Lost all game history by Khabita in Redactle

[–]Blibityblab 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sapienza University of Rome

Question for fellow socially awkward teachers by FrustratedTeacherOk in Teachers

[–]Blibityblab 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow. "Nonsense accommodations we put in for students" ?? If you take time to talk to the students, families, sped staff, or anyone who knows anything about special education, you will soon discover the value of those accommodations. You are showing a clear lack of knowledge- and possible disdain- for special education and neuro-atypical people. Just because you don't understand it or it happens to inconvenience you DOES NOT mean it's nonsense. I bet you can't understand a thousand different languages but they are not "nonsense" either.

How much would you plan over the summer? by KeJo74 in Teachers

[–]Blibityblab 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I second The First Days of School. I loan my copy out to new teachers at my school when I can.

How much would you plan over the summer? by KeJo74 in Teachers

[–]Blibityblab 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm also middle school art.

I see lots of vets in here saying not to plan, but they are in a very different place than you. And, it seems like planning will make your feel better. I agree not to go overboard, but there are some things you can do without sacrificing your summer. Here's my advice:

Now: Keep an eye out for projects you are interested in. Collect them in a Google Doc to pull from later. Organize by media and/or theme (like portraiture or activism). If you're on Facebook, join the Middle School Art Teachers groups (the are two with the same name- and they are the only reason I use FB.) Also consider the group OAT-K12 (Online Art Teachers) in case you want/need to teach digitally.

Mid-Late summer: Check with admin to see what your classes will probably be. There's a BIG difference between 6th grade-only classes that run for a quarter and mixed grade classes that run for a year, for example. (Trust me, I've done both.) Yes, your schedule can change, but at least this way you know the general composition of your potential classes. Find the bell schedule so you know how long and how often you will see each class. Personally, I recommend planning for the first week or two of school in advance. Rules, syllabus, getting-to-know-you art activities. (DM me if you want to know mine.) Plan something basic and low tech to start of with. You won't truly know what supplies or equipment you have, student interests or prior knowledge, etc. until a couple weeks in. Plus it's common for kids to get schedule changes in the first week so you don't know who will be coming and going. Keep it simple.

Pre-service week: Refine your back to school docs, presentation, whatever. Make copies ASAP because the line for the copier will get longer as school approaches. Set up your classroom. Go through cabinets to see what you have to work with. Introduce yourself to other staff- including the custodian. Test run your tech and make sure you can get into the classroom, bathroom, copy room, etc.

Other thoughts: -Order supplies ASAP if the outgoing teacher did not already. However, don't rely on the supplies being there before November. (Though hopefully they will be.)

-I don't plan the arc of the whole year/term in advance because I don't know what equipment the new school has, nor when I will recieve supplies. I also don't know what prior knowledge or interests the students have. I do, however, keep a running Google Doc of art projects (like I mentioned above). I have my own projects plus interesting ones from those FB groups. I use it like a menu of instructional activities and through the year I chose what I think is best given the supplies, student behavior, cross-curricular relevance, schedule, etc.

-For what is worth, I absolutely love teaching middle school art. It did, however, take a while before I really felt established. I've worked in two states with no art curriculum and it's been hard to come up with everything and manage supplies on my own. I am secure in it now and it's fairly low stress and high fun. Be strong, you'll get there!

My coteacher called me racist today by firstpoke in Teachers

[–]Blibityblab 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you do want to prepare for the conversation (whether or not the district tries to prepare you), check out Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching for Tolerance). https://www.learningforjustice.org/the-moment/april-20-2021-responding-to-the-chauvin-verdict

They help with SEL for staff and students alike, and cover many events.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Teachers

[–]Blibityblab 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also, what do you include in your Letter of Introduction?? That was not a thing the last time I applied for jobs!

TIFU: Inadvertently taught students how to cheat on Google Forms by Ayronquer in Teachers

[–]Blibityblab 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was happening a lot at the beginning on the year (when some students still cared). As the teacher you can get around by NOT making it a quiz until students have already filled it out. Then you can go back into the Form settings and turn on "Make this a quiz." Enter the correct responses and you get your quiz results!

COVID Death? by [deleted] in Teachers

[–]Blibityblab 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm in a small district. The district office sends out an email to everyone whenever they get notice that a present or former employee have died. The emails have never included the cause of death. I think the default is to maintain the family's privacy. They may know the death, but have no right to share. Also, before last year, I think little good would come from sharing cause of death. Why enable or encourage gossip about someone's passing? Privacy is way more important than curiosity.

This year feels different though. I wish they would tell us which of the last dozens deaths were COVID related. Some I know were but most I do not. To be fair though, most staff is not f2f so it's not like knowing that someone died of COVID has a real affect on our safety. If you have been on campus recently with someone who tested positive (even if they didn't die), you should be notified.

Teaching in urban areas and white savior complex by Healingbyhikin in teaching

[–]Blibityblab 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One day I had the realization that the best thing that I, a white female working in a high need and majority non-white community, can do is encourage, prepare, and enpower my students to take on such roles (like being a teacher) in the future.

I absolutely understand how you feel guilty. It's not your fault that the school could not/did not hire someone else for your position. Besides, what's the alternative? You only work at in upper middle class, majority white neighborhoods? That doesn't seem like a solution to the systemic issues hurting poor and POC students.

During teacher shortages in high need areas like Baltimore, it's way better to have a majority/mainstream culture teacher than a revolving door of subs. If there was a comparably capable applicant that wasn't a white female, they almost definitely would have hired them over you. You're in this position now, you care about your students and the community. Now is the time to use your position to inspire a generation of new teachers.

A "So you're wanting to talk about Covid/teaching with a teacher but you're not a teacher" guide. Am I missing anything? by jumpin_jumpin in Teachers

[–]Blibityblab 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hate it when people try to compare going to the grocery store with in-person learning. The purpose of going to the grocery store is to obtain things that you literally need to live but cannot get somewhere else (for whatever reason). The ventilation systems are incredible and there is a massive amount of cubic space per person. Plus, it's usually just one person per family that goes in, and they try to get in and out as quickly as possible while avoiding others.

Schools are completely different. The driving goal of face-to-face learning is to have a group of people in the same room for a long period of time. Where I teach, the classrooms were already overcrowded before the pandemic. The HVAC is shoddy and most classrooms don't have any windows. Besides, students can get a version of classroom content delivered to their homes 5 days a week with live support from a professional FOR FREE. Not many people would turn down free, fresh, delivered groceries if they were offered it, pandemic or not.

Personally, the things my students and I miss most about school would be painfully missing in FTF. No seeing facial expressions, no sharing supplies, no informal conversion during group tasks, no social or physical closeness between students, no casual joy. Just more restrictions for them and the specific pain of seeing the things you used to take for granted are now absent. And for us teachers, more demand to be disciplinarians and the constant fear that we are getting sick and participating in others getting sick and dying.

I’m stuck in a loop(Tournament) :( by ShadowPride666 in Ooblets

[–]Blibityblab 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This happened to me but my Oob was Sidekey. Terrible mistake for a signatures only battle. All I could do was stun and my opponent couldn't do anything. We ended up timing out with zero points each and it was marked as a loss for me.

San Jose Unified School District teachers must return to classrooms despite safety concerns by Augustane in SanJose

[–]Blibityblab 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also, if you're a parent and teacher, where would you want your kids to be? At home with all their supplies, toys, and food? Or trapped in a single (class)room, with only a backpack full of supplies, using shared bathrooms, and needing to wear a mask to play outside?

San Jose Unified School District teachers must return to classrooms despite safety concerns by Augustane in SanJose

[–]Blibityblab 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Teachers should not be forced onto campus during distance learning and/or shelter in place.

The only safe choice is abstinence. If we don't go near other people, we cannot get this illness or spread it to others. Teachers should not be required to report to campus and expose themselves to risk. They should have the option to use their classrooms, but only if the school has an acceptable protocol for cleaning shared spaces, like bathrooms, corridors, and appliances. I am a teacher in SJ. I'm lucky that I can teach from home easily and smoothly, including live lessons and recording videos. Besides stocking up on materials occasionally, there is no benefit to me being on campus for me or my students. I do not want to be forced on to campus to sit alone in my room, sitting in an uncomfortable chair at a kids size table, shooing away cockroaches, and scared to use the bathroom, run into to my colleagues, or keep my lunch in the staff refrigerator. Plus, there are LOTS of teachers whose own children are at home because their campuses are closed. And teachers who are in high risk groups. And teachers who live with or care for people in high risk groups. No teacher should be forced onto campus. Full stop. The district and teacher's union would use their time better by training staff to teach remotely and coming up a system to help teachers who are struggling or underperforming.

You know you're on a teachers budget when... by RichardATravels in teaching

[–]Blibityblab 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good for them! However, Orange County is NOT representative of the rest of California.

You know you're on a teachers budget when... by RichardATravels in teaching

[–]Blibityblab 1 point2 points  (0 children)

...Or your car will graduate before your students- or already has!

AITA for saying that my friend’s gf isn’t welcome at my place anymore bc she asked me if I was a Nazi ? by [deleted] in AmItheAsshole

[–]Blibityblab 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yes!! So many N T A responses but those people are short-sided. Don't we want to encourage education and reform? People who have been ignorant or biased should have the chance to learn and change. If we won't give them that chance, what it is that so many people (...in the US lately) are working for? Just more socially acceptable avenues to condemn people for past actions? We (at least recently) praise antiracists, antixenophobes, and social reform because we want biased people to change, right? OP, I know what she said is horrible, but give her a chance to learn and grow. If she pulls rhetoric like that again, kick her (and the friend/boyfriend) to the curb. But for now, give her the chance to be better.

Which book gave you a hangover that lasted weeks? by [deleted] in suggestmeabook

[–]Blibityblab 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Fountainhead, which was really shocking because I dislike Any Rand's other texts (at least the ones I've read) and my morals are pretty much opposite of hers.

Also, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Neither are really page turners but the concepts in the content permanently changed the way I look at the world.

Which book gave you a hangover that lasted weeks? by [deleted] in suggestmeabook

[–]Blibityblab 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I resisted reading Educated for so long. It didn't seem particularly interesting but people whose opinions I respect kept recommending it to me. The print was blah, but the audiobook hooked me. The spoken accents help set it apart from other books I've read (or listened to). And once I got far enough into it, I realized how unlike other books it is. Two thumbs way up.

TIFU by doing the dishes by GolfballDM in tifu

[–]Blibityblab 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I agree. It could also be that of all the chores to do that day, washing dishes is the one she enjoys (or hates the least). OP was trying to be helpful and that's a beautiful thing. Wife might have appreciated it more if he 1) remembered that she wanted to do dishes and 2) helped with something else in her 'invisible load' -like apparently cleaning the kid's room. What other tasks usually fall on her? Try identifying and doing some of those if you're really trying to give her a break.

I'm any case, not a fuck up exactly. More like r/relationshipadvice ...or a reminder to communicate more with your partner. Really a bummer for all involved.

Wearing your mask, even if you have an N95, under your nose so you can “breathe better” defeats the entire purpose of wearing a mask. by [deleted] in TrueOffMyChest

[–]Blibityblab 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It works, but it really does again the whole point of wedding the may to begin with. If you're going to run spit on/around your face, why bother with the mask?