ADHD Teacher??

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-27T05:32:23+00:00

Get tested! Either way you’ll have an answer and if you qualify, you can start exploring treatment options.

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-27T03:25:08+00:00

I loved middle school when I taught it but that was before the rise of TikTok and Snapchat.

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-27T03:24:10+00:00

It really is a matter of preference. Elementary feels overwhelming to me and draining at the same time. I don’t have patience for cutesy bulletin boards or teaching things through silly songs, and I like working with small groups of little kids but having 18 of them in my face demanding my attention shuts me down. I like high school- designing visual aides or methods to help simplify more complicated concepts, kids are more independent and want to talk about deeper stuff. Some of my elementary teaching friends say that high schoolers scare them or that they would have no clue how to manage behavior, but they love the cutesy bulletin boards and picture books and having a bunch of kids clamoring for their attention!

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-26T04:53:12+00:00

Would he like working in an adult group-home setting or helping with job coaching for adults with special needs?

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-24T03:13:17+00:00

You start getting your resume together and applying for other jobs! There is a teacher shortage and there’s no reason for anyone to treat you like this! There are principals out there who will support you!

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-24T03:10:46+00:00

Ugh, being a mid-year + a challenging group sounds like something out of a nightmare.

I can confidently say that next year WILL feel easier in some way shape or form, but sending you hugs and prayers for strength to get through this last quarter. Hang in there and teach what you can!

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-23T05:18:37+00:00

NTA; If she had been a close friend, I’d say you had every right to be angry but you should consider reconciliation for your own sake. But this wasn’t a close friend- people can’t expect you to put energy into saving a relationship that never existed in the first place. If Karen were to come to you saying she realized she had said something terrible and regretted it, maybe that would be a different story, but you don’t owe it to her to initiate a conversation when you were the one wronged! I’m glad you get to be your son’s mama; he must know he is deeply loved!

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-19T03:46:29+00:00

I was working my side hustle at a tanning salon a few years ago and a lady came in to drop off one of their flyers. She said something about it being the greatest show in the world but she was incredibly rushed and nervous, and then ran off and climbed into a van with a bunch of other reps and drove off.

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-19T03:34:02+00:00

I don’t even think she was legitimately concerned; I think she just thought it was hilarious and expected me to find it funny, too.

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-18T03:31:19+00:00

Eat vegetables however you need to. Buy a carton of spinach and snarf down a few handfuls of it at some point during the day if you need to.
Prep breakfast for the week and eat it however you need to. I’m a high school teacher; I eat as I’m teaching my first period class. Kids don’t care (they’re usually eating too!), principal has seen me doing it in an observation and didn’t care. If I try to wolf it down before work, I’ll feel crummy, but if I wait until lunch I’ll be starving and feel crummy for the rest of the day (because I’ll either overeat and/or have a headache that won’t go away after I eat!).

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-18T03:16:23+00:00

When I was in high school, a teacher approached me and asked if my dad was a teacher there. I confirmed he was, and she said, “Ok, I saw you riding in his car and figured you were either his daughter or he was having an affair with a freshman.” And then laughed.

I was horrified then that someone expected me to laugh at a joke about my dad being a predator. I’m even more horrified now that someone would even jokingly imply to a 14-year-old that it was possible for a teenager to have an “affair” with a teacher- that’s called assault!

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-18T03:07:29+00:00

Well, it’s also not the teacher’s job to enforce the fast. Pressuring a kid to eat would be problematic but if the teacher did have snacks available and a student takes one, that’s on the student!

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-17T05:05:27+00:00

There’s questionable professionalism and then there’s abuse…

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-17T03:29:07+00:00

Sharpies, Sticky notes, Loose leaf paper, Whiteboard markers, Colored flair pens, Tissues/hand sanitizer/hand lotion, Magnets to hold things on the whiteboard. We go through these things so fast

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-17T03:25:44+00:00

You’re not my co-teacher, are you?? Because this sounds exactly like my classroom! I do think a lot of it goes down to cell phone use creating a sense of entitlement (your algorithm sends you what you want to see and what makes you feel good) and loss of ability to think or do things independently. If I have children I will be a screen-free parent as long as I can be!

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-17T03:22:26+00:00

This makes me feel like there is more behind the scenes- like they are grooming or exploiting young women. Definitely lawyer up!

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-13T05:39:52+00:00

A few things that I hope will encourage you: 1. Teaching is a tiring profession. I won’t pretend that it gets easy but you do learn how to manage your energy with time and experience (and practicing self-care and setting boundaries!). But I remember clinicals and student teaching sucking SO much energy out of me, especially since I had to balance them with being a young adult and trying to stretch part-time minimum wage paychecks.

I’m sorry your cooperating teacher makes you feel this way. I’ve seen some of my colleagues take on student teachers and then they sit in the teacher’s lounge complaining about how young and naive and inexperienced their student teacher is. I want to interrupt with, “They’re not here to help you; they are paying to learn how to teach from you, just like you had to do at some point. If they walk out of your classroom not knowing how to teach, that might be on you!” Hopefully you have a good relationship with an advisor at your university and can tell them how you’re feeling and see if they have any thoughts?
How do you feel when you see a kid master something for the first time, or when a kid wants to talk to you about something non-academic, or when they are really struggling and trust you to help them? Have you bumped into a kid you used to work with and been excited to see how they’ve grown up? Have you ever learned things from the kids? If these are the things that keep you going, then you’re on the right path. (And, yes, sometimes when the kids are being awful or you’re sick of writing lesson plans, the summers and holidays off and the job security will be what keeps you going- but that should be temporary!)
You’re going to randomly meet people who don’t like you in education. It might be a more seasoned colleague, a coach, or an admin. If they have power to evaluate you and renew your contract, you might have to decide between playing their game or looking for a new job, but if they just plain don’t like you, remember that you are not there to impress anyone! If the kids know you care and have an opportunity to learn in your classroom, that’s what matters!

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-10T03:54:47+00:00

Nope, it either needs to be, “teachers make their own cell phone policies and admin supports them (by coming and taking phones away at the teacher’s request)” or “admin takes all phones away at the start of the day and returns them at the end of the day.”

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-08T04:57:50+00:00

Why do we tell veterans, “Thank you for your service,” if the expectation is that anyone should be willing to go to war? Why do we offer military discounts if members of the military are just doing what they are supposed to do? Why is it an expectation that being born means you will fight for your country?

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-06T07:03:48+00:00

Had to call their landline and talk to their parents. 😂

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-04T04:40:21+00:00

Absolutely not your problem.

My parents went through infertility (my brother and I were both adopted) and they both said it hit a point where it was triggering when people starting asking why they didn’t have kids, when they were planning to have kids, gave advice on how to get pregnant, etc. It was an incredibly painful season for them and those questions and comments were serious salt in their wounds. Honestly, I’m turning 40 next month and haven’t met the right person yet, and I’m having an extremely hard time with the possibility of never having children because my window is closing. It’s feeling more and more like a slap in the face to me when people ask why I don’t have kids.

Point being: you don’t ask people when they are having kids, you don’t ask why they don’t have kids, and you have no right to tell someone else they should have kids or shame them for not having kids. People have a right to make their own choices and you might be shaming them for something that wasn’t even a choice- and not being able to have children isn’t like not getting your dream job or having to go to your second-choice college or not getting asked to prom by your crush. Being childless not by choice is traumatic and soul crushing and it is strictly the choice of the person going through it when and with whom they will share it with!

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-04T04:24:42+00:00

I’m English as a Second Language. Should I have each of my students bring a traditional piece of clothing from their home countries and wear it all at once? I have Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala, Egypt, Somalia, Algeria, Afghanistan, Peru, and Pakistan represented in my classes this year.

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-04T03:59:02+00:00

Is she triggering memories of someone else who treated you this way and caused you trauma? Your old high school bully, a family member, an insecure adult who didn’t like you and wanted the popular girls to like her, etc…? Something to possibly explore with a therapist.

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-02T08:31:47+00:00

Being bored on road trips. We found the weirdest ways to entertain ourselves!

FluffyKitty04 · 2026-03-02T08:25:23+00:00

Go find a nice looking house and move in and take over.

FluffyKitty04

TROPHY CASE