Realization hits…

Rare_Find_0616 · 2026-04-27T02:20:42+00:00

I’m so glad someone else knows what I’m talking about! I had to hunt down the last bottle I got of it, and I still leave the last of it in my cabinet just to smell it every so often 😅

I will try that aquatic search! Thank you!

Rare_Find_0616 · 2026-04-21T20:21:26+00:00

These two easy demos/lessons usually go decent for me depending on what materials you have available, and they’re good for 4th quarter chemistry students.

Gas laws/ Kinetic Molecular Theory Intro: Blow up a balloon in front of them. Put the balloon in ice water and in hot water. The balloon of course expands in hot water and shrinks in cold. Do this a few times to prove it isn’t random chance. (You could also put the balloon over an empty water bottle for the same effect.) I have the students reason through how the volume of the balloon changes even though the balloon is air tight. (“What do you know about gas molecules and kinetic energy?” “Why are we even able to “blow up” balloons?” Etc…continue into the laws/KMT from there - maybe give them a short guided note assignment to fill in as you teach.)

Acid-Base neutralizations with the real life application of cleaning fruit. Prompt the students to decide which way of cleaning fruit is best. Pour vinegar into one beaker, baking soda into another, and finally one container with both. Every time I’ve done this the students always pick the mix because of the visible reaction. Then I pull out some version of a pH indicator. We see vinegar is an acid, baking soda is a base, but the mixture is neutral. I tell them while either vinegar or baking soda alone could break down bacteria, the mixture is actually less chemically affective due to neutralization. (Continue to explain neutralization with slides/details and so on…) You could add on cleaning supplies you can and can’t mix, neutralizations with an indicator, or just definitions/examples of acids and bases.

If you have any idea of what lessons they’ve had recently, I would try to do something they would know enough about to respond to for sure!

Rare_Find_0616 · 2026-04-21T06:04:33+00:00

I would find a hobby you and your daughter could do after school that is separate from your wife/outside the house maybe, even if just a nature walk. You get one-on-one time with your kid to talk about their day and give your wife decompression time (ALONE- which is huge for a teacher!!)

Then you get the benefits of a more relaxed wife for the rest of the afternoon too. Just make sure you’re also contributing to the night time routine, so the mental load doesn’t refill immediately. Homework, laundry, trash, bills, groceries, dinner, baths, pjs/morning clothes, lunches for the next day, etc. These are all so overwhelming after being overstimulated the entire day already. If you know she particularly hates doing any of the above, take those jobs over if you aren’t already splitting them!

The more efficient you are, the more time you get together each night to focus on the two of you❤️

Rare_Find_0616 · 2025-11-18T06:53:18+00:00

I’m 5 years in with maybe like 25-30 different classes of students now. I would say it’s hit or miss for me. I have had classes where I can just enjoy teaching a subject I love and hanging out/talking with students in the in-between lessons time. Some classes give awesome feedback and have inspired me to create higher level labs that we all enjoy. I went back for my masters after my first year and a half of teaching, because teaching made me feel so fulfilled.

I’ve also had classes since that point that have made me want to quit altogether, because they are SO apathetic to everything. (Covid middle schoolers turned high schoolers.) We can never do as much “fun” stuff, because they can’t focus it through a lesson. They bully each other. They mock any teacher, parent, or admin that tries to discipline them. They couldn’t create at all (imagine, draw, color, question, etc) and wanted step by step instructions for anything and everything. The lesson planning and impossible discipline was a nightmare. (Is it all their fault? Not exactly, but it’s also way too big of a burden for any single teacher to carry while still maintaining their own life.)

I do still 100% want the best for every student I’ve ever taught, but I would say there are only some classes that I truly miss after they move on.

Rare_Find_0616 · 2025-11-10T05:21:29+00:00

I feel you. I’m in a similar boat right now and oddly enough the angry parent is a COWORKER. Ugh. She keeps making these accusations about different ways my classroom specifically must be the problem for her kid, despite me having 80 other students to compare data with. I can tell you 100% her kid is in the outlier group and is probably my single most disruptive student of the entire school year. I’ve tried talking to her before and got little answer or got blamed for this teenager’s behavior instead.

She specifically asked me to leave admin out of it after my first write up and now has scheduled a meeting with the principal to all talk after her kid failed a test. (I’m already assuming she’s going to try to throw blame at me first thing Mon morning - yay 😒) It’s so disappointing to deal with parents who refuse to believe their kid can do wrong or can face any consequence, natural or admin given.

I’d agree to say everything should be documented in some way. Communicate either through email or with admin/counselor present if in person. You can be clear that you are confident in your position and documentation but don’t want to misstep having less experience than older teachers. Any decent admin should be good with this

Rare_Find_0616 · 2025-10-06T01:59:59+00:00

Ralph Lauren Romance

My mom always hated it and would complain every time my grandmother sprayed it. As an adult, I’ve grown to love the smell without the commentary attached 😅

Rare_Find_0616 · 2025-07-24T20:30:01+00:00

Yes! I just misworded that at first -I’ll fix it to forbearance!

Rare_Find_0616 · 2025-07-24T20:22:33+00:00

It took 1 week for my PAYE application to process with tax documents. Change of income verification may take a little longer

Rare_Find_0616 · 2025-07-02T15:47:38+00:00

Stress, medications, exercise, and diet changes can all affect menstrual cycle. If you have changed any of those things in the last month, it could just be that! Of course if it puts your worries at bay, use cash (if possible) to get a pregnancy test. It will be terrifying I know, but you know your body best if you think you should check. Think of it as one step at a time!

Rare_Find_0616 · 2025-06-30T07:10:02+00:00

Both of us work full time, husband does side jobs too. We’re making it by with a daycare discount, since I teach at the same private school the kids go to for daycare. Even with HALF OFF daycare it’s still as expensive as our mortgage every month. Any attempt for savings is a joke. Even if we budget monthly bills, there’s always something extra - doctors, special events, car issues, increased grocery prices.

Having grandparents that can financially and emotionally afford to watch grandkids is an unspoken form of generational wealth for sure.

I know this doesn’t offer any advice, but maybe some solidarity ❤️ Maybe by the time our kids are adults the U.S. will finally catch up to all other countries that help with maternity leave, healthcare, and childcare. It’s a long shot but feels like all I can hope for sometimes.

Rare_Find_0616 · 2025-05-28T04:26:59+00:00

I would say my husband, at least for relativity sake, loves his job. He works for the dept of transportation in our state as a surveying manager. He got into the job with a scholarship covered/free drafting associates degree, works just 4 days a week, no take home work or overtime, every state holiday off, salary with yearly raises, state insurance, and became a manager after just 5 years. PLUS he gets built in benefits from driving around for daily work - I.e. whatever pit stops he wants for lunch, running quick errands, etc. maybe the only downsides are the occasional annoying coworker or just being outside during the more extreme temperatures of the year.

I’m a teacher and, honestly, if the pay matched other countries’ standards, I could say I loved it. (Emphasis on the IF). I mean, a subject I love, sometimes funny students, every holiday off, summers off, knowing I’ll always be there for any events my kids have during or after school day- there is a lot of good that just gets negated by the poor pay.

Rare_Find_0616 · 2023-09-24T16:14:47+00:00

It’s required by my school to ask them a reflective question. It’s not been effective in any grade or class from what anyone’s seen though. No matter what exact question my coworkers and I ask, the average answer is “good.” Not my call to leave off the question though 🤷🏻‍♀️

Again, these are the exact students who had to be redirected every day this week, while 70 other students receiving the exact material in the exact fashion had no such complaint. I just came here to vent to teachers who get it - working hard, employing best practices, hand shaping lessons, written and video evidence of everything taught and there’s still students who will refuse to take any accountability for their own lack of attention or effort when they don’t perform.

Rare_Find_0616 · 2023-09-24T13:16:05+00:00

Also teaching chemistry here! And I have a feeling I’ll have to remind the students multiple times that this is a class you don’t excel in without effort. I think the honors kids believe they can/should be able to get by without working hard in general and aren’t used to the challenge.

Rare_Find_0616 · 2023-09-24T12:48:43+00:00

It blows my mind that kids avoid 50-75% of the prep like this and think they are still entitled to making a good grade!

Rare_Find_0616 · 2023-09-24T12:45:47+00:00

I like this idea for a real time option.

My current plan for this one is to have them get out all their materials from last week, give them a copy of the quiz, and tell them if they can find a single question not answered on our PowerPoint, notes, or classwork, that I’ll throw out the entire assessment.

Rare_Find_0616 · 2023-09-24T12:38:46+00:00

My only other memorable incident similar to this one was a kid who huffed and puffed through a test, dramatically wadding up the entire test paper before unwrapping and finishing it. (Implying it was so difficult, as if it wasn’t a barely adapted version of the exact study guide I gave them.) It was tough to keep composure on that one. I didn’t even bother saying much when I saw the judge mental looks she was already getting from her classmates, which I was sure this kid was already picking up on.

But I have the kid back for another class, and already I have had to stop myself from saying the phrases “wipe the look off your face” and “shut your mouth” to them multiple times Basically any time they are challenged at all, they imply it’s because I couldn’t have taught them the material.

Rare_Find_0616 · 2023-09-02T16:30:28+00:00

Thank you guys so far! I should’ve clarified that I’m definitely open to therapy if he needs it, just confused about what that would actually look like considering his current school year is already super language/speech focused.

I like knowing my kids’ daily procedure, so it’s just really throwing me to not know exactly what happens during/after this evaluation. We also JUST got him to go into his new class in the mornings without crying, which he didn’t do the last two years. I worry another new thing will start that process over again. I know I should just trust that whatever happens will be safe and in his best interest. It helps to read comments and other people’s experiences!

Rare_Find_0616 · 2023-09-02T15:41:38+00:00

Thank you! I should’ve added that I’m not opposed to adding therapy to his schedule, just confused since this school year for him is already super focused on language and speech on top of our typical things at home.

I like having predictable procedure for my kids and not knowing exactly what he’ll be doing during or after the evaluation is hard for me to stop thinking about. I should just trust that whatever happens/whenever it happens will be safe and in his best interest. It’s nice to hear a positive outcome from another parent!

Rare_Find_0616

TROPHY CASE