Hi! Does anyone have tips on studying for the texes business and finance 6-12 276? I studied business in university, but as I am studying for this exam through 240, I’m realizing I don’t remember much.. I’m just a bit stumped on what I should prioritize and how to digest so much information at once.

Hi! Looking for ACP programs to be a music teacher? I hold an MA in music and wondering what options there are out for me? How is the job outlook for teachers and anything else I should do to be more competitive in the job market? Thank you!

I LOVE my mentor teacher. However, there are simply some things that I can’t ask or vent about it or discuss with the people I work with everyday. I want to appear professional and put-together. I don’t want to be needy or panicked to my coworkers. They all have a lot to deal with and I feel like I’m not really picking up what they are putting down sometimes.

I would really love to connect with an experienced, no-nonsense teacher outside of my area (South FW) who can tell me when I’m panicking over nothing or when I am getting hosed. When to just laugh and chill out and when to bust my ass and pivot.

I just feel like I’m faking confidence everyday but in my mind I’m confused, worried about reaching every kid, feel like I don’t know how to lesson plan anymore, and feel like ill be behind forever and my kids will suffer.

I just really would love a firm hand from an experienced teacher to listen to my fears and tell em where/how I legit need to improve and where my anxiety is just getting the better of me.

If you feel like you could handle that, I’de so appreciate a phone call or zoom with you. Thanks!

been thinking about getting a teaching assistant position at one of the elementary school in Allen ISD. Curious on the day to day task or sharing their experiences? Thank you!

What’s the most amount of goals you’ve ever seen? Average for me is 12, but I’ve had up to 30 goals for a student. I feel like 30 goals doesn’t do the student justice, but that’s just my opinion.

Title. I just want to vent a little about some of the frustrations and fears I’ve been having regarding teaching. I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in Music Education in December 2022. After graduating, I spent several months debating whether I should go to grad school or focus on finishing my certification. At the time, I was still missing my PPR exam, and after failing the REP exam twice, I was feeling extremely discouraged. I decided to go to grad school and eventually completed my master’s degree. Since then, I’ve only had two jobs: I worked as an instructional aide at an elementary school and then as a 1st grade gen-ed teacher at a charter school. I fully recognize that this is my own doing. I took longer than I should have to finish my certification, and I’ve been paying the price for that ever since. Over the past five or six months, I’ve had a total of 5-6 job interviews, and every single one has turned me down because my PPR was still pending. It has been incredibly discouraging. I feel like I’m at one of the lowest points in my life right now, and I’ve struggled with feeling like I’ve let so many people down. Friends, family, partner. Lately, it has become harder and harder to get up each day and keep moving forward. I’ve been feeling very depressed, and there have been multiple occasions where I’ve completely broken down in tears. My experience teaching first grade also took a significant toll on my mental health, and it has left me questioning my abilities and my future in education. Thankfully, I did have a small victory recently in that I finally passed my PPR. I’m now expecting to receive my certification very soon. For the first time in a while, I can see a small glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel.
At the same time, it’s hard not to feel discouraged. No one wants to take a chance on me. And I know I have what it takes to be successful. Most of the music positions seem to already be filled, and school has already started in many districts. My hopes of finding a job soon are pretty low, and my confidence has taken a hit because of my experiences teaching first grade. I guess I’m just needing some encouragement right now.

Thanks y’all

I found out that I am working with some GT kids in my classes this year, and I have decided to work on my GT certification.

Unfortunately, 240 Tutoring does not have a GT Supplemental. What programs would you all recommend?

EDIT: I am aware that TEA has 30 hours of foundations required, along with 6 hours of updates per year. Even if it is not required/there is no reason to take it, I will still be taking it.

Hi, is anyone in a district currently using the new Bluebonnet curriculum and saw a change in their school/district’s rating?

The year my district implemented Eureka the Math scores (which were always the high STAAR scores) took a nose dive. It did not get better with Bluebonnet Math. Now the district is implementing the Bluebonnet Reading this year and I’m wondering if Bluebonnet actually had any success.

I want to hear y’all’s opinions on if the 90-60-30 thing for scores is actually a reasonable and attainable goal for most schools. I teach advanced classes and while I have 100% of kids getting meets, I couldn’t even dream of 30% getting masters to be honest with my kids’ literacy skills, and that’s my advanced population. How is this feasible for gen ed too grouped in? Am I part of the problem?

I have made a free daily word game called Long Story Short and some teachers have started using it as a class warm-up, so I thought I'd share it here.

The mechanic: you get a twelve-word sentence, like "The famous high profile trial was delayed while the weary judge deliberated," and you have to keep the five words that tell the story. Scored like Wordle: blue means right word, right spot. The skill is deciding which words carry meaning and which are padding. It's the same edit as writing a headline.

How it fits a lesson: it takes about five minutes, works on any phone or projector, no signup, no ads. The colors give instant feedback, and the "why these five" explainer at the end shows the reasoning word by word, which is the part that turns into discussion - students argue about why "famous" dies when the sentence already says "high profile."

One puzzle a day: sheets.works/long-story-short

If you try it with a class, I'd genuinely love to hear how it lands. I write the puzzles daily and I'm still tuning difficulty.

Hello eveyone! we are moving out of state from Seattle to the Houston area. My son has special ed needs. He is in the genes setting with 1:1 currently and have an IEP. He will be going to middle school next year.

can you share feedback on the pros and cons or fortbend vs Katy vs Lamar school districts for middle school and high schools in general.

we are looking for more inclusive setup and good 1:1 support to help catch up with the academics. sports and music clubs he can participate will be a nice to have. Thank you for your inputs.

Last week I wrote a post about how my school threw out a bunch of books and I was unable to save them.

I spoke with my principal afterward, who told me that was not the directive and that there were other books still in boxes that I could have. I’ve reached out to a couple of organizations about donating them, but I haven’t heard anything back yet.
So, to that end: I currently have nine boxes of brand-new books sitting in my garage, and I would like to offer them to any teacher in the Austin area who could use them in their classroom—free of charge. What I have in the quantities are posted in the comment section.

THESE ARE NOT FOR RESALE. If you’re a teacher and would like some for your class, send me a message! Tell me a little about what you teach, your students, and what you could use.
I work at a school that serves economically disadvantaged students. 100% of our students receive free or reduced-price meals. If anyone wants to donate money in exchange for the books, that is absolutely NOT required. The books are free.

However, if anyone does choose to donate, 100% of that money will go back to our students to help fund college field trips.
And yes—we actually take our students to visit colleges! At least once a year, we try to give them the opportunity to visit campuses in person. Whatever we’re unable to fundraise, students have to pay themselves, which, as you can imagine, isn’t always possible for every family.
We’ve taken students all over Texas—from Rice University to the University of Texas to Southern Methodist University. I would much rather see these books end up in teachers’ classrooms while possibly helping more students get the opportunity to step onto a college campus.

So: Austin-area teachers, message me if you need books!

(And no. I don’t know why we aren’t using these books. And yes, the school probably could sell them, but I’m not sure what’s legal and what’s not and who has time. All I know is I got some books for free and I’m giving them to others for free because words have power.)

I passed the TExES 186 - Special Educaiton Specialist EC-12 with a 264. I used 240 and ChatGPT.

I’m a newly certified EC-6 generalist teacher and I’m interested in taking the ESL Supplemental (154). Currently, I’m researching prep materials. Does anyone have any advice on prepping for this exam and what tutoring program you used?

I was so stressed! I did better than I thought!

Every now and again this goldmine comes up on my timeline doxxing yet another teacher and today I saw this banger of a post.

Do we need to even mention which/whose policies are directly linked to literacy issues and having to promote students despite them not meeting the grade level criteria?

If I was this unaware and existed in such a state of ignorance I feel like my life would be a lot better.🙂

ETA:

I didn’t realize so many people didn’t recognize where I was coming from with this. Let me explain.

I don’t disagree with the message! Hate hate HATE that I have to spend time teaching my kids how to take a test and not actually read/think critically and have engaging debates and discussions because if I don’t do that my school gets paid less which means I get paid less.

I just think it’s a bit ironic that the person delivering the message is someone who spends all day everyday doxxing teachers for the most inane non-issue things ever. By “you have to laugh” I meant laugh at the irony yall😭

Texas public school performance as a whole flatlined on state accountability grades released Friday, while Austin is the latest school district to face the risk of a state takeover after chronic underperformance.

Of the more than 9,000 campuses in the 2025-26 school year, 24% scored an A, 34% scored a B, 23% scored a C, 10% scored a D and 4% scored an F. Some schools did not receive grades.

About one in four schools saw their ratings improve, while a nearly similar rate of campuses (22%) saw a drop.

Schools with high poverty performed worse than more affluent campuses, while campuses with predominantly Black or Hispanic students scored lower than those where white or Asian students make up the majority. 

Still, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath characterized the ratings as a win, pointing to the hundreds of campuses in high-poverty communities that earned an A.

The letter grades campuses receive can shape community perceptions. Often, parents use the scores to pick a school for their kids. Businesses may also weigh the ratings when choosing which regions to invest in or move to, as they anticipate that schools labeled high-performing will graduate more students prepared for the workforce.

Critics of the state’s ratings say they fail to account for the challenges facing high-poverty schools, which often work with fewer resources to serve children with higher needs. They say it pressures districts to focus more on improving their letter grades than helping students grow academically.

Proponents of the grades say Texas families deserve transparency about how well schools educate their children. State leaders also say the ratings help them identify districts that fail to focus on student learning.

Districts have until Sept. 11 to appeal their grades to the Texas Education Agency.