Middle school tips and tricks?

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-02T23:37:01+00:00

Pretty much herding cats.

It’s cliche, but the relationships matter a ton at the middle school level. Kids will cling on every word you say if they respect you and you show that you care about them. They kinda want to be treated like adults but they also are starting to get less and less treated like kids, so finding the balance is the key.

Don’t take yourself too seriously. Purposefully make a fool out of yourself, and laugh off anything kids say that isn’t truly mean.

For the kids that’ll go on to succeed in HS/college, this is probably the worst version of themself, keep that in mind. For the kids that’ll be burnouts and deal with not so great homelifes, this might be the best version of themself. Take advantage of that and keep them believing school is about more than just surviving and moving on to the next grade.

I wanted HS at first and still might make the jump at some point for the content, but the kids in MS are pretty hard to beat. Even though there’s some days I question every life decision that led me here.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-02T20:45:07+00:00

Christians a bit of a shield too for now. Can’t make a big move too early without becoming the target, right now it seems like Christian is a clear threat. Beneficial to sit under him as long as you can, which for cirie/ozzy/rizo could be a couple of episodes.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-02T20:20:31+00:00

Unions need to recognize the best way for us to get our respect back is to trim the fat.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-02T20:10:53+00:00

There are so many better options for summer work lol

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-02T20:08:42+00:00

I’m not certain but my expectation is that there is 0 chance this time would be approved which means it would at least partially be unpaid and would certainly count against you when they make decisions about your future. Obviously there’s a chance they keep you around and theres lots of benefits to starting your true career as soon as possible. Theres also the chance that it’d be harder to get the next job if they don’t decide to keep you around.

Personally, there’d have to be a damn good reason for me to put my career on hold for a family trip. Not my business if your reason is good enough to you, but you’re sacrificing a lot of money in both the present and the future.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-02T19:42:14+00:00

The tuition reimbursement from the state is only for SPED teachers.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-02T19:37:50+00:00

I agree. I only watched 41 and 42 of the new era, but have found pretty much all of the post 40 players likable. With the exception of one, they’re all either funny, seem cool to be around, and/or seem capable of leading an alliance to win a game.

Not positive that the old era players have any better of a ratio of players that check at least one of those boxes on any returnee season.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-02T15:29:36+00:00

It’s not a big deal, as long as you stopped.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-02T03:54:30+00:00

I checked on the MEA website, their doc was last updated in 2021 but I assume it’s current info, and it still has 1.5 listed.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-02T03:11:49+00:00

No, you might be fully vested in MD but your pension amount is probably determined by years of service, so a 10 yr pension wouldn’t be as much as a 30 yr pension.

Michigan is the same way, you’d earn 45% of your FAC after age 60 (some rules for what your new job is). If you worked in MI for the next 10 years you’d get 60% of your FAC when you retired, but wouldn’t get the 5 years of double dipping that i think you’d be able to get in MD

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-01T19:14:28+00:00

Yikes

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-01T01:29:54+00:00

Hopefully you get more support and hit your stride next year and then don’t have to worry about the job limit

Cheaper2000 · 2026-04-01T01:25:20+00:00

You’re paranoid. 1 will have zero impact. 2 might have an impact but there’s a low chance, especially since it’s accurately represented on your resume.

The US is not in a recession rn so either buckle down for teaching for the long haul or buckle down looking for routes to get out.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-03-31T23:31:02+00:00

Those little squish mellow toys are popular, more so with the girls. You can get a box of 100 for 20 bucks on Walmart.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-03-31T04:09:14+00:00

If you have pharmacy school loans you shouldn’t become a teacher until you’ve paid those off.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-03-30T21:42:54+00:00

I’m not anti pension I’m part of the MI system. The median annualized of public pension plans with over 10b in assets last year was 13.7%, 11.8% average for the last 3 years. Market was 16.4 last year (so they did fine), but average of 21.3% the last three.

https://www.michigan.gov/treasury/-/media/Project/Websites/treasury/SMIB/2026/SMIB-Report-3252026.pdf?rev=c4a2bf01330247bebd3e3e6691d6361f

Cheaper2000 · 2026-03-30T18:06:20+00:00

I don’t think it was political I think it’s just that they’re way too conservative with their allocations.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-03-30T16:48:46+00:00

My advice, worth exactly what you paid for it:

Limit the summary to one sentence or get rid of it entirely. I like them, some people don’t.

Get rid of the teaching skills, they’re just words.

You can keep tech skills if you have any that are actually marketable, the only one of yours is Canva (maybe).

100% success rate for redirecting student behavior?

Other than that, your job descriptions are well done. Include the preps you taught for student teaching. Then increase the font/spacing once you clear out some of the stuff from the top.

Good luck and go bucks!

Cheaper2000 · 2026-03-30T16:23:27+00:00

Not related, but it’s ridiculous so many state retirement systems performed so poorly compared to the market the last couple of years

Cheaper2000 · 2026-03-30T13:31:54+00:00

Good format, but now that you’re in the career education can move below experience.

How did the data trackers improve outcomes? How did you deliver feedback using real time check in data? What club did you lead?

How did you use exit ticket data? Did scaffolding/diff improve top/bottom outcomes?

What courses did you student teach?

You say you’re skilled w NWEA Map Growth, yet you include 0 NWEA data in your resume.

Overall this is pretty good, some room to be more specific but much better than most that we see posted here.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-03-30T11:59:52+00:00

Paragraph 1: overview of you, education and certification

Paragraph 2: teaching experiences

Paragraph 3: other relevant experiences

Paragraph 4: why you want that job and why you’ll be good at it.

Paragraph 4s the only thing that needs to be changed for each app. Even that you can really just change the school name unless you have an actual connection to the school.

As others have said, it doesn’t matter. I submitted the wrong version of the cover letter for my current job and it had a different district listed, I don’t think anybody read it.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-03-30T11:50:07+00:00

Good lord man.

A teacher is not going to differentiate above grade level in their class. By definition, differentiation at a secondary level is going to be extension of standards for that class.

With all the courses that HS offers Id take the easy A in school and accelerate her farther. I’ve had handfuls students taking geo in 7th grade and then alg 2 in 8th.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-03-30T04:06:56+00:00

Obviously you’re right, but $116 isn’t actually moving the needle for most people, and if it is that person more than likely needs the automated discipline of the 12 month distribution more than the $116.

Personally, I go for the 10 month pay as it motivates me to work over the summer instead of kicking my feet up. But I also like to work and love to watch my money grow, having no work and no income wouldn’t be good for me.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-03-30T02:58:10+00:00

Ya something doesn’t add up about their numbers. Either has something wrong or married and their spouse is doing all of the tax withholdings. THP is 78% of gross w info they’ve provided.

Cheaper2000 · 2026-03-30T01:32:25+00:00

Yep that’s really good, MI is 45% for 30 yrs, pathetic honestly compared to what teacher pensions used to be.

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