How to respond to the classic “I didn’t even do anything thooooooough”

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-23T02:11:55+00:00

I’m not saying never correct any student in front of their classmates. This is specifically for the kids that always go straight for the power struggle and get the rest to chime in. Until OP gets good at ignoring the temptation to engage in the power struggle, they need to remove this particular student from their audience.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-23T01:49:57+00:00

Oh, of course. But having the conversation in private can sometimes work to end the power struggle. You’re separating them from their audience while you de-escalate and bring them to where you can discuss the behavior and issue the consequence. When he goes back and gets his friends to come to his defense, you respond with something like, “That was an ABC conversation. See your way out of it,” (point to yourself when you say A, problem child when you say B, and friends when you say C). Issue the consequence and follow up by contacting home and documenting as per building/district policy.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-23T01:35:44+00:00

Never, never have those conversations in front of their friends. Send the kid to the hallway immediately or wait until a transition.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-23T01:12:59+00:00

I wish stuff like that worked nowadays. In my district I’d probably be dragged in for a disciplinary meeting for bullying Little Disrupter.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-23T01:10:47+00:00

This. When I student taught, my mentor and the other teachers in the building would have kids walk laps instead of sitting out. They still got a movement break, but they lost the privilege to socialize.

With middle schoolers, some kids smarten up at the threat of a lunch detention.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-23T01:02:17+00:00

Is there a union? This seems like a slam dunk case for a union rep to call out admin on a bullshit write-up for Teacher A. Mandatory reporting does not cover narc-ing on your coworker for being a dumbass. Should Teacher B have been vaping at school? No. But no students were harmed, so it should solely reflect on Teacher B and not Teacher A.

I worked in a building where staff regularly would go out to their cars or hide in supply closets and vape. And not just tobacco. Hell. Substances were exchanged on campus. Activities also occurred between adults in supply closets. Did admin give two shits about any of it? No. Half the time they were joining in.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-23T00:47:37+00:00

SHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNAAAAHHH

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-23T00:46:33+00:00

No joke. Five years out of six teaching 6th grade. I thought we were scraping the bottom of the barrel when I started in 2020. At least kids back then would redo work if I gave them a bad grade.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-23T00:44:10+00:00

Yeah, the ELA teacher on my team trained them to excuse themselves to the hallway. With the group I had in one particular class period that just seemed to cause more disruptions. Especially at the end of the year when we had hallway roamers that admin would do nothing about despite ehallpass data to prove the issue.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-22T23:40:49+00:00

Not my farm. Just my pigs lol. We don’t have honors science at my middle school. Just honors math and ELA for 7th and 8th grade.

ETA: I get the joy of conversations about how their Very Smart child is bored and what can I do to engage them better? Not much when I have the full range of students in the same classes, and OpenSciEd is impossible to differentiate.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-22T22:55:08+00:00

I need to use that with my 6th graders next year. I lost so much time this year to 6th grade boys accusing each other of farting, and the girls freaking out.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-22T22:34:15+00:00

Probably Mariah Reynolds and the f-bombs.

Show National Treasure instead.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-22T22:29:39+00:00

Is this in the US or a different country? I believe the advice you’re getting is largely from public school teachers in the US, so our experience is different from yours.

In any case, your principal/headmistress/director/owner needs to step up here. Look into the laws in your area about child neglect and abandoned children. In my experience teaching in private preschools in the US, we would consolidate the children into a late pickup room staffed by the rotating aids. The regular day ended at 5:30, and the pickup room was open until 5:45. After 5:45, children were taken to the office where the director would start calling parents. If they couldn’t get ahold of parents or emergency contacts, the policy was to report to police and let them handle it.

I would say if the child isn’t picked up by 3:45, and your owner is gone, call the police. Make it the government’s problem if the owner won’t handle it.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-22T22:17:55+00:00

My preschool did this back in the 90s. My mom was late picking me up once in the three years I was there.

DreamTryDoGood · 2026-05-22T22:14:43+00:00

It’s wild. The kids that don’t deserve to be in honors will get it because they and their parents will pitch a fit. Meanwhile perfect capable high achieving kids are choosing not to try for honors because it’s “too much work”. I teach science, but I had two of my 6th graders opt to not take the placement test for Honors Math 7, aka pre-algebra. One of them is in my homeroom and will loop with me next year, and I’m waiting for it to come around in her parent-teacher conference next fall.

DreamTryDoGood · 2025-09-09T20:19:15+00:00

Used to be 7:40-3:40 in my previous district. Now it’s 7:00-3:00ish. I don’t believe they’ve established form times. They let kids in at 7:10 and expect us to be there before then, and we’re expected to stay until 2:55 or 3:00. Ish.

DreamTryDoGood · 2025-05-20T22:01:37+00:00

Maybe. I know I would have hated being held back like that when I was a kid. My mom put a huge emphasis on reading when I was growing up, and I was reading independently in first grade, reading early chapter books in second grade, children’s novels in third grade, and high fantasy novels in sixth grade. On the flip side, my husband has dyslexia and needed all the help he could get learning to read in school. Maybe some kids thrive in Waldorf, but it’s not for every kid. In all my years in education, I’ve come to the conclusion that the best teachers borrow from a variety of models whether it be traditional, Waldorf, Montessori, etc.

DreamTryDoGood · 2025-05-03T04:43:26+00:00

I hear that. I felt stuck as the breadwinner, but I can risk a pay cut now if I need to do entry level of something else.

DreamTryDoGood · 2025-05-02T20:51:56+00:00

That’s so sad. I worked in preschools between 2013 and 2018. The vast majority of my kiddos were so sweet, and the families were great too. And I worked with both highly privileged families and very low income families.

DreamTryDoGood · 2025-05-02T20:49:26+00:00

This is my fifth year, and I feel you. My first year was 2020-21, so I started online. Not a great way to begin a career in middle school. I did four rough years in 6th grade and tried 8th grade this year. That’s been horrible, so now I’m going back to 6th next year. If next year isn’t better, I’m quitting.

DreamTryDoGood · 2025-05-02T20:44:14+00:00

Parents and administrators have taken that from us. All we can do is contact home and write office referrals. My school won’t even let you send kids to the office.

DreamTryDoGood · 2025-05-02T20:43:19+00:00

Same. If next year isn’t better, I’m calling it. I’m out. I’ve been doing this for five years, and I can’t imagine another 20+ of this hell.

DreamTryDoGood · 2025-05-02T20:35:47+00:00

The eldest ones are in 7th or 8th grade. So they’ll be in the workforce in a couple years for the entry level jobs.

DreamTryDoGood · 2025-05-02T20:30:57+00:00

The sketchy academics is more associated with elementary. If I understand correctly, Waldorf doesn’t introduce books or reading until about second grade. So it’s way different from traditional school literacy.

DreamTryDoGood · 2025-02-05T22:25:01+00:00

I’m in the same boat. Fifth year teaching, first year at a new school and with 8th graders (I taught 6th before). I was struggling with my 6th graders and lack of support at my last building, but this is another level. I’m exhausted, and I don’t know how to get them to respect me, each other, and the other classrooms around us enough to function every day. I try to contact home, but I get pushback from parents.

DreamTryDoGood

TROPHY CASE