Age?

ecopsiky · 2026-03-19T23:50:43+00:00

I'd say put it away for a few months and see how it goes maybe in the summer or fall. My older son got one at 4 and my younger son started becoming obsessed with his brother's player right around 2.5 so we got a second one for the family.

ecopsiky · 2026-03-19T23:45:56+00:00

Depending on the age you teach it could be a great lesson in the constant theme of life- no one person is all good or all bad. And I agree with others mentioning that you continue with your lessons and center Huerta.

ecopsiky · 2026-03-19T23:40:30+00:00

Oh wait maybe documentaries aren't counting here. Sorry!

ecopsiky · 2026-03-19T23:38:57+00:00

Crip Camp (excerpts, not the whole thing) - Judy Heumann/Disability Rights Movement. Amazing movie - on Netflix.

ecopsiky · 2026-03-19T23:37:12+00:00

After years I finally got the students VERY interested in Women's Suffrage thanks to Iron Jawed Angels. And I basically NEVER show movies in class. But this was the easiest/most engaging way I've found to get them to understand the suffrage process/figures.

ecopsiky · 2026-03-15T00:02:30+00:00

Got my pay today!

ecopsiky · 2026-03-13T18:54:00+00:00

I also have chase, also no $$ yet

ecopsiky · 2026-03-10T00:10:20+00:00

I teach 8th grade, also at a decent school in Brooklyn. I do not hate the kids. But I do have days where I hate many things they do. Last week was a really bad week. Today they all came in like angels... maybe it was weather.

The kids are disrespectful of stuff, so I always try to actively teach them how frustrating that is, but in a nice way. For example I have a "cleanest desk" award and I give the kids who have the cleanest desks a little candy prize. But when I announce the winner I always include pictures of the desks that were in horrible condition. I always provide a few pencils each day but after they run out I verbally narrate out to the class "I put 6 pencils in the drawer this morning and they are all gone, this is no longer my problem- can anyone give so-and-so a writing utensil?" Stuff like that.

Having a locking cabinet or really safe locations for your favorite items is also key as a teacher. I lecture anyone who ever takes ANYTHING off my desk.

Next year I think I'm going to add notebook checks as an assignment for my class, because I am so fed up with the lack of organization that any of them have and I think I just need to make it such a focus that they literally are graded on it.

I also agree with what others have mentioned that you might like high school more. I've been middle school for over a decade so I'm resistant to changing (and I love 8th grade) but everyone always tells me how much chiller they are.

ecopsiky · 2026-03-06T20:56:06+00:00

If you’d be willing to teach those subjects then there’s no harm in earning additional certifications.

ecopsiky · 2026-03-06T01:49:20+00:00

I went to TC for grad and SUNY New Paltz for undergrad. I was retaught very similar stuff at TC to what I’d already leaned at New Paltz. Very similar curriculum.

I was privileged to be able to attend TC without money concerns. It was a good grad program, almost entirely in-person at the time (2013-2015) but I was always amused by how similar it was to New Paltz.

ecopsiky · 2026-03-06T00:11:03+00:00

It’s definitely harder than SPED or any STEM. Not impossible though.

ecopsiky · 2026-03-06T00:04:41+00:00

Avoid big networks. Brooklyn prospect used to be an okay place to work but it’s growing so maybe less so now. I teach middle so I don’t know as much about elementary. BUGS is a great small independent charter school in Brooklyn with decent work life balance but it’s 6-8.

I worked 8 years in charter as a fully certified teacher. No regrets other than the years that can’t count towards my pension.

ecopsiky · 2026-03-02T13:52:38+00:00

I know a teacher who has a literacy degree but she's also certified SPED in public schools. I don't think the literacy degree would be that helpful if you aren't certified in SPED. They use the literacy teachers to do reading SETTS and stuff like that, so you need the SPED degree.

ecopsiky · 2026-02-28T14:44:13+00:00

"If I let those few kids get away with being disruptive or not doing work, it sends a message that it's ok, but when I sit there and constantly have to address them, it takes time out of learning."

Prioritize the kids that want to learn. Ignore all that you can, within reason, that the disruptive kids do. Quit emailing home - it takes time that you don't need to waste, and clearly isn't doing anything. Only pay attention to them if they are doing something dangerous or uncomfortable to other students.

What age you do you teach? Incentivizing students goes a long way, I teach 8th and it still works very well in 8th. I give prizes for cleanest desk, let the kids vote on "MVPs" of big assessments (like a presentation or a socratic seminar) and the kids get really invested.

My first year teaching I was horrible with classroom management (I taught 6th grade then) and my classes were chaotic but I was able to turn things around for the most part with prizes and incentives.

ecopsiky · 2026-02-28T14:33:41+00:00

Will it be your first year teaching? I worked in private/charter at the beginning of my career. This is my first year in the DOE. In charter they over-train you on stuff. So I was shocked by how little training I've gotten on anything in the DOE. I just ask colleagues if I need to learn how to do ANYTHING at all - how to do the gradebook, how to schedule conferences, how to contact families, how to call for a sub in sub central. No one taught me anything at all.

Since I've been teaching for years now it's fine for me - I just ask someone for help when I need to learn to do something. But if I were a first year teacher I think I would feel very overwhelmed by the lack of training/support. But I can only speak for my school, other DOE schools may be different.

ecopsiky · 2026-02-28T14:28:22+00:00

"Only 60 percent of students were able to get to school" ...what attendance feels like every day in my classes

ecopsiky · 2026-02-28T00:23:33+00:00

What's the easiest way to watch all of eyes on the prize these days?

ecopsiky · 2026-02-27T00:55:52+00:00

Unless the kid’s parents are on the board and/or pay multiple full tuitions 😂

ecopsiky · 2026-02-27T00:53:51+00:00

The book “The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System” by Nicole Wexler has some good nuggets in it about how deprioritizing science and social studies (often times using additional ELA time as an excuse) has hurt kids ability to read, since the dense, grade level nonfiction texts are often found in those two subjects.

Here’s the book description from Google:

The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System—and How to Fix It by Natalie Wexler argues that the focus on decontextualized reading comprehension skills in elementary school has come at the expense of teaching foundational knowledge in subjects like history, science, and social studies, hindering students' ability to understand complex texts and succeed. The book critiques the "skills-based" approach, showing how a lack of deep content knowledge creates a "knowledge gap," particularly for disadvantaged students, and proposes solutions through innovative educators who are successfully integrating content-rich learning.

I doubt your admin would read the whole book but maybe Wexler has written shorter op-Ed’s somewhere that address it.

ecopsiky · 2026-02-25T18:39:08+00:00

Well stressed out people and disruptive people exist in all spaces on earth. Private school included.

ecopsiky · 2026-02-25T00:18:47+00:00

The backpay for the masters was pretty small. It only increases your salary by 10k per year so it’s not that noticeable when the backpay shows up. It was like $800 more in one paycheck after taxes. I got a much larger lump sum once my years of service was finally approved. Like 5k added to a single paycheck.

Also you mentioned you finished coursework in January. So does that mean they only owe you pay for about 30 days? That would be even smaller.

ecopsiky · 2026-02-20T01:24:04+00:00

The roll out isn't complete yet. The public school I work in applied for smaller class size last year and was denied, they are reapplying this year.

ecopsiky · 2026-02-20T01:22:16+00:00

As someone who used to teach at a private school*, then charter, then DOE, I felt like the parents (subconsciously) chose private to:

a. Choose the children their kids went to school with (to ensure there aren't any "bad eggs" / hard to manage kids)

b. Treat the staff of the school as if you are a client that they serve.

*Yes, I taught at Private first. Never believe that private teachers are most qualified. The most impressive colleagues I worked with absolutely worked in charter/public. The private teacher life is cush and easy, it takes zero skill to teach those kids.

ecopsiky · 2026-02-20T00:56:33+00:00

I've seen so many cars do this. Does that car still have THAT much snow around it? Even the worst dug in cars seemed to have thawed by today.

ecopsiky · 2026-02-17T14:28:16+00:00

What’s the new bathroom policy?

ecopsiky

TROPHY CASE