Ahh, the art of writing report card comments. None of us love, but we all got to do it! When teachers are asked to write report card comments, we know we must oftentimes sugarcoat the reality of a child’s performance as much as possible. There must be a nice, productive way of saying even the …
Humor
At Teacher Misery, I like to rant about bad students, bad administration, bad work culture…. But what about bad teachers? Today, we’re talking about the worst teachers in the world. Not everybody who gets into the teaching profession has a heart of gold and a deep passion for education. Some of them just have a …
Kids just say the funniest things. Maybe it’s their sincere curiosity or maybe it’s their lack of contact with the world of logic. Either way, they say the most wholesomely hilarious things all the time. All kids do is talk smack and they don’t even realize it! So imagine the smack you must hear as …
If you have some thoughts on this, or anything else, check out the VENT section or submit a secret anonymously.
I am always trying to find new ways to make fun of educational jargon. I really dislike words like “differentiate,” “scaffold,” and “unpack” because they take a fairly simple concept that most teachers do anyway and turn them into complicated, irritating non-sense. Even worse are condescending phrases like “Remember your why!” This is meant to …
The government requires you to obtain a license to drive, own a gun, fish, hunt, teach, practice law, practice medicine, fly a plane, sell alcohol, get married, and even operate a forklift. Some lesser-known things that require a license are breeding dogs, babysitting, having a garage sale, performing in public, building a garage, opening a …
I get asked a lot about teacher appreciation gifts. Usually, the question is something along the lines of “What are the best gifts for teachers?” Now, while I have a lot of thoughts there, I much prefer to answer in terms of gifts that we teachers DON’T want. Over the years colleagues and I have …
OTE: This is a comedic article. Thousands of teachers are in need of basic supplies for their classrooms. Please view the list the Teacher Misery followers have contributed to and help if you can. I’ll Tell You What I Want Most teacher wish lists include chart paper, decorative paper for bulletin boards, sticky notes, book …
Apparently, they don’t teach email etiquette in school because teachers get emails every day from students and parents that are shockingly rude. While I would think that how to email a teacher would be common sense, there are basic aspects of this that many people don’t seem to know, such as starting with a greeting. …
Imagine what a traditional parent teacher conference was like 30 years ago. The child’s teacher would discuss what goes on during the school day, the child’s performance in academics and behavior, how the child interacts with others, grade level expectations, the child’s strengths, etc. But these days, parent teacher conferences are much less predictable. The …
Professional development is defined as “a variety of specialized training, formal education, or advanced professional learning intended to help teachers improve their professional knowledge, competence, skill, and effectiveness.” I honestly don’t think most teachers would have a problem going to these trainings if we actually learned something from them. Instead, they are almost always a …
I never taught an AP class, mostly because of the workload. Your average AP student is going to turn in every major assignment, and in AP English class, that would mean a ton of essays to grade. I never would have thought that kids would write funny wrong answers on their AP exams, mostly because …