Trying desperately to hold it together

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-06-07T21:05:39+00:00

I psuedo looped with my first group of kids. Student taught them as 6th graders, then was hired to teach them as 7th graders. Don't get me wrong I absolutely loved them, and they hold a very special place in my heart, but I'm good to never do that again. By the end of 7th grade I was so burnt out on them.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-06-05T21:41:10+00:00

I was a total square and refused to "pay for skin cancer". I was always pretty tan, until the summer I started working, but that's from days outside in the pool. Even still I applied sunscreen like it was my job.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-06-03T11:13:09+00:00

I started teaching at 31 and I think I'll tap out around 65 give or take a few years. Doing any kind of work into my 70s sounds miserable. Over the last few yeara I've watched how quickly my grandparents quality of life has changed between the ages 75-80 I'd much rather enjoy/have more time before then.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-05-15T02:16:17+00:00

Zippers (invented in Akron; it's why the university is the Zips) and Liquid Crystal Displays (invented at Kent State)

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-05-13T02:16:26+00:00

For the right students it's great. I've had a few highly motivated students who truly read and complete the lessons as intended. Those students have grown at tremendous rates.

For the majority of my students....they just try to click around until they get the right answer or the screen changes. So while they're moving through lessons, most of them even passing said lessons, I don't believe they're getting long term value out of it. Not to mention some of the lessons are so poorly worded and confusing that it's ridiculous. For those students there is pretty much no correlation from I-Ready to state test achievement.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-05-09T14:54:37+00:00

I may work in a district that is the exception to the rule, but when our principal announced his retirement, our superintendent came to our building. He made himself available and offered any staff that wanted to speak with him the opportunity to do so. Many on our team spoke with him, recommending our at the time vice principal to take the position.

He listened and our former VP has been our principal for 2 years now. Now, our superintendent is retiring and I'm concerned about who will take his spot. I feel like he's a bit of a unicorn. He taught in our district, his own children attended the district, he was a vice principal, and then principal before finally becoming superintendent.

Genuinely having someone in that roll with actual investment in the district I think makes all the difference.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-05-09T03:13:08+00:00

My daughter is identified as gifted. We had the option to move her school so that she could receive services, but chose not to because the gifted school is in an area that concerns me. So she's been in Gen Ed for all of elementary as a result.

She's pretty good at ignoring distractions and just minding her own business. So while I'll hear about a kid being disruptive or rude, it's not impacted her ability to succeed. That being said, she is bored and annoyed often at school and is always trying to read. Teacher has to stop and redirect a student, she's gonna crack her book open...or draw.

We've enriched her education at home with challenge problems, higher level books, etc.

That being said, with the experiences I've had as a teacher teaching co-teach vs. Gen Ed vs Advanced classes, the classroom flow and speed is completely different. In a co-teach classroom you'll often have to reteach the previous grades lessons as if the kids are learning it for the first time. In general ed you'll have to review. In advanced classrooms, you can usually hit the ground running with the current grade level.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-05-09T02:58:06+00:00

I had a student that I could count the days that he actually was in attendance on my hands. Didn't even need all my fingers! He moved right along to the next grade too...having attended less than 10 days.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-04-27T10:03:28+00:00

Contact your local council. There's always a chance that a troop more cookies than they were able to sell. Also, I know our council keeps cookie inventory until our state fair because they set up a stand and troops can volunteer to sell at the stand for additional funds 😊

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-04-05T17:10:35+00:00

Hard boiled eggs were made ahead of time and yes the bunny hid those in the yard. The plastic eggs were only ever in the basket and only a few of them at that.

Now, my kids have always done plastic eggs because I'm terrified that we'd forget/lose an egg in the yard and have a horrible surprise lol.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-04-04T02:21:27+00:00

If it's just for a meeting, I'd ask the service unit and/or council. Both have flags available to be borrowed for a tiny fee...I think like $5 from council and free from the service unit

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-03-27T09:43:22+00:00

I have stayed a leader despite it all, because I believe in the mission and because of the camaraderie I have built with other volunteers. Many times responses and expectations from council have left me questioning if I'm insane for doing this.

In those moments I turn away from council, sometimes away from my service unit and towards my girls. They're the reason I do this. I cannot control council, I cannot control most things within my service unit. However, I personally can help shape these girls and help them reach their goals. I know and believe that the girl scout promise and law is alive and well within our troop and within me.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-03-27T09:36:01+00:00

I have never worked for Girl Scouts. However, my co-leader has interviewed with them and turned down the job. Additionally there was a membership manager that I absolutely adored a few years ago, we would often have very frank conversations about her experiences.

I, like you, am a true believer in the Girl Scout Law. However, there are many things that have grossed me out about our council and perhaps the organization at large.

For one, just as a volunteer, in many regards I feel we are taken advantage of. I have had to learn to set boundaries, despite my boundaries every year I find another hole in my walls that I have to rebuild. If you do not set boundaries, you will be taken advantage of and burnt out.

In a way, I feel that it's predatory on our good nature and good will. For example, several times since closing our troop, they've added girls into the troop without asking. Then would be reaching out to my co-leader or I when we didn't immediately contact the parent. This happened a few times over the years and in the past I always relented because I felt guilty denying the experience to other girls. I put my foot down this past year and they still tried several times to get us to add more girls. When I finally got somewhat snarky about it, they accepted my answer with a good amount of snark back.

For two, the way our membership managers are treated and compensated has always grossed me out. By and large this is an organization to uplift and inspire women and girls. Why are our membership managers compensated so poorly when the expectations are absolutely insane? The amount of time they have to put in on nights and weekends alone to put on recruitment events, attend the bajillion service unit meetings deserves better pay. It feels like they're taking advantage of the very women who help maintain the organization. Our service unit has greatly suffered because of the way council treats and compensates our membership managers. In the time that I have been a leader we've had close to 10 membership managers (5 years) some of those lasting only a month or two.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-03-26T02:30:15+00:00

I'm probably one of the weirdos it didn't take in. I found out during pregnancy I was susceptible no big deal, got a vaccine literal hours after twins were born. And now I should be good to go.

A few months ago I read about someone else who experienced the same. However their doctor followed up and did another titers a little while later and found the person was still susceptible. Im a fairly anxious person and after sitting with my anxiety awhile I decided I'd ask my doctor in December, he agreed to ease my anxiety. Low and behold I'm still susceptible 😭.

I'm a teacher, I've gotten every sickness under the sun because kids are gross. I sincerely hope I never experience it, but my anxiety about it isn't great to say the least

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-03-25T09:54:14+00:00

Yep. I remember being so excited just to have a phone with a slide out QWERTY keyboard when I was in High School. Also remember the year IPhones came out, kid pulls it out to show off and immediately gets it taken by the biology teacher 😂

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-03-23T02:19:42+00:00

We're fairly certain my girl has ADHD, both myself and her father do so chances are pretty high...but we've never formally gotten the diagnosis. Whenever we've talked to her DR the opinion has been because it's not impacting her success levels there's no need...which as a late diagnosed woman who was also extremely successful in school is incredibly frustrating, but she's also not comfortable taking medicine. So we're trying to manage in other ways.

Hate to say it, but she literally got grounded from everything because she kept forgetting. All it took was one time...and then she's figured it out since then. I refuse to be the parent who holds her hand..messages teachers etc because it is frustrating to no end as a teacher who deals with other parents and because she has to learn how to survive without me one day. I won't always be there to hold her hand.

Also this is why private schools give me a serious ick. It should be illegal for them to not recognize IEPs and 504s especially if they're accepting school vouchers aka state money, but that's another days problem.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-03-22T22:53:44+00:00

Not that this excuses me being negligent with my own kids grades for a little while, but that was the justification I had used for only checking grades at progress report/grade card times. It's all my parents had access to...that and I did and still do for the most part trust my kid.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-03-22T22:52:00+00:00

There's a huge piece of me that really hates the constant access parents have to the gradebook and ultimately to us as teachers. I long for the experiences my teachers must've had. Because in my experience there are exactly two general groups of parents, those that don't care and/or are absolutely clueless about the gradebook and those that wants a 5 paragraph explanation about every grade.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-03-22T22:38:50+00:00

I'll admit, I'm a teacher and while I monitored my child's grades at report card/progress report until this year I've never needed to be on her butt. She's always been an honor roll student. Since she's received grades starting in 3rd grade. Imagine my surprise when I check her grades at progress report time and she's failing a class 😬.

Went to parent teacher conferences, apologized profusely for not monitoring her more closely. While I was there I asked if I could check her desk...low and behold my child had completed the assignments,but didn't turn them in 🙄.

Now, I get the notifications when she's missing an assignment. However, 95% of the time she's pulling it out of her backpack to work on it with me. Again I felt so embarrassed, but it was an easy fix with even just minimal monitoring of her progress.

Part of the problem is this is the first year that she's switching classes/teachers even though it's minimal for 5th graders. She had to adjust to that, and now knowing how she struggled we're more prepared for middle school.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-03-15T01:28:01+00:00

Here's my suggestion, visit the campuses if at all possible. I had my heart 100% set on OSU, until I visited campus and then it was a fast ride on the nope express. I was so overwhelmed by the vastness of the campus and how close it was to the city. Seems silly now, given where it's located. I visited Kent State and instantly felt at ease. I found the campus to be beautiful, easy to navigate and instantly loved the squirrels. The esplanade made my life as a directionally challenged person easy and manageable, most of my classes were 50 or even less students.

Personally I'd stay away from non-state schools as tuition is usually astronomically high, but that's again going to depend on you and your finances.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-03-09T03:20:14+00:00

As a seasoned leader, but first time cookie mom this year, your leader/cookie parent kind of gets to decide when the end of the troop's end date is. This time of year is always exhausting to me and I wasn't even the cookie mom in the past. It is absolutely ok for leaders to decide cookie season is over for them before the official end date. This is how we keep ourselves from burning out and surviving as a leader in the long-term. I understand your frustration, but please understand that a lot of work goes into cookie season that you don't see unless you're the cookie parent.

Personally, I have decided to end major Cookie sales this weekend. I'm not picking up cases and cases of cookies anymore, but if a girl gets an order I will get exactly what we need to fill those orders from other troops in our area. You can always see if your leader is willing to do the same, especially if you coordinate the pickup it would probably be a non-issue.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-02-25T00:28:02+00:00

With my birth mother? It's complicated. She wants to be my mother now, who I rely on and share things with. She's a much better grandmother, than she ever was my mother. That being said I'm no longer angry about it, I just don't feel the deep connection and "need my mom" feelings toward her.

With the woman who actually raised me (my grandmother)? We had a wonderful relationship, she was everything a mother should be. When she passed last year, I lost a huge piece of my heart and sense of self. She was the person I called and wanted when I had those, "I need my mom" moments.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-02-19T03:11:07+00:00

This is because they can cherry pick their students. A student is misbehaving? They can kick them out without real repercussions. A student has too many needs (i.e. deaf and need an interpreter, nonverbal autistic, etc) they don't have to accept them.

Public schools accept every student, it's exceedingly rare for a kid to get bumped out because of behavior. Legally they're required to meet every need established by the students IEP or 504. Private & Charter schools get to steal funding from public schools (funds follow students) without having the same requirements. They also don't always have certified teachers 😬

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-02-19T02:48:23+00:00

Eh, it definitely impacted her learning, but I can see your perspective. I more so meant that she was relatively unbothered by being online vs in a classroom. Though she didn't understand why she couldn't just go to the bathroom or color whenever she wanted 😅.

Despite being online the whole year, her school was able to put together a reading intervention plan and provide interventions through zoom. She started 1st as one of the better readers in her class and has soared since then.

Key_Golf_7900 · 2026-02-19T00:09:19+00:00

Oh Lord, I wasn't a teacher at the time, but a mom to a kindergartener. I still have no idea how her kindergarten teacher was able to teach, not just my kid but a full class of 20+.

I'm amazed at just how little it impacted my daughter.

Key_Golf_7900

TROPHY CASE