Hey Teacher Tapp Community!
It’s Week 19 of tapping and the panel continues to grow, giving us even more insights into what’s happening in schools up and down the country! Don’t forget – until the end of April, if you answer for 30 days in a row you’ll earn a Starbucks gift card as a thank you for being part of Teacher Tapp!
This offer is limited to the first 1,000 teachers who sign up, so tell your teacher friends to be quick! Send them this blog and tell them to join the app today and help correct the narrative about education in the US.
To qualify, you must:
✔️ Be a K-12 teacher currently employed in a US school 🏫
✔️ List your school’s name in your Teacher Tapp profile ✏️
✔️ Be a legal resident of the United States 🇺🇸
🔗 Read the full terms and conditions here
Want to make the Teacher Tapp community even stronger? Invite your colleagues to join! The best link to share is onelink.to/teachertapp – it takes them straight to the app store! 📲✨
Now, what did teachers tell us this week? Let’s find out…
1. All things grading!
Schools have a variety of policies when it comes to grading and providing feedback. More than a third of teachers said that for a recent assessment, their students got their grades back whenever it was marked – there was no policy governing it.
However, some schools have stricter deadlines. 29% of teachers had less than a week to grade and provide feedback to students on a recent test. This was true across all grade levels – whether elementary, middle or high school.
Once the tests are graded, do teachers also need to report the student’s current grades or levels?
For one in five teachers (20%), this is a weekly task! The most common reporting schedule, however, is quarterly – 54% of teachers say they submit grades every making period. While 4% never have to report grades at all!
From grading students to being graded as teachers….
One common way schools evaluate teachers is through lesson observations – 84% of teachers say their school uses this practice. However, not everyone is on board. While 46% say you are evaluated and are happy, a further 40% are not a fan of the process.
Schools who evaluate lesson observations are far less common in England. Across the pond, fewer than 10% of teachers report that their school use this practice – and only 2% of teachers are happy their school doing so! Why do you think the US and England are so different? We’d love to hear your thought! Get in touch at usa@teachertapp.com
2. Cell phones
Cell phones can be a major distraction in the classroom, interrupting valuable learning time when they go off during a class. Some states have already passed laws banning phones from classrooms, and many others are considering similar measures.
More than a third of elementary school teachers (36%) say that cell phones are not allowed on campus at all. Another 42% say students can carry a cell but are not permitted to use them during the school day.
Whole-school bans are much rarer in middle and high schools. Only 5% of teachers in these settings say that phones are completely prohibited on campus. However, 35% report that while students can bring their phones, they are not allowed to use them during the school day.
As more teachers join Teacher Tapp, we’ll be able to see how these policies vary by state as well as across elementary, middle, and high school!
3. Teaching Abroad
More than half of teachers (52%) have considered moving abroad to teach in another country, and 5% have already taken the leap at some stage in their career!
However, relocating isn’t as simple as packing a suitcase and leaving. The biggest barriers for teachers are family and career commitments. Nearly half (45%) say they don’t want to disrupt their partner’s job or career, while 39% are concerned about the impact it would have on their children’s education.
Ignoring those barriers for a moment, where would you move to teach if you have the chance? More than a fifth of teachers (21%) would pick England (and maybe even join the Teacher Tapp England panel, right?). However, Australia and New Zealand were also popular options!
Daily Reads
We know lots of teachers on Teacher Tapp LOVE the daily reads! If you have ideas of reads we could feature, get in touch by emailing usa@teachertapp.com and we will check it out!
This week our most-read blog was all about retrieval practice in the collaborative setting.
