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The dangers of toxic positivity in the classroom - you won't believe what it can do to students and teachers!

The dangers of toxic positivity in the classroom – you won’t believe what it can do to students and teachers!

Toxic positivity is a term used to describe the practice of only focusing on the positive aspects of a situation, often at the expense of acknowledging or dealing with the negative aspects. This kind of forced positivity can be harmful, especially in the education setting where students and teachers are expected to be constantly optimistic and enthusiastic. One example of toxic positivity in the…

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Day 88 - Refill...

Day 88 - Refill... #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #WhyITeach

Yes, even teachers need a break from…well, doing. I found myself as of late, as anything in this life, going, pushing, doing, to the point where, everything was just on, “auto-pilot”, without much thought or purpose being put into any of it. Having a wonderful family of five in conjunction with a school family of 9, an extended student “family” of 143…for a teacher, for a father, heck for anyone…

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Day 87 - Drop Dead...........Week Day 86 -The Numerical Value of Self Worth #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #WhyITeach It's semester finals week here in the Garden of Good and Evil. Students are hurrying through the hallways with their reviews in hand, moving from class to class, doing days upon days of reviews.

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Day 86 -The Numerical Value of Self Worth

Day 86 -The Numerical Value of Self Worth #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #iteachfirst #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #WhyITeach

Today I was reminded again of the numerical value of self worth or what most students commonly refer to as their grades. It was once again assessment day and like many assessment days, some of my students find themselves filtering in on the morning of, asking questions, seeking that last morsel of knowledge before the dreaded moment might arrive. This morning was no different. One of my students…

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Day 85 - The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #iteachfirst #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #WhyITeach It is hard to imagine a more difficult profession where daily, the clientele themselves have such dismal hope of their own outcomes from the very people that service them.

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Day 84 - When You Feel Everything...

Day 84 - When You Feel Everything... #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #iteachfirst #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #WhyITeach

Today was the day that you dread coming back from a break. The first day back, you have that little excitement of, “getting back into routine”. Scared of missing the alarm, little shots of adrenaline all day, retraining yourself to take appropriate bathroom breaks, etc…

However, on day 2, it is like the break never happened. Your body fell right back into the “muscle memory” of the past 19 years.…

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Day 83 - Team...

Day 83 - Team... #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #iteachfirst #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #WhyITeach

How do you imbue into a student, especially that one introvert, that one socially awkward student who works alone all the time, that feeling of collaborative effort, that feeling of teamwork and accomplishment only established through belonging? It is one of the most challenging questions in education and one that is the most challenging when confronted with trying to use PBL or Project Based Lea…

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Day 82 - "I'll take, Things that Never Happened for $1000, Alex." #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #iteachfirst #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #WhyITeach Get teachers together in the same room and the stories will begin to fly. From elementary to high school, the longer they've, "Been in", the more grandiose the story!

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Day 81 - You Just Never Know... #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #iteachfirst #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #iteachela #scichat #WhyITeach #Stem Things changed for me today...let me explain. 4:30 am: I woke up this morning not feeling well.

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Day 80 - It's Just A Job...or is it?

Day 80 - It's Just A Job...or is it? #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #iteachfirst #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #iteachela #scichat #WhyITeach #Stem

A “Martyr Complex”…some call it. Others still say that waking up and coming to their classroom each day, despite the “normal”, contracted tasks performed in their functioning roles as teachers of record in their classrooms, in their “on-contract” time, nevermind the “duties otherwise assigned” that might leach into off contract time, such as interventions, paper-work, grading, SPED, 504, and the…

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Day 79 - It Doesn’t Take Much

Day 79 - It Doesn’t Take Much #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #iteachfirst #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #teacherstuff #iteachela #scichat #WhyITeach #Stem

It doesn’t take much…

To lift the soul

To crush a spirit

To raise the tone

To lower the pitch

To reach inside

To push away

To become someone they desperately need

To become the person they despise

To do the ONE thing

To say the ONE thing

To jump into action

To ignore their pain

To open a heart

To close one forever…

It doesn’t take much…

Which one will you choose today?

Day 79…105 to go.

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Day 78 - The Bridge

Day 78 - The Bridge #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #iteachfirst #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #teacherstuff #iteachela #scichat #WhyITeach #Stem

Students in my Physics classes had about 3 weeks to design and engineer a bridge made totally of spaghetti, white glue, and hot glue on the joints. In order to receive maximum value, their designs had to have the same value of weight suspended from the bottom of their bridge as their bridge weighed. To receive any extra credit, their bridge had to carry twice as much.

It is truly amazing how…

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Day 77 - Everyone Wants to Learn

Day 77 - Teaching to Everyone #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #iteachfirst #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #teacherstuff #iteachela #scichat #WhyITeach #Stem

Many teachers, especially our newest to the profession, find that one of the most difficult populations of students to reach during the course of their instructional day is their English Language Learner or ELL populations. Many teachers think that this strategy is sufficient:

Movie: Rush Hour

According to a study done in 2010 – How Prepared are the U. S. Preservice Teachers to Teach English…

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Day 76 - Repeat After Me

Day 76 - Repeat After Me #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #iteachfirst #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #teacherstuff #iteachela #scichat #WhyITeach #Stem

Repeat after me…”teaching students is hard.”

Again now, with feeling, “Teaching Students is Hard.”

I CANT HEAR YOU! “TEACHING STUDENTS IS HARD!”

For all the talk you hear these days of new teachers, even experienced ones leaving the classroom, some after a few months citing depression, increased anxiety, mental health issues, and emotional stress as factors…

Once again, for those way in the back…

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Day 75 - Clearing the Pipes #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #teachers #teaching #education #iteachfirst #classroom #iteachmiddleschool #teacherssupportteachers #teach #teacherstuff #iteachela #scichat #WhyITeach #Stem People believe that a teacher wakes up early, say around 6:00 am. Goes through their normal morning routines.

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Day 74 - "Get off My Lawn..."

Day 74 - "Get off My Lawn..." Yes, I'm going to sound like that guy today, #whyiteach #education #teachersoftwitter #teachersofinstagram #teachers #teacherlife @TeachingSTEM #TheScienceTeacher_NSTA

Yes, I’m going to sound like that guy today, but this is weighing on me today due to some of the talks I’ve had with students lately and the observations I’ve made of students roaming the hallways. Today is not going to be an editorial. It is however going to be a serie sof facts that you may or may not be aware of…and what you might want to do in your own families or classrooms about it.

Buckle…

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Day 73 - Mentorship

Day 73 - Mentorship - Our school has a mentoring program called, "Spark". #whyiteach #education #teachersoftwitter #teachersofinstagram #teachers #teacherlife @TeachingSTEM #TheScienceTeacher_NSTA

Our school has a mentoring program called, “Spark“. The program encompasses about 35 students who vary in age, gender, and ethnicity. They are paired with adults/teachers from around our campus and we meet about 1 time per month for a fun time of games, fellowship, and snacks after school. But as a mentor, I also get to check in on my mentee each day because he happens to be in one of my academic…