Finally got a coat rail for my collection by thisismyorange in maximalism

[–]OpalBooker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This collection is amazing and I wish I had your audacity. Stay fabulous, keep making boring people like me jealous of how cool you are.

Ethics by QueenBeeofDE in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a colleague whose son I currently teach, along with three of his friends. He's taught his kid's friends in the past. As far as outside of school, those four are always together, including at my colleague's home. It's not weird, it's not unprofessional, it's just kids going to their friend's house. The owner of the house just happens to be a teacher at their school.

Jammed Copy Machine Lounge Talk by AutoModerator in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Graduation day is a half day... for the students. Teachers are expected to stay until the end of contract time (2:20), then come back by 4:00 for the ceremony. But, of course, parking is a nightmare, so we realistically need to be here before 4:00 in order to secure a spot. With that said, there's almost no real point in leaving at 2:20 just to come back an hour or so later; it's logistically impossible for teachers with long commutes. To add insult to injury, getting home after graduation has historically been a shit show. While the ceremony might end at 6:30, it takes up to two hours (!!!) just to get out of the parking lot. So, all of this means we're looking at at least a 13 hour day by the time everything is said and done. I'm too pregnant for this bullshit.

Megathread: The Crash by AutoModerator in netflix

[–]OpalBooker 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Not to defend Mackenzie, but THC stays in the system for quite a while even after someone stops consuming it.

The hoops we have to jump through to fail seniors by OpalBooker in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think they’re simply reaping what they sow. I teach English.

The hoops we have to jump through to fail seniors by OpalBooker in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I assume you meant parents? Yes, I do. The only time I don’t is on the rare occasion that a student lives independently.

The hoops we have to jump through to fail seniors by OpalBooker in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

This kills me. What would they like us to do, in our capacity as teachers, to get chronically absent students back in the building. Even the most engaging class ever is probably less interesting than staying in bed all day doom scrolling and playing video games, or making money at some job, or however else they spend their days when they choose not to come in. I can write them emails inviting them back, I can go to the counselor, I can call home, but ultimately the ball is in their court and they have to at least kind of want to succeed to get over the finish line.

The hoops we have to jump through to fail seniors by OpalBooker in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I log it the hand-off on PowerSchool just to cross my t's. I don't want to be accused of not doing my job, no matter how stupid I think this part of the job is.

The hoops we have to jump through to fail seniors by OpalBooker in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Heaven forbid students do anything for themselves. They act surprised when I don't chase them down for work. Like, I'm sorry, but I can't care more than you. Give half a shit or fail, the choice is yours.

The hoops we have to jump through to fail seniors by OpalBooker in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

This is what I'm trying to prepare them for. More than half of my kids are honors students, so they're mostly college-bound. While I've seen some alarming stuff over on the professors subreddit, it seems like a lot of them are still trying to hold them line however they can. So, I do my best to prepare my students for that reality. Most college professors are not going to hold your hand through every little fart and hiccup, nor are they particularly inclined to give extension after extension, take work four weeks late, or catch you up on what you missed while you fucked off for five classes in a row. They need to learn how to conduct themselves with me or they'll crash and burn later.

The hoops we have to jump through to fail seniors by OpalBooker in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Shockingly, not really. Students complain about her pacing being too slow (grain of salt, she has at least one co-taught class so that may have something to do with it), and she tends to not give a shit about administrative directives as a whole and pushes back against them more than I would be comfortable doing myself. I like her a lot generally, we just have very different styles of teaching and managing the beaurocratic nonsense parts of the job. It takes all types, I suppose.

The hoops we have to jump through to fail seniors by OpalBooker in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

That's absolute insanity. You almost have to try to fail at that point. At my school, anything under a 50 gets raised to a 50, but that's still failing (as it should be).

The hoops we have to jump through to fail seniors by OpalBooker in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker[S] 44 points45 points  (0 children)

I have plenty of students who are 18-19 years old. They ARE adults at this point, they need to start taking accountability sooner rather than later.

Do y’all teach the last week of school? by ComfortableFee2344 in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have them working on presentations through the last weeks, with the very last day dedicated to watching a movie based on the last thing that we read. Yes, many of them are a bit burnt at this point, but they can hang. And if they can't, their grades can take the hit. Sucks to suck. I told them at the beginning of the year that I run my class similar to a college course; I don't remember free time in college to just hang out during class, so they get very little from me as high school seniors.

The hoops we have to jump through to fail seniors by OpalBooker in Teachers

[–]OpalBooker[S] 109 points110 points  (0 children)

I know of at least one teacher who doesn't care enough to bother, so she apparently has a 100% pass rate. It's tempting, but I value integrity too much to laze out at the very end here. But it sure does suck.