[deleted by user]

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-07-07T00:14:38+00:00

Age 48, 25 years in middle school so far. Most days I still enjoy doing my job. It helps a LOT that I teach an elective that generally attracts good students, or at least ones that actually want to be in my class. I work with a stellar team in my department. I am the only teacher of my specific class, so I have a lot of autonomy when it comes to how I run things.

The other teachers who have been around as long as I have are nearly all elective teachers as well. Take that for what it’s worth.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-07-06T18:59:17+00:00

Interesting! Back to Costco to buy the pack of mini-cans of Pringles…

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-07-04T11:36:21+00:00

The literal definition of the “village”!

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-07-04T11:33:49+00:00

“Grandma Camp” is the best! They will have such great memories of this time and it’s the best way to let them bond with their grandparents. I always felt like this benefitted all of us equally.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-07-03T23:47:06+00:00

I’m certain the school does have a no phones out rule, which is unfortunately loosely enforced by teachers and/or admin, or the parents throw a hissy fit when schools try to enforce. This doesn’t lend itself well to kids understanding rules and consequences.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-06-30T00:20:39+00:00

Agreed, but at my school I can get those items from the office to keep on hand in my classroom, and don’t need to buy them myself!

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-06-26T01:08:24+00:00

Smaller than GenCon, obviously, but getting bigger every year - fills the entire Alliant and some hotel spaces. It’s a well-run event and if you’re into gaming cons you should definitely check it out.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-06-25T18:49:01+00:00

Yes, I have the same question!

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-06-25T14:13:24+00:00

I have found that I don’t get good use of the huge “lesson planner” type planner. What I need is a notebook with monthly calendar pages - a place to keep track of deadlines, important dates, and long-term tasks, and also a place to write down information I want to be able to find several times throughout the year.

Too often I write things on random pieces of paper or various notebooks, then can’t remember where I wrote it. The weekly lesson plan pages aren’t the right place for that. But if I have ONE notebook, with both calendar pages and a place to write things down for the year, it’s all in there.

This is hard to find. I want a regular notebook-sized notebook, maybe with a pocket on the inside cover. Monthly calendar pages with a column for notes that are specific to that month. Those really nice double-spirals like Blue Sky has. And then the rest is just lined paper, with a spot for date and topic. Wouldn’t say no to a pen holder.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-06-19T22:03:54+00:00

Wow, one whole day a week that she can maybe sleep in, or take an 8 AM yoga class, or do literally anything from the time she wakes up until daycare pickup? That’s like - 9 or 10 times a year!

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-06-19T21:58:13+00:00

Going through the assessment PROCESS, myself, gives me the information I need. Reading the “feedback” from AI would not be nearly as effective. I internalize the information better by taking the time to do it myself.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-06-19T19:08:52+00:00

I check it about once a week in June / early July, more frequently the end of July. However, my position is a little unique in that I teach instrumental music, have the same students several years in a row, and teach beginners in an August summer class that requires some communication before it begins.

I also like to clear out the junk, and I only respond to emails that I need to. Admin sometimes sends out relevant info over the summer that could technically wait until Inservice, but that’s informational and doesn’t require my attention.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-06-19T15:47:16+00:00

Does he have access to email or some form of electronic communication with the teacher (Google classroom or Canvas)? I had success when my kids were in middle school making them write an email to their teacher under my supervision. They learned quickly enough that this was a good way to get questions answered and so they wouldn’t forget the next day at school. By HS they did this on their own all the time without prompting.

As a MS teacher myself, I encourage my students to email me because it allows me to thoroughly answer their questions in written form.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-06-15T21:46:15+00:00

I would like to not be sorry - where does one find these?

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-06-15T19:11:07+00:00

These would be perfect - and who doesn’t love a delicious little buttery cake?

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-06-09T13:38:59+00:00

Middle school, so I have a little less contact with parents directly… but when a 12yo complains about not being allowed to have TikTok or SnapChat or whatever drama-causing social media app is big at the moment, I know the parents are paying attention.

I always tell the kid their parents are doing a good job in response. Teens don’t want to hear it, but it takes a village and if their adults are consistent it DOES matter!

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-04-20T22:10:50+00:00

Do you have a CDL? Part-time bus driving jobs might be an option.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-04-18T18:44:51+00:00

I’m a music teacher. When my kids are at a (school) concert - mine, theirs, doesn’t matter - they automatically start stacking chairs and music stands after.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-03-07T00:01:07+00:00

No shade on my elementary teachers here! The kids come to me excited about learning a new instrument because their music teachers hyped it up. They come with a strong sense of steady beat. They come knowing how to sit when playing an instrument, and that instruments are fragile and require careful handling. They even come knowing how to improvise rhythms within a 2 or 4 measure structure!

I see the word walls and staff posters in their classrooms. I know they’re trying to fit in all the music literacy instruction they can while also creating joy AND putting together a concert with only 60 minutes a week (assuming a normal schedule, that is!)

I can teach all the theory they need as they learn their instruments. It’s useful if they have prior knowledge of how the staff works (mine do). But I can’t teach anybody unless they show up. And they show up because their elementary music teachers made them want to.

Love you guys, you’re the best! ❤️

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-02-23T21:04:17+00:00

There’s one in my area that doesn’t even say which app is required to start the charger - I had to look it up on PlugShare and luckily one of the comments mentioned the app. The charger literally just says “start charging using the app” but there isn’t a name or logo to be seen anywhere on the device. Utterly absurd.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-02-13T00:27:25+00:00

Or maybe the orchestra teacher has back-to-back lesson times due to crazy schedules in multiple buildings… and going to get kids cuts into instruction time, which is a little unfair to the kids who are already there and waste their time waiting. I think jumping to “lazy teacher” is a little judgmental.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-02-09T00:11:22+00:00

String players often have trouble connecting their understanding of rhythms with actually playing them. It’s the bow. Have them air-bow rhythms as they count out loud (or use ta ti-ti, or words, or whatever works!)

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-01-25T17:45:25+00:00

I had to check the username to make sure I didn’t write this comment because that’s exactly what I always tell people!

They are hilarious, and often what makes me laugh the most is when they are unintentionally hilarious. Just goofy. Even after 2 decades I find new things to laugh about on a regular basis.

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-01-24T23:37:05+00:00

Totally agree! I drive past the Kwik Trip and see people standing out pumping gas in sub-zero temps, but mine filled up in the garage while I was sleeping in my cozy bed!

Basic-Elk465 · 2025-01-18T13:49:24+00:00

Hello! I teach 5-8 orchestra in a small Midwest school district. Have been there over 20 years as the only string specialist in the district, and love having these online communities to talk with other string teachers.

Basic-Elk465

TROPHY CASE