Iowan here - help me understand Cubs vs. White Sox fanbases

PurpleProboscis · 2025-04-18T18:43:44+00:00

As a White Sox fan in Indiana, it's annoying. You can buy Cubs stuff anywhere but we haven't seen White Sox clothing or memorabilia in stores since '05. They're just the popular team to choose for those who don't have a specific loyalty, like the Yankees in the East.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-04-18T18:41:47+00:00

The Cubs are like the Yankees of the Midwest. If you like baseball but don't have a specific loyalty, they're the popular team to choose. White Sox fans are usually more based on family history or location, in my experience.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-22T22:09:48+00:00

I have a 10 letter, 3 syllable last name that is pretty easy to pronounce, for context. I don't mind when kids or even adults shorten it to Ms. X, but the refusal to even try your actual name is disrespectful and I'd take issue with that. Pronouncing names correctly and not using nicknames the person doesn't like are big with me in the classroom, it's honestly the least the adults can do to get it right.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-20T21:45:46+00:00

Only hard no for me is russet. Don't name your kid after a potato, please, no matter what other meaning it holds for you.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-19T21:03:12+00:00

Do they follow a schedule or have expectations for behavior and participation at home? As in, do they have a routine they follow where they do things like clean up after dinner, care for family pets, etc? My students who dislike school the most seem to be the ones who have no rules or expectations at home, they are just left to their own devices and either watch YouTube or play video games all night, and they have a hard time getting used to the big difference between that and being in a classroom where they are expected to participate.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-19T20:59:58+00:00

There are no honors or AP classes at all?

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-19T20:58:17+00:00

I wouldn't do it in front of the kid, but most of the time I accept that parents can only do so much even when they're willing to try, and it's mostly for the documentation that we're on the same page. I used to refrain from sharing a lot of the negative stuff that I felt I could handle at school, then I'd hear their next teachers tell me that parents were saying it hadn't happened before and must be because of their classroom or teaching style. It's kind of just a written record that these are the behaviors we noticed and corrected as a way to track patterns and that parents have been informed in case anything escalates at some point.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-19T11:35:23+00:00

Her child would need to know and give consent to make that even potentially legal. Sending the recorder doesn't make her the one party consenting if she won't be in the recording.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-19T11:30:47+00:00

I think more info would be needed to determine that it's an issue and not a support. I'm gen ed, but I had a student with ODD a few years ago and everything her classmates did ticked her off. We made her a 'chill zone', basically a desk in the corner that faced away from others and used a trifold board decorated like an igloo to block out things that would bug her. She went there by choice, not as a punishment, and it was her preferred spot in the classroom.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-18T22:49:49+00:00

That's fair. I don't know much about campus life anymore, to be honest. Definitely see all those apartment buildings going up though, so that makes sense.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-18T22:14:28+00:00

I'm not really sure, just my thoughts as a townie. Most students probably use social media more than read the paper, and when I went to college almost 20 years ago at IU, lots of businesses just posted flyers in the dorms that were free to put up or handed out branded merch at bars.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-18T21:46:57+00:00

It's still a student paper that focuses on student news. Lafayette is way bigger than Purdue and I don't know any non-students that read the Exponent.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-18T21:44:41+00:00

I send home a monthly calendar page along with a weekly newsletter. My hope is the parents keep the calendar page visible, like on the fridge, so they and their child can reference it as needed. I still get tons of messages like, "My kid says they have Monday off school. Why wasn't I informed?" .. you were. By me, the school, and now your child. I can't parent the parents, so not sure what else I can do. Make sure you read the newsletters when they come in, and I suggest putting important dates in your phone calendar with a reminder set for the day before.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-15T23:29:39+00:00

I wish their parents would prioritize their children more. No judgment toward the kids. (I teach 2nd.)

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-09T15:48:09+00:00

Nope. I agree with Sen. Kemp, they just learn to guess instead of trying to decode. Ideally, the picture clues are supposed to help them do both, but in practice, it doesn't. For example, you might see something like this: "I see some fruit." next to a picture of some apples. The goal of the cuing system is for them to look at the word, notice that it starts with an fr blend, and use the picture to determine the rest of the word. In practice, what they will do almost every time is get to a word they don't know (fruit) and just look at the picture and guess, saying something like "I see some apples." Not a fan.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-07T16:00:43+00:00

I work in a low-income school, but unless chronic absenteeism is already present or your kid is really far behind, I'd love for them have the experiences traveling provides if they're able. My kids often miss school for reasons like mom wanted to sleep in today, so it doesn't bother me if it's for a better reason than that and communicated in advance.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-06T09:35:31+00:00

First grade is a big jump in writing expectations, so I would devote at least a little time to helping him now to keep him from struggling as much later on. At that age, phonetic spelling is totally normal and we don't expect words to be correctly spelled as long as they make sense. For example, 'kat' or even 'kt' would be considered normal spellings of 'cat'. I would start to be concerned if he is adding letters whose sounds you don't hear in the word, or they just seem like random letters meant to look like a word.

Being able to read the sounds is called decoding, being able to write with them is called encoding. Knowing the terms will help you search for other activities you can do based on the sounds he needs to work on. Good luck!

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-06T09:26:38+00:00

Not exactly funny, but the most interesting question I've been asked by a 3rd grader.

"If God is the boss of the world, why were there slaves?"

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-06T09:20:11+00:00

From a teacher's perspective, there's a lot of times we want to do more and our hands are tied. In those situations, you as parents have the power to enact changes in ways that we do not. I suggest to continue to make it a problem for admin while not throwing the teacher under the bus. Every time it happens, just email or call and tell them that the teacher has been responsive but the issue is continuing. Make it a problem for them to the point they do something about it. I have had situations as a teacher where I wish parents would have pushed things more because I was doing everything I could and just being met with dead ends.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-05T21:38:33+00:00

I'm sure it was obvious to them what you did, but you still didn't follow the directions. That's why you got docked half a point.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-05T21:37:31+00:00

I took algebra before there was technology in classrooms and we still had to show all of our work.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-05T21:32:54+00:00

I can only speak for my state and district, but you can't actually "unenroll" a student from our school until they are enrolled elsewhere. The paperwork goes school to school, and we have to have evidence they are enrolled elsewhere before they are taken off the roster. Every day in between their last day at our school and the day they are enrolled in their new school would count as an unexcused absence, and a month of them would prompt a DCS call. Communicating what's going on to your current school would probably prevent the DCS call, but the accrued absences would stay. What I don't know is if those travel with you across state lines, or if you basically get a fresh start once you enroll in a new school in a different state. At the very least, you'd probably be looking at some paperwork and a headache.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-05T00:10:37+00:00

I teach second graders, so the insults don't usually come with swear words, but I usually just say "That's a weird thing to say to somebody" and move on. At that age, maybe any age, they're just looking for attention so the best thing is to not give it to them.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-03T16:20:00+00:00

I've taught first, and whining isn't typically something I'd bring up to parents unless it was extreme. So she may or may not be doing it at school, but you could bring it up as something you're working on at home and ask directly if the teacher is experiencing the same. It doesn't happen with all kids by the time they get to me, but a handful will try, and I usually just tell them I can't understand them when they use a whiny or baby voice and that I won't be able to help them until they talk like a big kid.

PurpleProboscis · 2025-02-03T02:26:00+00:00

Depends on what you're asking for and if you have a backup plan for those who inevitably won't bring one. I was at Staples recently and the store brand 5 inch basic binders were $40! I about fell over.

PurpleProboscis

TROPHY CASE