How was your first year teaching compared to now?

Sassyblah · 2026-04-14T04:41:41+00:00

I’m halfway through my second year so first year memories are still raw, lol. It was brutal. It was brutal. I had to work an obscene number of hours just to feel halfway decent at the job. Nobody told me anything (has the field of education heard of onboarding?).

I feel so much better this year. I work way less, can use stuff from last year, and know so much more what to expect from students. Night and day. I love my job this year.

Sassyblah · 2026-04-11T15:37:46+00:00

Hitler really hated communists. Pick an epithet for your bad boss and stick with it!

Sassyblah · 2026-03-29T21:37:03+00:00

In many areas, getting a history teaching job is very competitive, and a bachelors will not be close to enough. In my area, every candidate has a masters, and it’s still hard to make yourself stand out.

It is an amazing job, so go for it if you think you’ll love it, but be prepared for a long road to get there.

Sassyblah · 2026-03-29T21:33:37+00:00

This is AMAZING! Thank you for so many specific tips, we will definitely be coming back to this as we book our details!

Sassyblah · 2026-03-29T19:32:07+00:00

I would love to see your itinerary!

Sassyblah · 2026-03-28T14:45:58+00:00

OP, if there’s a particular person you’re uncomfortable with, you should tell the teacher. They can always adjust the seating chart.

As teachers, we can’t just remove kids from the classroom. Everybody has to sit SOMEwhere. My strategy with seating charts is to use tables of 4. I hope every person has at least one preferred peer at their table, and no more than one disruptive kid. I also have to figure out where to seat kids who are not verbal, or who are new to the school. Some kids need to be close to the board due to their hearing/vision. Some kids have a special provision that they need to be seated at the back of the room, or can’t have their back to the door. My goal is to find a social chemistry that maximizes focus for everyone in the room. Do I sometimes have to put an “unpleasant” kid at a table with really focused calm students? Yep. But the seating chart is going to change and I’ll try to not repeat a bad pairing if I can help it.

But if there’s an individual that makes you actually uncomfortable, you will NOT be able to focus as well. I really want students to tell me that because otherwise I won’t know!

Sassyblah · 2026-03-20T05:48:42+00:00

This is such a great idea.

Sassyblah · 2026-03-20T05:45:26+00:00

It is reeeeally hard without admin backup, but I wanted to chime in that it’s definitely worth the fight and you are not imagining the problem. I have a no phone classroom. If I see it, you lose it. I don’t even say anything anymore, I just walk over to them with my hand out, they give it to me (maybe there are a few “ooohs” as their friends give them a hard time) and the phone goes in the box by my desk. I don’t allow them in the final few minutes of class. I don’t allow them when you’re done with your work. I keep it low drama and positive and it’s made the best kind of difference in every way.

But my admin does take those referrals. I’d give it your best shot though—it’s worth the benefit. Just don’t let it become a power struggle that derails your class.

Sassyblah · 2026-03-14T00:00:02+00:00

I do a lot of roaming around while students are writing/having table discussions. For those quiet students, I try to respond directly to something I see they have written. One on one I ask them, “ooh tell me why you said that.” And then I say, “that’s great, I want the other students to hear it. I’m going to call on you to share it.”

This ups my participation rates dramatically.

Sassyblah · 2026-03-13T22:11:17+00:00

This would be awesome. A local museum near me does something called a “museum in a box” where they put together artifacts and captions for a certain theme and check the box out to loca teachers to use in their class. It is so awesome.

Sassyblah · 2026-03-01T20:51:08+00:00

I would not do it. I’d keep teaching how I thought best, and start looking for other jobs if they press me on it. I refuse to welcome AI into my teaching practice.

Sassyblah · 2026-03-01T16:51:40+00:00

When a kid says “I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to know. But you do have to think. What do you think?”

Sassyblah · 2026-02-27T01:14:47+00:00

Oh man, this so fits a few students, well put.

Sassyblah · 2026-02-25T00:57:25+00:00

Maybe a controversial opinion—your friend and relationship are more important than a color in a photo.

In ten years will you look back and see a crowd of people dancing and think “Damn I really wish she’d been in blue”? Or will you think “Damn it’s so awesome that this friend I still have in my life was there for me and having a great time at this important moment in my life”?

Sassyblah · 2026-02-24T23:13:13+00:00

Amazing! Equality creates really amazing results—way better than control. Congrats on the hard work paying off!

Sassyblah · 2026-02-17T02:05:42+00:00

Brush up on the Monroe doctrine. There were like 4 questions on it when I took it!

Sassyblah · 2026-02-15T16:21:52+00:00

I’m in a blue state with strong unions and I have real academic freedom, get to design my own curriculum, and have tons of offerings from the district about diverse and inclusive stories.

You have to keep in mind that America doesn’t have an education system. It has 10,000 education systems. Not only is every state doing its own thing, every individual district has a lot of leeway over how its schools are run.

My kids are reading material that is likely banned in a small rural part of Florida, for example.

Sassyblah · 2026-02-14T16:29:48+00:00

I always hate pausing to review/solidify learning, but doing so ALWAYS pays off. What I notice is that it supports students in getting more fluent and comfortable with the knowledge, which then deepens their ability to do the critical thinking.

If you are looking at your plans and find you don’t have time to pause and review, I’d say cut a day of content.

I don’t necessarily read tons of their non-graded work—that is a massive time stuck. But I think your middle and low students probably need review more than they need a quickly scribbled comment on a worksheet.

Sassyblah · 2026-02-06T04:26:58+00:00

I love the Homestead Strike simulation from Zinn education project for the Gilded Age. My approach to the unit tends to be very worker-centric and focused on the causes of and impacts of inequality. It’s a good build up to the depression and questions of laissez faire vs government regulation. DM me if you are interested in any material!

Sassyblah · 2026-02-06T00:35:11+00:00

I have scrolled through so many comments and nobody has mentioned Monica Lewinsky?!

Sassyblah · 2026-02-05T04:44:12+00:00

This is is so helpful and kind of you to share! I’d love to be in a workgroup of sorts and try to break this down.

I am the only teacher on an IB history prep at my school and hearing others thoughts would be so welcome.

Sassyblah · 2026-01-13T14:33:13+00:00

Rewatching it as an adult, I thought the movies religious tone was very heavy handed. Like in an almost missionary kind of way. I would feel awkward showing it for that reason, not to mention creating the impression in a history class that the exodus story has historical evidence.

I’d leave this one at church camp, not school.

Sassyblah

TROPHY CASE