I've been teaching a 9 year old boy for a few months now. One 30 minute class a week. He is a cheerful, polite and cooperative kid but is a complete beginner and understands virtually nothing that I'm saying, so I really don't think he's getting much from the classes at all. Recently I've just been getting him to repeat words from super simple worksheets to try and build some vocabulary, but honestly he really doesn't need a teacher for that, he could learn that stuff just as well from YouTube videos.
I teach other kids who are complete beginners too, and it works because they have a parent in the room who speaks enough English to help them. I've messaged his parents once or twice, suggesting that they review some very simple words with him (he doesn't understand "how", "what", "when", "why", "who" etc which is obviously quite limiting) and didn't get a response. My worry is if I ask them to be present in the room during classes, if they're not able to or just don't want to they'll cancel packages and won't book again.
How would you suggest I go about it?

Pretty much as the title says. I’m going into college to study to become an English Teacher, and i’ve always been pretty connected with my teachers in school. However, despite all that, i’ve never really known what resources they’ve used. So, I am asking one of my favorite communities for help; what resources would y’all recommend?
Maybe where you’ve found worksheets for sub days, where you’ve been able to find supplementary work in between units, or supporting work for the unit you’re in. Even decorations for the classroom or organizational materials you’d recommend, anything you think would be good to know.
Thanks in advance, and I hope to hear from y’all soon!

Hi guys, I wanted to share my study method (which is 100% free!), which got me a 1570 (800 math and 770 r&w). I just wanted to help a few people because I noticed a lot of you really wanted to get above a 1400, so I thought I might be of some use.
Math: Use John Jung! He has great worksheets which are free, and you can find quick summary videos where he explains how he got answers for different topics. This is his channel, I really love his content, and if you have questions, he responds pretty quickly in the comment section!
I’d also recommend Khan Academy, it’s a pretty standard suggestion, but I’d seriously recommend doing every single question and getting 100% mastery so you feel prepared.
Finally, I’d tell you to master using the calculator. For things like systems of equations or equation of a circle, you can solve it in about 10 seconds using the SAT calculator. For practice, use geogebra.org I’d say that my mastery of geogebra saved me 10 minutes!
R&W: Khan Academy English is something I swear by. 10/10. Do every question, please. Even if you don’t think it’s ‘amazing’, grit your teeth and do it. It’s the KEY!!
Watch this video (The tricks are invaluable!):
https://youtu.be/mdZ5VPtpJuk?si=pVapuO6sqsnb6mgH
And for any certain kind of question that you struggle with (like grammar, or a notes question), use this handy playlist!
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL75qpqDuVbG4DtZaphaqb2d_EjKGYj6t8&si=e9G1loTo_zrYw_Y7
Concluding tips:
Do your practice tests. The real tests are harder, no question, but you’ll be glad to know the structure so you won’t be caught off guard during the test. Plus, there are a few tricky questions, so you should do it!
For when you find yourself guessing/getting something wrong when you were 100% sure you were right, do this.
THE REFLECTION METHOD:

1. Take a notebook, and write the question that you guessed/got wrong
2. Write the answer choice you selected
3. Write down your understanding of the answer key, why your answer choice is wrong
4. (only if you guessed the answer choice) Write why you guessed it, was it totally random? An educated guess?
5. Now identify the exact mistake you made (maybe you made a silly mistake)
6. Now write how you will not make the mistake again. What steps will you take to ensure you don’t do this

ADDITIONAL FUN STUFF TO KNOW:

• There’s a chance the questions you do on Khan Academy and your Bluebook practice tests appear on your real SAT, this happened for me
• I only studied for my SAT for 1 week
• If you think getting a tutor is the lazy way to get a good score, you’re very wrong. I spent way less time than my friends with tutors and got a much higher score. Understand that you understand yourself the best, if you waste time making other people understand you, that’s time taken away from actually improving
• I used Barrons and Princeton. It’s only good if you’re struggling to grasp the basics or if you need a bit more practice. I believe that 100% mastery of Khan Academy r&w and math is way way more useful, and you can see that in my score progression from 730 math to 800

NOTES ON THE REFLECTION METHOD: I am very prone to stupid mistakes and being careless, so I used the reflection method a ton and it really helped with being more careful. I made fewer mistakes as I went on. The reflection method is tedious, but it takes work to get a top score. You’ll save way more time doing this than making mistakes and not knowing why. Work now and reap the rewards with a good SAT score, just trust me!!
I’m not trying to be an official tutor, but I was in your position once, so I’d love to help you guys. Pm me with questions, good luck everyone!

I am a university student working part time as a private tutor. It's a lot of fun, enough so that I've considered switching to a teaching degree. However, I feel like teaching in an actual classroom may be so different that I'd actually hate it. What do you think would be different between my current experience and a typical classroom?
I have mostly small group classes, 3-7 students in each group. I have students aged 8-15, doing English, Maths and Science. I do my own lesson preparation with resources provided by my boss. There are no tests and we usually mark worksheets together in class so the kids can ask questions. My boss handles communication with parents, and obviously there's no excursions, lunch duty etc. The kids are mostly from a middle or upper middle class background and the parents strongly value education. They have differing abilities, but they don't differ that much in such a small class.
So what do you think I should be prepared for if I do go down this path? Any advice?

Since the June DSAT is coming up I thought I'd make a post on tips and resources I used to help me study for the May 4th sat. This post goes into decent depth so read it all carefully and remember what worked for me might not work for you.
If you're like me and procrastinated studying until now then this post is definitely for you. All my prep for the May 4th test was done in like 14 days and I expect a score of 1540 or above.
My scores for the college board practice tests:
Practice Test 1: 1220
Practice Test 2: 1190
Practice Test 3: 1530
Practice Test 4: 1360
Practice Test 5: 1460
Practice Test 6: 1530
PRACTICE TESTS EXPERIENCE: Practice Test 1 and 2 were done without desmos since I didn't even know I could use it, so I basically wasted those two. I did test 2 after doing khan academy, test 3 was done using desmos and I did it after I grinded through like 80% of khan academy. Practice Test 4 truly humbled me and I realized how unprepared I really was which was when I started watching more youtube videos. I took the practice test 5 only 2 days after test 4 and my score increased like crazy which made me confident again.
NOTE: PRACTICE TEST 4, 5, AND 6 ARE THE CLOSEST IN DIFFICULTY TO THE REAL DEAL, TEST 1, 2 AND 3 ARE VERY EASY COMPARED TO THE REAL THING.
BASICS FOR BEGINNERS: If you have not studied yet at all you should start with basic concepts on Khan academy, grind through the lessons and videos, do the practice questions in the foundation section and medium section. Also learn how to use desmos, I used desmos for things I didn't even know was possible. Learning how to use desmos got rid of easy constant questions, inequalities, system of equations. Make sure to watch the 3 part desmos videos I talked about below in the youtubers section, it truly helped me a lot.
YOUTUBE: Youtube was one of the key reasons my score increased, I watched videos on the dsat constantly, while I ate food, even on my breaks I just watched videos running through the practice test I had already taken over and over again. I went over each practice test and the mistakes I made probably like 3 - 4 times throughout the 15 days.
QUESTION BANK: After I finished every practice test provided by the college board, ONLY THEN did I go to the college board question bank. This is because a good amount of the questions off of the practice tests are in this bank so without knowing it your brain could memorize how to do it and recognize it when doing the practice test which would inflate your marks. I probably went through hundreds of questions from the question bank (English and math) within the last 3 days before the may 4th test.
EXTRA TIPS: Sleep and exercise are also very important and something that I think isn't talked about enough, this applies more to people who are in my boat and are studying last minute and want a really high score. I slept crazy every night and it really helped me retain more information. Exercise is an amazing break even a walk works, anytime I hit a wall during my study periods I'd just go to the gym for 45 minutes to and hour and I would always come back refreshed ready to study again.
Youtubers I used:
Not promoting these guys in any way but they're just the only youtubers I used and I think other people here would probably find them useful.
Here are all the youtubers I used, Scalar Learning, Settele Tutoring, Tutorllini Test Prep, Strategic Test Prep, Method Learning.
Scalar Learning: He has some decent videos teaching basic concepts and his shorts have some good practice questions that he goes through.
Settele Tutoring: Settele was the one I watched the most, he went through every single question (in separate videos) on every single practice test given by the college board, I also watched some of his free concept learning videos on english, I think he explains a lot of the stuff pretty well. He’s amazing at english and helping you learn english, he made something called a “dumb summary” which I actually used a lot on my may 4th sat, it’s essentially a method where you can summarize a massive paragraph in like 30-40 seconds easily.
Tutorllini Test Prep: Has some good concept videos and also goes through all the math questions on all the practice tests really well, sometimes giving like 2-3 different methods you can use to solve a single question. He also goes through some of his own worksheets that he’s made and some of them are pretty good practice.
Strategic Test Prep: She gives some good test day tips and tips and shortcuts in general for the SAT, her explanations on the practice tests are also pretty decent.
Method Learning: Method Learning is what I’d say really boosted my score in the very beginning stages of my studying. This is only because of his 3 part desmos videos, I didn’t watch any of his other videos but that 3 part seriously was a game changer. The desmos tips he gives are amazing. An example is if a question gives you a linear or quadratic equation and then a constant in it, you can plug that exact equation into desmos and move the slider around to find what the constant is, this takes no more than 30 seconds.
Formulas I memorized for the DSAT:
You will have to memorize some formulas for the DSAT and some will make your life easier.
Sum of interior angles in a polygon: 180(n-2)
Area of a sector: πr^2 ⋅ θ/360
Arc Length: 2πr ⋅ θ/360
Mass/Volume/Density: m = v(d)
X cord. of vertex: -b/2a
Sum of solutions: -b/a
Product of solutions: c/a
If anyone needs any tips or anything just let me know I'll try my best to respond.
Whatever score you want is possible if you're willing to put in the work and time.

Since the June DSAT is coming up I thought I'd make a post on tips and resources I used to help me study for the May 4th sat. This post goes into decent depth so read it all carefully and remember what worked for me might not work for you.
If you're like me and procrastinated studying until now then this post is definitely for you. All my prep for the May 4th test was done in like 15 days and I expect a score of 1540 or above.
My scores for the college board practice tests:
Practice Test 1: 1220
Practice Test 2: 1190
Practice Test 3: 1530
Practice Test 4: 1360
Practice Test 5: 1460
Practice Test 6: 1530
PRACTICE TESTS EXPERIENCE: Practice Test 1 and 2 were done without desmos since I didn't even know I could use it, so I basically wasted those two. I did test 2 after doing khan academy, test 3 was done using desmos and I did it after I grinded through like 80% of khan academy. Practice Test 4 truly humbled me and I realized how unprepared I really was which was when I started watching more youtube videos. I took the practice test 5 only 2 days after test 4 and my score increased like crazy which made me confident again.
NOTE: PRACTICE TEST 4, 5, AND 6 ARE THE CLOSEST IN DIFFICULTY TO THE REAL DEAL, TEST 1, 2 AND 3 ARE VERY EASY COMPARED TO THE REAL THING.
BASICS FOR BEGINNERS: If you have not studied yet at all you should start with basic concepts on Khan academy, grind through the lessons and videos, do the practice questions in the foundation section and medium section. Also learn how to use desmos, I used desmos for things I didn't even know was possible. Learning how to use desmos got rid of easy constant questions, inequalities, system of equations. Make sure to watch the 3 part desmos videos I talked about below in the youtubers section, it truly helped me a lot.
YOUTUBE: Youtube was one of the key reasons my score increased, I watched videos on the dsat constantly, while I ate food, even on my breaks I just watched videos running through the practice test I had already taken over and over again. I went over each practice test and the mistakes I made probably like 3 - 4 times throughout the 15 days.
QUESTION BANK: After I finished every practice test provided by the college board, ONLY THEN did I go to the college board question bank. This is because a good amount of the questions off of the practice tests are in this bank so without knowing it your brain could memorize how to do it and recognize it when doing the practice test which would inflate your marks. I probably went through hundreds of questions from the question bank (English and math) within the last 3 days before the may 4th test.
EXTRA TIPS: Sleep and exercise are also very important and something that I think isn't talked about enough, this applies more to people who are in my boat and are studying last minute and want a really high score. I slept crazy every night and it really helped me retain more information. Exercise is an amazing break even a walk works, anytime I hit a wall during my study periods I'd just go to the gym for 45 minutes to and hour and I would always come back refreshed ready to study again.
Youtubers I used:
Not promoting these guys in any way but they're just the only youtubers I used and I think other people here would probably find them useful.
Here are all the youtubers I used, Scalar Learning, Settele Tutoring, Tutorllini Test Prep, Strategic Test Prep, Method Learning.
Scalar Learning: He has some decent videos teaching basic concepts and his shorts have some good practice questions that he goes through.
Settele Tutoring: Settele was the one I watched the most, he went through every single question (in separate videos) on every single practice test given by the college board, I also watched some of his free concept learning videos on english, I think he explains a lot of the stuff pretty well. He’s amazing at english and helping you learn english, he made something called a “dumb summary” which I actually used a lot on my may 4th sat, it’s essentially a method where you can summarize a massive paragraph in like 30-40 seconds easily.
Tutorllini Test Prep: Has some good concept videos and also goes through all the math questions on all the practice tests really well, sometimes giving like 2-3 different methods you can use to solve a single question. He also goes through some of his own worksheets that he’s made and some of them are pretty good practice.
Strategic Test Prep: She gives some good test day tips and tips and shortcuts in general for the SAT, her explanations on the practice tests are also pretty decent.
Method Learning: Method Learning is what I’d say really boosted my score in the very beginning stages of my studying. This is only because of his 3 part desmos videos, I didn’t watch any of his other videos but that 3 part seriously was a game changer. The desmos tips he gives are amazing. An example is if a question gives you a linear or quadratic equation and then a constant in it, you can plug that exact equation into desmos and move the slider around to find what the constant is, this takes no more than 30 seconds.
Formulas I memorized for the DSAT:
You will have to memorize some formulas for the DSAT and some will make your life easier.
Sum of interior angles in a polygon: 180(n-2)
Area of a sector: πr^2 ⋅ θ/360
Arc Length: 2πr ⋅ θ/360
Mass/Volume/Density: m = v(d)
X cord. of vertex: -b/2a
Sum of solutions: -b/a
Product of solutions: c/a
If anyone needs any tips or anything just let me know I'll try my best to respond.
Whatever score you want is possible if you're willing to put in the work and time.

This batch from Tokyo Jon's is another aggravating, "Then why did you put up with this?" venture.

British Education Korea (BEK) Apr 16. 2024

...unprofessional and incompetent staff, unqualified bilingual teachers and toxic atmosphere. Worst experience of my life. Waste of time and energy. Extremely low pay and imposed additional (unpaid) roles.

--That's really the key elements that never seem to go away:

1. Unprofessional.
2. Unorganized.
3. Incompetent.
4. Catty, petty, gossipy, abusive.
5. Tons of hidden extra duties for the same pay.

Homepage
Google Earth

JESSICA ENGLISH - ILSAN Apr 16. 2024

Last year they fired 6 people and claimed financial reasons. On top of this they continued to hire foreign workers from overseas despite claiming financial troubles. Because management was so poor the place is leaking students and so the ones that stay get away with anything.

--The first mistake is to trust anything that comes out of their mouths. If they tell me it's raining, I head for a window, open it, stick my hand out before I believe anything from these buffoons and their constant lies, misdirection, and propaganda. Find 5 things that you already know the answers to and that anyone in management / education ought to know, ask in a meeting, see what they say. It's fun, they know nothing about anything.
Blogpage
Naver Map

iGarten Seocho Banpo Apr 23. 2024

From the moment I signed with this school, warning signs were glaringly evident, but I was optimistic and brushed them off. However, in hindsight, those warning signals were clear indicators of what was to come. 2. Lack of leadership. 3. Lack of Communication breakdowns 4. Incoherent curriculum 7. Dishonesty and manipulation

--Yup! That sounds like a Hagwon alright. I can/can't blame people for taking a job they suspected was bad. I did that roughly 7 years ago, ignored Dave's ESL Cafe chatroom warnings, boy was I foolish. But, people have this subreddit now, they had an additional Google result to make a decision.

2. Lack of Leadership ...with those in charge either physically absent or lacking the awareness needed to foster accountability, communication, and organization.
Many times, Korean teachers are found either sitting in a corner of the room on their phones, taking selfies, or shopping, or they're outside the classroom engaging in gossip with the front desk or lunch staff.

--This happens everywhere. The laziness is profound. Search bar: Hagwon Life:The Day They Refused to Pay Me. Floor manager playing games on computer, university students playing on their phones in the break room instead of working, and everything else wrong, broken, incomplete, wrong levels, bratty / undisciplined children, no one cares. Let the foreigners pull their hair out and deal with all the issues, the rest will sit back and do like the prisoners say, "Get over, get by." The answer is, follow them right out the door no matter what the reason is, stay with them until they come back. They leave, you leave.

3. Lack of communication (School Events) Even when management does inform us of an event, it's usually with minimal notice, often just a week or two in advance... (Science Fair) It's frustrating that management only takes action when faced with the threat of embarrassment, leaving teachers to pick up the slack with little support or guidance. (Report cards) The lack of communication extends to the crucial task of writing end-of-year report card comments. Shockingly, this important information was only relayed in the last week of school, not by management, but through hearsay from a veteran teacher.* This last-minute notification left teachers with minimal time to prepare thoughtful and personalized comments for each student.

--The answer is, THEN DON'T DO IT! Why do the foreigners care more than the people who own the place? All you are teaching them when you put in double-overtime, scramble around like crazy, frantically quick-time it to get things done, don't get enough sleep or proper exercise/nutrition, do it for free at home, is that they learn to expect it from you again and again without consequences.
They are as bad at education than anyone you will ever encounter on the planet. They have no idea about anything, ESPECIALLY how long it takes to plan and put together a good result. You can ask any one of them, "How long do you THINK it takes to add a worksheet or construct a lesson plan from scratch? And when do you think I will have time to finish it?" As the OP said, they don't do anything until there is a threat of embarrassment. Well then? Embarrass them and keep giving them the same talking points right from the beginning, "I don't have enough time, I don't work at home for free, everyone ignored my request for resources etc." In many cases, they do this out of disrespect to the foreigners, also they don't want to hear foreigners complain or adjust the instructions so they purposely try to run out the clock on them to keep them busy and quiet. A part of it is to see the foreigners stressed and fail. Yeah, really. They want it to fail. Give them what they want and let it collapse. Of course they blame it all on the foreigners, but just repeat your talking points and keep on repeating them. You get off topic, they'll keep jabbering in your face, you stay on topic they'll get frustrated and give up.....eventually.
iGarten Creverse, April, CDI, are all basically the Chungdahm umbrella, I don't know why anyone hasn't figured out not to work for any of these places.
Search bar: iGarten Seocho Branch DO NOT DO IT!
Blogpage
Google Maps

You wanted to be a teacher? Well then TEACH. Students and everyone else learn a lot from failure. You can talk / complain all day long--ears closed. As soon as there are consequences for failure, leaving the classroom with a room full of naughty children, deadlines are not reached, parents are put off by poor results, management is caught with their pants down--ears open.
Now, do you have the spine inside you to reject punishment? Are you going to reject it and walk out the door, fight back, keep on with your talking points? To SAVE FACE, management will undoubtedly:
a) have a meeting in which they emote all over you, blame you for everything.
b) demand you come to work early/stay late to get said work done, without pay of course.
c) demand you go home and come back with the work completed, without sleep or pay of course.
d) threaten to withhold salary until objective is completed?
e) stink-eyes, sneers, passive-aggressive pouty behavior?
You don't need to throw chairs and getting into a big donnybrook about it (thank you Thesaurus.com). Stick to your talking points, "I'm not doing that, you didn't give us proper notice, there is no time in the day to do it, you aren't paying us overtime or actually anything at all" etc etc.. and if you really need to "Cross the Rubicon" (Thank you Wikipedia), you may have to go full Willy Wonka on their ass:
Wrong, sir! Wrong! Under section 37B of the contract signed by him, it states quite clearly that all offers shall become null and void if - and you can read it for yourself in this photostatic copy:
I, the undersigned, shall forfeit all rights, privileges, and licenses herein and herein contained, et cetera, et cetera... Fax mentis incendium gloria cultum, et cetera, et cetera... Memo bis punitor delicatum!
It's all there, black and white, clear as crystal! You stole fizzy lifting drinks! You bumped into the ceiling which now has to be washed and sterilized, so you get nothing! You lose! Good day, sir!

Hey everyone!
First of all, I sought approval from the moderators to post this announcement and they gave their consent, so thank you very much for allowing me to share this with you all!
I just wanted to share some exciting news for anyone involved in learning or teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). UsingEnglish.com, a leading resource for English language learners and teachers, has recently launched a brand-new section dedicated to ESL worksheets and printables! 🎉
You can check it out here: https://www.usingenglish.com/handouts/
This new section is packed with printable worksheets that cover all sorts of topics, from grammar and vocabulary to pronunciation and practical English usage. Whether you're teaching beginners or an advanced learners, there's something here for you.
Here's what I think makes this new section so great:

• Launching with 518 ESL Worksheets: These worksheets were painstakingly written by Richard Flynn, co-founder of UsingEnglish.com, who sadly passed away in February. This is a fitting tribute to him and a great example of some of his work that’s available on this site.
• A Diverse Range of Topics: Whether it's grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, or practical English usage, our worksheets cover the essential skills needed for effective communication in English.
• Ease of Navigation: The section is organised to help you find exactly what you need quickly, whether looking for something specific or browsing for inspiration.
• Presented as Printable PDFs: Each worksheet is available as a PDF for convenient printing, perfect for classroom activities or home practice.
• Corresponding Online Quizzes: Every worksheet is also presented as an online quiz, meaning that learners can practise their skills interactively and get immediate feedback, making the learning process even more effective and engaging.
• Corresponding Answer Sheets: To enhance the learning and teaching experience, every worksheet comes with a PDF answer sheet - ideal for self-checking or facilitating classroom discussions.
• Free Access: True to our commitment to the ESL community, these invaluable resources are offered completely free of charge.

We are excited to launch the ESL Worksheets section. We look forward to it continuing to grow and become an indispensable tool for English language learners and educators worldwide (if you like what you see, please consider helping us by sharing it with interested friends and colleagues).
So, if you're an ESL teacher looking for new materials for your students, head over to https://www.usingenglish.com/handouts/ and explore this new section. It's live now and ready for you to dive in!
Happy teaching!

About my French Teacher

• I don't like it that he doesn't let people doodle
• He takes off points if u have a food stain on ur worksheet
• he has posters everywhere for conjugation and none of them have a translation and he had us look for what was on the board and then he asked us what it meant and it had NO TRANSLATION SO WHAT THE HELL DOES HE THINK WILL HAPPEN DOES HE THINK WE HAVE AN AUTOMATIC TRANSLATOR IN OUR HEAD???? AND IF WE DID Y IS HE TEACHING US??????
• He tells us we need to learn how to do something but he also says he isn't gonna teach us how to do it
• He puts pictures on the board for us to translate (he tells us first tho) (a variety of photos, sometimes its obvious sometimes its not) but I really think he should have a picture, the word in french and the word in english.
• He does ^ in bulk so like idk how many at a time and expects us to memorize it all within 2 months, doesn't always stick with one, and doesn't test us on all of them
• oh yeah and one time he mumbled under his breath (in french but it was an easy translation - he either said c'est impossible or vous impossible, I only got the second word tho) saying that WE'RE impossible.

I have talked to someone about some of this but I don't see a difference in it
This post was supposed to be longer but i don't remember the other thing i was gonna rant abt
Rant in the comments!

the prompt is 2021 Q1
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap21-frq-english-language.pdf?course=ap-english-language-and-composition
For centuries handwriting has been our primary source of documenting data, but is it still currently? With digital technology reaching into everyones' back pockets the decline of handwriting is evident. Email's have replaced letters, Word has replaced note taking, powerpoint has replaced posters, and many more. Even though handwriting is a great skill to have, and can help you with other aspects in life, its pragmatic uses are continuously declining. Thus it should not be focused on in school as a mandated class but rather as an elective.
Undoubtably, handwriting has major benefits, more than just the physical writing it self. Cursive script is proven to develop fine motor skills and improve mental organization (SOURCE D). Even though cursive handwriting has such benefits, the uses it posses in the everyday world are exponentially declining. What would be the point of focusing valuable education time on forcing every student to learn cursive? It would be absurd, if they want to do it, they can choose to in the form of an elective. It would be deranged to force woodworking kids to join the band, same applies here. Or it would be the same thing as forcing every student to learn French, Japanese, Spanish, and Arabic, indisputably learning many languages has great benefits to one's mind, but it should be a choice especially since it is not used in everyday life. Or as SOURCE E states, Super Mario Bros can develop better motor skills. Another important factor to consider on WHY we should make it optional is its [handwriting and cursives] roots. The real reason we adopted such writing habits in the 19th century was to make our national identity and our sense of uniqueness. We differed from other scripts not limited too but including the Gothic script, or the Palmer method because they were connoted to different cultures (SOURCE C), we adopted this so we can show we are different, however in todays world that matters very little because everyone has the same Sans Serif font in their inboxes (font gmail uses). Vouching the fact that we should not make it a necessity at school for children to learn at school.
Even though mandating such a dying subject could potentially revive it, there is no practical need to do so. Doing so would most likely do more harm than good. SOURCE B portrays one of the thousands of worksheets teachers would have to print for every student to strenuously practice their cursive writing. We all know that deforestation is hurting our climate. Badly. So why waste even more paper, especially on children who have no interest in learning the skill as well. It is like buying a $100,000 racecar for a student who has no interest in racing. What will it lead to? Immense waste. To reiterate. The printing of worksheets should be encouraged for children who want to learn the skill of cursive handwriting, but shouldn't be forced upon everyone. There would be no point in encouraging penmanship in school since post-school the focus is towards technology, after all school is meant to prepare us for the future (SOURCE A). Schools that are focusing on it should reconsider and put more effort into preparing the children for the future. In 2013, writing on paper was on average 2x than writing with technology (SOURCE F), that is however 11 years ago and if numbers like that are still prominent, school administration should reconsider.
The point of school is to be prepared for the future. In today's world penmanship is almost extinct, and in tomorrow's world it will be extinct. Technology is more efficient to use, saves the environment, and is the standard for today. So why force children in learning something that will not have technical use to everyone. It [cursive handwriting] should be more of an optional elective, like woodworking or coding.

TL;DR: I've created a free website and newsletter with materials for learning English. It’s great for teaching business English and English for the Tech Industry.
The newsletter can be found here:
https://speaktechenglish.beehiiv.com/
The website can be found here:
https://speaktechenglish.com/
Both are in their early stages, and have a lot of work needed still. Our community is rapidly growing and can be found at ITEnglish. I launched this website two months ago, and now we have 1000 users per month, and around 250 newsletter subscribers!
Our website has resources such as:
📕 Tech Articles: These articles have a comprehension questions, words and their definitions
📕 Business English Materials: Dialogues, vocabulary and discussion based materials you can use to improve your Business English
📹 Tech Videos: Videos you can watch to test your listening skills and comprehension
🕵️‍♀️ CV and Interview materials: These include a list of commonly asked questions which you can use to practise
📕 English for Programmers (paid): Master your workflow in English: Review Code, Discuss Bugs, Agile Practices
Our newsletter contains:
📰 Newsletter: Get Business English tips and updates, with a focus on Tech and business, sent to your inbox every Monday.
🆓 Free materials: When you subscribe, you’ll receive FIVE free Business English worksheets to get you started.
We will also be integrating an AI chatbot who you can have conversations with!
Your feedback and suggestions would be hugely helpful to us as we build and expand our website! Please reach out to me at: [contact@speaktechenglish.com](mailto:contact@speaktechenglish.com)

TL;DR: I've created a free website and newsletter with materials for learning English. It’s great for business English and English for the Tech Industry. If your English skills are intermediate+ then it can help take your learning to the next level.
The newsletter can be found here:
https://speaktechenglish.beehiiv.com/
The website can be found here:
https://speaktechenglish.com/
Both are in their early stages, and have a lot of work needed still. Our community is rapidly growing and can be found at ITEnglish. I launched this website two months ago, and now we have 1000 users per month, and around 250 newsletter subscribers!
https://preview.redd.it/sy97wt577xzc1.png?width=2850&format=png&auto=webp&s=aef5cecaf816867a09305c8a0eb8884b500c1f1f
Our website has resources such as:
📕 Tech Articles: These articles have a comprehension questions, words and their definitions
📕 Business English Materials: Dialogues, vocabulary and discussion based materials you can use to improve your Business English
📹 Tech Videos: Videos you can watch to test your listening skills and comprehension
🕵️‍♀️ CV and Interview materials: These include a list of commonly asked questions which you can use to practise
📕 English for Programmers (paid): Master your workflow in English: Review Code, Discuss Bugs, Agile Practices
Our newsletter contains:
📰 Newsletter: Get Business English tips and updates, with a focus on Tech and business, sent to your inbox every Monday.
🆓 Free materials: When you subscribe, you’ll receive FIVE free Business English worksheets to get you started.
We will also be integrating an AI chatbot who you can have conversations with!
Your feedback and suggestions would be hugely helpful to us as we build and expand our website! Please reach out to me at: [contact@speaktechenglish.com](mailto:contact@speaktechenglish.com)

TL;DR: I've created a free website and newsletter with materials for learning English. It’s great for business English and English for the Tech Industry. If your English skills are intermediate+ then it can help take your learning to the next level.
The newsletter can be found here:
https://speaktechenglish.beehiiv.com/
The website can be found here:
https://speaktechenglish.com/
Both are in their early stages, and have a lot of work needed still. Our community is rapidly growing and can be found at ITEnglish. I launched this website two months ago, and now we have 1000 users per month, and around 250 newsletter subscribers!
Our website has resources such as:
📕 Tech Articles: These articles have a comprehension questions, words and their definitions
📕 Business English Materials: Dialogues, vocabulary and discussion based materials you can use to improve your Business English
📹 Tech Videos: Videos you can watch to test your listening skills and comprehension
🕵️‍♀️ CV and Interview materials: These include a list of commonly asked questions which you can use to practise
📕 English for Programmers (paid): Master your workflow in English: Review Code, Discuss Bugs, Agile Practices
Our newsletter contains:
📰 Newsletter: Get Business English tips and updates, with a focus on Tech and business, sent to your inbox every Monday.
🆓 Free materials: When you subscribe, you’ll receive FIVE free Business English worksheets to get you started.
We will also be integrating an AI chatbot who you can have conversations with!
Your feedback and suggestions would be hugely helpful to us as we build and expand our website! Please reach out to me at: [contact@speaktechenglish.com](mailto:contact@speaktechenglish.com)

TL;DR: I've created a free website and newsletter with materials for learning English. It’s great for business English and English for the Tech Industry. If your English skills are intermediate+ then it can help take your learning to the next level.
The newsletter can be found here:
https://speaktechenglish.beehiiv.com/
The website can be found here:
https://speaktechenglish.com/
https://preview.redd.it/7grjqp366xzc1.png?width=2850&format=png&auto=webp&s=6fdf08c27f27daa55dbc9f83a606b3eaf5b8faef
Both are in their early stages, and have a lot of work needed still. Our community is rapidly growing and can be found at /ITEnglish. I launched this website two months ago, and now we have 1000 users per month, and around 250 newsletter subscribers!
Our website has resources such as:
📕 Tech Articles: These articles have a comprehension questions, words and their definitions
📕 Business English Materials: Dialogues, vocabulary and discussion based materials you can use to improve your Business English
📹 Tech Videos: Videos you can watch to test your listening skills and comprehension
🕵️‍♀️ CV and Interview materials: These include a list of commonly asked questions which you can use to practise
📕 English for Programmers (paid): Master your workflow in English: Review Code, Discuss Bugs, Agile Practices
Our newsletter contains:
📰 Newsletter: Get Business English tips and updates, with a focus on Tech and business, sent to your inbox every Monday.
🆓 Free materials: When you subscribe, you’ll receive FIVE free Business English worksheets to get you started.
We will also be integrating an AI chatbot who you can have conversations with!
Your feedback and suggestions would be hugely helpful to us as we build and expand our website! Please reach out to me at: [contact@speaktechenglish.com](mailto:contact@speaktechenglish.com)

Hi, I've been thinking about this question and would like some outside opinions because I feel like I have to be missing something. I also don't want to ask a bunch of coworkers and come off as dissing the teacher.
I'm a teacher aide in two second grade classrooms in a Choice private school. I did go to school to be a teacher. I completed everything except one 10 week student teaching (but I made up the credits and graduated). I've worked at those school for about 3.5 years. 1.5 were spent with K4. This is my second year in 2nd grade.
Backstory: My one teacher is chronically absent. She is being forced to retire after this school year. Her back and legs are causing hee so much pain she can't come to school and work. I've been the only constant presence for these kids these last 6 months. My teacher has only been a full time teacher her for about 7 years. She subbed for a lot of her life. I end up teaching a lot, although it's been awesome having subs on most days as of late. I take care of most of the stuff in the classroom and come in early and stay late to try to make sure everything is as it should be.
She basically doesn't use the school's science or English curriculum. We have a new math curriculum (we used to use Saxon until we couldn't get any more physical books. Now we have Math Expressions), but she doesn't teach it as intended. She doesn't use a lot of the materials that came with it.
For English, our school uses Shirely which is what I grew up with. The student books are still in storage. The student workbook are in their desks, unused. They have only used the sentence books, but she doesn't teach it the Shirely way. These kids will go on to 3rd grade... behind. She thinks they have to master each part of speech before doing sentences. It never occurred to her that we could go through them... as a class. I never even knew where the TE book was until like a week ago. I'm not even convinced she knows how to do it. She uses tons of superteacher worksheets and random ones she finds online. Sometimes the answer key isn't right. Some of the stuff is confusing. Instead of using the Shirely songs and videos, she picks random stuff from on YouTube.
For science, she doesn't use the book. She prints off all these black and white packets that the kids frequently lose. Lots of repetitive questions. Everything is writing stuff out that frankly feels like wastes of time sometimes because by the time everyone has the answers down, a chunk of the kids are now talking, making noises, and distracting each other. Sometimes I don't even know what the question is asking either. Sometimes the answer isn't actually in the text (and it's not an opinion or inference question).
I've talked a little with one of subs (who taught in the upper grades for many years at the school), and she clearly thinks that not using the English curriculm is wrong. On the days she's there, it's like she makes it her mission to teach how they should be taught.
Math is now being taught by the other 2nd grade teacher. We are units behind with only a couple weeks left and won't be able to finish the book. There were too many days spent not doing lessons or using materials not from the curriculum (which they didn't master. They are still very much struggling).
I just don't understand. How do you not know where you NEED to be if at all possible? If you are picking random topics for science, how do you know you are meeting standards? All of this goes against everything I was taught in college. If the kids were thriving, I wouldn't be worried. They aren't though.
And FWIW, the other teacher doesn't use the curriculum for social studies either, and I can't say I understand. That retired teacher sub doesn't even agree with some of the stuff in these worksheets (like money being an example of scarcity).
I very much try to give people the benefit of the doubt. I naturally believe they know better than me, so I hate saying anything. Am I missing something or is/was my teacher just not great at teaching? She feels like the kind of teachers I grew up with in the 90s and early 00s, although my teachers were better I think. I understand supplementing with materials every once in a while... or if the book is missing a lot of stuff. But never using the curriculum and it's worksheets? Or using it only a quarter of the way so that it appears to confuse the kids so it must not work? To be clear, I've never heard them talk about the curriculum being awful or old or anything.
I'll say this because I feel like someone may ask, we don't have anyone in charge of curriculum or looking over lesson plans. They submit their block plans to the drive I think, but I'm pretty sure they aren't looked at.

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