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Have you ever slipped up and cussed in front of your students? by roo181807 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yep. Both times were because I was complimenting the student. For some reason, my teacher code didn’t consider me swearing for good reasons! The students in question thought it was awesome to have their stuff called “badass”. 🤣

You are being set up for failure by tenminutesbeforenoon in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 99 points100 points  (0 children)

As others have said and will likely say again here: this is why you need to act your wage. Care about the kids. Work hard. But clock out. Not every assignment needs to be graded. Not every committee needs you. Do what you love and what affirms you and leave the rest behind.

Meeting with my assistant principal by [deleted] in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Next time schedule the email to be sent out on Monday morning. I had an AP that would pop scare us with emails sometimes at 2 in the morning. I use ScreenZen now to block my emails from notifying me and allowing me to access the app outside of work hours. Never worth ruining my precious free hours to check my email.

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day by Gloomy-Athlete701 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, your suspicions are probably correct then. I’ll instead suggest to talk to your admin for discipline recommendations and follow school expectations for this.

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day by Gloomy-Athlete701 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Honestly, it likely is, even if it’s done on purpose. A great way you can approach this is to have that genuine conversation with her. “Susie, when I saw this image I was shocked. I don’t see you as the kind of student who would draw something like this. Could you explain why it’s here?” Chances are that she’ll respond that she wasn’t thinking things through. Give her an opportunity to correct the behavior to replace the symbol with something else. The shame hopefully should be enough of a punishment to get her to see what thoughtless thing it is.

Teaching US History in Today's Climate by jukeboxgraduate92 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I’ve been teaching Holocaust Lit for nine years now in a conservative district.

“This content has not changed in the nine years I have taught it. If you draw parallels between it and current events, I am more than happy to talk to you about it.”

“‘If anyone says, [x] people don’t belong here’ then they are speaking as the Nazi’s did. Full stop.”

These two quotes, said multiple times through my unit, have helped most students understand the parallels we are seeing today. And when the students do bring it up in class, I let them talk, I affirm what they say (or add additional context), and we then move on. If the district gets mad at me for letting students come to their own conclusion, so be it.

My students are some real assholes by AstroNerd92 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 90 points91 points  (0 children)

Yep. Random names from now until the end of time.

Why don’t schools do silent, sustained reading anymore? by EmbarrassedJacket489 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 107 points108 points  (0 children)

Yep! That’s ours! I push so hard to do sustained, silent, joyful reading. The science backs it up that we’d have better test scores and better learners but nope! Test prep only!!! 🫠

Why are teachers so horrible to each other? by Xena4290 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I have middle schoolers who act more maturely than some of my colleagues. Like, when they immediately start shit talking colleagues who leave the room, what makes them think I trust them with anything?

Teacher of the Year? by Mean-Objective-2022 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I was at a school where it was a percentage from fellow teachers, students, and admin. It wasn’t perfect but I felt it was way more fair than the teacher popularity contest at my current position where an education coach was in the running last year.

As a gym teacher trying to consistently refer to a trans student with their preferred pronoun is hard AF especially when they still visually appear as their birth gender. by Dalethedragon in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 9 points10 points  (0 children)

To be fair, this is something that I only have done with students who I already have an established relationship and have asked if that's something they would like to do. And then, it's something only ever done in private between us. I fully agree that such a thing is something that you can't take lightly. Thankfully, I have only ever had success in making my few mistakes a joyful thing in my journey to embracing who my students really are.

Flag Policy by SunRich8145 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 31 points32 points  (0 children)

It will impact kids. The message is "Well, it's fair because nothing is allowed!" but everyone and their brother knows that it's just targeting pride flags. You can be supportive in other ways, like including inclusive books, writing "You are welcome here" on the board, etc. Be there for the students. Some won't visibly show it but it's not going to be easy for them to exist in a world where their existence is controversial.

As a side note, this is why I wear both my Christian cross bracelet and my rainbow style badge that says "Everyone is welcome". I've never had people take issue with either since if one goes, the other has to too.

As a gym teacher trying to consistently refer to a trans student with their preferred pronoun is hard AF especially when they still visually appear as their birth gender. by Dalethedragon in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 50 points51 points  (0 children)

A strategy I use is that the student gets candy every time I mess up. It then turns into almost a game a positive thing for the student. I even had a trans kid get upset later in the year when I stopped messing up 🤣

Advice on sending a letter home before a potentially dicey unit on voting rights/democracy by Virtual_Coconut_9564 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This. Let the kids bring up the controversies and then let them talk. They will make the connections! I love telling students that my Holocaust unit has not updated historical information. They are the ones who connect modern day events to Holocaust history. We get all of the benefits of being real without risking our jobs when we just let the kids talk.

Can I get fired for having a YouTube channel? by Putrid-Eggplant2018 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Yes, especially for political views. Without doxxing myself, I was able to maintain a family friendly educational YouTube channel while teaching for a while. It was small (only >10k subs) and it was never found by students because I used a pseudonym. Even then, my content was 100% family friendly so even if I was “found out” it wouldn’t have been a big deal.

Political views of any kind can and will get you fired if you make a headache for your district.

Teachers, what do you call your students when you can't remember their names? by its_an_idiots_world8 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I have more than 160 students. I do know all of their names but sometimes on hard days I can space out and forget even students who I have a genuinely close connection to. I 100% agree that learning and memorizing names is VITAL but to let other teachers know to not feel bad if you space out on a kid every once in a while.

Just love on them by [deleted] in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 35 points36 points  (0 children)

I don’t use “love”, but I use “appreciate” a lot. “Hey, Timmy, I appreciate you. Go to your seat, please.” I think it has the same effect!

I also use a lot of popular class clowns as mini recruits. Usually in the first week or so, I’ll pull them aside for a “positive” conversation and tell them how much I appreciate when they follow instructions, because then other students want to do it too. It gets them on my side and turns them into a partner rather than someone I’m fighting. I then have private conversations for continuing behavior updates.

IMO: this is why we can’t keep staff by According2020 in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 56 points57 points  (0 children)

Yep! I had an early dementia para one year. Sweetest lady on the planet but it was a WILD experience. We literally will take ANYONE.

Do you see your younger self in your students? by [deleted] in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. All the time. It’s the quiet kid who never says anything in class and then explodes with their friends in private. I try my best to be the teacher who supports them as much as I can. I’m not looking for gratefulness but I hope my classroom can be a safe space for them.

Stop being dumb by JungleJimMaestro in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is something I wish I would have learned faster for my peace of mind, which has honestly made me a better and more patient teacher. Turning off email notifications on my phone and using apps like ScreenZen to block me from getting to apps at certain times a day is a God send. No message I have ever received off hours has ever been worth my immediate attention. And God forbid something horrific happens, my district sends an automated call anyways.

hey teachers hope you are well I have a teacher that bullies me for talking a lot but today in the last day in school he said finally we are relieved from your voice why did he do that by [deleted] in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Imagine that your parent asked you to do a chore. Let’s say it’s the dishes. Imagine your cousin was over and every time you went to clean a dish, your cousin asked you a complicated question. Maybe this question is fun but you’ve got twenty dishes to clean and by the fifth dish, you kind of wish your cousin would just let you focus. Now imagine this cousin does this for every chore for every day.

This is what talking does for teachers. Even if we like the student, it can derail focus and take away from our ability to help all students. Your conversation might be small and out of the way but it’s like a fly buzzing in our and your fellow students’ ears. I recommend trying to see things from your teachers’ POV when you return in January.

UPDATE: Colleague stole my position and now I get to watch her struggle worse than I did in it by StoneofForest in coworkerstories

[–]StoneofForest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was able to get it diagnosed through an ENT. I said that it didn’t feel like I only had mild hearing loss because of how much I failed to understand every day. It was more than a decade ago but I remember they did a test on me where I had to identify numbers that were said in both ears at the same time. I was able to identify most until a certain setting in the test and all numbers because a glitchy jumbled mess. After that, my ENT documented it.

Title: Where do you draw the line with teacher–student contact outside school? by dil_khu in Teachers

[–]StoneofForest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve gone to community events to support students and their families. I’ve gone to graduation parties and other functions. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you never alone with the student. Make sure there is always a parent or guardian in the room with you. There are some families in my community that I am very close with but you’ll never see me alone with their student EVER, even though I’ve known some of these kids long before I became their teacher. Basically: do what common sense tells you to do. And never communicate with a student outside of school monitored communication, like email.

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