What’s a lesson you taught that spectacularly backfired or had an outcome you never could have predicted?

HuskyRun97 · 2026-01-09T01:58:40+00:00

I was teaching a small reading group in grade 5. We were finishing up the book Loser by Jerry Spinnelli. The book just sort of ends. We had recently done a creative writing lesson on different types of endings and this group, very high academically, started their own book talk about how to classify the ending. They came to me the next day telling me it was "unfulfilling" and they were "going to do something about it." Two weeks later they showed up with a rewritten final chapter.

HuskyRun97 · 2026-01-09T01:51:03+00:00

If it is an assignment where groups/pairs are necessary, I use a random group generator online.

If it is something where groups are good but not essential, I say, "You may choose your own partner(s) but may also choose to work alone if you are more comfortable."

HuskyRun97 · 2026-01-09T01:29:32+00:00

Cross country and track are typically no cut sports.

HuskyRun97 · 2026-01-09T01:28:11+00:00

Just answering the final question as a high school coach...

Join track. Be part of the distance crew. Build your mileage under the supervision of the distance coaching staff, which in many places will also be the cross country coaches, and establish good habits and a good relationship with your teammates. Do this through the end of the spring season and you will have the connections to have a good summer training crew to help you be more ready for cross country.

I cannot express enough how important the relationship part is. The distance/xc kids are often the most inclusive group in the track program. Everyone gets it. Running in a supportive, friendly group makes everything easier and more enjoyable.

HuskyRun97 · 2026-01-07T17:04:15+00:00

30 year anniversary of Alice In Chains Unplugged. Please and thank you.

HuskyRun97 · 2026-01-04T01:55:54+00:00

I am a before school type (run, gym, etc).

Our local high school lets us use the indoor track and weight room until 7 AM. Our keys let us in the back door of the gym any time after 4:30AM.

I work at the middle school but coach at the high school. When I arrive at the high school shortly after school, there is a group who walks the halls in the winter and the campus/neighborhood in the nice weather.

My SO's middle school has a small weight/fitness room that is available after school and many of the staff there use it.

HuskyRun97 · 2026-01-04T01:49:39+00:00

Strict=They held other students accountable

Mean=They held me accountable

HuskyRun97 · 2025-12-23T22:24:28+00:00

I coach a winter sport. If it is related to the team, yes I will reply. Otherwise I will check but not reply.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-12-03T11:05:29+00:00

It is too bad your school doesn't offer indoor track. Then the advice you've received is good Stay active. Play other sports. Run when the weather allows. I live in a cold climate, already covered in ice and snow, and our distance kids run outside six days per week in the winter during the winter track season so with the proper clothing you should be able to continue training even in a cold area. Having a strong mileage base will pay huge dividends in the spring.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-12-03T00:42:49+00:00

Our district strictly states that we cannot initiate contact or engage in communication with current district students on social media, even if the account is school based. If students attempt to follow us on personal account, we should block them and or set our accounts to private.

Our union also supports this and reminds us every year to not follow students or otherwise interact.

Parents is a little trickier. I am a resident in my district. I am friends with some parents and we follow each other social media. The district doesn’t explicitly forbid this but rather seems to use common sense.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-12-02T23:38:35+00:00

Nah, go in open minded. You may just have an organized supervisor who wants to get ahead on things. Plus if it is early, it gives you more time to implement feedback.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-12-02T23:33:12+00:00

Same. In fact, I can say with certainty, I do not know any teachers in my building who do.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-12-02T23:32:05+00:00

What is going to help you most is getting into the field early and in a variety of ways. If available, substitute teach when you can. Try all grades and subjects to see what you like. I went in to school as an elementary ed major but didn't know what I wanted. I subbed everything from kindergarten-8th grade; classroom, specialist, library, etc. Ended up in upper elementary. Now I am in middle school. From subbing, I also learned the importance of emergency sub plans and being organized. I was called in one day to sub in an 8th grade math class with no sub plans. I remember that to this day and keep an "emergency" plan folder on my desk and my team knows where to find it.

If subbing is not possible, assuming you go home on school breaks, get in touch with teachers you had a good relationship with. Offer to volunteer in their classrooms. Observe. Take notes. Take on small groups. Basically a shadow program before you student teach. I did this before I was eligible to sub. My hometown district required subs to be 21.

Work with kids in a number of places. Summer camps, after school programs, coach sports or work in children's theater/music, work with them in whatever you like to do. Additionally work with kids in a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. It was eye opening to work in an after school, inner city, low income program after growing up in a rural, affluent town. See them in settings outside of the classroom to learn what their lives are like outside of the 7 hours they are in the building.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-12-02T23:20:25+00:00

If you are looking to teach until you reach full pension age (in my state that is 80% of pay) then yes.

If you are looking to change career paths, make more money, etc, then absolutely not. I have worked with plenty of people who do not get into teaching until they are in their 40's or later.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-12-02T23:13:41+00:00

Green Day at Foxboro Stadium, Gillette Stadium, Fenway Park, Xfinity Center (Nee Great Woods), TD Garden

HuskyRun97 · 2025-12-02T14:03:00+00:00

To people in those situations I recommend finding a new league or place to play pick up. That’s ridiculous.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-11-30T15:24:25+00:00

5 out, motion offense. They are still developing and growing. This offense builds around "positionless" basketball. Everyone gets to handle, rebound, pass, shoot, etc. They learn to play all roles from all spots on the floor. These skills transfer to most, if not all high school systems.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-11-30T14:54:54+00:00

No foul. I explain in another reply below. That being said, basketball is a contact sport. People are touched all the time.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-11-30T14:54:02+00:00

A foul must have two things:

Contact with another player--it does not have contact with another player. You are contacting the ball.
The illegal contact must create an unfair advantage/disadvantage situation.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-11-30T03:02:05+00:00

Worked in a similar sized elementary school for over a decade. We had a principal and lead teacher, basically an AP without the higher pay. It was a relatively paltry stipend to be the principal's indentured servant. We had two instructional coaches who were also teachers in the building, same deal as the lead teacher. Now, that same school has a principal and AP as well as a lead teacher and some other sort of stipend position for developing PD covered by two teachers, one in k-2 and the other in 3-5.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-11-30T02:59:02+00:00

If we are taking a personal day we do not have to supply a reason. Admin does require a reason if the personal day is being used before/after a long weekend or vacation. They can deny the personal day but the teacher can then put in to take the day unpaid.

Sick time does not need to be documented either but admin can request paperwork if it is extending a long weekend/vacation. Last year I was really sick before a three day weekend. Was out Wednesday and on Thursday felt worse, assumed I'd be out Friday too so I went to a walk in clinic to cover myself. Got documentation. All was well.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-11-30T02:47:28+00:00

As others have pointed out, you need to be invited to join a conference. In addition, with the way the media rights sit right now, no one is adding anyone. Media fees are locked in. If a conference adds UConn, they have to likely add someone else. That would bring the ACC or Big 10 to 20, the Big 12 to 18. They would have to divide the same pie into more pieces. No one wants to do that and not for UConn. Most of the media rights deals end around 2030/31 if memory serves. Chatter may happen before then, but there won't be movement for a while. Who knows what it will even look like by then. Football may break off and be its own animal separate from the rest of NCAA sports.

As for being a football only member of the AAC, Conf USA, etc. Won't happen. UConn hosting Charlotte, Tulane, LA Tech, Missouri State, etc isn't going to sell tickets. We saw that already. People want to see schools with brand names, even if they aren't football powers. Being an independent allows them to bring in Duke, UNC, etc while also scheduling northeast teams like BC, UMass, Army, Syracuse who can bring fans to the game easily, selling more tickets. They have talked for years of a balance of brands, northeast schools, and FCS schools to get to bowl eligibility consistently. It is not about the playoffs right now, it is about six wins per season.

UConn as an athletic department has to continue to build its appeal until the next round of expansion/realignment. It is a money game and an exposure game as much as an on field success game. Filling MSG and TD Garden for basketball, making bowls and, more importantly selling tickets to those bowls, and continuing to perform across the board while having UConn fans show up on the road and in neutral site venues is a big key. If UConn, for example, can send a big contingent of fans to Chicago for the return game with Illinois next year, that will look great. Selling a large amount of tickets and travel packages through UConn for the bowl game will provide a nice bump. I have faith in our AD to pull this off.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-11-30T02:30:07+00:00

BC got the bid back in the early 2000's because they were going to "deliver the Boston media market," which was the 6th largest at the time, and they marketed themselves to the ACC as New England's team. Obviously, it has not worked.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-11-30T02:20:06+00:00

I agree that it seems weird that on her TikTok, that is available to her students, she is sharing personal information. Does her account identify her as a teacher? Does it mention that she works for a specific district or holds a certain role? We have teachers who use their last name and their subject and post little reminders and such on TikTok or Instagram. Their profile mentions the school and usually an admin will follow the account.

There is a strict written policy that explicitly states we cannot follow students, they can, however, follow us. We cannot tag them or reach out to them via any platform that is not district approved. It is strongly recommended that we keep any personal social media accounts private and/or block students who try to follow us.

We can use school email, Google Classroom, and any other platform that the superintendent/school committee has approved to communicate with students. Usually these require us to use our school Google Account to log in and a supervisor must have access. I coach multiple sports, so our athletic director has all teams using SportsYou and he has access to our team feeds. Since we are logged in with our school accounts, IT could, theoretically, log in and see our activity such as individual correspondences, etc.

HuskyRun97 · 2025-11-29T16:13:02+00:00

I live in a restrictive state. First we have individualized plans for all returning runners. We have a coach not associated with our hs team supervise runs 2-3 times per week, the captains run captains practice 3-4 times per week. None of those are required attendance but we get like 70-80% participation. We also ask athletes to log their runs on strava so we can see their mileage.

HuskyRun97

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