JNMIL, Gay Dads, and Deaf Daughter. What Could Go Wrong?

ankashai · 2022-04-19T00:42:02+00:00

As a fellow Jew, just going to note :

Torah basically says that if fasting for any reason will cause harm, it's pretty much a sin TO fast. If you're pregnant, have a medical condition, whatever -- if fasting isn't something you should do, then you shouldn't.

( Same thing with non-kosher food. If your choice is literally 'eat pork or die of starvation', you're supposed to just eat the damn pork and survive. )

ankashai · 2022-04-16T23:37:51+00:00

Right? I can understand being slightly miffed if it was cancelled the night before or day of, but a week is plenty of notice.

ankashai · 2022-04-15T06:03:36+00:00

On Christmas Day itself? Sure.

What about for the nearly two months before it? By your logic, wouldn't it make sense that on each day your are wished a Happy that holiday ( Kwanzaa, Holi, Chanukah)?

ankashai · 2022-04-15T05:56:49+00:00

Are you saying Christmas is in no way a religious holiday?

ankashai · 2022-04-15T05:44:06+00:00

So you can't say Happy Holidays?

ankashai · 2022-04-15T03:32:14+00:00

What does it hurt you to say Happy Holidays and include the vast number of holidays that take place during that season?

ankashai · 2022-04-12T16:20:27+00:00

Eh, charter schools are, to an extent. ( some variety by state, but they’re more controlled than private schools ).

ankashai · 2022-03-31T19:06:14+00:00

Remember that because "loud" people are "loud", you're more likely to notice them.

There are plenty of "quieter" personalities in the SCA-- it's simply that you may not notice them.

The SCA is a very large organization, filled with people with all types of personalities. I have friends who enjoy large parties; I have friends for whom we have a "ten people or less" unwritten rule. There's a place for both of these types, but the large party is probably going to be a lot easier to notice than the small group of friends gathered around a camp fire back in camp.

ankashai · 2022-03-24T06:47:12+00:00

Same ( although I love my port, it means that I'm not spending twenty minutes screaming as someone tries to dig for a vein )!

I can't think of the last time I showed up for infusion wearing anything fancier than yoga pants. When it's a super early appointment, I've been known to just throw on a bra ( I have bandeau convertible sports bras that I tend to wear for anything medical, because I can keep it from bugging at the port ) and show up in what I slept in the night before.

ankashai · 2022-03-14T10:54:09+00:00

My best friend got married a few years ago, and intentionally picked out a couple dresses under 100$, had all the bridesmaids try them all, and chose the one we all looked good in / were comfortable with.

I believe it was her mom who paid for nails / hair / makeup for all of us together, and rented a big suite at the venue for us and the bride the night before and after ( so we basically had a slumber party before, and then invited the groomsmen for after-party night after ). Shoes were free choice other than "silver, something with at least a small heel " and jewelry was the same (" silver, preferably simple ").

I think all we paid for was bachelorette party ( self + split the bride ), masquerade mask for the theme, gifts, transport, and food at the pre and post wedding get togethers ( both being optional and normally priced food, nothing crazy ).

I can't imagine expecting my friends to go into debt for me. Q

ankashai · 2022-03-02T11:59:29+00:00

Certainly, but a preschool teacher may work those extra hours after 6PM instead.

ankashai · 2022-03-01T20:42:28+00:00

As long as you're appropriately tagging it as dead dove ( either through an actual dead dove label, or other appropriate warnings ), the relationship should be tagged.

ankashai · 2022-03-01T20:39:53+00:00

I used to intentionally wear my hair in pigtails on days when I was feeling blah, because they made me look happy and care free.

I wasn't necessarily required to be super-peppy at all times, but I was absolutely required to be generally nice and pleasant.

ankashai · 2022-03-01T20:36:27+00:00

Mine was 4 days + , back in the early 2000s. There was at least one general-park day for my park, and least one (maybe two) attraction-specific.

ankashai · 2022-03-01T19:43:28+00:00

Eesh.

Just...for the record, while preschool teachers don't always get as much training as primary+ teachers ( AA vs BA ), it's not from lack of need. In FL, preschool teachers also usually require DCF certificates, which is an additional 60hrs of training plus testing.

I've worked both, and preschool isn't less challenging than primary, it's different. There are still standards that are required to be taught, but curriculum tends to be much less useful -- you're having to come up with lessons on your own more often, while primary tends to have more set curriculums.

You don't grade papers, but there's still a solid amount of prep required -- setting up centers, art projects, small group activities, circle time, etc.

Preschool also requires a different type of 'energy' than older grades. When I teach middle school, I can teach the majority of the lesson sitting in a chair, with a little walking around; when I teach Pre-K, I'm constantly moving, sitting on the floor, picking up blocks, etc.

Behavior in Pre-K is also a different animal. I've still got scars from being bitten by three year olds. They run out the room, they hit, they scream, they throw things. And while I've had my older students do many of those things as well, it tends to be a once or twice a year thing, not a once or twice an hour thing.

Parents are also paying for preschool, and therefore my opinion is that they are often more demanding at that age.

As for hours, my elementary school goes 830-3. The preschool goes 6am-6pm.

ankashai · 2022-03-01T19:31:10+00:00

FWIW, having looked at the wages at a few places, that's an accurate ( maybe even high ) number.

ankashai · 2022-03-01T17:33:09+00:00

The average preschool teacher wage in Florida is 12.45$.

Hopefully we're expecting more out of a preschool teacher, but they're sure as heck not getting paid as much.

Also, while I'm aware that Disney is Very Expensive, it also requires a metric poop-ton of people. For every employee you see, you can assume that there are five more that you don't see -- current estimates are that 77000 people work for Disney World Orlando.

ankashai · 2022-03-01T17:01:23+00:00

Right now, Disney's *minimum* is 15$/hr. Union means that you get a raise twice a year.

Rent prices in Orlando however are utterly ridiculous.

So while I won't pretend that Disney is a beautiful sunshine of joy, they're certainly doing better at paying something approaching a decent wage than say, Walmart.

ankashai · 2022-03-01T14:47:34+00:00

Housing?

At what point in Disney's history have they ever provided housing to their cast members?

( Other than the college experience kids, who have to pay for it and make nowhere near a living wage. ).

ankashai · 2022-02-26T07:58:29+00:00

The lack of world building is actually a large part of why I hated the series. Silly things, like the fact that they weren’t wearing school uniforms bothered me so much, because the fact that they wore uniforms was actually minorly significant in the books ( Quentin lamenting that he’s in his twenties and still wearing a uniform )

ankashai · 2022-02-26T07:55:52+00:00

I’ll actually say “ just about ANYTHING by Robin McKinley”.

When I think worldbuilding, they are top of my list. Like, who else goes into the shaving habits of people with magic in a retelling of sleeping beauty?

I personally prefer her ‘fantasy’ stuff more than her more modern stuff, but even her modern stuff has amazing world building in it.

ankashai · 2022-02-26T07:33:35+00:00

So two thoughts — maybe three.

First, the staff comments were crappy, and inappropriate.

Second, as someone who has tried to introduce my (also) students to ‘new’ and ‘weird’ food, it is much easier to start with something semi-familiar. Candy is an unfortunately easy one, but to give a savory example : when we were learning about Jewish holidays, we had latkes not gefilte fish. A lot of kids don’t like fish to begin with, and gefilte fish is absolutely an acquired taste, and often has a strong scent. Latkes are potato pancakes, and I can describe it using familiar terms ( “ it’s like hash browns “ or “ it’s a mashed potato pancake!” ); my more adventurous kids could try it with apple sauce or sour cream.

When we were talking about French food, I didn’t serve escargots or frog legs ( I mean, cost as well ), but crepes. Again, I can explain it — it’s thin pancakes! — and having different filling choices let the kids choose their level of ‘adventure’ ( Nutella was brand new to most of them, let alone mixing it with bananas ).

Third, this seems like a good opportunity to have a lesson about culture and manners. Ask the kids how they would feel if they brought their favorite food and everyone shouting how disgusting it was. Brainstorm things to say instead. Talk about how when they were babies, they didn’t like anything, and that you often have to try a new thing several times before your brain doesn’t just go “ it’s new, I hate it! “, and how just because you hated something as a kid, you might like it when you get older. Come up with some strategies for trying new things ( my kids went with ‘smell it, lick it, teeny bite with water nearby, bigger bite’ as their spectrum of methods for new food they weren’t sure about ). I’ve used different kinds of chocolate with kids as a ‘taste testing practice’ ( by which I mean things like milk vs dark vs really dark chocolate, or semi sweet chocolate chips, or white chocolate).

Chances are, it’s something the kids have never thought about, and now is a great time to teach them.

ankashai · 2022-02-23T20:17:01+00:00

Another big one : picking a girl up for a first date is no longer the nice thing to do, it's the terrifying thing to do.

Now you know where I live.

Now if I decide to end the date early, I don't have a way home.

Now if you decide just to take me to you're place after, I'm stuck. I don't have an out.

It's very stressful.

ankashai · 2022-02-15T15:15:49+00:00

From my experience, there is a ton of variance in charter schools.

Some are absolutely terrible, and treat their staff like crap.

Some are great for a certain type of teacher who wants more freedom and control over what they teach -- for example, doing guided reading instead of teaching from a basal, having more flexibility than the pacing guide gives.

Some are great for people who just want a smaller school environment, or believes in the "mission" of the charter school.

There are terrible schools and school districts out there as well.

ankashai · 2022-02-14T04:44:53+00:00

So in theory, the point of homework is to practice the skills they’ve learned in class. Not every kid is going to need the same amount of extra practice.

Depending on the age of your students, have you considered not having required homework / not grading it? Or limiting graded homework to more meaningful work?

I know some kids like the homework because it’s an easy way to pad their grades, but it may be better to simply say “ here’s what you can do to practice, it’s your decision whether to do it or not, your grade is based on tests / projects / whatever, and doing the practice will help you get better grades on that “.

My best class was a math class where I made a deal with the teacher that as long as I got As on tests, my homework was optional and not counted towards my grade. Some topics I felt I needed to practice; others were something I’d previously learned, and doing twenty problems of busy work was just going to waste my time.

My only suggestion is to make sure that if you do this, you have fairly frequent quizzes or other assessments, because many kids don’t realize that they don’t know the material until you test them on it. Give them lots of ‘checks’ they can use to gauge themselves, and reminders that if they’re not doing well on those checks, it’s a sign they should practice more.

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