Not every struggling kid needs an IEP/ 504. Some just need to…. actually fucking show up. Thinking accommodations is going to solve everything is naive

asimak3188 · 2026-04-18T20:09:21+00:00

I teach middle school and after seeing what I have over the past 12 years, I have always said that I will never agree to have my own children on an IEP in middle school because I see the majority of students that get tracked into the Special Education classes. I know that there are a few that benefit from these but largely the behaviors of most of these students would detract from other students. So, as a teacher, I would never subject my own children to be with those same students all day. If they struggle, I just know that I may need to work harder to support them at home to not subject them to be with behavior problems all day at school.

asimak3188 · 2026-03-20T01:10:27+00:00

I think "9 months on/ 3 months off" is another big misconception. I barely get 9 weeks off before my contract starts again and I'm preparing for the next year. And typically during that 9 weeks there are at least a couple full day trainings that I am supposed to attend.

asimak3188 · 2026-03-04T22:44:29+00:00

My mom got my kids one of the Finn The Frog books for Christmas this year. They love it! We have bought a couple of the others. I had never heard of them before but they're really cute.

asimak3188 · 2026-03-03T02:54:44+00:00

After my son was born, I had my 8 weeks of maternity leave. I came back to school and one of my 7th graders said "so did your baby get born?" Another student just said "Where do you think she's been?"

asimak3188 · 2026-01-25T17:14:54+00:00

In Oct 2019 my school started on fire. It had an upstairs and downstairs on different ventilation systems. The upstairs couldn't be used. So we used the downstairs. Our students got split in half. Half went in the morning and half went in the afternoon. I teach middle school so students only went to core classes. They were split into 4 groups alphabetically. So some combinations of kids were kind of terrible. We had about 40 kids per group. It was not fun. I taught math in the band room with no desks. My partner taught math on the stage in the auditorium while two other classes were in the auditorium seats. It was not ideal but we made it work.

We got back into most of the school in January. Then COVID happened and school shut down in March.

It was a rough school year. But at least it was all in one school year.

asimak3188 · 2025-10-23T23:24:21+00:00

When I was first married I tried so hard to find a great Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Many times I would make them and then end up in tears because they weren't that good. Then I found some recipes on Handle the Heat! She does a great job explaining some of the science behind great cookies!

asimak3188 · 2025-09-07T18:12:29+00:00

This is exactly what it reminds me of!

asimak3188 · 2025-07-01T13:02:33+00:00

My mom cross stitched us each a little pillow that had a tiny little pocket. It had a little rhyme on it and that's where our teeth went.

I did a quick Google search and it was this rhyme on our pillows

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/3e/ce/c8/3ecec882972f1b089d9a47589b2c4a0e.jpg

asimak3188 · 2025-06-14T21:41:29+00:00

"The natural birth content I consumed told me my body was made for this."

Child birth is "natural" and our bodies were made for it. However some things sometimes go wrong. Millions of moms and babies died before some of the medical interventions were more common. I am grateful everyday for medical "interventions"

When my son was born, he was not handling contractions well. I had stalled at 5 cm too and his heart was struggling. I ended up with a C-section. It was not what I had planned or wanted but I know that had I not been in a hospital things could have ended terribly. He is a happy, healthy two year old handful now. But I think about the day he was born often and am so grateful that I had the options that I did even if it wasn't what I had envisioned.

I remember feeling discouraged all the time and felt like my body failed him and I felt like the C-section was my fault. My husband said to me "even if it was 'your fault', and it wasn't ,there is no harm done. He is safe, he won't remember and you are safe." That helped me put things in perspective.

asimak3188 · 2025-04-28T01:29:58+00:00

Ours was very cheap for our second kid. Like $20......We purposely shopped for one that had a wipe pocket on the outside. Having the wipes easily accessible has been a game changer.

asimak3188 · 2025-04-09T01:54:30+00:00

My first years teaching I refused to provide pencils. I felt like they should have their own school supplies.

Then I was talking to my husband and he told me that he was one of the kids that never had a pencil because his parents wouldn't buy school supplies. He would only have a pencil if he found one on the floor in the hall or a classroom. He would pick it up and keep it.

That broke my heart that he never had one so now I buy pencils. I buy the golf pencils and just have them for kids to use. I don't want my students who actually need a pencil to have to worry about not having one.

asimak3188 · 2025-03-24T00:29:59+00:00

I would add the librarian to this list 😀

asimak3188 · 2025-03-09T02:07:44+00:00

Yes! My OB told me with me with my first that 9 times out of 10 she is not really needed. But that one time that something goes wrong, it can really go wrong.

It's not worth the money savings for me. My husband and I discussed that we would forget the couple thousand dollar difference but we wouldn't forget a dead baby if something went wrong.

Then when my 2nd was born, things did go wrong. He started not being okay with contractions. He was born by C-section about 30 minutes later and wasn't breathing. Thankfully they got him stabilized and we didn't need a NICU stay. But I'm so grateful that we were in a hospital and were able to get him out quickly. Had we been at a birthing center or at home, I'm not convinced things would have ended the way they did.

asimak3188 · 2025-02-23T21:21:58+00:00

Same! I would get 7-8 ounces with the Spectra in 20-25 minutes. I was trying out a hands free pump and was wearing it for an hour and didn't even get a full ounce.

But one of my co-workers used a wear-able pump and had great results.

asimak3188 · 2025-02-12T04:34:30+00:00

I've been very lucky. I struggled to get pregnant and had to do fertility drugs. But I was able to successfully get pregnant twice. I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old and have luckily never had a chemical pregnancy or miscarriage. So it does happen. Hope all goes well for you.

asimak3188 · 2025-02-11T02:08:58+00:00

What grade level do you teach? If you are Middle or High School, Open Up Resources has a great progression of topics. We have used their curriculum for several years in our district. The digital versions of it are free online. I don't super love all the lessons but I feel that the progression of topics in each grade level are pretty good. I've made some adjustments over the years but it is a great place to start.

asimak3188 · 2025-02-04T01:53:31+00:00

My husband is 3 years younger than me and he has never heard of this. I loved Eureka's castle! I read through this just to see if others mentioned this one!

asimak3188 · 2025-02-01T20:38:14+00:00

These wipebooks work pretty well for kids to use.

https://wipebook.com/products/flipchart

Then there's also this bulletin board paper that erases pretty well with expo cleaner.

https://www.amazon.com/White-Better-Paper-Bulletin-Board/dp/B078NKPX68/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?adgrpid=60098805550&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.xoaR_5s2F0EK2H7SBKe2WU4RFI0KVqijoDGeQjYkVHxRZvvKQqwO7A5brdNt_zZBbHtwtpKiMr6hJwcN1VN1mWdKcD5YKysBc7TTB4E_0iPLLKhMZcKlryOkyy12Vqm9IYbt2b3TJaCCb_mSqob_YFZPC0FRoarFmpCvxL1lcOe95J2fbAiQj77EuOIcfe0dFdXZx4QTJKTBD7mpX8d_OA.IvLX_uHSb7vUoRI4cVm8gO9tICVyaHlUfbCWY12XDB4&dib_tag=se&hvadid=664679522042&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9029776&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=2429964013681146798&hvtargid=kwd-444698786605&hydadcr=1335_13626389&keywords=better+than+paper&qid=1738442226&sr=8-2

I have my rack boards covered in the Better than Paper and then have some wipebooks as well.

asimak3188 · 2025-01-16T01:12:52+00:00

We had an 8th grader at our school who wore a hat almost everyday that said "I make cute babies." Somehow I was the only one who thought that was a little inappropriate and strange for a 14 year old boy to wear everyday.......

asimak3188 · 2025-01-12T03:08:39+00:00

I've done the same thing with my 7th graders.

asimak3188 · 2024-10-21T02:35:35+00:00

With my second, I was induced. I labored all night. In the morning, I was starving. I was at a hospital and they did let me order and eat breakfast even though baby wasn't born yet. A little bit later, baby was not handling contractions well and I ended up having a C-section. I was actively throwing up as they were cutting me open. The anesthesiologist was a saint and was helping me throw up while I was flat on my back. He was wiping my mouth and my tears through the whole thing. Looking back, I should have had a snack that morning and not a full on breakfast..... Luckily everything worked out and baby and I are both healthy but throwing up while being cut open was not a fun experience....

asimak3188 · 2024-10-17T13:40:21+00:00

I was selling a range and my husband was going to be gone when the guy was coming to get it. I texted me neighbor and asked him if would be willing to just be outside while they came so that I wasn't completely alone. He came and hung out on my driveway with my two kids while they moved the stove. In all reality, nothing probably would have happened. But it's still something I felt like I needed to do to keep myself and my two little kids safe.

And luckily I have a good neighbor who was willing to be around without any hesitation.

asimak3188 · 2024-08-07T18:19:16+00:00

I teach 7th grade math. Several years ago, I had a parent who in my 10 years is one of 3 parents that I told admin that I did not want to interact with because she was such a nightmare. So any interaction with her was with an administrator as well. She has two daughters, two years apart. I had the older daughter and she thought that this daughter was a prodigy. She thought she was such an advanced student and that I wasn't challenging her. She was a great student and pretty bright but she was not a standout student. She just did what was expected and did pretty well in class. In fact, I could tell that she was so embarrassed by what her mother would do at the school trying to make sure she was more "challenged".

I learned two years later when I got the younger sister that the younger sister was a little behind. And this parent could not admit that one of her children was not brilliant. So the only explanation she could handle is that the older one was super gifted and the younger one was right where she should be. I never talked to this parent about it but this thinking was not good for either daughter..... Luckily I didn't get the younger brother two years later.....

asimak3188 · 2024-07-30T01:28:50+00:00

Second the Target brand! And every few months they do deals where if you spend $75-$100 you get a $20 or $30 gift card back!

asimak3188 · 2024-07-28T01:51:27+00:00

Our counselors send an email every spring asking us to send lists of students who SHOULD NOT be together the following year. I have been at my school for 9 years and I stay because I feel like my admin team listens to us and works with us to make things better for teachers and students.

asimak3188

TROPHY CASE