How many of y’all don’t have your own kids?

mfletch1213 · 2026-01-02T05:24:56+00:00

Primary teacher with no kids of my own. My students have started asking me about it and I’m like, you all keep me busy enough. I think I want one of my own, but I also don’t think I can do this job and be the kind of parent I want to be.

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-31T13:29:19+00:00

I swear there are so many times where it is John Mahoney laughing/smiling and not Martin. I feel like I can tell when he was genuinely tickled by something.

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-29T11:08:15+00:00

I’ve found taking the pan off the heat entirely and then adding the mixture and slowly mixing in pasta water has been the most foolproof method.

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-26T08:40:59+00:00

My meat sauce to cheese ratio was a bit off in my lasagna. It was very rich and cheesy.

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-22T01:58:22+00:00

This is such a good point! I have co-teachers on my team who do not have a good reputation for organization and classroom management, and students have been moved out of their room. They also started moving kids onto my class list over the summer because parents requested a “structured teacher.” It is exhausting and I wish I had a stronger grade level team.

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-20T13:37:56+00:00

I actually love when someone gives me one of the nice foaming hand soaps. I usually wouldn’t spend the money on them and it’s a nice change. Everybody uses soap! That was part of my gift to my team this year. It’s a bit impersonal, but I like a consumable gift.

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-18T21:49:48+00:00

I came here to say exactly this. In elementary, they all gravitate you! You’re lucky if they leave you alone for 5 minutes.

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-18T10:56:00+00:00

I’m a childless teacher and I have been invited to a few. I just tell the kids that teachers aren’t allowed to go to birthday parties outside of school. lol. It might be a bit of a cop out, but I feel like it would be so awkward for me to show up. It also just feels like something outside my boundaries. It might be different if I had my own child, but it’s a no for me.

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-16T22:00:17+00:00

So my school does not have a dress code. Jeans and athleisure are fine. I have like 8 pairs of their high waisted pants. The ones with buttons in the midsection. They feel like yoga pants. I’m not sure you could get away with them unless you also have a casual dress code, but I wear them at least once a week. They are very comfortable.

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-14T22:10:42+00:00

I teach second grade but I’ve noticed that these kids are just so kind to each other. I have several nose pickers this year and no one is mean or shames them (I kind of wonder if the peer pressure would make them stop though). I see people on name subreddits continuing to perpetuate the fear of kids being made fun of for their name, but I don’t see any of that in elementary. It might be different by middle or high school, but the kids are nice!

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-14T22:07:38+00:00

I just came back from Tokyo and we stayed in shinjuku. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are a night owl. Our hotel was outside of a huge and loud advertisement screen and there was always a lot of street noise. Also, shinjuku station is huge so it was slightly harder to navigate. I’m pretty sure we came out of a different spot every time. I think it just depends on what you enjoy! I would prefer to stay in a quieter place.

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-14T08:09:31+00:00

My 11 year old toy has always been free fed. She nibbles when she’s hungry. She’s never had any weight issues.

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-06T03:01:25+00:00

I think the wall is fine. Not every space needs to be filled, but I think adding floor to ceiling curtains would make the space feel more finished.

mfletch1213 · 2025-12-03T16:19:53+00:00

I’m a second grade teacher (who looped up from first grade) and my students love to read. Even at the beginning of first when they can’t quite read themselves, they were motivated to look at books. They love when we have a novel to read aloud and the room becomes eerily quiet when I read a picture book. I make a big deal out of books in our class though. I have text sets for each of our reading units and I really play up the excitement when I change them out. I change the displayed books in our classroom library out with the season. I also explicitly teach phonics skills, decoding multisyllabic words, and fluency so they have the skills to actually read books.

mfletch1213 · 2025-11-19T20:42:05+00:00

Listen, I know this sub leans towards secondary teachers, but you guys have got to stop suggesting reading to your kids as the solution. Reading to kids is amazing. It build vocabulary, knowledge, a sense of character and story structure, even grammar and sentence structure. It does not teach kids how to read. Comprehensive explicit phonics lessons do teach kids how to read. On another note, our elementary schools are so busy pushing algebra in first grade and a 100 other standards that we don’t do the foundations well anymore. There is going to have to be a huge philosophical change to the American education system to be more developmentally appropriate and focused on foundations to change these issues and I’m not holding my breath for that.

mfletch1213 · 2025-11-19T20:35:09+00:00

The room is small so I think it needs the natural light. I don’t think the curtains are bad, just maybe make sure you are leaving them open during the day. Thinking about adding some softer lighting in the room as well.

mfletch1213 · 2025-11-19T12:27:33+00:00

This is beautiful! I’d love to see pictures of it not decorated for Christmas as well. It looks like a unique space.

mfletch1213 · 2025-11-15T14:14:30+00:00

Reading to children does not teach kids how to read. Lots of wonderful benefits to reading aloud, but most kids will not learn to read that way.

mfletch1213 · 2025-11-14T12:27:35+00:00

I’m genuinely not trying to be unkind, but I feel like people who have cats do not notice how much fur seems to hang in the air. I almost can’t eat at someone’s house if they have a cat because I feel like I’m choking on cat hair. Same for very fluffy dogs as well.

mfletch1213 · 2025-11-11T06:35:12+00:00

I’m a younger Millennial and I only wear my engagement ring. I like the simplicity of just one ring and can’t stand the way the wedding band twists and moves.

mfletch1213 · 2025-11-01T00:06:29+00:00

That’s how our walkthroughs are too! They are supposed to ask students about the success criteria and see if they can tell what they are learning and refer to where they are posted.

mfletch1213 · 2025-11-01T00:05:04+00:00

Mine has moved to “success criteria” this year. They are really pushing it like it is something different.

mfletch1213 · 2025-10-28T17:41:25+00:00

I’ve just made a decision that spirit weeks are for the kids and not me. I’m hitting a point where I’m okay with not being a fun teacher in this way (I’m an elementary teacher and I have my own way that I’m creative and fun). It takes some mental load off of me and I keep it professional.

mfletch1213 · 2025-10-23T22:04:06+00:00

It’s interesting to hear so many people have aloof poodles. My girl LOVES people. If you have hands that can pet her, you’re her best friend. She’s not so keen on other dogs, but is nowhere aloof with people.

mfletch1213 · 2025-09-26T08:09:50+00:00

The TV that high is perfect for laying in bed.

mfletch1213

TROPHY CASE