#teacher life

[stingrayextraordinaire]

Another year, another group of my delightful ninth graders trying to spell the word "tragedy" for their Romeo and Juliet assignment.

Last year's collection

[trek-tracks]

When a student copies an essay online instead of writing it and then painstakingly changes every word to a synonym until the text no longer makes any sense...

call that the Ship of Thesaurus

[caramelcuppaccino]

this cafe has really became one of my favorites. i really like to go there before or after my classes and study or get prepared for the next lecture. i’m also really happy to be creating myself a routine at my new job :]

[mikeyisaac]

{insipid taz commentary}

[blondeweasel]

I’m a 1st grade teacher and I have a boy in my class who wears thick bottle-lens glasses with a strap on them and loves to spout off random facts to anyone who will (or won’t) listen about things he watched, learned about, or read about.

The other day he came to my desk and I thought he needed help with his work but he really just wanted to tell me all about the main food source of a stegosaurus and their dietary needs.

Then last week, he was talking with his desk partner about something and I saw him raise his finger and say “actually” and I nearly died!

So basically, I have a mini-Tech in my class this year and I’m loving it!

OMG ALSO! One day his goggles glasses broke on the playground and he came in after recess with them missing a screw. So I sent him to the office (with an escort because he can’t see) so his mom can bring him a new pair and the frenzy that ensued in class from seeing him without his glasses! They were equal parts intrigued/confused/freaked out/blown away at the sight and it was hard to get them back on track after that. One girl said she hoped they could fix his glasses because he can’t really be him without them 🥲

Also I just miss Tech a lot and need him back like now!

[iibislintu]

i won at work this week!

so:

last year, i'd found out that students at my place of work are made to work for illegally long school days (8 hours on some days, when the legal maximum for kids this age in Finland is 7 hours)

i couldn't believe my ears. my kids are being mistreated and they don't even know it!

so i told them i'd try to change the situation.

i filed a complaint at the appropriate official, but when asked about it, my boss gave the official some impressive sounding flannel and the case was dropped.

then

i started talking to my students about how the right to rest and free time is, like, a universal human right. and how there's a legal upper limit to their workday, and it's being ignored.

at first, they didn't think anything could be done. and i quoted the ursula k leguin divine right of kings speech to them, and their eyes lit up a bit.

then they started talking to their parents

and the parents started calling the principal

the student council chairperson (who is one of my students) took it up at the council meeting

and yesterday, the principal announced that their boss had told them to shorten the school days, and how important it had been that the kids had been so conscious of their rights and demanded that adults treat them right

and if i ever had doubts about how i as a teacher can make a difference

yeah

[txmel]

Pedro Pascal characters accurately portraying the life of a teacher...

1. Your principal stops by your classroom and asks how you're doing and you have to pretend you're not about to lose your sh**:

2. Getting to the bottom of the "recess drama":

3. Sitting through another staff meeting that should have been an email:

4. A student says you're their favorite teacher:

5. But then you realize they'll probably say that to next year's teacher too:

6. Your friend asks you to watch their class while they run to the restroom:

7. Being "volunteered" to be on yet another committee:

8. Giving "that" student the "teacher face" for the 50,000th time that day:

9. Suffering through the day sick because having to make sub plans are a pain in the a**:

10. After all the kids are gone:

[trekkiehood]

Today I was teaching about Ireland and it splitting and inserted "an interesting current event" about Ireland having a pro unification Prime Minister for the first time in years and my advising teacher complimented me on knowing and inserting it. I didn't have the heart to tell her I only knows it because of Star Trek unification of 2024 memes.

[bipolarwithasliceofcheese]

OK. Totally worth it. I'll do this again next year.

[wearingaberetinparis]

I really don’t want to mark these 50 essays this weekend. I just want to write fanfiction… 😭

[stingrayextraordinaire]

My students’ adventures in trying to spell “tragedy” for their Romeo and Juliet quiz.

[annasellheim]

Books I use when teaching art

[blondeweasel]

Since my school year is ending and I’ll soon be losing my Mini-Tech to 2nd Grade, here are some of my favorite moments/interactions of the last few weeks.

“Did you know that most birds in South America eat dragonflies?”

“Did you know that volcanoes can produce earthquakes?”

“George Washington lived during the Revolutionary War, but John said he was alive in the 1980s. That’s absurd!”

“I’m pretty sure we’re having recess in approximately 5 or 6 minutes.”

Because he can be restless and always moving, he fell out of his chair and hit his chin on his desk. He looked at me with wide teary eyes behind his goggles glasses and said in a shaky voice “I’m ok but maybe I should be more careful in the future.” (I still checked on him and send him up to the nurse for an ice pack despite him trying to be strong and brave)

And my favorite interaction:

Mini-Tech: “I’m a bit concerned today.”

Me: “Why?”

Mini-Tech: “It is overcast, rainy, and windy. That’s optimal conditions for an F-5 tornado.”

Me: “Oh, bud, don’t worry, we don’t have tornadoes in this part of the country.”

Mini-Tech: *looking at me skeptically* “I suppose. But the weather pattern is similar.”

I’m going to miss my daily fact-dumping sessions from my Mini-Tech!! I’ll have to seek him out next year and ask for some new facts he’s learned. My heart needs it!

[iibislintu]

"okay kids this assignment is due next Wednesday. so what that means is. and i want to make this absolutely clear. when it's Wednesday evening, say, 7 pm and you haven't finished writing it. now listen close. you drop me a line saying you need more time, and then you go to bed. i want you to promise me. your sleep and your wellbeing are always more important than any work someone might require from you. can you promise me this?"

"okay iibis"

--

"iibis how come you always help me with the tasks i don't understand?"

"that's literally the definition of being a teacher?"

"oh!"

--

"iibis why did you become a teacher?"

"i wanted to be the teacher i would have needed"

"oh okay, that makes sense"

[nordic-language-love]

Notable Teaching Moments

A kid asks me “Sensei what’s this” and then just. pokes me in the boob.

Ask a kid to draw his favourite fruit. He draws a dinosaur.

Learning to say “how old are you” / “I’m X years old”. One kid comments (in Japanese) “my mum is 1 year old”.

Reading a dictation about children’s day. The kids are delighted when I repeatedly fail to pronounce koinobori and take it upon themselves to teach me

Get mobbed by five-year-olds screaming “ANKOORU! ANKOORU!” until I fall over (I later learn this means “encore” and they basically wanted to play the game again)

Teaching a particularly rowdy class and it is hard. fucking. work. At the end, one kid turns to me and says “sensei, otsukaresama deshita” (which translates to something like “thank you for your hard work”)

Proudly show the kids my kanji practice. They gasp in horror. “Sensei! they’re terrible!” Says one.

“Okay everyone, touch something BLACK!” I shout. One five-year-old touches my black jeans in the form of slapping my ass.

One kid can’t write his name. I hold his crayon with him and we write it together. He spends the rest of the lesson not doing the colouring or the fun workbook activity, but just tracing his fingers over the letters and saying his name slowly and grinning.

It’s parent observation week. All the kids have a parent in the room and understandably choose to sit with Mum/Dad. Apart from one kid, who chooses my lap over Dad’s, even though every single week he cries and wants his Pappa for the first 10 minutes of class.

Kids are talking about Pokemon. I chime in. They’re noticeably shocked that I understand. I tell them I like Charizard. “Eeh Charizard’s weak! I like Pikachu!” One kid says. Charizard is objectively stronger than Pikachu on many levels, but I don't argue.

At the start of the class kids are doing a phonics activity. They have to choose whether word starts with C or G. One of the words is “gum”. despite the word being more or less the same in Japanese, an alarming number of kids write “cum”.

Kids are counting points at the end of class. Because they’re 11-year-old boys, they find it hilarious when I get to the number six. “Sex. Sex. Sensei, sex,” they say repeatedly.

I ask the kids how old they think I am. "72" says one of them. I’m in my early thirties.

I help one new kid write their name. Suddenly, all the kids who’ve been coming for months and can definitely write their name promptly forget and I have to help all 11 of them.

[ocean-vs-percy-shelley]

The One Piece bulletin board I made for my students' standardized testing this week.