Unpopular Teacher Opinions

I've been on teacher social media since before I started teaching. I vlogged my classroom setup experiences, I posted my favorite activities on instagram, and even made resources for TPT. But now, in year 7, I've realized that a lot of the content out there on teachstagram, teachertok, etc perpetuates ideas and standards that I don't agree with. I've always been one to speak my mind, and sometimes it's hard to find people that agree with the fundamentals of my educational philosophy. So here are my most unpopular opinions when it comes to the classroom. I'd love to hear your (respectful) thoughts and start a conversation.


 

Classroom Themes

My first year, I had a Wizard of Oz theme. I tended to call my kids munchkins, so it fit. I made an Emerald City board outside my room, hung up inspirational posters about friendship and adventure, and continued to add to my many Pinterest boards of ideas. But after a while, I realized that I was spending so much time trying to make a cohesive theme that didn't add anything to my classroom environment. In fact, my three-year-olds had never heard of the Wizard of Oz and couldn't read my inspirational quotes. So what was the point? It was for me, not them. Since this realization, I still collect ideas on pinterest, but in practice I stick to colors rather than true themes. And usually those colors are black and white. I try to keep things simple and calming. I also stay away from licensed characters and pop culture. Additionally, if you're going to have space on the walls for student work (which you definitely should), don't feel the need to fill it with "student work coming soon" signs. Don't worry about filling every space - start simple and let the kids add the sparkle! (See also my post on making your classroom accessible that touches on colors, fonts and lighting.)

Does this mean your classroom has to be boring? Not at all! Here are some pictures of simple bulletin boards I've done that may fit a theme, but are meaningful and change as the year goes on.



This was based on the Chicka Chicka books that my kids knew and were simple enough that they didn't provide a major distraction during class. And the main bulletin board only stayed up for like two weeks.

If you want to learn more about using your space for displays of learning, check out this awesome video. I try to use this as a model for the things I put up on my walls. 

 

Artificial Intelligence

AI is a hot topic right now and I think this might be my most controversial take - we shouldn't use it in the classroom. I am all for embracing new technology and preparing our students for a more connected world. But I also know that the use of AI creates more problems than solutions. People have transitioned away from search engines to just asking chatgpt. We must teach our students the skills of research, like using a search engine to find reliable sources and vetting those sources. Chatgpt is not this all-knowing entity, it just takes what other people have posted online and compiles it together with confidence - but that confidence does not mean it is correct. Additionally, generative AI like that you use to write an essay for you or make a silly picture, uses other people's work without permission. If integrity and properly citing your sources is something we want to promote in our students, we should skip the "generate a picture of this teacher in this situation" that some people do to bring a spark to their classroom decor. Instead use a program like photoshop (though they also have been integrating AI) to cut and paste pictures together and make sure you give credit to the artists.

One of the biggest (in my opinion) reasons to stay away from AI is the environmental impact. Have you ever told your students to not waste paper? Or turn off the faucet to not waste water? Then you should also be teaching them how generative AI uses our resources and adds to scarcity and warming concerns. Check out these resources to learn more about the dangers of AI:

So as much as you don't want to read all those PD documents you may get during back to school, please refrain from using AI to summarize it, and talk to your peers about why you're doing so.

Classroom Experiences

Part of our job as teachers is to provide our students with experiences to learn hands on. One way some classes do this is by taking care of a class pet. Taking care of a living creature does teach responsibility and empathy, but can also cause some negative experiences for the animal itself. Taking an animal out of its natural habitat to live in a small container in a loud bright classroom is not what's best for the animal. Think about the animal's sleep cycle that will be impacted by this, or the commitment that it takes to provide care. You can still teach responsibility and empathy without a live animal. Check out Peta's TeachKind initiative (I know, Peta is controversial, but these articles are so helpful!) for more information on class pets and good alternatives. If you really want that animal connection, you can also "adopt" an animal from an accredited sanctuary and maintain connection with that group, have a virtual class pet, or do what I like to do and have a class plant!

Now, I have learned to be flexible over the years, especially this last year as a co-teacher working with a large staff, but I do have some hard limits. One of those, is that I won't use food as a toy in the classroom. Now, there are a lot of opinions on this and I can completely see the benefits of using food in the classroom (I would love to be a feeding therapist and teaching kids to have a healthy relationship with food and their bodies is my favorite thing literally ever) but for me, the idea that some of my kids go home to an empty cupboard outweighs those things. Every year I've had kids who are experiencing food insecurity and making a macaroni necklace seems less and less important when you think about those experiences.

I do love cooking with kids and wish that I were able to do it more (one of my schools cooked something every week and the preschool at my college campus had a mini kitchen with a window to the school kitchen!) but because of health concerns, many schools do not allow sharing food. If possible, I totally support making food together. Some curricula even include it in their programs, like Creative Curriculum (not sponsored but they have so many recipes). Alternatively, having students bring in packaging from their favorite foods to put in your play kitchen is a great way to make connections to home and explore different cultures. One of my favorite things last year was when we read a holiday book that included a family making dumplings. We then read other books about different kinds of dumplings around the world, watched a cooking show about dumplings and made our own play dough dumplings. I love making connections between cultures and food is a great way to do that!

Academic Content

There's often little a teacher can do to change the assigned curriculum, and I get that. But for those of you who have a say in the programs you use, think about the research behind teaching. We're supposed to use evidence-backed practices, right? For my prek and k teachers, how do you teach letter names and sounds? I bet many of you use a curriculum that teaches letters in isolation, one or two per week, right? This is a common model, but after my literacy class in college and reading books like No More Teaching a Letter a Week, I've realized that there are so many other ways to teach early literacy skills. I've used Handwriting Without Tears before, and my school will be using it again this year. I do love pieces of it and will follow along with what I'm required to teach, but I also supplement with other strategies. And with the majority of my students going to kindergarten with at least 80% of their letter names, I've seen that it helps. I highly recommend reading the book (it's only 96 pages) for more ideas of incorporating literacy into your everyday teaching.

I'm all for a linear calendar! I've used both a linear calendar and a traditional matrix calendar in my classroom and based on my experiences and conversations with coaches, matrix calendars aren't the evil we make them out to be in early childhood education. Yes, you get different things out of a linear calendar, but that doesn't mean matrix calendars are bad. We can have a matrix calendar in our classrooms, but it's important to pay attention to what you want your students to get out of it. The NAEYC article below points out the importance of incorporating the limited concepts of time that our young ones have in a short calendar session and focus on vocabulary, projects and visual schedules. I like to have a combination of time-telling things in my room, like a matrix calendar and a linear calendar and a visual schedule. While the below articles support the use of a linear calendar, exposing students to different models of showing the passage of time is not a bad thing.

Social Interactions

Something that is very important to me is inclusion and teaching children to be kind. One of the ways I encourage this is to teach the students to call each other what they want to be called. This includes nicknames, pet names (sweetie, kiddo, etc) and -yes, I know this is controversial- pronouns. We have these conversations very casually, usually during snack time or another laid back activity and as they come up naturally. I'll definitely write a post talking more about my experiences with this, but I've seen how it supports our kiddos in their development of their self and their confidence. Having an adult listen to your wants and acknowledging their importance is so good for kids. The words we use matter. And that includes how we address our students.

While it may be a default for many people, calling our kids "boys and girls" is not what's best for them. What about the kids who fall outside of those boxes or in a different box than society expects? Using this language promotes the idea that there are two categories and only two categories. While some people say this is the case, research shows that it's not. See the links below for some of the research.

There are many other ways to address and organize our students. For example, calling you kids "scientists" or "readers" helps them to connect to your teaching and see themselves as those things. If you need to split the class, you might ask kids to split up by people who prefer the pool and people who prefer the beach. 

I get being scared to address the topics of gender and social constructs when you're teaching in a public school. If you're not able to have deeper conversations, the language you use can still have an impact. The way you model having different interests and celebrating what makes everyone special makes an impact. Asking someone if it's okay to call them "sweetie" and telling students that anyone can play with baby dolls are still good steps to being inclusive. 

Many districts have requirements of which flags need to be present in a classroom, and whether or not a time needs to be made to say the pledge to that flag. And if you do some googling, you'll find that a lot of conservative organizations say that saying the pledge of allegiance encourages respect for the country's flag. Like some of the previously mentioned opinions, the idea that we shouldn't make our kids, especially the little ones, say the pledge is going to ruffle some feathers. But if we want to encourage that "right to free speech" that is such a hot topic now, we should think about what that means. We should also think about why people think the pledge is so important. What is it teaching our kids? Is it appropriate to teach our 3 year olds to rote memorize these words when they cannot truly understand their meaning?

Here's some information on the laws around saying the pledge

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Besides the above bigger opinions that I described, I also have a few other unpopular teacher positions. Like how I don't like hand signals to express different needs (one finger to mean you need a pencil, two fingers means you need a tissue, etc). Or how I allow kids freer access to materials during center times. There are so many pieces to organizing a classroom and working with students and other staff, we are bound to not agree all the time. While I haven't found anyone who is completely on board with everything I believe, talking with other educators has allowed me to reconsider things and go deeper into the why of my opinions. And that self-reflection is key for growing as a person and an educator.

Okay, I feel like that was a lot. And I'm sure many of you don't agree or are calling me "the teacher Fox News warned you about". And it's okay to disagree. But let's have some conversation! What are your unpopular opinions when it comes to education? If you agree with any of these, please let me know! 

 

Love,

Miss D

she/her


 

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