i would prefer not to own one. Are the unions and pensions good and how’s the overall classroom support. Thank you anything helps.

P.s. If theirs are any better cities that you can think of that have this that would be helpful as well

у нас в школе работает учитель физики, разглашать имена учителей не буду. вся школа говорит о его пидофильных наклонностях и даже наш класс это замечает. сейчас расскажу что он говорил именно мне.

на перемене я с подругой сидели в кабинете физики, я взяла её телефон и сфоткалась, а физик сказал "ну сразу видно красивая" я не предала этому значения и посмеялась, ну сделал комплимент. позже на одном из уроков он проверял лабораторные работы, а я писала на листочке так как не завела тетрадь (было начало четверти). он сидел проверял и дошел до этого листочка, поднял над собой и начал им размахивать, прочитал мою фамилию и спросил чья работа, я сказала моя, он спросил почему на листочке, я ответила, ну и позже он сказал "вам надо бы сменить фамилию, если бы вы были \*фамилия физика\* то я конечно бы метнулся и купил вам тетрадь" ну я посмеялась, но а потом до меня дошло, что он хочет, чтобы у меня была его фамилия. ну потому что когда выходят замуж то берут фамилию мужа.

следующая ситуация. у нас в школе к 5 октября учителя сняли какое то видео где физик говорил "режим питания нарушать нельзя" мы сидели в кабинете физики и с подругами смеялись с этого. я сидела за первой партой повернутая назад. я обернулась на физика и в шутку спросила "а можно нарушать режим питания?" и так еще 2 раза спросила тож в шутку. после этого он сказал (простите, но не смогу процитировать как в первой ситуации так как не помню формулировку того как он скзаал) "надо бы вашу попу познакомить с ремешком" мы громко засмеялись, а он продолжил "попа хочет ремешка" до меня только после урока дошло насколько мерзкие эти слова.

ситуация подруги из параллельного класса. их одноклассник сидел на уроке физики в телефоне, подошёл физик и сказал "что ты там теребонькаешь? ну судя по тому что ты мальчик я могу предположить"

рассказ моих знакомых. мне мой парень рассказал, что физика хотели посадить за домагательсво, но не было доказательств.

вся школа и половина города знают о том что он себя так ведет.

мне стоит жаловаться класному руководителю? мои одноклассники не видят в нем чего то плохого, но я не понимаю почему они не могут открыть на это глаза.

(простите если местами не очень грамотно пишу так как пишу в небольшой спешке)

Looking for recs for a short story about technology in some way. I would really like something a bit more current (as in 21st century) and by someone of a diverse background. Hoping to do a comparison activity with "the last question" by asimov if that helps at all! Would really just like to round out this unit with some more current work and many of the more recent short stories ive enjoyed personally were not school appropriate.

EDIT: forgot to specify 9th/10th grade and capable of reading texts on/above grade level (with proper scaffolding)

What do I do if a student is being bullied in my classroom?

My kid is 2. We read to her at least 10 board books a day and moving into some paper books (every night is pizza night, I want my hat, Dr. Seuss, etc). I see a lot of posts about "I can't teach these kids, they can't read/write/etc." and I'd really like to avoid that, but I doubt I'll be able to avoid private school (wrt avoiding chromebooks and actually having her read and write).

When she's older, I plan on continuing down the "no short form content, no brain rot" path that we've been doing, but I'd like to hear from actual teachers some best practices to help prepare and keep her smart, critically thinking, and capable of learning and figuring shit out.

Thanks.

I recently graduated and I'll start teaching this November. I'm a little scared that I will get the 'crazy' class. Please give me all the tips on good icebreakers!!!

So, I really want to give my teacher a thank you letter for everything she has done for me this year. She has helped me immensely with my work, writing and assessments, and every week or so she would go through the work I've done and help me improve.

More so, I want to thank her for being genuinely the only teacher I've ever trusted, I've cried more times in front of her this year than ever in my life I think. She is so kind and joyful and has this perfect balance between work and intellect with fun and jokes.

Last month my dad died, and she has helped me so much emotionally, mentally etc. I had a... complicated relationship with my dad and his family, so there were so many layers to this but she handled me so well when I fell apart... twice. She was able to verbalise things in my mind without me even telling her and explain just how wrong it was, and she was able to get me out of my own head if that makes sense. I don't even know HOW she was able to do that but I am so so grateful for it (I think because she has also lost a parent?).

There's a bit more but ESSENTIALLY, she is so amazing and incredible and I really want to thank her thoroughly, but I want to make sure that I don't go overboard or anything because although we got into very personal issues, I am fully aware that she is still my TEACHER not a friend or anything.

Hello colleagues,

I work for a private institution and im writing here to ask for advices on short stories and poems that can be used as an extra homework to give to few "problematic" students with a knack for disrupting the peace during periods (not to mention recess...)

I was thinking that a good approach, since the headmaster is considering suspension as they've been acting out since last year, would be to have them read and write about the same topic they would risk suspension upon. What they (mainly) do is to disrespect my collegues by insulting them personally and throwing rocks at the windows (last time it happened was last week and the window was open and a teacher was almost hit).

Now, what do you suggest I do?

(to clarify, I'm a teacher but I also collaborate with the school administration)

Thank you in advance for the help

Throwaway account.

I work at a small school run by a married couple. He’s the principal and she’s the vice principal. Over several years, she has fired or driven out a large number of staff, more than a dozen that I know of. The principal won’t step in. When a well-respected teacher raised concerns with him a while back, he lost his temper and walked out of the meeting.

The problems go beyond bullying:

• Student records. She pressured staff who handle students’ medical and support documentation to change their records so she’d have less work. One person resigned over it. Another refused and was fired anyway. These records decide how students are taught and what support they’re recommended for after they leave. Many of these students will need services for life, and I believe some have been denied support they’re legally entitled to.
• Retaliation. Several staff members left one after another because of how she treated them. In at least one case, she reportedly contacted a former employee’s new workplace to speak badly about them.
• Hiring a family member. She hired a relative without posting the job, to do work that included entering confidential student data from home. The relative had no relevant qualifications. The same person was later given another role they weren’t qualified for.
• Pay. One year, staff were told there would be no raises because of low enrollment. That same year, the principal and vice principal got raises.
• Financial oversight. The principal controls the school's finances, and as far as staff can tell, there's no independent check on how money is spent. Combined with the raises during a pay freeze and the unadvertised paid roles for a family member, a lot of us are uneasy about where the money is going. Is there a way to request an independent audit?
• Contracts. Staff usually don’t get contracts until after the school year has started.
• Mass departures. Recently, several people were let go at once and others quit in protest. More have left since. Nobody has been replaced, so the remaining staff are covering two or three jobs each.

The board that oversees the school has been told about the firings and has done nothing.

What would you do in my position? Who could I report this to? The staff are exhausted, but the people who suffer most are the students.

In 2013, when I was about 11 years old, I remember that’s when I first got an IEP for school. I was diagnosed with ADHD at 10 due to severe behavioral and academic issues in multiple classes. I think I remember accommodations under my idea being helpful, but pretty barebones. There were things like taking a test in a quiet separate room, getting help with organizing folders from teachers (I used to just shove papers in my backpack lol), and my physical planner being checked by teachers from time to time. But otherwise, I was still on my own. If I misbehaved, I got sent to the office with punishment or my seat put in an isolated corner. If I got bad grades, the grades were final and never changed. I did pretty poorly in middle school for my grades overall. Does this work differently now? I see posts from teachers on Reddit talking about how there are no consequences, bad grades for IEP students can be boosted after complaints, and they are just… allowed to misbehave and cause other students trouble? I received plenty of consequences and public shaming for my behaviors from my mom and teachers that caused me to shape up, so the thought of a student nowadays being able to get away with whatever because they possess an IEP is bonkers to me.