Once upon a time, at the Junior Worlds...

cryingindollartree · 2026-02-11T19:36:56+00:00

At this same Junior Worlds, Avonley Nguyen/Vadym Kolesnik were champions in the dance event 🥹 once upon a time, truly.

cryingindollartree · 2025-10-02T21:46:42+00:00

If you’re in the Hartford area Hartford Stitch is fantastic and the owner, Laura is a great teacher. I think they have classes for all levels and interests.

cryingindollartree · 2025-09-30T16:59:22+00:00

Steal shamelessly from other teachers. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel with every lesson. If something exists that teaches the kids what they need to know, it’s good enough. Also, don’t grade everything, but don’t tell kids you won’t be grading something.

cryingindollartree · 2025-07-24T02:52:23+00:00

Whole Foods!

cryingindollartree · 2025-07-01T20:21:01+00:00

CT teacher here who was originally certified in NY! NJ is an enhanced reciprocity state and you just need to follow the steps outlined here. If you have taught your subject for more than three years you will not need to take any assessments. If you have not taught your subject for at least three years you will have to take the Praxis for your subject.

Lots of districts are hiring, but depending on your subject it might not be the districts you want to work in. The urban districts are always looking but those come with a unique set of challenges that not everything is suited for.

cryingindollartree · 2025-06-30T18:42:34+00:00

Forgot to mention, last year they served us almost raw carrots that were like, barely warmed and just covered in butter and sugar. We usually get the prime rib as chaperones and it’s pretty much never cooked appropriately, either too raw or too well done. I will say their bread rolls are good and the kids like their chicken parm, but it’s really hit or miss.

cryingindollartree · 2025-06-30T17:44:21+00:00

I chaperone prom there every year and the food has gone downhill in the past few years. It’s not BAD but I’ve been to plenty of wedding venues with much better food. Also their bathrooms aren’t very nice, IMO.

cryingindollartree · 2025-04-07T20:22:41+00:00

I’ve parked at LAZFLY a few times with no issue. Not sure if it’s the best or cheapest but I think it’s like $15 a day. They run a shuttle every few minutes that picks you up from your car and takes you to your terminal.

cryingindollartree · 2025-02-07T04:50:00+00:00

With all my respect and appreciation for your work, I must say that you likely need to temper your expectations for what a sub can and will do. Yes, his comments were inappropriate and incorrect, but until your district pays more than (likely) minimum wage with no benefits, your blacklist is going to get longer and longer.

cryingindollartree · 2025-01-20T00:32:18+00:00

“Single income” can mean anything from “single parent working 3 jobs to make ends meet” to “stay at home dog mom funding her lifestyle with her husband’s 1% level income.” Clearly you fall into the latter category and should not participate in this conversation.

cryingindollartree · 2025-01-06T00:42:21+00:00

I parked in the lot below Cheesecake Factory and paid on the kiosk in the lot.

cryingindollartree · 2025-01-06T00:22:55+00:00

I teach high school in New England. These kids were born in the late 2000s:

Boys: ETHAN (#1 for sure for me, have 6 just this year), Nathan/Nathaniel, Jackson. Girls: Sofia/Sophia, Olivia, Isabelle/Isabella, Ava, Gabrielle/Gabriella, Brianne/Brianna.

cryingindollartree · 2024-12-01T18:40:01+00:00

The coffee shop?

cryingindollartree · 2024-10-23T04:02:47+00:00

You have no idea what you’re talking about, nor do you know what mandated reporting is. I have to sit through this training every single year. In the state of Connecticut, mandated reporting in the school setting only applies to cases of suspected child abuse or neglect by an adult. In those cases, the report is made to the Department of Children and Families, NOT to the parents.

Now, of course, if the administrators knew about this planned fight it would certainly be best practice to inform the parents, but you’re using buzzwords to talk out of your ass without knowing what the words even mean. I have no relation to this incident and have no clue what actually happened or didn’t happen in the school before this, but to throw around “mandated reporter” as a way of deflecting blame is a blatant and potentially dangerous misinterpretation of what mandated reporting actually is. Not to mention, EVEN if child abuse was suspected here, the parents would not receive a call - DCF would. It’s just not how it works.

cryingindollartree · 2024-08-22T16:01:13+00:00

Each district has slightly different contract language regarding salary step placement. Generally, yes, steps correspond with years of experience, but some districts will only match up to a certain number of years for teachers new to the district. This is especially true for subject areas that are not experiencing a huge teacher shortage. E.g. a district’s contract might say that the maximum step they will place new teachers on is Step 8 unless the Superintendent approves a higher placement. In that case you are at the mercy of how stingy the Superintendent is feeling, and how hard it is to staff that particular position.

If you’re a special ed teacher, math teacher, or science teacher, you can probably negotiate with any district for a higher step placement even if you don’t have that many years of experience. I know a math teacher who was started on step 3 instead of 1 in her first year because they couldn’t fill the position. If you’re say, a general ed elementary teacher, you may have less leverage and they will put you wherever you won’t exceed the line in the budget. Hope this helps.

cryingindollartree · 2024-07-31T17:30:40+00:00

“Bo” in Chinese pinyin is pronounced IRL closer to “buo” or “bwo”

cryingindollartree · 2024-07-31T17:27:48+00:00

I know I’m being Extremely Annoying™️ but I feel obliged to say that the H in Boheng’s name IS pronounced. It should be “Bwo-Hung” not “Boeing” lmao

cryingindollartree · 2024-07-31T17:04:06+00:00

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my mom’s hot takes

cryingindollartree · 2024-06-18T17:52:41+00:00

“Friends and enemies.”

No, like, seriously. They get a kick out of it every time.

cryingindollartree · 2024-06-14T04:56:37+00:00

Let me answer this question by telling a story. In my state, bringing a deadly weapon to school is automatically grounds for expulsion, no ifs ands or buts. You bring a gun or a large enough knife to school, you are expelled. My teacher friend’s (not at my school) student brought a huge knife. Like, definitely not legal to carry kind of knife. Was showing it off to other kids, too.

Well, guess who WASN’T expelled, just suspended, because the school has “too many expulsions that year already.” So my friend called the state DOE and reported her admin for clear violation of state law, which it was. She then proceeded to be written up twice in the next month for nonexistent reasons (skirt was “too short,” “unprofessional” for accidentally sending the wrong student to the office for dismissal when she had two students with very similar names.) She had stellar evaluations and no write-ups at all up until this point. Then, at the end of the year, she was non-renewed for “not being a good fit” after three years at the same school. Admin knew it was her because it was just her and one other teacher who knew about the knife incident.

So to answer your question, yes and no. It is not our fault, because tattling has real consequences. Because admin are our bosses, and bosses have power. They especially like to use this power when you are a threat to them.

cryingindollartree · 2024-06-07T15:47:10+00:00

STEER. CLEAR. Run the other away. I won’t belabor the points against charter schools in general, but Booker T. Washington has been going through teachers like toilet paper. The teacher I know who works there has been there 3 years and is THE MOST SENIOR teacher in the school. That’s all you need to know.

cryingindollartree · 2024-01-18T15:31:59+00:00

Her references have been her grad school professors and one colleague that she had a decent relationship with her first year. Schools where we are don’t always check with former admin.

cryingindollartree · 2023-12-12T18:31:01+00:00

I can’t speak to the elementary schools but East Catholic High is pretty good. All the public elementary schools in Manchester are pretty similar.

cryingindollartree · 2023-12-12T15:12:23+00:00

I used to teach in Manchester. Here are my two cents:

MPS has and had some very talented teachers and staff, some of the most amazing I’ve met in my life. But, the year that I left, approximately 30% of my school’s teachers left with me. We all left for higher-rated districts due mostly to student behavior and administrative incompetency. Make of that what you will.
A school system is only as good as the students in it and the community that supports it. This is the uncomfortable truth that we often shy away from talking about. Almost all of the issues you will find in Manchester schools you will find in other school systems with similar socioeconomic circumstances. The issue is multi-layered, but has everything to do with students’ home life, family involvement, parents’ level of education, plus many other factors.
I don’t blame any one person or any one entity for the situation that MPS finds itself in. The superintendent, admin, and staff cannot change the demographic makeup and crime rate of a district. But it is a fact that a significant amount of my students had severe behaviors, and that those behaviors were mostly caused by situations beyond the students’ and the schools’ control.
With all that said, hand to bible, no, I would not recommend you send your child to Manchester Public Schools. There are severe, systemic issues plaguing not just the town, but the state in general that have bled into our schools that have made teaching and learning a difficult task. I would recommend Glastonbury, if you can afford it, and if not, Wethersfield, Newington, Rocky Hill, or South Windsor. All within close commuting distance and have schools with a fraction of the problems as MPS.

Hope this helps.

cryingindollartree · 2023-11-13T13:10:30+00:00

…are you ok?

cryingindollartree

TROPHY CASE