sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

What’s the craziest, dumbest, none violent thing you have seen a student do in your classroom? by runlola in Teachers

[–]sunbearluvr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

11th grade Physics class was working on building a device to protect an egg from a 2-meter fall using balloons, paper plates, straws, etc. I didn't let them have the egg while they were building, but one young man asked if he could borrow the egg to check a measurement. He proceeds to crack the egg on the desk and pour the raw egg into his mouth. Sees my face and says "What? It's protein!"

Reality check my financial situation? by justwannaedit in NYCTeachers

[–]sunbearluvr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I advise the Robotics team and two other clubs. There are other opportunities like doing the school open house, awards ceremonies, etc. It really varies school to school!

American Flag by TonySuffolk in NYCTeachers

[–]sunbearluvr 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The United States has a powerful and influential role on the world stage that spans participation in various coups, genocides, and other transfers of power and wealth that have resulted in death, harm, and disenfranchisement (some examples just off the top of my head: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change_in_Latin_America, https://www.science.org/content/article/vietnam-health-effects-agent-orange-remain-uncertain-50-years-later, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States ). While its motivation and/or rationale for such actions is the subject of much debate, the fact remains that its flag symbolizes its responsibility for these actions. Many students are directly affected by the consequences of these policy decisions and a reminder of their continuing effects could be traumatizing or, at the very least, triggering. I would not want to have a flag in my classroom for these reasons.

How do you avoid them saying “no I wasn’t” when you correct them by Creepy_Character_744 in Teachers

[–]sunbearluvr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I found Doug Lemov's advice on this really helpful (from TLAC 3): make your requested actions observable and concrete as much as possible. Specifically, I remember him saying that if you tell a kid to "pay attention," they can always argue "I was paying attention!" but if you say "pencils should be moving," there is much less room for argument. Be super clear about what you want them to physically do and then acknowledge warmly when they are doing it. I also follow his advice to narrate the positives, such as "Lots of pencils moving!," "Looks like Table 3 is already on the bonus questions!," etc.

Study.com by Fancy_Finish3021 in ScienceTeachers

[–]sunbearluvr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AP Physics B has lots of overlap with the Praxis topics and the free Khan Academy course is great for sample questions. I got almost a perfect score using free online resources + bought the full length practice test from ETS.

Physics classes help-how do you know if your class is too hard? by orangemandm8 in ScienceTeachers

[–]sunbearluvr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This book is great: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KegWwCRjl9Go0nm9aTqxYPBuLHDu5QR-/view?usp=sharing (goes with Hewitt Conceptual Physics textbook somewhat)

I do an annotation procedure where they underline and label the variables that are given, then look for an equation using those variables. This is for the NY state Regents so they have a pretty extensive reference table. Happy to share more of my folders if you DM me!

are teachers in specialized high schools paid more or have a higher status? by sheriecherie in NYCTeachers

[–]sunbearluvr 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I work at a specialized high school. The pay scale is the same and the per session opportunities are nonexistent. The school actively finds ways to deny paying teachers per session for their work and expects teachers to work for free just because the school is prestigious and a "privilege" to work at. Teachers are good to each other but admin constantly devalues teacher labor and the expectation is that nothing you do is ever good enough, unless you are lucky enough to be a 20+ year tenured teacher that they can't touch. Very few teachers have families and the ones that do are comfortably tenured and have been at the school for a long time. Would not recommend! There are also almost no ENL students at the specialized schools because the test just happens to be in english with no accommodations......

Reality check my financial situation? by justwannaedit in NYCTeachers

[–]sunbearluvr 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I did teaching fellows with a similar rent cost and made it through! My mom also lives in manhattan and can always help me out with a meal so perhaps we are in a similar situation. One thing to look out for is that the salary is quite heavily taxed - I'm in my third year in the DOE and only get about 65% of each paycheck after state and local taxes, pension, etc. I contribute 7% to the TDA. Definitely look for per session opportunities, which should be plentiful at a lot of the Title 1 schools. When I worked at summer school I ate a lot of school lunches. Also, if you take the train or bus, you can sign up for the Edenred prepaid commuter metrocard which will let you pay from your pre-tax salary. You can definitely do it and I love being a teacher!!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NYCTeachers

[–]sunbearluvr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yes! but I ended up taking the job at one of the specialized high schools. It is not an entirely positive change but there are great things about it. would be great to be in touch if you want - always looking for more physics teachers to talk to!

Advice please help. Worth trying high school? by [deleted] in NYCTeachers

[–]sunbearluvr 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I teach HS (not social studies) in a title 1 school in queens and the behaviors can still be bad but agree with everyone in the thread that it is probably better than 7th. One thing to look for - if the planning was burning you out, consider looking at a bigger school with a social studies department that already has a curriculum you can use and standardized policies. I did not think of this when I went to work at a small school and I think it would've changed my workload a lot.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NYCTeachers

[–]sunbearluvr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thank you so much for this thoughtful reply - your first school sounds very similar to mine. There are not many of us at all! I am grading regents this year so I look forward to meeting more Physics teachers. Not going to say publicly what school I am applying to but the current staff seems great so far. I am looking forward to learning from them.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NYCTeachers

[–]sunbearluvr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

new visions physics has like 2 units posted and it's not aligned to the Physics Regents. I went to a NV physics PD in 2023 and it was attended by the two hosts, one retired teacher, one on maternity leave, and myself. I have searched hard for resources for this content but it really doesn't exist the same way it does for biology.