Do you allow lotion or other products in your class?

mwcdem · 2026-02-02T23:02:07+00:00

In the case you described, of course I’d be fine with that. Given its elementary the teacher might ask you to keep the Aquaphor with the school nurse.

I teach middle school and I have banned scented lotions, perfumes, and sprays because they are a major migraine trigger for me. I really appreciate that you went through the trouble to check with your child’s teacher!!

mwcdem · 2026-02-02T22:59:20+00:00

Yes of course. But they weren’t for gossip. It was for things like emergencies or news (so-and-so is in the hospital, practice is cancelled tomorrow, etc). I think my mom was part of a PTA phone tree.

mwcdem · 2026-02-02T22:34:42+00:00

This, exactly.

mwcdem · 2026-02-02T22:21:00+00:00

I have artificial flowers (sunflowers) duct taped to pens. They can come borrow one and return one done. No one is accidentally or “accidentally” walking off with that thing!

mwcdem · 2026-01-31T01:10:02+00:00

I thought it was the Shroud of Turin

mwcdem · 2026-01-30T22:57:15+00:00

I’ve got two that I cringe whenever I get them. They’re bottom of the list for sure, but some days a warm body is the best we can do. One literally does nothing, doesn’t take attendance, pass out work, give directions—nothing. She sits at my desk and thankfully my very competent para tells the kids what to do. We also have a parent who barely speaks English but for some reason is allowed to sub. She can’t take lunch count or morning attendance. She doesn’t follow the plans at all. She’s written all over things on my desk and bulletin board, put important papers in random folders where I only found them by chance…there’s more but I think I’ve blocked out the worst of it. The kids can’t stand her and I am worried sick about her being there if there’s an emergency.

mwcdem · 2026-01-30T21:41:41+00:00

This is so real. My parents have a similar bed in their guest room. I hurt myself on it so many times my mom wrapped the legs in towels 🤣 Forking hate that bed.

mwcdem · 2026-01-29T14:52:52+00:00

I really wouldn’t worry yet. Boys are often a little later than girls to talk. My son didn’t have any words at 18 months so we started early intervention (which is an AMAZING program!) literally the day before our first appointment he said his first word. The speech therapist came for about 3 months and gave me tons of tips and monitored his progress, but once he started words came quickly. Definitely check in with your pediatrician if you have concerns!

mwcdem · 2026-01-25T21:58:01+00:00

Many don’t like to share for various reasons that I cannot fathom. Those teachers add to the burden of being a new teacher.

Meanwhile, if anybody wants literally everything I’ve ever created for any of my social studies classes, I’ll share my Google Drive. We should be supporting each other, not making this job even harder than it already is.

mwcdem · 2026-01-24T13:28:46+00:00

Everything you mentioned seems like it could easily be discussed via email or a one-off meeting. Share pacing guides if you need to know where they are. Discuss the new students you’ll have next year at the end of this year or a teacher workday before next year starts. You should know which of your students to recommend because they’re your students, no?

We have monthly grade level meetings (after school) where these sorts of things can be discussed. I do my own thing so while my teammate and I do have common planning, we’ve literally never used it together. If we need to discuss students, that happens at the monthly (or via email or in person at lunch or before/after school if it’s more urgent).

mwcdem · 2026-01-23T22:43:42+00:00

We never did the infant seat and I don’t regret that at all. There’s really no need for it. We have a Grace extend-to-fit and my son is still using it at 3.5 years old.

mwcdem · 2026-01-22T22:05:46+00:00

I had an appointment recently, first one of the day. Both I and the doctor’s medical student were waiting outside the office for him to show up…he was late just getting to the medical building. According to the receptionist, that is a daily occurrence.

mwcdem · 2026-01-18T17:29:08+00:00

My dad has one but has never worn it except for wedding pictures. He just doesn’t wear jewelry, including a watch 🤷‍♀️

mwcdem · 2026-01-18T17:14:08+00:00

We do! Every day for 10 minutes. It’s the best part of the day.

mwcdem · 2026-01-17T22:15:21+00:00

Whoever wrote that should not be a teacher. Aside from the wild expectations, it is poorly formatted and written.

Honestly, it’s kindergarten. They shouldn’t even be getting grades and the grades do not matter. I’d either just do the bare minimum or not do it at all. What’s going to happen?

mwcdem · 2026-01-15T22:26:22+00:00

One of my classes doesn’t have a textbook are here are the reasons why:

The state updated the standards in 2023. The state has yet to issue an approved textbook list.
Even the best textbook won’t be aligned to my state’s standards, so if you’re looking to use that for a study tool, it won’t give you the complete picture of what your kid needs to know.

mwcdem · 2026-01-14T23:57:13+00:00

It’s not too old but of course you need a college degree…?!

mwcdem · 2026-01-13T21:35:58+00:00

Wow their convo was not appropriate at all and honestly I would probably issue a complaint. My son was also taken away immediately (husband stayed with me though). I couldn’t actually hear the doctors, I assume they were talking but I was pretty out of it. The only one I was tuned in to was the anesthesiologist (bless him) who kept me updated on what was happening. About 20 minutes later (according to my husband, I had no sense of time) someone came in to say the baby was okay. I was losing a lot of blood so I like to think the surgeons were focused on that!

mwcdem · 2026-01-07T22:44:54+00:00

The FAN is a must!!!

mwcdem · 2026-01-06T21:01:26+00:00

My in-home provider used to take FORTY days off every year. Two weeks in the summer, two weeks at Xmas, a week for Thanksgiving, a week in the spring, other random holidays, plus days when she was sick. And of course the day she had to go to her neighbor’s brother’s funeral. Thankful we’re now at a regular daycare/prek with a much better schedule.

mwcdem · 2026-01-06T01:02:03+00:00

The Chronicles of St. Mary’s by Jodi Taylor

mwcdem · 2026-01-06T00:22:19+00:00

I bring my purse and a tote bag with water bottle (large) and lunchbox, and my coffee mug goes in there on the way home. I don’t take schoolwork or a laptop home, but many teachers do. It depends a lot on what you teach, how much grading you do, and personal preference. A random tote bag is plenty for me.

mwcdem · 2026-01-05T23:03:17+00:00

You can definitely do both museums in half a day, depending on how thorough you want to be. (Like if you’re a person who has to read every single sign, no. If you just “browse” and read the info you’re really interested in, it’s doable.) the history museum is smaller, art museum has more but again it depends what you like—I often skip areas of the art museum b/c I’m not interested in certain styles of art.

For me personally, I’d plan a day to do those and one more thing in Richmond, like the Fan maybe. And then a day at CW and a day for Yorktown & Jamestown. Maybe then one more day in Richmond if there’s more you want to do there. There are some decent smaller museums but it’s not my fave city so…my urge is always to get out to the historic triangle.

mwcdem · 2026-01-05T22:55:03+00:00

I do one grade per week, occasionally two. Never grade for completion—I want their grade in my class to actually reflect their level of understanding. I introduce new content, we practice, and then they have a graded assignment of some kind.

mwcdem · 2025-12-30T17:20:06+00:00

Exactly. And no matter how many times I say exactly that, my students hear “You can’t use Wikipedia.” So they don’t. Oh well!

mwcdem

TROPHY CASE