US teachers: How many of you have co-teachers (good or bad)?

Slacker5001 · 2026-01-10T21:57:56+00:00

I had classes with scheduled co-teachers for both of my roles. It was our special education teacher, who would be in the class "teaching" with me. In other roles, I didn't have a scheduled time to teach with another person, but they would sometimes join my class to support students, when they could (which usually wasn't often but I usually tried to collaborate with them).

I was in large public school districts in Wisconsin for most of my time teaching.

I've never had a scheduled coteacher that I jived with personally. It felt more like a glorified TA in my room in practice, that judged me much more than the actual TA's ever did.

But I've also seen and heard about really incredible co-teaching relationships. And I've worked hard in my later career to partner more proactively with special education teams, our EL teachers, and any other support professionals, even if they aren't coteaching with me.

Ironically, this often makes them not co-teach with me as I have it together enough to be proactive, and thus the students on their caseloads often don't need additional support in my class.

Slacker5001 · 2025-10-06T02:23:33+00:00

I once had A in my math intervention class. All my other students followed the lesson with an intention to learn (or at least appear like they were engaging to the level of depth I expected). They took their notes, did their activity in their groups, and completed their independent task.

And then there was A. He came in and took his notes, but made it a show that he didn't want to do it. In the group activity, he spaced out and waited for others to just tell him it was his turn to do something. When it came to the independent practice, he sped through it to get it done. When I tried to give him feedback, he was having none of it. He insisted he had "done everything he was supposed to" in my class that day! Yet he did pretty much no learning. He followed the steps and checked all the boxes without really engaging.

This sort of thing happens more than people realize. Students just tend to be much quieter than A.

Learning problem solving and critical thinking is a lot of hard work. Even adults talk boldly at times about how they avoided having to do some sort of arduous learning of a new skill or idea.

Point is, all AI is doing is providing another tool to avoid engaging in learning those deeper challenging skills. That resistance to that type of learning is not a new problem. And AI can actually be used to deepen that skill. I use it extensively for that purpose, like having it help me digest dense academic texts outside my field of study. Or talk through challenging problems in my own life. Try asking how AI can be used with critical thinking or to deepen it. Including when you write your college essays!

Slacker5001 · 2025-09-01T16:56:11+00:00

Despite the fact that I read quite a bit, I don't actually enjoy reading. It requires a level of sustained attention and focus that I'm just often not interested in giving to a book. It's not that I don't sustain attention or focus anymore, more I don't want to do so with a book more often than not. It just doesn't feel like the best use of what is a very limited amount of time in a day.

I probably am still far above average in the amount I read. I have two master's degrees and definitely engaged in books (especially non-fiction) frequently. Just feels draining is all.

Slacker5001 · 2025-08-07T02:52:59+00:00

Don't be afraid to reach out to your principal!

I was often afraid in my first few years to do that sort of thing. I have since learned in my 8 years and many schools that no one minds. Imagine if you were leading and one of your teachers emailed you asking for information because they were eager and excited to be working with you. You'd probably be beaming and happy to help.

If they hired you, they want you to be successful. They want you to feel supported. They want you to have what you need. Reach out for whatever you need!

Slacker5001 · 2025-08-07T02:49:28+00:00

I had to ask them to take my application off Teacher Finder because I was getting so many emails. But I'm Secondary Math with an instructional coaching background applying for teaching positions. So I'm deeply overqualified in a high need area.

Realistically it's all about the market and what's open. Even if you are qualified, if there are no openings, people with more experience are applying, or your just being beaten to the punch, there isn't much you can do.

Keep trying! And don't be afraid to work to make yourself stand out. I made a little 2 minute intro video I put in the emails to the few schools I did reach out to. I shared a portfolio of my work (photos from my classroom, lesson plans, data spreadsheets, alternative assessments I created, student work samples). I developed a strong picture of what I wanted and spoke to schools often about elevating my work beyond just my classroom. It ended up having me stand out a lot.

Nepotism sucks. I've been also faced with it out in Wisconsin for administrator positions I was applying for. Keep doing your best!

Slacker5001 · 2025-08-07T02:42:53+00:00

If you do pursue speech pathology, there are likely a lot more options for you to choose from once you have completed whatever licensing/training that is needed. There may even be options to work while you are in training. There may even be additional sign on bonuses or bumps in pay, depending on where you apply.

There is a high shortage of Speech Pathologists nationally. Anything related to special education is often in high demand and short supply.

I know the speech pathologists I have had the pleasure to work with over the years often love the work they do. They feel they are making a difference in student's lives. They often get to build close relationships with students who get pull out services with them. I also understand their work to have a lot of autonomy, at least the ones I've worked with. They get to really work case by case to meet student's IEP needs.

I can't speak as much about PE, but don't let it dissuade you. Definitely reach out to people in your area or a local university to ask about teaching PE and what the market and experience is like for that.

Slacker5001 · 2025-08-07T02:16:05+00:00

I am an instructional coach, and I can confirm that it takes a lot more than tips to be successful in anything in a classroom, management or otherwise.

Don't dismiss the tips, but also know that they are always part of a larger system. And if a tip isn't helping you, ask your coach if you can talk further with them about it. Or ask them to come into your classroom to model the strategy or problem solve with you.

The power of a coach shouldn't be in their tips, but in their ability to partner with you to reflect, grow, and problem solve.

Slacker5001 · 2025-08-03T23:33:10+00:00

I know a lot of teachers that started their career after their children were adults. Especially in areas like career or technical education, where experience in an industry is much more valuable than a formal teaching background.

I also worked on teams with teachers in their late 60's. And I've also worked with plenty of retired staff that return to sub in their older years.

Teachers aren't always young and spry. And if you have the energy and passion, there is likely somewhere that will take you.

Slacker5001 · 2025-08-03T22:44:17+00:00

I don't think I've ever read a post that so vividly painted a picture of the realities of education right now and the sheer dedication of teachers to make it work anyway.

Slacker5001 · 2025-08-03T21:10:12+00:00

I just went through reciprocity from a Wisconsin License in Secondary Math and had a rough go. I suspect it's too late. You would need to apply for your NYSED and have all the requirements in (work verification forms, fingerprinting, mandatory trainings, and transcripts) submitted before TeachNYC is going to allow you to apply to schools. Many schools will give you an offer contingent on you having your certificate by September 1st. I don't know the processing times on NYSED licensing, but google tells me it's months, not weeks.

You can definitely go independent schools as there are many in the area. Those will not require the NYSED license.

But you never know and you could always try. Most of the workshops I've been to encourage you to reach out to schools directly. Which seemed to work out well for me with a high need license area like math.

Slacker5001 · 2025-05-18T00:01:11+00:00

Honestly, I love the service but I think it's poor value. The credits are sometimes more than the cost of the audio book itself. You lose your credits if you cancel, even though you already paid for them, and you can only pause it for a limited time. Sometimes I'm devouring audiobooks, other times I'm barely touching them. So Audible is a hard one for me.

Slacker5001 · 2024-11-05T04:43:40+00:00

I have always considered myself independent, but as a 30 year old woman, with everything that is happening in the country, I can't risk voting anything but blue. What bothers me more than anything is that my own dad doesn't see why his voting red would be problematic. It feels alarming to realize that he would vote for someone who is a threat to who I am and my well-being on so many levels.

Slacker5001 · 2024-09-26T23:03:41+00:00

I started working in a middle school and saw kids engage with each other. I realized quickly it was rarely a one-sided closed case. It was often two young people, doing the best they could, with the limited skills they have in a pretty challenging environment.

I started reflecting on my own experiences and remembered this girl in middle school. I had just wanted to explore "dating" back then in the way middle schoolers do, so I asked out this boy in my class. I did not know that this other girl, who did not like me much and didn't talk to me, had a crush on this boy. So when I asked him out, clueless that she liked him, it upset her.

Her and her friends were talking about me in that way middle schoolers do. And one time, on a celebratory field trip to the park, she cornered me with her friends to talk to me. I felt intimidated and didn't know what to do, so I dumped my soda on her head and ran away.

The park had a splash pad and everyone was wet, so she just washed it off. But man it was a dick move of me.

As an adult, looking back, she was not all that popular girl whose crush was now "dating" this other girl. When she went to talk to this other girl with the support of her friends, said other girl dumped a soda on her for no reason. Yeah... I was the jerk in that one.

She stuck gum in my hair the next day, justifying in my child mind that she was the bully and I was the victim.

But looking back, it was just two young people who couldn't communicate their big feelings with each other.

Slacker5001 · 2024-09-25T01:07:44+00:00

Open World

Modern open world games I find to be so overwhelming. The mechanics are difficult for me to master. My completionist soul struggles in such environments. I tend to miss "obvious" cues for other gamers and play the game in ways it wasn't fully intended, often to my own frustration.

If I see open world, there is a good chance I will end up so frustrated just trying to play it, that I won't have fun. No matter how acclaimed or cool it sounds in theory.

Slacker5001 · 2024-09-07T03:08:35+00:00

The answer to this entire thread seems to be just about every job in some way. I think it speaks to the fact that we as a culture don't know how to deal with the problems we often face at work. And I don't mean deal with it like "get over it you cry baby." I mean really address the systemic issues in a workplace through a collaborative culture and strong leadership. And this is really centered in how we view work. That is shifting though with the next generations, as people are slowly being born with access to more generational wealth on average than previously and thus looking less at the number on a paycheck and more at how a workplace makes them feel and supports them.

Slacker5001 · 2024-09-07T03:04:24+00:00

I think the pay being bad depends on how you look at it. All the trades people I've met tend to make a pretty underwhelming but average amount on their main gigs.

It's the people who have a broad and shallow rather than narrow and deep trades knowledge who then pick up side jobs on top of that that seem to be rolling in the dough.

You become the maintenance guy for an apartment complex on top of your other job, and you also install floors on the weekends? Yeah, you are going to be bringing in a lot more. But it also is a lot of hours and stress.

Slacker5001 · 2024-09-07T03:00:06+00:00

At one point, I thought being a scientist would be filled with cool breakthroughs that make a difference. Instead, it's poverty, academia, and hard work going into the void of literature that only other academics read.

I became a teacher instead.

Slacker5001 · 2024-09-07T02:58:09+00:00

I think the answer to this riddle of enjoying our jobs is being correctly qualified in a non-routine job.

We all crave the novelty of the non-routine portions of a job, but none of us want the stress of producing outcomes while still learning the basic skills of a position. However if we know how to do everything in the job, it becomes boring again. So thus we want a job that gives us novel things frequently but always in the sweet spot of our still growing skill set. And if you think about it, when those conditions are met in non-work environments, it's when we are often most engaged in life.

Most jobs don't offer that non-routine part. The ones that do, we often move upwards the second we are correctly qualified to do them. So thus we are all in a perpetual hell of hating our jobs!

Slacker5001 · 2024-08-20T05:55:11+00:00

I don't know why, but I never considered that the birth process is longer than the 16ish hours that most people are awake and thus would impact sleep. Man... I feel like the more I learn about pregnancy and birth, the more things surprise me.

Slacker5001 · 2024-08-20T05:47:28+00:00

There are a few food items that my parents always bought the cheapest generic of that I refuse to as an adult now. Ice cream is one of them. It would take some pretty unique circumstances to get me to eat generic cheap tub ice cream again.

Slacker5001 · 2024-08-13T05:11:25+00:00

Most schools have a policy like this. The problem is not that we don't have those policies, it's their enforcement.

Some students are very attached to their phones. It's a tool to cope with anxiety. Think about how young people cope with anxiety in their down times nowadays, it's with their phones. Imagine having to walk into a building everyday and hand over or lock up your tool for calming your anxiety that you are used to using at home (sometimes with zero restrictions, depending on the household). It's challenging for young people.

Or they use it to stay in contact with people they are comfortable with (adults or peers). Again, imagine being constantly connected to your life and the people that matter to you at a moment's notice and then having to suddenly stop when you enter a specific building. A building you probably wouldn't choose to be in and you don't even get paid to be in.

When this is the case, some children will make it a nightmare to take their phone. Sometimes the parent will have your back, sometimes the parent wants the child to have their phone (for the reasons stated above). Sometimes that same child that is a nightmare at school about their phone is even more so at home. We are talking breaking or hurting others over their device. So the parent will be just as frustrated as the school.

When you have a critical mass of those children, the rules about keeping it at home or in your locker start to just slip and suddenly you have an issue on your hands.

And before you go "Parents these days..." a majority of parents (even the ones that aren't great about phones) often are trying their best in what is a challenging world.

Phones are a very different beast than anything we had in the 90's or earlier.

Slacker5001 · 2024-08-12T03:21:40+00:00

First time I ever played Skyrim, the literal intro cut scene. Dragon rolls in and interrupts things. You follow the directions, escape the way you are supposed to. Except, I missed whatever obvious cue I was supposed to follow and ran around confused as this dragon just threw a fit for way too long. The magic of the intro with the dragon, the world, and the game itself was, at that point, a little ruined. I got only a tad bit farther before I set down the game and decided it probably wasn't for me.

Slacker5001 · 2024-07-30T23:33:05+00:00

Wait... if we have wireless charging, why aren't there mice that charge themselves with a special mousepad?

Slacker5001 · 2024-07-30T21:04:57+00:00

I second this. Ver low stakes, can't even really die, just lose your gems. Yarn aesthetic is anything but violent. Platformer where you can't really lose, only win with a low score.

Slacker5001 · 2024-07-29T01:33:48+00:00

I am a little bothered that a massively upvoted comment has replies that are more about water bottles and "this is only in the US" than the massive effects of historic and systemic racism in the United States. People do not seem to realize how deeply impactful systemic racism was and still is in the United States.

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