Instead I have to teach eighth graders how to make their introductions not suck tomorrow. And can do neither of the things anyway.

Spring cleaning mood got me so antsy.

Like all I can think about is wanting to replace the desk that we can’t ever make functional with seating that can also be used for guests (like a daybed?) and has storage/the ability to store things under it and also having a small veggie and herb garden.

I will throw in my vote and say I don’t think you could pull of Light’s vibe, for what it’s worth.

And that’s a compliment bc I hated him as a teenager.

I feel like I would really thrive with being .8 or .6 at work because I can keep my motivation going so long as there’s some structure in the day. But I can’t afford going down in pay, so instead I try to get everything done on my breaks and then hit these walls. Because breaks don’t have structure.

There hits a point in every school break where the lack of structure makes my motivation crash and I feel like I can’t do anything. And that has happened today. With plenty more to do.

I’m not cleaning, I am making pokopia habitats for my spouse and cats.

Got an incorrect birthday email for my oldest cat since for some reason the vet has her birthday listed as my middle cat’s birthday and just thinking back on the mortifying time when the vet asked about her behavior and if she’s been acting upset and I responded “well, she’s a Gemini.”

illustration inspired by Charlotte Perkins-Gilman's 1891 short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" depicting a woman touching sickly yellow torn wallpaper on a wall while shadowy hands reach toward her. There is another tall shadow of a figure on the wall and both figures look toward the viewer.

"The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight."

I made a "Yellow Wallpaper" piece back in 2017, but I re-read the story over the weekend and wanted to try again. Much happier with this version 🖤

The other day my students told me I was “low cortisol”. Is this good??? I feel old now.

DO NOT COMPLY.

DO NOT OUT PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE CHILDREN

I mean, I know several people who have taught special ed because they were working for the district and the district couldn’t find a credentialed teacher, so they put them into a classroom and paid for their intern credential until they cleared it.

The way there was a difference between teachers who taught pre and post-COVID lockdown, there will be a difference between who taught through Trump 2.0 and who did not.

I noticed just now that the point you made in your 300 character post wasn't inescapably all-encompassingly comprehensive in its totality, so I'm afraid it's pistols as dawn

Standardized testing is based around excerpts. So a lot of new curricula follows that pattern.

to the conversation. I talked about both policy and attention spans because the two are related: the policy focusing on short form writing and reading because of standardized tests is leading to a lack of attention and stamina in our students. It’s not their fault, this was created.

You certainly assumed a whole lot from a vent post about a moment of frustration that I expected two people to see. It wasn’t indicative of what is done throughout the day, how I talk to my students, or the entirety of my own background. When more people saw it, I clarified a few things relevant

14 years old, moving up into high school next year.

I worked in the writing center throughout college at a university that was known for engineering. Based on the attitudes my peer clientele had regarding writing back then, your experience surprises me exactly zero.

I understand what you’re saying, but it still made me laugh because I am 29.

Comments about what I SHOULD be doing or who is to blame, especially from people outside of education, are not needed. I also expected basically no one to see any of this, so I’m not going to respond to most people (especially to rude comments about being American).

To be clear, I’m not looking for any sort of suggestions. I am mid-career, department head, and very involved in making decisions for my students. I also have a master’s degree in English literature. I know what I’m doing, I was just venting.

I would ask that you not try and give solutions based on a character limit driven snapshot of the education system. The problem is that this has been the expectation for their entire school lives, and we are working on undoing it.

When I was in school, it was expected that we would learn and discuss material at school, then write essays or passage commentary at home. Writing generally has been practiced at home, since it takes a significant amount of time. We can no longer have students write outside of class.

They simply would rather be doing something else (right now it’s most often watching YouTube shorts). While grades motivate them, they have been given unlimited opportunities to get their grade up throughout their schooling, so they aren’t motivated to try the first time.

About 75%. Most of the kids are born here. Almost all of them read only in English. Their parents are primarily from a country where English is commonly spoken and they often raise their children with English as their primary language.

I also have students several grades below, without the stamina to keep improving. I hardly see the kids who are just. On grade level.
7. They just don’t see the point. The world is burning around them. And they don’t see the point.

Policy is failing our kids. And here is where we’ve landed.

5. We have discovered that if we send any work home that isn’t reading, it will be done by AI. Giving homework is a complete lost cause.
6. What’s missing is the middle students. I have students reading at a 12th grade level, completing everything on time, and able to discuss on a deep level.

4. Due to various district policies, students don’t have hard deadlines. They will always be given more time to complete things. I agree with this in theory, but it has compounded into a complete lack of urgency. Tasks that used to take half a period now take a period and a half.

2. Their third grade year was online.
3. The 8th grade team has been fighting for the past 3 years against a district imposed curriculum that focuses on short stories and excerpts with maybe 1 book a year. We’ve been refusing to comply, but we all have tenure.

A couple points of context:
1. I teach in an affluent district where most of my students are middle and upper middle class. They are often the children of recent immigrants in the tech and medical fields. They have been read to, been in tutoring since forever, and their parents support education.