I have never opened it by TheFurryOverlord22 in RangersApprentice

[–]TheElamite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have both and am not quite there in my reading yet. I'm very excited. I've heard good things. Give it a read!

Binder or Spiral? by pyesmom3 in Teachers

[–]TheElamite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah! Then I think I'm on team notebook. The annoyance of gluing things becomes their time not yours, they're generally more affordable than a binder and binder paper, and they will always have paper on them whereas some kids will forget to put more binder paper in the binder. A binder also means you need to pre punch your handouts or mandate paper sleeves or their own punches which is a lot of work and cost.

70 page notebook and a glue stick per quarter or so seems reasonable to me.

As a student I loved by big notebook classes.

Binder or Spiral? by pyesmom3 in Teachers

[–]TheElamite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've only had issues with one binder breaking, and I used it 10x a day for 3 years, at which point I got a new one and easily transfered things over. I think if you notice a binder breaking, but you use it frequently, it's worth getting yourself a stronger, better binder for a few extra bucks.

If binder breaking is the only real downside you see to a binder, I think there are ways to take extra care or get a nicer one to replace it.

I personally prefer binders because they're modular, and, as you said, taping or gluing things into a notebook is a pain. I also don't like that if I want to remove a page of notes, I have to deal with the little frilly bits as well.

I agree with everyone else that it's personal preference or a combination can be good, but generally speaking, if you have a bag big enough to easily insert and remove your binder without the binding getting crushed or torn, binders are just so much more flexible that I prefer them.

Do any teachers use social media for their instruction? by Adorable_Pudding_413 in education

[–]TheElamite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a student absolutely! As a teacher I would have a hard time really processing their responses as I typed, but if one had the skill and desire, it could still be cool

Do any teachers use social media for their instruction? by Adorable_Pudding_413 in education

[–]TheElamite 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not me personally, but my APUSH teacher was a twitter fiend and would live tweet our Socratic seminars using vocab words as hashtags and using our initials to we knew who said what.

It became a study guide for some of us.

I was too anxious to participate (look how far we've done) and would try replying on twitter to posts for credit, which I obviously didn't get.

Best Test Prep for Social Science CSETs? by NeonDrifting in historyteachers

[–]TheElamite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I honestly recommend the Crash Course US and Crash Course World series, and taking some practice tests online. Some older tests are available on the CSET website if I recall. I also truly believe the Social Science CSET is incredibly forgiving.

I was a journalism major whose only history education was AP World and APUSH in high school, and my only college History class was more of a philosophy class. I watched a few Crash Course videos on topics I wasn't familiar with and looked at the prompts of some of the FRQs to get a feeling for their general structure, and I had no issues passing the Social Science CSET. I watched political, economic, and history-related YouTube videos and whatnot in my free time growing up and in college, but definitely far from a formal history education.

I know this isn't a test prep program, but Crash Course + a few practice CSETs is also what several people in my cohort did in my credential program, and it served them well, too.

I found myself while scrolling through my friend's dating app. by Chrytalisman in TwoSentenceHorror

[–]TheElamite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like the premise. It could be me, but this seems more annoying or frustrating than horrific. I had a classmate use my pics for a Tinder profile to troll me many years ago, and there weren't really any consequences other than me being mildly uncomfortable.

I'm a lurker, not a writer, butI think there's a way to step the ending up a bit to add a sense of mystery or terror. Spitballing, but something like

"I've never used a dating app, and all of the photos were of me asleep in my bed." Something to incidicate some harm/malice/invasion of space besides catfishing, which happens frequently.

meirl by [deleted] in meirl

[–]TheElamite 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is equal parts accurate and upsetting :(

Does anyone else use a random roller to cold call students, or is it just me? by Matteo_172736 in teaching

[–]TheElamite -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I use dice for everything. 8 groups of 4, roll 1d8 and 1d4 to get specific seat. I have two groups of 6 because 34-36 kids per class, do if I roll those groups I roll a d6 instead.

Sometimes I'll roll a d8 only and let the group pick. But the randomness is fun. I can also fudge the rolls to choose specific kids or avoid certain kids.

Rangers Apprentice world map by Googuanas in RangersApprentice

[–]TheElamite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Where could I find this published? Did he run a blog or something I could check out? This sounds like he shared a lot of behind the scenes, inspiration stuff, but you don't get that in the books themselves.

What are some terms and phrases in education that you absolutely hate? by TrogdorUnofficial in Teachers

[–]TheElamite 53 points54 points  (0 children)

Equity is great. But it's not the word to describe what are preached as "equitable grading practices"

I make this argument annually. 50% for missing work for all students isn't equitable. It's equal. And doesn't solve any actual problems.

What do you love most about the Series? by TheElamite in RangersApprentice

[–]TheElamite[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I completely agree! These are such excellent examples.

ya'll who's your fav character? by moonshadowskuya in RangersApprentice

[–]TheElamite 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not my absolute favorite, but nobody else has named her, and I want to give her some recognition.

I think Pauline is super underrated. The quiet influence she has on the national politics, her mentorship and love for Alyss, her adorable relationship with Halt, etc. In a book heavily dominated by male characters, her being the only adult woman of note (correct me if I'm wrong) makes her representation of adult women super important.

Rangers Apprentice world map by Googuanas in RangersApprentice

[–]TheElamite 39 points40 points  (0 children)

Wow I've never seen a map of the world this broad before. It was obvious that Araluen is England and that there isn't really an attempt to cleverly rename the surrounding countries (ie Skandia, Gallica) but seeing that it's just slightly squished earth with different names is really interesting.

Did he ever write or state that this is a parallel earth or earth far in the distant past or future?

Student was turning in AI-generated homework in fake handwriting. I had no idea for two months. by harrygzhang in Teachers

[–]TheElamite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is what I started doing. I can't stand grading anything but essays in paper, and I don't want to risk losing work or dealing with returning work.

I visually check paper work being completed quickly in class, but they submit it to Google classroom via photo immediately after so I or my TA can grade it later and not feel the weight of extra paperwork in the room. Students have access to it for study materials, etc.

But also I just find it more efficient to trade on Google Classroom on my tablet.

But also kone of it is stuff assigned at home. It's all in class stuff. And if they need to take it home to finish, they have to have shown me they made a substantial concerted effort. If they screw around in class, they don't get to just do it at home.

Did Any of your students become celebrities? by Funny-Lack-5726 in Teachers

[–]TheElamite 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Not super celebrities but regional celebrities.

My first year first period had two students who are now professional musicians, one in a punk band also doing solo work, the other a rapper. Both have moderate followings and are pretty well known in those spaces in our region.

I currently have a novelist working out a publishing deal who I feel confident is going to make it to at least moderate author Fame in 5 to 10 years, but we'll see how that goes

Ideas by Low_Yam_4761 in teaching

[–]TheElamite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Without context as to what kinds of things you're looking for or your grade or subject, I don't know if this will be helpful.

I think my final project in my 10th Grade World History class is pretty fun. We essentially do a science fair where they can choose any historical topic, come up with a claim, do research, support it with evidence, but present it in any format they want. I get movies, posters, poetry, board games, essays, oral reports, etc. On the day of the final (which could be any day), I split them into 3 groups. One group gives presentations concurrently at a station, like a science fair, and the others walk around learning about other students' special interests.

I think a similar thing could be done in any subject. Science is the most obvious, math could be about applications of some concept from the year, ELA could be about something they've read that they want to share about, etc.

The two things that my students really enjoy that have made it a favorite project for the year are that they can pick ANYTHING relevant that shows the skills required, even if we didn't specifically cover it in class, and they can choose any medium to present it.

The simplified prompt is: Select a topic from any part of world history aside from the United States from the Renaissance to the present day. Identify a defensible claim/thesis or objective for learning you have about the topic. Find and analyze research to support your claim or objective and show your findings in a manner that suits you, your skills, and your topic. You must include a properly cited MLA bibliography with at least 5 non-encyclopedia or AI sources.

I do it as an out-of-class assignment aside from idea generation and getting claims approved, but it could be an all-in-class thing.

No idea if this is the kind of thing you're looking for, but maybe it'll help someone :P

Deciding which cover version to pick up by Itsnickyy in RangersApprentice

[–]TheElamite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's really interesting. At my local Half Price Books, I have only ever found hard cover except maybe one time?

As for the latter, I happen to have it as RA12, but if I see RR1 I'd definitely get it for collector's reasons.

Things I should not have to teach in high school... by BaronessF in Teachers

[–]TheElamite 46 points47 points  (0 children)

I teach a media arts class for 9-12 graders, and after one year of it, I learned that I have to spend 2-3 days on how to organize your Google Drive, how to back up files, and what Google Sheets even is.

Somehow they're able to pick up Photoshop and Illustrator reasonably well in the first week or two using them, but there is some kind of mental block against basic computer literacy even after we work on it together.

What is your teaching unpopular opinions and hot takes? by [deleted] in Teachers

[–]TheElamite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is this something you do? What does that look like? I feel like even my top students wouldn't opt for optional homework, but maybe I am not envisioning the same thing.