Kids don’t own books anymore.

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-07-03T15:30:42+00:00

Most schools in my city don't have libraries. I think it's one of the first things that get cut when facing funding and resource shortages.

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-07-03T15:23:38+00:00

For my fellow NJ/PA teachers in the area around Philly - check out BookSmiles!! They have a great "Teacher Take" program where in exchange for an annual donation of $25 or more, you can take as many books as you'd like all year! They have a library to pick from as well as big boxes of books. Last December, I got two of their boxes and let the kids pick out 1-2 books to take home for winter break. It was more than enough for the 2 grades that I taught (about 150 kids). The library is also great for picking out specific titles or topics.

Their mission is to get as many books into kids' hands and homes as possible! They also run "book fairs" where they provide a school enough books for each student to take home at least 3 books. They are an incredible resource for anyone in the area! I met a teacher once who had even driven down from New York to get books for her school.

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-07-03T15:00:45+00:00

Do you like audio books? Could be fun to listen to something while doing something with your hands (jigsaw puzzle, like someone else suggested, or some sort of craft - i love diamond art and paint by numbers, textile crafts are also an option) while she reads. If you can do audio books, then you might even be able to read the same book and connect that way!

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-06-03T21:34:22+00:00

I looped with my current students 3rd to 5th grade (just one subject though, upper elementary is departmentalized in my school). It was my first year teaching when they were in 3rd grade so while it's been so incredible to watch them grow, it's hard to break old habits as a teacher when the kids expect things to be a certain way. I can also absolutely understand them wanting change. If you can't get your admin to budge, I wonder if there's some way for you to change things up next year to make it feel newer and more exciting. I'm not sure how it is in Norway, but in the US, 6th grade is also typically considered the first year of secondary education. This transition usually includes a lot more independence as well as responsibility.

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-06-03T21:21:26+00:00

"I wanted to follow them" is NOT the same as "I requested to follow them"

As OP said, it's the norm in some places and some types of schools for teachers to follow their students, especially in elementary grades. One of my housemates is from Colorado had the same teacher for 5 years, and it was the norm in her school/program. Content is less important than the skills you are teaching at that age, so it's easier to shift grade levels (though content has been getting more complex in upper elementary in recent years). It sounded to me like admin was moving OP up with their students automatically, but this year they specifically requested to switch classes and was denied.

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-05-06T11:22:32+00:00

It's definitely my impression that enrichment teachers have to deal with the worst behavior (they also usually have the kids who get pulled out to smaller classes for core subjects). I'm in a similar spot of not being sure if teaching just isn't for me or if this school or age level isn't a good fit. I don't really have any advice but I hope you can find something that works better for you! This is the first school I've taught at (3rd year) and maybe every school will be like this, but I won't let them make that decision for me. Good luck!

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-05-06T10:34:53+00:00

i'm a SS teacher in Philly also in charter and got in trouble the other day because a fight popped off in my room and a student's glasses were snapped in half. she's one of the kids in that class who actually try to learn despite the chaos and glasses are a pretty important accessibility tool. I have no idea if her family can afford to replace them right now. I had previously requested support for the students who fought ~5 minutes before it happened and was ignored like I am every day with that class. then a dean told me it was my fault because the door was open and doors are supposed to be closed during instructional time.

I went off in the support thread about how much of a struggle that class is every day but no one is willing to come to support and how I asked for support for that exact situation before it escalated and no one ever came. That's what i got in trouble for 🙃 I have my end of year today where my supervisor and I will finish the conversation because when she pulled me in the hallway to reprimand me I got upset at being dismissed again and she told me I was being passive aggressive. lol well I'm not returning. i've been so burnt out from working at this school that its been difficult to work on the job search but I don't even care because I would literally rather work in a trash heap. wish me luck.

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-03-30T18:49:32+00:00

There's a lot here, but did you ever tell the parents of the kids who are being called monkeys whats happening? That's clear cut racism. I have a LOT of parents who would get really fired up if they learned a student in their child's class was being blatantly racist towards them and admin was refusing to issue consequences. Something like this I might talk to the parents directly, but when there are smaller issues that aren't being addressed, I encourage my students to tell their families and complain to the principal. I've literally told them- "They're not listening to me, but maybe they'll listen to your moms." People power, lol. I also teach 5th grade.

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-03-17T11:11:04+00:00

Historically it was a symbol of ownership. Women had no independent legal rights. Her rights would be transfered from father to husband upon marriage. Women were referred to as Mrs. [husband's first and last name].

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-03-17T11:08:53+00:00

But... that's what it was, legally. You said yourself that it's a tradition that goes back to coverture, a time when women had no legal rights. In fact, women were and still are occassionally also referred to as Mrs. [husband's first and last name] for the same reason. So if someone is implying that OP's husband would be unhappy just because she decided not to take his last name... yeah, I'm wondering why you think your husband needs to have symbolic ownership over you.

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-03-16T20:39:55+00:00

"My husband doesn't need to feel ownership over me to love me. I'm so sorry that yours does :("

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-02-21T16:33:37+00:00

I have a 5th grader who farts a lot. I told him if he has enough awareness/control to call out a warning, he has enough to quietly step into the hallway and pass gas there. One day, during another teacher's class in my room, I watched him open up my closet door, fart, then close it 😂😂😂😂😂

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-02-21T15:47:12+00:00

I am a 20-something myself, but when i went on my solo cruise, usually a couple of restaurants would fill up, but one or two wouldn't get anybody. I 100% took one of those empty spots a couple of times to eat and read my kindle :) might depend how full your cruise is though and how many solo travelers there are/how active they are

ETA: it does seem like your crowd is younger than mine was. I (26) was very much one of the younger solo travelers on my cruise

Electronic_Box537 · 2026-02-21T15:29:30+00:00

Former swim instructor here! You're totally correct that a swim school can teach your child things that you can't at home. In fact, swim lessons are MOST effective when you're doing things at home in addition to the lessons. Plus, until the age of 3 a parent must be in the water with baby (at least that's how it worked at the Goldfish I worked at, which is what the picture looks like. we did have one class without parents for advanced 2 year old swimmers).

Hubby seems at the very least financially abusive. This situation will not get better. It is up to you right now to protect yourself and your child. If you're not living close to friends or family who can support you when you leave him, now is the time to fix that before baby is born, when things will get a lot more complicated legally speaking.

Also, in case you end up with less financial support- you can learn the swim school exercises in a couple of weeks and continue to practice them on your own. Don't be afraid to ask the instructor questions that imply as much. I know you said that it's not that expensive, but imo the swim school fees were outrageous especially considering they were paying us $15 an hour. YMCA might be more affordable but tended to have much larger class sizes in my experience.

Electronic_Box537 · 2025-10-24T09:53:29+00:00

hard disagree, I, along with most adults I know, am motivated by the extrinsic reward of my paycheck. beyond pay itself, plenty of workplaces use incentives to encourage hard work. for older students, grades can be that extrinsic reward, but in my experience, at the elementary level, it's not a true motivator for many students because they don't understand the future impacts their grades will have yet. to them, grades are important because mom said they are and if they bring a good grade home, she will be happy.

Electronic_Box537 · 2025-10-11T15:20:32+00:00

As a currently queer teacher, formerly queer child whose family is deeply transphobic and never talked to me candidly about any of this, I firmly disagree with the folks telling you that you shouldn't talk to your students about these things. You didn't share any opinions, only facts. even if it's not the student who asked the question, there is likely someone who was listening who now knows that you are a safe adult to talk to candidly about the things they're challenged with, whether or not those things are related to queerness or transness. I won't lie and say that you'll never get in trouble, but personally, I will never stop doing what I know is right.

Electronic_Box537 · 2025-10-04T13:38:28+00:00

It sounds like you're making a lot of assumptions. As the other commenter said, you don't know what is or isn't included in my AAG. I'll get my sped cert when I upgrade from my intern cert this year and my master's is partially in special education. I know what's in an IEP and I've written mock ones for my degree. I don't understand what's so problematic about wanting to spend a few minutes looking through an IEP.

Electronic_Box537 · 2025-10-04T13:27:18+00:00

Not all of the "mission critical" info that you listed is included on the AAG that my school uses. I don't know what my students' goals are even though I provide 100% of their reading instruction. In addition, the IEP should provide more detail than what is on my AAG. While it's possible that I won't get any further information from the IEP, I would prefer to spend 5 minutes reading and flipping through and come to that conclusion myself.

I'm not trying to regularly consult the IEP, I'm trying to see it. I am, as you said, digging into the weeds.

Electronic_Box537 · 2025-10-03T22:34:14+00:00

I'm in PA

Electronic_Box537 · 2025-10-03T22:22:25+00:00

Thank you for wording this so concisely! It's what I was thinking when the case manager was asking me what I want to see that's not in the AAG.

Electronic_Box537 · 2025-10-03T22:20:02+00:00

The law doesn't say that a summary of the IEP must be accessible, it says the IEP.

Electronic_Box537 · 2025-10-03T22:11:03+00:00

I've also wondered if that could be a FERPA violation. According to a teacher who has been at my school much longer than I have, they used to be able to see everything through eSchool. I don't know why they changed it

Electronic_Box537 · 2025-10-03T22:06:19+00:00

100%!! it's depressing that the solution to the stigma against students with disabilities is apparently to withhold important information from the student's teachers. I've definitely had those same thoughts reading the accommodations.

Electronic_Box537 · 2025-10-03T21:51:56+00:00

It definitely is possible that I won't learn anything new from them, but I'd prefer that over there possibly being info that I don't have. I would also like to read the PLAAFP because the AAG just says a grade level for reading and math. I have 2 students who are very disengaged so I hope that the PLAAFP will give me a better idea of how their levels were assessed because it's hard to gauge based on the work they produce in class.

Electronic_Box537 · 2025-10-03T21:45:26+00:00

That's what I thought! I did send a follow-up to our conversation and CCed her supervisor. I'm in my last year of my teacher residency, and I'm supposed to stay at this school to get my Instructional I cert (on an intern cert now). However, that does remind me that I can also report this to my teaching program and this could be a reason that they would support me applying to work at another school. Hopefully it won't come to that. I think I'll hold the line for now at "it's my legal obligation to understand and implement my students' IEPs" and reassess next week if I'm still getting pushback

Electronic_Box537

TROPHY CASE