Standardized test concerns for a HS math teacher

I am more nervous than about I ever have ,been this year. STAR MATH testing is almost over and the scores are not looking to hot. A few classes are around the 55th percentile in growth while some are in the 30's. Good standing is to have an average of 50th percentile in growth or better. Now we have PSAT and Accuplacer in the next two weeks. I have a colleague who scores a bit better than me but his are going down too. Our district is much older and inner city and enrollment has been falling. I am thinking of moving to another state to be closer to family. My principal said that if my scores don't improve then I may eventually not be rehired in the 27-28 school year. I am good for next year but don't want to be under scrutiny for low test scores. I am thinking about schools and I just don't agree with the whole standardized test ratings on teachers.

Submitted April 5, 2026 at 09:41AM by MathMan1982 https://ift.tt/scrAuS9

Getting everything good in life after your parents demise

Once you start getting the best in life after your parents demise in the wake of struggles especially in educating you is gut-wrenching and saddest thing ever!

Submitted April 4, 2026 at 11:17PM by JasonMyer22 https://ift.tt/S4kI7M1

Possible Idea for the Future: Freelance Storytelling.

Possible Idea for the Future: Freelance Storytelling Business.

What are your personal thoughts on my idea of trying to create my own Storytelling business?

It would mainly consist of me travelling around to various different schools and nurseries (within my own local vicinity) in order to facilitate fun & engaging Storytelling Sessions for children aged between 2 - 6 years old.

I would couple all of my Storytelling Sessions with tangible objects that would be directly associated with all of the different objects and the different characters taken from each and every single story, as well as using different types of puppets to tell each of the different stories as well.

I would also include a specific amount of time to engage the class in discussions surrounding the specific stories themselves in an effort to encourage and develop their skills in things such as oracy & prosodic voice as well.

For the older children within the age bracket, I would include flashcards that highlight various different key words which would be taken from each of the different stories as well.

Any/all thoughts & opinions would be very much appreciated.

And be honest!

Kindest Regards

🙂👍❤️

Submitted April 4, 2026 at 04:37PM by TechnicianExpert7831 https://ift.tt/5fzOpc0

STAR and PSAT for high school math

Anyone else tired of teachers being rated on how well students do on these standardized tests? I love teaching math but strongly dislike it when teachers and schools are evaluated how well students perform on these exams.

I mean I have seen the smartest, highest performing students bomb these exams. Yet if they decide not to take them seriously we are to blame as teachers. So done with it.

Submitted April 4, 2026 at 03:40PM by MathMan1982 https://ift.tt/gUaFfBe

Education Question Roulette #3: What universal skills do you want your students to learn?

This was quite a weighty question, particularly for a Saturday morning but one that was incredibly rewarding to answer. I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that teachers are only teaching content knowledge. A lot of non-educators assume that ELA teachers are simply teaching about Shakespeare and Dickens or that math teachers are just teaching about quadratic equations and the Pythagorean theorem.

In reality teachers are not just teaching content knowledge but the higher level thinking skills behind that content. This includes critical thinking, drawing inferences, evaluating evidence and using it to support conclusions, and applying specific content-related skills and content to solving real world questions and problems. When reframing education away from teaching classical content and towards these universal, transferrable skills, you can truly see how dynamic and worthwhile an investment PK-12 education really is.

Check out my video where I answer this question in depth. Extended Video

Here is a very quick, one minute answer to this question. One Minute Video

These videos are meant to serve as my feelings on this topic in greater detail.

Submitted April 4, 2026 at 09:18AM by Adorable_Pudding_413 https://ift.tt/zQ5LyCv

I’m a college admissions counselor. I’ve changed my mind about students using ChatGPT

As a college admissions counselor, I have edited hundreds of essays. This is the first year my students asked whether they should use artificial intelligence to write them. I warned them not to. I told them it would flatten their voices, that there would be no metaphors, dialogue, sensory details — the things that make an essay feel alive. But few listened to my advice. 

During one session, a student had her mom run her supplemental essay for her application to Cornell University through ChatGPT. When I read it, I had to admit that it was better than the version I had worked on with the student. It had, I confess, a stronger metaphor and ending. Another student asked me if I could tell that their essay was AI-generated. I couldn’t. 

With acceptencre rates falling at many U.S. colleges thanks to an increase in applications, students feel pressure to apply to more schools, and AI programs help them do that faster. ChatGPT, for instance, is being used increasingly to help construct essays. Rather than fight against it, I reluctantly provided feedback on the AI-enhanced drafts, trying to ensure that my students were turning abstract ideas into concrete ones. Following the maxim “show, don’t tell,” some essays needed a paragraph rewritten. Others benefited from minor adjustments, like removing cliches. 

When early application results came in, my students using AI-generated essays got into their top choices: Georgia Tech, University of Michigan, University of Virginia and other schools. One even earned a Coca-Cola Scholarship, a prestigious $20,000 award with a less than 1% acceptance rate. With each acceptance, I had to admit I’d been wrong about using AI. 

Submitted April 3, 2026 at 07:33AM by Cool-Present7260 https://ift.tt/pK2vnOW

What are like any short term career courses that are good to take ?

I want to get better job because I’ve already worked at fast food and retail store. I’m also 29 which makes me feel like it’s too late to enroll in college. But like I don’t want to get in those trade jobs that are physically demanding. I was hoping to get like white collar or office type sorta job. Since majority of those jobs are done on a computer

Submitted April 3, 2026 at 03:40AM by Jpoolman25 https://ift.tt/uQr10BD