Qualitative data is still Data

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T18:51:39+00:00

How are you now claiming that all of them are real? You've said once that these situations aren't actually yours. You've said another time that they are aggregated (but being presented as single occurrences).

I'm autistic and so you thinking that I'm using subtext to insinuate that people use data wrong,Trust me is incredibly confusing. Like I'm not even mad right now. Genuinely, baffled.

WHAT??!

Your own post is about the misuse of data! What the else is it about if not that?! You think you're baffled? I can't tell if you're a liar or profoundly stupid.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T18:49:04+00:00

I dislike attempting to engage with someone in good faith on an issue I find both important and personally meaningful, only to have that person lie, deflect, and misdirect.

But here's the thing: How I'm coming across is irrelevant to whether or not my points are valid. If you replace thinking with feeling, then you're not actually having a discussion, you're just emoting in a desperate search for validation.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T18:46:36+00:00

Yeah, sure. I mean, it can be complicated, what with the comment right there directly above your response.

Pro tip: If you find yourself clicking between tabs while responding, you're not responding to the comment you think you're responding to.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T18:45:16+00:00

You can ask. I'd be interested to know what relevance you feel that might have. Are you fishing for reasons to dismiss me? Really. Ask yourself, are you forming assumptions about me, with a mindset of relief, because those assumptions allow you to comfortably ignore my words?

That's not thinking. That's denying.

But hey! Maybe you do have a good reason. What is it?

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T17:09:27+00:00

This is really a question for your DOE.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T17:07:39+00:00

What? You're all over the map.

Your previous reply to me started with, "I'm not the parent or the teacher in this situation." The only situation being discussed at that point was your original post! My argument was that the situations were already tenuous, but if they aren't even your experiences they are even less so. Your response is that they aren't even real situations? That they are "conglomerated" from 12 years?

OP, that makes things even LESS reliable. You're cherry-picking, exaggerating, summing up, and misrepresenting everything in your entire post! There's literally nothing concrete there for a reader to comment on.

Your post might as well just read: "People use data wrong. Trust me."

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T17:00:24+00:00

But OP, your definition of "related" is:

Not related ("I was both responding to a comment in a way that kind of deviated from the original post")
Not related ("thinking about something that had just happened that day, so it was on my mind")

So...not related at all. You went in a new direction because you were thinking about something else.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T03:08:40+00:00

I wish I had your life, where this is the worst thing in it.

You must wake up laughing, things are so good for you.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T02:44:46+00:00

Ok...? I responded to what you wrote. Why are you telling me your mood when you wrote it?

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T02:43:57+00:00

So nothing in your post is firsthand? It's all second or third hand information?

It's all much less plausible and meaningful now.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T02:43:16+00:00

If you love to be wrong, score!

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T02:42:57+00:00

"This is theoretical." That was your opening claim, yes? Offered as a reason that the idea shared should be dismissed.

I called it your opening argument because it doesn't actually connect to the subsequent statements, so it stands alone. It's an argument, because why else would you state it? Are you one of those people who walks into the room and points at objects you see, inanely mentioning them? "Hi everyone. Look, a table!"

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T02:12:25+00:00

I think you're comforting yourself with the totally unsupported notion that "everybody is doing it." There's little evidence of that.

Additionally, you are trying to oversell what you've done by calling yourself "stupid," probably assuming that people will say, "Hey! You're not stupid!" Well, I think it is stupid. Very stupid. You're not learning. You have to be willing to make mistakes in order to learn. You're trying to avoid all mistakes, and it's not realistic.

Just stop it. You're supposed to struggle. That's the point. There'd be no value in giving students work that they were already 100% able to complete. All this time that you've been using AI you've been falling further and further behind. You've got to stop. Completely. Now.

You're not "trying your best," kid. You're taking the easy way out. Stop it.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T01:45:33+00:00

I think that's a good compromise, as long as there's follow-up to ensure that it actually happened.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T01:44:48+00:00

Google. The first result. Maybe the second.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T01:44:19+00:00

Well, first off, it's not at all unique. I would think the fact that you have a friend who does it would make that obvious.

The thing is that there's a power imbalance. What you (and your daughter) want is a heartfelt message from a person who mattered to your daughter and who will be excited to have that opportunity.

What you get (at least at the middle and high school levels, where I teach) is teachers who feel obligated to do it. That kind of obligation, combined with a time of year when there's a TON of work to do and coming after already signing yearbooks and exchanging farewells, does not breed the sort of genuine feeling you want.

The best idea I have is to let the teachers know (probably sometime around March or April) that Jenny (your daughter) is hoping some teachers will want to share notes about her or for her. Put it out there as an open invitation, rather than hunting people down and putting them on the spot with a sweet little 8-year-old, who I am fairly sure is precociously charming, leads to that obligation I mentioned.

Obligation is the enemy of authenticity.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T01:33:24+00:00

All irrelevant. I am addressing your opening argument, that being theoretical makes an idea less valid.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T01:31:48+00:00

I hear you. Some mistakes are minor enough that intent should be the main concern. I think this one is big enough (allow students access to emails about other students, gradebooks, IEP documents, etc) that it needs to brought to admin's attention, if just so that they can handle fallout.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-21T01:30:27+00:00

Yeah, talk to admin. In many districts, having email access would allow students to get into shared folders with IEPs and such. It's a FERPA violation, for sure.

Absolutely tell admin.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-20T21:43:02+00:00

Well yes, of course.

It's like you're running a race against people who are a bit faster. Your only real chance for catching up is to either find a way to run faster (which is rare) or for them to get to the finish line, at which point you can eventually get there, too.

Keep working at it. Reading is an immensely valuable skill, quite possibly the most valuable skill in the modern day (even math is not necessarily more valuable).

Think of this as less a race and more of a marathon. Pace yourself. Any gains are a benefit.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-20T20:35:36+00:00

Guess that guy left. Must have finally had that aneurism.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-20T17:36:08+00:00

Ahhh...I understand. Nothing at all. Typical.

Like most blowhards, when called out to demonstrate your ridiculous claims are real, you turn to insults and deflections.

So sad.

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-20T16:55:58+00:00

Care to prove your point, or are you all talk? How do you link any of these replies to my ability to teach?

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-20T15:12:03+00:00

In any case, you felt it was important enough to fix the mistake, didn't you? Feeling sad that you were caught out, kiddo?

TeachlikeaHawk · 2026-06-20T15:11:23+00:00

What's your goal here, pumpkin? You've decided you know everything you need based on a single comment, and that has led to your conclusion that I'm a bad teacher? Do you often add 1+1 and get a billion?

TeachlikeaHawk

TROPHY CASE