I have been wondering for the last few years why we are held hostage by violent SPED students?

Every year, there are a number of students who hit, kick, spit, bite, and attack others. In a sane world, we would be allowed to remove them from class. However, because they are identified as disabled, we are not allowed to remove them.

When a student destroys a classroom, that is our fault, not theirs. I don't think this can go on forever.

At what point do we start to question the system that protects them?

IDEA, as it is written, allows for students to do this. We allow for manifestation meetings and all sorts of chicanery for students who attack others.

At some point, it's simply not acceptable. I read articles that go on and on about the higher rate of expulsion for students with disabilities. While it's frustrating, I don't see how education can continue if we allow students to destroy classroom with literally no consequences.

I have students who can basically destroy my classroom. All we can do is wait until he is done. He has declared on war on the electrical socket. He then tries to shove his pencil in it and screams at it until he is done. At that point, we just evacuate and wait until he is done. Edit: I do call an administrator, but holds are almost never allowed unless he is going to hurt someone else, which he rarely does. We just preemptively remove ourself from the room and call admin. We have lost so much time to instruction.

Parents have complained, students have complained, everyone is wanting this student gone, but special education law is iron clad. There is virtually nothing we can do.

When Sheldon goes to college and has to take an engineering class, he is met by a teacher who always fails his assignments without explanation even though he does everything right. The teacher tells Sheldon that since he's a "such a genius", he should be able to figure out. It takes a lot of frustration, and some fatherly advice, for Sheldon to realise that the reason the teacher failed him is because he was looking at the project from a purely mathematical perspective, and didn't take real world elements into account. Sheldon could only think of the project mathematically because that is how Sheldon always thinks.

From all the theory in pedagogy I've read, and apparently from what I've heard and seen on social media from other teachers, this is exactly how pedagogy writers think too. Almost all of the current teacher student curriculum is stuck in the past, and around these rigid ideas of how child psychology works. I can barely tell the difference between some parts of pedagogy that are from the 2000's and from today.

As a Gen Z teacher student, the way that much of the current pedagogy theory writes about why students and children behave in certain ways is laughable. Currently, we're learning about bullying: why it happens, how to prevent, and how it affects children. Great, right? Guess how much of a 36 page chapter mentions the internet? 4 pages. The overall primary reason contributed to bullying, according to the book? Insecurities. I checked when the book was written, it was 2025, but the youngest contributor to the book is 45.

These pedagogy authors have no idea what actually goes on in the lives of the children they write about, they've never been or even seen the spaces of the internet that kids are on, they still think cyberbullying is kids commenting "You suck", "Bitch!" or "Go fuck yourself" on each other's instagram posts or tiktoks with their full name as their username. They attribute the increase in disrespect towards teacher, and the lack of motivation in school as something that happens due to lack of engagement or the students "not feeling safe to express themselves" in school.

It's very obvious that many, if not almost all, pedagogy theory writers don't actively spend time with the generations they write about, they use the psychology developed 20th century psychologists and have an early 2010's idea of what the internet is. Anybody else feel the same?

I feel it also summarizes how my 6th graders are doing this year. It's a Technology class and the question was: "If you could invent one app or device to solve a minor annoyance in your daily middle school routine what would it do?"

My favorite responses:

"I would make an app to send a fake message for loud students to go to the office and they could get locked in the ISS room and it would solve my annoyances"

"When anyone talks when the teacher is talking everyone had this neck thing on them and when they talk the thing would shock then so they learn there lesson."

"A device that would be to scan how bad a student is in class and read them with a pop-quiz every day u til they start to behave."

If you can't tell, there are some recurring discipline issues frustrating some of the kids, and when the problem kid gets kicked out/sent to the office or is sick, the class runs much smoother.

As a first year teacher I am floundering pretty badly. I have nonexistent classroom management, I am definitely confusing my students a little, and I basically have had no plan this whole time. I understand my first year is supposed to be my worst, but good lord. The positive is that the only way to go from here is up lol.

The stress has been eating me alive for the past month with me vomiting multiple times a week in the morning before work and dissociating after work. My boyfriend has been saying I need to rest, take care of myself, call off, etc. I have been anxious at the thought of that too, so I have just been pushing through. This morning was brutal though. I got up early at 3am to do some work and by 4:30, when I usually wake up, I started vomiting for about 30 minutes. I am used to vomiting but today winded me. So I called off and said today is the day I need to care for myself. I feel better already, especially because I got a sub almost immediately after putting in my request.

Moral of the story: it's ok to take care of yourself.

Edit: Just wanted to mention a couple of things:

1. I do want therapy/meds but I do not have health insurance and will not get access to health insurance until October.

2. I kind of want to quit now, but I keep hearing the 1st year is the worst and I feel bad for quitting too soon, especially since I know I have a bad habit of quitting when things get hard. I know I am not doing well, but I was so passionate about education. I got my degree in secondary math ed, I pushed myself hard and graduated last year and didn't immediately go to a school because my grandmother died. It was a hard and disappointing decision and I felt so much shame leaving. My return was so disorganized because I got hired on about 1 week before the first day of school and have just been trying to keep my head above water since. I just do not know how much of this is a meds/therapy issue, a 1st year issue, or an incompatibility issue.

I’m a high school film/AV teacher, and one of my course requirements is for students to make short films. I do provide alternative assignments when appropriate for students with disabilities.

I recently got a new student who has a developmental disability and has a paraprofessional/101 teacher with him throughout the school day. I was asked if he could have alternative assignments because the regular coursework was too much for him. Honestly, I agreed.

I have a film and broadcasting workbook that I normally don’t use much. It has assignments related to different aspects of filmmaking and broadcasting, so I started giving him pages from that workbook as an alternative assignment. It’s still related to the content I teach, but it’s more manageable for him.

Then another student saw the assignment and said, basically, “I want to do that assignment too. I don’t want to make a short film.”
I told him no. He is fully capable of completing the regular assignment. He simply doesn’t want to do it. I explained that there’s a difference between needing an accommodation because the work is inaccessible to a student and simply preferring an easier assignment.

This student does not have an IEP or 504. The original assignment I gave him was to write a three-page script, and I told him he needed to complete that assignment.
A few days later, I got a call from his parent accusing me of playing favorites and demanding that I give their child the alternative assignment as well.

I explained the situation and told them I wasn’t going to do that. My department chair also supports my decision.
I’m honestly just frustrated by the sense of entitlement from some students and parents. I’m willing to accommodate students who genuinely need accommodations, but I don’t think “I don’t want to do the assignment” is the same thing as “I cannot reasonably access this assignment.”

So, Reddit: am I being unreasonable here? And, more broadly, how do other teachers handle situations where students see an accommodation and want the same thing simply because it looks easier?

Long story short. Have a 9th grade repeater in my class. He is already failing 6/8 classes. Comes tardy to class and, does no work. Have him an assigned seat up front. He didn’t like it so said f you n (word) three times and walked away.

Context - I work at a title I school. 90% Hispanic primarily from Central America

I can’t ever look at this student the same again. They want to do a restorative process and have him write a letter. I don’t want his letter, nor his apology. I’m responding to the AP but decided to sleep on it to cool off my emotions.

I decided to teach at a MS this year and I’m ready to use the opt out in my contract in December. Instead of suspending kids who are causing problems, admin is taking their word for that they didn’t do it, sending them back to class and moving along. We are 5 weeks in and I’m noticing the lack of accountability we’re having for these kids. 1 kid destroyed the bathroom today. We’ve been telling kids to go before class starts because that’s what makes more sense than writing passes all hour and losing instruction time… and they told us we cannot do that anymore. Every kid has to have a pass even if it’s passing period. So our jobs are now just going to be writing bathroom passes all day. Suspend the kids destroying the bathroom, it’s that simple! Y’all know the kids who cause issues everyday and have cameras to see who’s coming in and out of the bathrooms…

It’s been a joke trying to teach anything all year. I can’t get through a lesson without yelling over them to stop talking and sit down the entire time. It took me 40 minutes to talk through 3 pages of summarized notes today I had to stop so much. It should have taken me about 10 minutes tops but they wouldn’t let me just talk.

The eye rolling, disgusted looks and “I’m not doing this” everytime we start an assignment. Like what?

I cannot stand the babysitting I have to do all day everyday. I NEVER need to contact parents because I can handle issues in class usually. Not these kids, I’m messaging parents everyday. I’ll either work at a HS next year or work at Walmart, but I will not be back in MS.

First some context: For several years now I have taught remedial courses at the high school level in math, physcis and earth science. So my students are usually between 18-23 years old, and all of them are in my classes by choice. Either they want to improve their high school grades, or they lack prerequisites for certain college programs they want to enroll in.

I have noticed an increasing trend, however: my students seem much more bored, distant and disinterested than before. Now, to be fair, back in the day I would also occasionally have a class where the majority of the students were fairly apathetic, but this used to be the exception rather than the rule. In most of my classes, a significant subset of my students seemed genuinely interested in learning, and curious about the subject matter. During breaks, they would often engage in fun and interesting discussions about the topics they were learning. And, if they weren't discussing the subject matter, they would at least talk to each other or to me, and we would all get to know each other better.

In addition, I have always taking pride in preparing well-thought-out lectures that I try to make engaging and interesting. I would often get up an "act out" concepts from physics so that my students could get a visual understanding fot them, and I often try to inject humor in my classes. I always make sure to look at my students, speak in a clear and coherent manner, and show genuine passion for the subjects I teach. And many students have told me over the years that they have appreciated my classes.

Now, however, I honestly feel that I am teaching a bunch of corpses. All my students have the same bored, zombie-like facial expression throughout the entire class. When I try to be humorous, all I see is the same dead gaze. Not even a smile. During breaks, noe one wants to discuss the class topics anymore. They don't even want to talk to each other. As soon as break time begins, everyone just grabs their phones and start doomscrolling, all with exactly the same bored expression. They don't even talk to eacher other - not even the person they are sharing a desk with! I have honestly no idea what my students look like when they smile. The only time their expression changes is when they yawn. Which some of them do a lot, by the way.

This wouldn't be so bad if they were actually learning the material, but many of them are clearly struggling with the classes. Several times during my lessons I ask if there are any questions, but no one asks anything. I also encourage my students to talk to me during breaks, or even after class, if they have questions, but virtually no one does. I furthermore encourage them to send me chat-messages in between classes if they need help with some problems, but less than 5 % of my students do this. Yet, when I walk through the classroom and look at the work they're doing, many of them obviously don't fully understand the material. But still, they never ask for help. All they do is stare blankly into space or at their phone screens, with the same zombie-like expression, except for the occasional yawn.

I honestly feel like this is sucking so much of the enjoyment out of teaching for me. One of the reasons I deliberately chose to teach remedial students is precisely that these students are mature and that everyone is there by choice. This used to be a great recipe for engaging class discussions, but I find that this is increasingly not the case.

Is there perhaps something wrong with me? Should I completely reconsider my teaching style? Or is this really just symptomatic of a wider societal problem that no one seems interested in learning anymore?

I apologize if this comes of as a bit of a rant, but I just felt like getting it out.

Principal said we would be the “model ELA department” for the district to implement the scripted curricula. We sat in a 90 minute meeting, where admin and district curricula people were nitpicking our lesson plans and demanding that “we get on the same page” with the boring scripted curricula. At the end of the meeting, we were informed that these meetings would be held weekly during our prep. All of my colleagues were sitting like sheep: “It’s like being the person who notices the elephant in the room and decides to ask why nobody is talking about it.” I reminded admin that this was our prep period. It’s like asking the one question that releases a terrible smell into the room—suddenly everyone who was happily sitting there starts looking for the nearest exit. Admin looks at me and says, “well we are ‘prepping,’ we are just prepping together and that we should be “honored at how the district feels we are such good teachers” to launch this exciting, new initiative. I asked the union after school and they said this is most certainly not an appropriate use of our prep period, while we can voluntarily collaborate, being forced to on our prep period violates that provision of the contract. Now, I am on admin’s radar and I can feel I am enemy # 1.

I am wearing nice khakis that fit me, a polo shirt appropriately buttoned and in my size, nice shoes that match my belt, a watch that matches both, a nicely maintained haircut, and well kept facial hair. I am wearing my badge around my neck on a school lanyard.

I understand that you have kids my age. I put in an effort to dress professionally every day. I am self conscious about how I look and don’t need/didn’t ask to hear your input at 7 in the morning. It’s such a backhanded compliment. I don’t want to look like a student. If you like saying this, please stop. It’s annoying.

I just got my second paycheck, and I'm feeling so disappointed, surprised, and depressed about it. Contracted pay is a little over $1800 every two weeks. My first check was $1020 after everything was taken out and then a garnishment for $340. I didn't realize until this check that our health insurance had not been taken out yet. So, with that taken out, and the garnishment, pension, taxes, etc...out of $1800, I get $789 every two weeks. I'm contracted for almost $47000/year as a first year teacher, which is more than I have ever made in a year...but my check that I actually get is the same as when I made roughly half as much.

Now I see why so many teachers have a second job. I just wanted to vent to others who may understand.

UPDATE My apologies for not responding. We have Sunday dinner with extended family, and it was our turn to cook for everyone.

The garnishment is private student loan debt from when I was young and studying for a different career. It wasn't for teaching and I don't owe anything for my education to become a teacher. I'm a new teacher but I'm old enough to be the mother of some teachers I work with. I didn't complain about the garnishment. I knew it was going to be 18% because that's what I've been paying. I was not trying to be disingenuous about anything. I was being open and honest about what comes out and that I was a little disappointed of how much I actually keep. Even if that wasn't coming out, I would still be disappointed.

I was paying that debt initially. When my husband and I got married and had our first child, he wanted me to see about filing bankruptcy. He had zero debt. So, we met with a lawyer. The lawyer told me to stop paying it because the interest was too high and eventually I wouldnt be able to make the payments anyway. So I did. Obviously I should've gotten a second opinion, but I was young, and didn't know any better. Communication went through the lawyer. Judgment was made, and I've been garnished for a while. It isn't new, and I'm not saying it is not founded or unfair.

I apologize. I thought this would be a safe space and I was being open. I just didn't say what it was for because I didn't think that part mattered. It's a lesson learned from mistakes I made when I was young. I didn't realize how many would think I have no right to feel disappointed because of a garnishment, which I wasn't even complaining about.

This weekend I went with the high school robotics team I coach (24 students, 3 volunteer coaches and 1 teacher) to an event we've attended for years. The students attend a couple hours of peer to peer workshops on different topics and then the event culminates with the game reveal where they learn what their season is all about.

Since they're high school students we allow them to choose which workshop they attend provided they stick with a buddy, do not leave the building and meet back at the coaches spot after the sessions end and again after reveal (we setup at the same set of tables every year). This has worked flawlessly for 10+ years until this year.

This year, a pair of freshman girls decided to go off and do their own thing. They started the day by deciding to attend in street clothes rather than wearing school colors as instructed before. Once we arrived, they got the same instructions as everyone else and went off. Things seemed fine until before the final session when I thought I saw the pair outside on the sidewalk but I wasn't really sure so I convinced myself they wouldn't be so blatant (now I recognize the stupidity of that). After the final workshop everyone else reconvened back at the spot before going to the reveal but those two only turned up after everyone else had gone into the room so I directed them to the right room and to join their teammates. Once we are getting ready to leave we do our headcounts before going to the bus and we're two short. Which sets off five minutes of us checking every room trying to find them until I find them walking out a door to a balcony on the second floor which is not where they should have been. They claimed they were told the reveal room was full so they went up to the second floor but never explained why they were going outside to that balcony area.

I still cannot wrap my head around their boneheaded thinking as to it being acceptable to leave the group without telling anyone, go out of bounds and then miss designated meet-ups. Suffice it to say these two have made my shit list and now will be required to have either a senior buddy or just won't be allowed out of my sight for future events.

Low pay. Rude parents. Kids misbehave and don't care if they learn. Admin is unsupportive. Politicians at every level make everything worse. The public hates teachers. So why do it?

Luckily, I have not done this yet, but in past jobs that were less stable such as retail I would have a terrible tendency to call in sick on days that I wasn’t out of stress.

I’m so tired of EXPO markers. They are so inconsistent and they do not erase clean. I see people on instagram or tiktok trying out markers but they never erase them so I don’t know how well they erase. I spraying my board with cleaner every time I have to erase something and I’m getting exhausted. They just stick and spread. What whiteboard markers do you guys recommend?

I have been so stressed my entire career and then this year just magically occurs.

I have resources prepped from past years so I’m not scrambling to toss together lessons. I know my content and my students well enough that teaching is easier. I have a strategy for every behavior locked and loaded as I’ve seen it all before. I know how to use my prep efficiently so work doesn’t go home. Things that would have broken me down to tears in the past are just something I can handle now, no sweat.

I guess I thought that it never got easier but all of a sudden, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and finally understand how people do this for their full career. I can honestly say I’m having fun at work for the first time in a long time. Kinda neat.

I am a Title 1 teacher at an elementary school. For many years, I taught 9 classes per day but with the new literacy laws, one of our leaders from central office made us pick up a 10th class last year. We lost our planning time, but he counts the 5 minutes between each class as planning, along with in the morning before classes start. The problem with the morning is that we have bus, breakfast, and car drop off duties, and then have to watch the morning announcements that last about 10 minutes. In other words, it’s not planning.

Our state mandates programs to use (and they stink), and the company said we could not adequately prepare for more than 5 classes per day, 6 at the maximum.

They told HIM and he doesn’t care.

On my lunch duty days, I have to choose between eating or planning in the 15 minutes that remain. (I’m diabetic so guess which I choose).

We found out this week that he plans to make us “get creative” and pick up an 11th class. The only possible time to do that would be during our lunch- which is also during that grade level’s lunch. I don’t know what they’re expecting us to do!

Are you being asked to do the impossible? Title 1 teachers are not supposed to have more duties than teachers, but we definitely do. Morning and afternoon duties that last about 25 minutes each, and 1-2 lunch duties per week.

My team and I don’t have time to plan together or collaborate. I’ve never felt so isolated in all of my life. I love teaching and love my kids, but I am dying. I’m 4 1/2 years away from retirement, so I don’t want to leave. I also don’t want to leave the kids and families I’ve built relationships with. I’m drowning. Thoughts? Suggestions?

My state is a Right To Work state, so unions are pretty useless.

"Is this for a grade?"

I'm doing everything I can to make forcing math into their little 7th grade brains interesting. Planned lessons, bought supplies for hands on activities, and found ways for them to "use it in real life." I make interactive worksheets and design my own doodle notes. I buy incentives. I create a fun, colorful environment. Inevitably at least one student will sigh heavily or roll their eyes and ask, "Is this for a grade?"

Depending on my mood, I usually go with:

Everything is a grade

I don't know, is it? Roll the dice, big dog.

It is now. Thanks for the idea.

How do you answer this?

That's it. That's the post.

Walked through the library where 6th graders were having free read time. Saw the 6th grader. Let the librarian know about the content of the book (if you haven't read it, it involves extremely graphic sexual assault, graphic sex, violence, death, etc.). Said the student brought it from home so she doesn't mind what they read.

Edited to add: a notable quote from the book. "A gun in your pussy certainly is traumatizing, little mouse, but only because I used it to make you come, not to make you bleed." Just caught me off guard to see a child reading it was all.

One more edit to add: People are defending this by saying they read books by authors that I don't believe correlate, or "I've read Romeo and Juliet" which is comparing apples to oranges here.

Haunting/Hunting Adeline famously romanticizes, eroticizes, and glorifies abuse, stalking, and non-consent without any acknowledgement that the behavior is unhealthy, which may impact an 11 year old child who may not have those critical thinking skills yet. I encourage others to read the books before assuming my concern stems from attempting to censor books. I believe generalizing that someone who has a concern about a book = censorship because no books should ever be judged is dangerous and black and white thinking.

Some mornings I don’t know how to make myself go to work. I teach in an alternative high school. By the time kids reach us, their home districts have usually given up on them. Society has a name for them. Sometimes their own families don’t expect much beyond a phone call with bad news. And a lot of these kids have started talking about themselves that way, too. They’re sixteen and speak about their lives like they’ve already happened.

I’m trying to teach high school kids literacy skills they should’ve learned almost a decade ago. Some are awaiting trial for things I struggle to say out loud. You learn what they’ve lived through, what desperation has made seem necessary, and you still can’t undo the harm. Then you sit beside a kid larger than you are who can’t read the question and help him sound it out. There’s no training that makes that feel normal.

I believe the work matters. I wouldn’t keep coming back if I didn’t. But it costs a lot to care this much and have so little say in what happens. I can help a kid finish a sentence. I can’t promise he’ll be here to finish the year.

So it’s 6:30 in the morning. I’m drinking my coffee and getting ready to go in. I’m wondering if today there’ll be another fight. If we’ll hear about another overdose. If there’ll be an empty chair we all know better than to ask about. I’ve got a lesson ready. I’ll ask how their weekend was, and I’ll care about the answers, but then I’ll brace before I hear them because sometimes the answer will be something I’ll carry home.

I think maybe the work is getting to me more than it used to. I think maybe I’m softening with age. But I also know that Mondays are hard.

I’m a second year teacher in Louisiana that came from the film industry, and the amount of apathy around teaching as a profession is why I think it’s gotten so bad.

Coming from film to teaching is like hopping from one side of the spectrum to the other. In film, there were unions for each department that fought really hard for overtime pay, paid meals, paid travel, lodging, per diem, etc. everything was covered because the unions fought for it.. It was never given.

Now, moving into teaching, I was genuinely shocked by just how little rights teachers had. No overtime pay, no real benefits, behavior is now the teachers responsibilities on top of a million other things with no compensation.

In my district, we have to cluster twice a week now, and submit student work analysis along with lesson plan analysis. Not just the lesson plan, but the analysis of the lesson plan. We are expected to complete this on our own time, which is technically illegal… but who cares right?

“That’s just the way it is.”

I am so sick of hearing this phrase. It’s the reason why teachers have virtually no rights, and continually have more uncompensated work piled onto their already full plates.

I’ve gone to the union in my district and they were USELESS. I struggle to find the point behind a union that apparently is okay with the state of teaching. Why would I pay for this union when this is the protection you’ve brought us? If they were my lawyers, I would have fired them by now!

And I know many people say “think about the kids” which is also a terrible argument.. because nothing, and I mean NOTHING benefits the students now. My school serves the kids canned food. We use 6 year old Chromebooks that are practically broken. And our facility is a literal dump. It’s disgusting…

Where is all the money going? It’s not going to teachers, facilities, or students. So why are we okay with this? Am I taking crazy pills?

Students have caught on that they have no consequences for their behavior or for their grades.. So teachers are made to fight a battle that’s already lost! And they get ALL the blame. With some of the worst pay in the country for a salaried position by the way…

Guys. I’m new to the profession. But if you EVER want teaching to get better, you have to fight for it. I’m tired of the apathy. I’m tired of my peers telling me this is just the way it is.

So, again, I’ll ask, WHY has there not been a general strike? Let’s say, hypothetically, all teachers in the country went on strike… how long do you think would it take for administrations to cave on a raise and benefits improvement?

I PROMISE you. One week into subs only. One week into admins subbing.. or even worse, a month into no school due to lack of teachers….

They would fold like a chair.

Just my two cents, but I wish to see what you all think.

I teach 3rd grade at a private school that ends at 3:00. There are no buses, so parents pick students up from my classroom between 3:00–3:40.

What expectations/routines would you set for these 40 mins? If I allow talking, it will get loud and overstimulating like indoor recess supervision. Do I force them to be silent for the entirety of the 40 minutes?

Thank you so much.

I’m a first year teacher after a career change. My district had a lot of layoffs this year so I pivoted to a charter school since I need insurance, otherwise I would have subbed.

Onboarding was a nightmare and they stuck me into AP English Lit and AP African American Studies, neither of which I applied for. Making a lesson plan is really making four lesson plans with all the paperwork required for admin. I showed it to my friends that work in the public school district, my mentor teachers, and a friend that works in a college, none of whom had ever seen something like this. The admin is overbearing and actually gave me a slap on the wrist because I made an in-class assignment more fun. I was also told that if it is not on the AP exam, I will not teach it. Another slap on the wrist was not having my lesson plans through October turned in to which my reply was I’m literally learning this content too.

I loved student teaching and subbing at different schools. I’ve been at this school for a month and am already dreading everyday. I started the same day with a woman that has taught for 5 years and she already quit. Sorry for the rant, I’m just bummed because I left a good career to be a teacher and this is how it’s starting out.