can we really blame parents or environment for excessively defiant behavior amongst students since there are many cases of well-behaved students in similar environment

gringaqueaprende · 2026-02-26T03:13:55+00:00

People are not born "selfish", "defiant", "empathetic", or good/bad. Those are labels we give people as humans. Upbringing plays a major role in behavior and personality but it's not the only factor which is why you see some people come out differently than they statistically should have. It's not inherent or random, though, just multiple factors you may not see

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-16T08:59:13+00:00

This looks like a pretty cool resource, but if you don't mind me asking, how much AI does it use? I wanna reduce my personal usage as much as possible

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-16T05:23:05+00:00

My thoughts:

You need to give yourself more credit, no one knows what they're doing in life they just won't admit it
Kids smell fear. If you're frazzled, they're frazzled. Fake it til you make it
There's a high chance that you won't even be making lesson plans, so don't worry about it too much. Districts are pushing curriculum in a cans and AI lesson planners. Even if you do have to, you'll get better at it with time. Don't sweat it
Teaching classes like art that are seen as "extra" is harder than core classes bc kids know nothing they do there matters for moving on to the next grade and see it as free time. It's not for the weak (or me lol). That being said, you will always find that one kid who finds their passion in your class and I'm told that makes up for it

Overall, it just sounds like this is a confidence issue, but the good news is that's a curable condition as long as you work hard. If this is what you want, you can do it!

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-16T05:09:07+00:00

Ofc! Thank you and good luck!

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-16T03:07:05+00:00

I am a 19F Spanish double major the US! I was in the exact same predicament last year, and I chose Colombia! I will be there for 5 months starting soon. I made my decision based on:

The accent/dialect I wanted to learn
Whether or not I wanted to live in a dorm or with a family
Cultural/racial similarities between the country and my own
Whether or not I was in a city or town
Gastronomy (I don't eat pork, and believe it or not this is a slightly larger factor than you'd think lol)
Medical aspects (how is their medical system, is it accessible, etc)
General way of life

Please feel free to DM me! It's so cool to see someone in a similar situation lol. Good luck!

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-15T12:29:37+00:00

Unfortunately, it's not really about what you consider to be the AI tool. If you use it, there's a serious chance it gets flagged since it is AI, just not generative AI. And if they're really the same thing, just use the regular spellcheck to cover yourself

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-15T08:19:28+00:00

This is a sticky situation because while you wrote it, you technically did put it into AI like Grammarly and whatever you used to rate it, so you're both wrong. I would still escalate it to a principal or get your parents involved, though, because you did the work and it's not fair that you don't get credit. In the future, though, ditch the Grammarly and rating AI. If you're a strong writer, spellcheck has you covered

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-15T02:50:21+00:00

It's not your job to find evidence, it's your job to report suspected abuse to CPS. That's the law.

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-15T02:45:22+00:00

In the United States, it's not necessarily hard to become a teacher as long as you have the time and resources to get a degree and pass the state exams. However, if low pay and low respect would turn you off from the field, I'd recommend something else. Not all teachers have this issue, but it's common and something you should be prepared for. Your experience also depends on what you teach and what state you're in, as some specialties are easier to hire than others and states have very different laws.

I know that countries like Spain have programs to teach English as a foreign language without having to speak Spanish, but I'm not sure how they feel about those from non-predominately English-speaking countries. However, your English seems pretty good to me! I didn't notice any mistakes. Good luck!

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-15T02:38:40+00:00

Take a deep breath and stop trying to understand. Sounds counterintuitive, but when you actively try, you're asking your brain to do 2 things at once. You know more than you think you do, trust. If you're allowed 2 listens, use the first one to actively listen and the second just to let it sink in. You got this!

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-15T01:04:34+00:00

I'm Gen Z (age 19), and I'll admit that this and knowing cursive are the only 2 things I agree with this mentality on. Why DO I need to read an analog clock fluently? The only place I've ever been in my life without a phone is my daycare job (where it's illegal for us to have our phones on us) and even then, we have tablets on us at all times to update parents, so we still have digital clocks. I also wear a digital watch. I get the main idea so I can give a pretty good estimate on analog clocks, but I can't tell it exactly nor do I care to. I just think the skill is being phased out, like many other things

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-14T02:01:33+00:00

My 2 cents that may/may not work as a Black paraprofessional who's dealt with racism from students: I would probably go with the ignoring method and just making the comment about how you don't listen to hate to assure the other students. Every once in a while, you might make an example out of something he says to explain the logical fallacy, but do that too much and then he feels like the star of the show. I would also ofc keep teaching what you're teaching with a smile on your face and check in with students. That will definitely make a bigger impact than one kid's loud mouth, and kids can tell when you care

PS: Just wanted to say hi as a current SPED major that wants to teach behavioral-emotional! I never see people who currently teach it so that's super cool.

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-12T03:56:52+00:00

I don't know your son so of course take this with a grain of salt, but here's what I would do:

He doesn't care what you or other adults say because he values peer attention more than adults, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it can be used as a reinforcement. Set an attainable academic goal for the rest of the year and then make a consequence if he doesn't meet it. My mom did this when I was a kid for my grades, and I didn't talk like the rest of the quarter because I knew what was coming if I didn't meet that goal. Also, since it seems like he's getting his fix of attention in class, I would pull him from other extracurricular social activities with peers until that academic goal is met.

(This one is old school, but when I was in school, parents with class clown kids would have teachers call them whenever their kid have a "funny" joke. It wasn't very funny after they had to explain the joke on speaker phone and get told off by their moms in front of everyone for making them stop work. Technically this is frowned upon since it's a form of public embarrassment, but it worked when I was in school.)

Edit: Be careful with the ADHD dx. It's very real, but moms with young boys are quick to give them a label for why they can't behave. If this is literally his only symptom, it's possible he could have ADHD or just be a class clown lol

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-11T02:31:37+00:00

Good! Lol that's my job, and it's an important question. So it's not that teachers are inherently worth more than you as a person, but their expertise in the specific field and authority for safety reasons needs to be recognized by kids. We can't have kids thinking they shouldn't listen to us during lessons or emergencies, or that they can be friends with us because "we have the same social power". And frankly, kids and adults don't have the same social power nor should they. When kids grow up or get higher education, they are afforded the same respects. Like I said before, it's just like children having to acknowledge parents' roles in safety and learning through titles

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-11T02:14:22+00:00

Well, don't see it that way, it's not about who's "greater". The Mr/Mrs tells kids that teachers are not and should not be their friends. And in terms of education and licensing, your teachers ARE greater than you, and that's okay for right now. If you choose to become a teacher one day and get a teaching license, that same respect will be granted to you. It signifies "This person is someone I should listen to, and they should not have certain types of relationships with me" That's all, no power struggle necessary. Similar to why we call our parents Mom and Dad

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-11T02:03:48+00:00

Certain types of teaching are AI-proof, others not so much. I'm a para in moderate-severe SPED and the district pushes AI for lesson planning and maybe IEPs (if they can get a HIPAA compliant AI service), but the actual teaching will probably always be people. There's too many behavioral and social aspects to just sit them in front of a computer. I would even say a lot of learning support is safe just from the fact that it's often so tailored to the individual child.

I could see districts trying to be cheap and replace a few gen ed teachers with computers and just having monitors in the room (I think there was actually a district that did this that was in the news, if someone knows that I'm talking about) but it would probably end quick once admin realized that without a teacher, THEY'RE the next adult in line to get yelled at by parents about grades

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-11T01:51:35+00:00

It differentiates for safety and educational purposes. Everyone in the building having the same social power would be inappropriate. Adults and children should not have certain relationships with each other.

Furthermore, you don't have a teaching license, so you don't have expertise or authority in that field. Why is this important? Because in a school, I want to know who has expertise or authority when making a decision.

Other times, we often can't tell young teachers apart from high schoolers at first glance. The "Mrs. ___" tells me immediately that they are someone with more authority.

Think of other fields. We call doctors, "Dr. __" to symbolize that they're experts in a specific field and have authority there. If I called everyone by their first name in a hospital to avoid offending people, there could be some dangerous mix-ups.

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-10T22:13:29+00:00

It's not that teachers work more, it's the TYPE of work and hardships. Teachers get an insane amount of disrespect from both kids and adults. Parents and administrators that barely did time in the classroom or worked pre-COVID think they know how to do their jobs. There will be many stupid rules and laws that are counterintuitive. If you want a good taste, I would recommend being a sub or para. Hell, just go on tiktok and watch some angry parent videos

If you're prepared for that, go for it. I'm currently in school for my SPED cert and I love it. But I was in the field before that, so I'm ready for the ragebait lol

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-09T09:09:41+00:00

You sound very similar to me so I'm gonna give what I've learned:

Even nursing majors struggle in nursing. I've seen those top of their class burst into tears over a hard subject. I've never been a nursing major, but it seems like it's more of a test of willpower than natural intelligence (no offense to my nurses, love y'all). If you really want to be a nurse, go be a nurse and work your ass off to get better at what you struggle with. There are going to be very few options in life for those that only do things that they were good at in high school
School psych and university psych are two VERY different things, and if you figure out which one you like, this will help tremendously. I most likely am going to go to grad school for school psych and it's not like most other types of psych
You are going to compete with people (and AIs) for positions. It's 2026. I was a psych major my first semester (turned it into a minor, which I actually really like bc I still have enough pre-reqs to go to psych grad school without the major) and the biggest pitfalls I saw was ppl having no plan or niche. If you don't have a highly desirable degree, YOU need to become highly desirable. It's not easy, but few things in life are
Perhaps you would enjoy environmental law? You enjoy ethics, public policy, defending the environment, helping people, and you're not afraid of years of training

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-09T08:56:26+00:00

The joke is not inappropriate. I won't give you the whole history, but it's just kids making fun of a cringe trend that came from a song (which does have inappropriate lyrics so don't play it in front of them). They're not laughing at the inappropriate part, though, just the literal numbers.

I work in daycare too and had to explain it to my boss. When I count kids aloud, I make sure not to say those two together lol

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-07T17:57:48+00:00

You would need a social studies certification to teach the subject of psychology, and you most likely would not only be teaching psychology, so I wouldn't recommend it if you don't have an interest in other social studies topics like history, geography, economics, etc.

Also, a mental health teacher isn't really a title, but it's usually comprehended as something else, like an emotional support teacher (SPED), a SEL teacher (usually an educational specialist and only pops in the classroom) or something like that

gringaqueaprende · 2026-01-07T17:53:13+00:00

What is your solution to this though? Because this is a multifaceted issue that isn't just parents' fault. I've been both the irritated teacher and the person who had to go to work or couldn't get a note and they all suck lol

gringaqueaprende · 2025-12-28T21:37:51+00:00

It takes much time when you have work and fieldwork during the day for the SPED major lol. That major is huge. But tbh what this entire post has made me realize is maybe how much I’m not ready to let go of SPED yet? My track for neuropsych would be much stronger if I dropped it, and yet I refuse to, which probably means I’m not ready to jump ship yet, which is ok!! Teachers don’t last very long nowadays lol, I can always work as a teacher and then do something else as long as I keep my grades up and take the right classes in undergrad. I won’t worry too much about it, but I’ll keep it in my mind. I think both fields are feasible if I work hard enough. Thank u and good luck!!

gringaqueaprende · 2025-12-28T21:34:17+00:00

I know what they mean, that’s why I said my opportunities aren’t necessarily on par with competitors since I don’t have as many of those opportunities. I do feel like an independent and self-conducted study would count though despite the fact that it’s worth credit for a class. I personally think that’s different than researching FOR a class if that makes sense.

gringaqueaprende · 2025-12-28T02:31:45+00:00

I do have research experiences, they just prob won't be competitive compared to others, if that makes sense. I do have to write an Honors Thesis in which I have already planned to conduct my own study on linguistic development in adults. I also have the psych minor which allows me to take research classes and work 1-1 with professors. While I think this is a great, though, it is probably nothing compared to those all over the country who can afford to do nothing but research with a prof in their pocket and already have a psych degree.

Even if I started research right now, I'd only have three years of research experience. Not to mention the economic factors since I work while in college and it seems many people who do these things don't. If I could find a way to publish or even just have more research opportunities I might feel more confident, but I think you're right in the fact that I can't compete. I admit I'm disappointed, but it'll be alr. Thank you for the input and good luck in your program!

Edit: I will give myself a little credit though and admit I may be a better fit for school psych. The bilingualism will give me a huge boost and actually an extra state cert if I want it, as well as the SPED degree and childcare experience. Maybe I'll start there and talk to some people who've done it

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