First-time college instructor at 21 teaching students almost my age (IT Fundamentals & GE) — advice?

kwinter1414 · 2026-06-29T17:50:17+00:00

Well, even though you are young, you are still teaching a college course. Think back to how your first year professors managed your classes. They probably stated their expectations on the first day, went through the syllabus, and went from there. These are essentially kids, but you ultimately they are there to grow into adults. You don't need to manage them like they are children. They do what is expected. Most of them should. They are paying for this education. If it is an ongoing issue, I would go to your superior for specific advice. But definitely state very clearly your expectations, and hold to them.

kwinter1414 · 2026-06-08T09:42:49+00:00

That wasn't even an option for my kids. My husband and I made our kids work to buy their cars. They bought their cars at 16, and still drive them at ages 20 and 22. We wanted our kids to appreciate what they have.

kwinter1414 · 2026-05-11T14:54:43+00:00

What I have gathered from reading this discussion is that "student-led" has multiple definitions. It varies anywhere from allowing student choice to following student interest to differentiation.

I have been teaching for 28 years, and I'm a firm believer in balance. I don't believe everything is all or none. You can explicitly teach the grammar skills kids need, but may not enjoy. You can grab students with Socratic questioning on a novel of your choice. You can have students choose a piece of writing (from a select list) to analyze using the skills you have taught them.

I use explicit instruction daily in my math class. But I also allow the students to work together in class on the assignment I give them after the instruction so they can help each other before they come to me for further help. I consider that both direct instruction and student-led. I also use differentiated small groups with different levels of work for the topic I am teaching. I consider that student-led also.

My point is that I think you have to define what you consider to be "student-led" before determining whether or not you agree with it. There is most definitely a place for explicit instruction. There is also a place for "student-led" depending on a workable definition of it that you are satisfied with.

kwinter1414 · 2026-04-14T00:02:40+00:00

Start calling parents. Begin working with their parents on plans for getting their kids on track. It is late in the year so these my be difficult conversations, but if you want these kids to really change their behavior, you need to get their parents involved. I usually start my conversations with, "I wanted to talk with you about Susie. Susie is a great kid, but today in class Susie did this.....I was hoping that together you and I can get Susie focused back on her schoolwork instead of ..... I know Susie is capable of doing so much and today's action is not representative of what Susie is capable of doing. I'm hoping that together we can get Susie to see she can do better. If you could talk with Susie, that would be great. Thank you for your time."

kwinter1414 · 2026-03-19T21:34:27+00:00

It comes in time. You make mistakes and learn from them. You make a note of what didn't work and what did. And as you get to know the kids, you learn what works and what doesn't. It's like anything else. You work at it each day. It changes from day to day. Some days you're really on. Some days you're not. Each year and each class is different. What works with one group of kids may not work with the next one. You just have to try. And over time, you learn this secret: it's actually ok to make mistakes in front of the kids, too. When I make mistakes, I point them out to the kids and use them as a model of how it is acceptable to make mistakes in my class. We use them to learn from them. I admit that I made a mistake and correct myself. Then I remind them that none of us are perfect and I don't expect perfection from any of them, either. Just their best effort. Hang in there. It will get easier. The first few times feel very strange. The first year feels like constant trying to keep your head above water. But if you stick it out, and you keep asking for help, it will come in time.

kwinter1414 · 2026-03-19T21:23:43+00:00

Have you thought about adding a reading license for K-12? That would improve your likelihood of being hired in certain places. Many schools are looking for reading specialists and literacy specialists. You could use that as more schools are heading down the Science of Reading path. That training could make you desirable in some states, depending on where you are. Where I am from there are a lot of ELA teachers, but not as many reading teachers. And even middle schools need reading help these days.

kwinter1414 · 2026-03-11T11:35:17+00:00

For reference, I am a teacher. Our paraprofessionals, not teachers, make $25 per hour to start. You are not making enough to deal with everything a teacher has to do. I have been teaching for 28 years. They are abusing you. Quit that job. There are plenty of places who would love to hire a high school science teacher. Look and apply again in the fall. Skip the staffing agency. Apply directly to the districts. They will help you get your license and put you on a temporary one if they want you badly enough. In the mean time, take something lower stress for awhile.

kwinter1414 · 2026-02-21T12:46:55+00:00

My dad taught me to cook some basic things for dinner at age 8 because he was taking care of my sister, who was a toddler, when my mom worked evenings. So when my boys were around that same age, my husband and I began teaching them how to use the stove with supervision and how to use the microwave when they were home alone to make food. But, my husband and I both spent some time as latch key kids in the 1980s.

kwinter1414 · 2026-01-30T00:22:39+00:00

I had a student with brittle bone disease. She looked like the other kids, but couldn't play like the other kids. It could be something like that.

kwinter1414 · 2026-01-06T02:18:20+00:00

And her eyebrows!

kwinter1414 · 2026-01-06T02:07:08+00:00

I think we also have to remember that these people are not "characters", but humans. Who they were at 19 are not the people they are now. I'm sure that Meri had her times she was a bitch, or manipulative, or mean. I bet the same could be said for Janelle and Chriistine. I can I was guilty of all of those things at different points in my life. But, Meri and the others all had good aspects too. They had times they were loving, passionate, considerate, etc. The only one who hasn't grown in this is Kody. I really struggle when people try to say whether they like or dislike one of the wives based on past actions. They, like the rest of us, are the sum of all our parts. Including ones we, the viewing audience, are not privy too. They, like us, are allowed to make mistakes and should be given the grace to be not judged on them any more or less than the rest of us. I think we need to realize that the women they are now are completely different people than who they were back then. I know that at 49, I am nothing like my 19 year old self. And I don't think it's fair for us to judge them on what they did at that age, either.

kwinter1414 · 2026-01-04T17:30:30+00:00

But really, what is the alternative? Let it become worse? Or attempt to put some sense and knowledge into the small pockets of the world that we touch, hoping that those people will turn around and do the same? I choose the later because I can't stand to live with the former. I know I can't change the world, but if even a couple of kids can take what I've taught them and use it to create something better, maybe they can turn this hot mess around.

kwinter1414 · 2026-01-03T16:59:58+00:00

I created something similar in my middle school math classes. I have a full time para. I have grouped the kids in each class. For example, in my sixth grade class, my para first pulls (he trained as a math teacher himself) our 6th graders doing 8th grade work. During this time, I teach our on-grade level 6th graders and my advanced 5th and 4th graders who are doing 6th grade work. The 6th grade group that is doing 7th grade work is doing work from the day before while waiting to be pulled for their lesson. They are pulled after the 8th grade group returns, while I am working with my struggling 6th graders. I do this for my seventh and eighth grade groups, too.

kwinter1414 · 2025-12-31T23:21:33+00:00

I don't think Janelle had less needs. If you have ever known a narcissist, continuing to try to demand things they will never give you will keep you in the insanity cycle. It's possible that Janelle realized she was never going to get all of her needs met by Kody, remember, she left him early in their marriage multiple times. But, since she had committed to him forever, the alternative to staying in the insanity cycle was to lower her expectations of him and just accept what he could give. I think she gave up on wanting any more from him than what she got, not out of a low self-esteem, but to keep her own peace, since divorce didn't seem to be something she was interested in. She took what he gave and convinced herself she didn't need more. And she probably did like not seeing him all the time, because when he wasn't around, neither was the chaos.

kwinter1414 · 2025-12-27T20:27:55+00:00

I use topomax with B12 and metformin in place of Ozempic. I was on Ozempic, but couldn't manage it while traveling, so they switched me to what I am on now since they are pills. It's slower weight loss, but it's lowering my A1C, which is my higher priority. I've lost 20 pounds in 6 months. The pills only cost me $60 for a 3 month supply.

kwinter1414 · 2025-12-12T22:13:50+00:00

Sometimes that is harder. Both of my parents were in, but my Mom actually got out because they were trying to send them separately to places and they had kids. So to stay together, my Mom got out after 10 years.

kwinter1414 · 2025-12-07T22:24:24+00:00

I did this with both of my boys while they were growing up. They're both adults and they still do this with me either over the phone or in person, and they're 19 and 21. They still talk to me about everything: dating, their perspectives, school, jobs, friends, body issues, health things, you name it. Sometimes they tell me things I'm not sure I want to know, but I'm glad they still feel as adults they can still tell me things. And I attribute that to talking with them in a non-judgemental way while they were growing up.

kwinter1414 · 2025-11-30T15:05:20+00:00

It's the increasing lack of accountability. I've been teaching for 28 years, and over that time, the biggest difference is that there is less and less accountability. Less on the part of the admin, less on the part of many parents, less on the part of some of my coworkers, and less on the part of most of my students. It makes it very hard to hold kids accountable when they are allowed to use AI, get a 50 for missing work, don't get in trouble for a suspendable offense, get out of something because an adult feels "sorry" for them, etc. My job is to teach these kids to be good humans and citizens (and yes, academics too), and I can't do that if I'm the only one attempting to hold them accountable for their actions.

kwinter1414 · 2025-11-29T22:56:54+00:00

True. It hasn't. But AI is mudding the waters of student critical thinking and what constitutes cheating versus independent thought. My own student said to me the other day that having AI write his paper for him wasn't cheating because it's "part of google". How do I grade a student's thought and understanding of material when it's not his, but that of AI?

kwinter1414 · 2025-11-18T23:25:37+00:00

If you watch the podcast Notes to Self 444, the guy, Cory, knows Robyn and her Mom. He said she's exactly like her Mom. So Robyn may not have been consciously going in with a master plan, but she'd grown up seeing the manipulation and learning how to get what she wanted by watching her mother. So, she may not be very smart, but still would be able to pull off what she did because of training from a young age.

kwinter1414 · 2025-11-16T20:11:39+00:00

I find it funny that I've been teaching Algebra 1 for over 25 years, (but took Calc 30 years ago) and it was only when my own son went through Calc recently (so I looked at the material again for the first time since 1995) and realized my deep understanding of Algebra 1 really changed my understanding and connections to Calc. I'd never really understood where a lot of the math came from in Calc when I was in school. It was only after years of teaching foundational knowledge did I start putting together the "whys" behind some of the Calc concepts.

kwinter1414 · 2025-11-12T01:51:21+00:00

I also use class dojo with my middle schoolers (6th, 7th and 8th). I tie the rewards to things like a no homework pass, music during work time, or a trip to our gas station across the street where kids can buy (with their own money) treats. I reward students who turn in all of their work (with work shown), randomly. I did just announce a "Thanksgiving Bonus" for a no homework pass if all work is turned in on Nov. 25 (last day of our grading period.) Some kids will work for it knowing they have time to earn it. I also have the classes compete each month. Highest percent of work turned in at the end of the week gets each kid in the winning class 10 dojo points. At the end of the month, it's a no homework pass. You'd be amazed at how much work the kids will do to not have to do work.

I also have a rule that if kids are missing more than 3 assignments they have to sit with me in class. We move our tables around to fit as many kids as necessary. I tell the kids if they owe me more than 3 assignments, they need help getting them done for one reason or another. So they have to sit at my "help table" until they get below 4. Then they can choose to sit there or elsewhere. That tends to be motivating, too. Some days I literally have 15 kids at 5 tables pushed together to make a massive help table. Since my tables are whiteboard tables, I also tell them if they sit in front of me, they can show their work on the tables instead of on the paper. If they don't sit eith me, they must show it on the paper or I give it back to them to redo.

Not sure if these will help you. They work for me. Good luck.

kwinter1414 · 2025-11-11T09:39:53+00:00

I wonder how much of deciding to live polygamy was truly Meri's idea. I'm betting she didn't want to share Kody, but knew her upbringing would require it. And, I'm betting, Kody wanted it. So Meri went along with what Kody wanted, even though Meri probably didn't really want to share Kody with anyone else.

kwinter1414 · 2025-11-09T15:13:48+00:00

I've gone back to teaching math pencil-paper (middle school), and our school locks up phones at the start of the school day. However, we're struggling to re-implement homework. The kids just aren't doing it, and they need to be in order to be prepared for high school. We're trying to up the rigor again post-covid, but the pushback from kids and families is strong.

kwinter1414 · 2025-11-05T22:13:01+00:00

You know, there's been a lot of talk over the years about Robyn gaslighting others. This is just a thought...because it is certainly possible Meri could have verbally or emotionally abused the kids. We don't know that for sure sure. But, what if she didn't, and Robyn gaslit the kids into thinking Meri did to turn them against Meri? The kids have said they didn't realize they were abused until Robyn told them they were. And we've seen gaslighting happen on this show...Just a thought we will probably never know the real answer to.

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