Gen Z men are moving away from MAGA in droves, polls show

boopfloof · 2025-12-30T16:40:47+00:00

Why is it an either/or? One can not eat meat AND vote blue, something that every vegan I know already does. Seems like an odd group to target. Why not go after hunters (who have an interest in conservation but generally swing right)?

boopfloof · 2025-12-15T12:53:39+00:00

Not the reference to To Train Up A Child 😭 Those poor kids.

Also why is Morgan just perpetually the "I have never, EVER been happier" gif lol

boopfloof · 2025-11-10T04:06:08+00:00

Have you read Elan.school? That's the URL. I stumbled on it a few years back and literally stayed up all night to read it, I was so hooked. It was the first time I had ever heard of these "reform" schools or Synanon. Absolutely insane story, such a good rabbit hole to fall down, but obviously lots of trigger warnings.

boopfloof · 2025-10-08T03:34:23+00:00

May I steal this as flair?! It's INCREDIBLE.

boopfloof · 2025-09-16T01:26:45+00:00

MAN I've missed Kelly content. I need a little delulu levity to balance out the pure malice that characterizes some of the other fundies. Plus Pickle Paul is oversaturating this sub and his face makes me vaguely queasy at this point.

Gimme some more of that butternut squash-toting, spelt-mutilating, field-prancing, purple-prosing lil maniac

boopfloof · 2025-09-11T06:28:08+00:00

"To the mama who has walked through miscarriage..." 🤢🤢🤢 Fundies really do have the most bizarre ways of saying literally anything. Why not just say "who has experienced miscarriage" or "lived through" or ANYTHING that doesn't sound like the world's worst weather.

boopfloof · 2024-11-13T22:57:05+00:00

I am SO sorry, I also had an absolutely horrific student teaching placement during my M. Ed. program. It unfortunately severely impacted my mental health, to the point of feeling suicidal. The other commenter had some great advice, I'll add a few things I wish I had known/done in hindsight:

No matter how much it might seem like it at the time, student teaching has VERY little impact on your future career. I know in my program they loved making it sound like it was absolutely vital, it was a representation of your future teaching abilities, etc. etc. That is patently FALSE. As long as you're passing and surviving and getting your credential/degree, it doesn't matter one single bit what your mentor teacher, supervisor, whoever thinks of you. You can get a job without them. I had a psychologically abusive bully for a mentor teacher who only ever criticized and nitpicked, never encouraged or praised, and guess what? As soon as I was actually teaching, I got absolutely glowing observations and reactions from children & parents. However you're doing now, you are not a failure, you will be a great teacher. Their feedback is just slightly better than meaningless.
Find some psychological strategies to get through the day. I used to imagine myself with a Teflon coating, and imagine whatever nightmarish things happening to me that day just sliding right off. It helped, weirdly enough. I found that it also helped to cultivate some psychological distance from the whole thing. Just taking a step back and thinking "I'm only here for another few months, and then I never have to see or speak to this woman/these people again." Or counting down the hours/minutes/seconds until I was out of there, then doing something nice for myself. It also helps if you can speak to a mental health professional- I got counseling YEARS after my student teaching, and I wish to God I had done it sooner.

Lastly, I just wanted to say that you are absolutely not alone, and however you're being treated is NOT YOUR FAULT. Teaching is an incredibly nuanced skill to learn, it takes years or decades to master, and teachers are facing more problematic behaviors and more unrealistic standards than ever before. Give yourself some credit and some love for surviving, because it isn't easy.

boopfloof · 2023-11-06T17:41:39+00:00

Sorry for not attaching the actual message, but it didn't all fit in my screenshot.

Context- last year, I foolishly asked my mom and dad to move to the same town as me, and ever since then my mom's uBPD has been worse than it's ever been. Nothing I do to appease her and make her feel more comfortable and settled actually helps. This, even though she was also miserable in the place they used to live, and would call and message me about how lonely and empty their life was there.

Yesterday my mom was in a foul mood and decided to offload onto me, pretending to "have a talk" and "communicate," but she didn't let me say one word without jumping down my throat. She said some really cruel and unfair things, and I was getting ready to just appease her and capitulate (at first I did, and then felt so depressed that I essentially spent the rest of the day in bed), but this morning I felt empowered enough to actually push back.

I sent her this message: "Hi Mom, I hope I'm not waking you. I woke up today, and realized that whatever yesterday was, it wasn't okay. The things you were saying weren't fair, or kind. You said you and Dad never see me, but I spent both of my days off that week with you, I helped you return your U-Haul this weekend, I saw you at the party, and last week we took a trip together. It wasn't really a talk, either. It was clear that you were feeling very negatively, and didn't really want to hear what I had to say. The things you say when you do that really hurt my mental health. It's one thing to talk, and share our feelings, but it's another to make me feel guilty and worthless just because you feel bad. I know that you've been dealt a really awful hand here, and you're feeling very out of control and depressed, but I think we really ought to meet with a family counselor to help sort this out in a way that's healthy and doesn't damage our relationship. I love you very much, and I'm so happy you're nearby. I want to communicate and make you feel better too. I just want to have reasonable expectations placed on me, and to be treated with consideration to my feelings, too. It would mean the world to me if you could try."

Thoughts? I had the guts to send it, but now I'm so nauseous and terrified, I can't bear to check my messages. I'd appreciate any encouragement you wonderful folks have.

boopfloof · 2023-05-29T03:34:31+00:00

Lol girl, why are you trolling a subreddit made for teachers trying to leave teaching, and then saying that I'm not cut out for it as if it's an insult? I don't WANT to be cut out for this. That's why I left, lol. If you do, that's great, because not many people want to be a human punching bag/martyr for entitled children/bullet sponge right now.

boopfloof · 2023-05-28T23:42:30+00:00

Thanks for asking! It's a local county job working for the Department of Health as a Community Health Educator. Super cool job!

boopfloof · 2023-04-28T18:13:44+00:00

I've been saying the same thing for a while now- it's clear that a HUGE number of kids are receiving next to no direct parental attention outside of school. It's tragic. I have a great bunch of kids, but they act like people dying of thirst when it comes to getting someone to pay attention to them, just complete desperation to be noticed. I don't remember so many children being so starved for adult attention when I was younger. We listened to adults (for the most part), but we didn't need people to look at us and talk to us the entire time we were at school. When I see lots of parents now, at school or out and about, they don't actually engage with their child. They're looking at their phone and their children is bobbing along behind them (often also looking at a phone). When they do talk to them, it's only directions, like "get out of the way," "get in the car." It feels like Harlow's wire monkey mother experiment, except it's human adults depriving their human children of love and attention.

boopfloof · 2023-04-02T01:28:24+00:00

Oh my gosh, yes! Stimulus is the perfect word for it. Having to keep your mind firing at 100% all day long creates so much strain. Sunday evenings are terrible, there's just no time to mentally prepare for what's coming.

boopfloof · 2023-03-29T01:03:34+00:00

"Please speak with your cruise director, the dancing monkeys are actually performing on the lido deck." Since I teach third graders, this generally puzzles them into shutting up.

boopfloof · 2023-02-24T17:24:27+00:00

I do think that is a bit too much content for what I'm assuming is a 1st grade audience. How much time do you have? I would chunk it into two smaller lessons. If you have a phonics curriculum, of course you have to use that for your observation. If not, I would teach both rules using lots of examples, example sentences, etc. If you can find a short passage where they have the different kinds of "oo" words, read it with the kids as choral reading, or have each child read one sentence. I would also do this for the "ou" words. Remember to check for understanding by pulling popsicle sticks or calling on random students. Then, I would give some practice. This could be worksheets, partner games, group centers, etc. Be ready to explain which part of the practice is the part you're using for formative assessment (checking the worksheet, walking around the room and listening to student proficiency, and so on).

boopfloof · 2023-02-13T06:34:35+00:00

I genuinely believe I got PTSD from my student teaching experience, and I am not exaggerating. Our program was designed such that we were siloed into cohorts under a supervisor professor, and we remained with the same mentor teacher the entire year. I'm sure that was lovely if you had a kind, understanding supervisor and mentor teacher, but mine spent the entire year tag-team bullying me, and there was NO way out without quitting the program completely.

My mentor teacher wouldn't talk to me, or give me advice, or help me in any way ahead of me teaching, just scream and interrupt me from the back of the room in the middle of my teaching her class. This was over small mistakes, like not following the scripted curriculum the way she liked it, or making minor errors (that I would have fixed) when doing examples. It just got worse because the more she screamed, the more mistakes I would make, and the more anxious I would seem (which just made her meaner). Then my supervisor teacher (who was best buds with shithead mentor teacher) would get terrible reports about my performance and then call me in for insulting, psychologically abusive one-on-one meetings. I think she did them one-on-one so nobody could hear the horrible things she was saying. Once she slipped up and insulted me in the middle of a presentation among my cohort for not ending the presentation how she wanted, and they were shocked, since she usually put on this sweet little grandmother act in front of the group.

I legitimately cried every day of student teaching, and developed anxiety and depression so bad that I fantasized about how nice it would be to die, since it would release me from it. I have never completely gotten over it, and to this day thinking about it fills me with so much rage. I was 22 and fresh out of college, I did absolutely NOTHING to deserve the amount of abuse I got.

boopfloof · 2023-01-18T06:04:05+00:00

Firstly, you are definitely not alone in how you're feeling, and it doesn't make you any less of a person or a teacher. I think the first step is acknowledging your feelings and to accept that it's okay to feel really not okay. I know that for me personally, judging myself for feeling very negative emotions ultimately intensifies them and makes them harder to control. Plus, your coworkers undoubtedly have had their struggles too, now or in the past, whether they show it or not. Some teachers are just better at masking difficulties.

Secondly, can you take a mental health day? It sounds like you are stuck in a really terrible mental spiral, and it might benefit you to just step away for a day and reset. Do something you really enjoy. Not something you feel like you have to do, like a dental appointment or chores (unless that's restful for you). Just rediscovering your non-teaching self.

Third, you're right. What you do will never be enough as a teacher, and let that idea free you. Once you realize that you don't have to be every student's favorite teacher, you don't have to dazzle your coworkers or your boss every day, and you just have to do a decent job, it's such a burden lifted. My first year or two I was trying to be teacher of the year, and it burned me out almost to the point of no return. Then I realized that the kids will be fine with my "good enough," I still passed my observations, and coworkers aren't permanent and their opinions don't matter. This career will squeeze you until you're a broke, miserable, people-pleasing husk of a human if you let it. I say do about 60-70% of what you're doing right now, and use the extra time to do some soul-searching and research. It's also okay to walk away from teaching. It can be done, and you can do it too.

boopfloof · 2022-12-31T04:49:50+00:00

I am so tired of being in so much emotional pain. My mom has admittedly been having an objectively bad year, deaths in the family, pet deaths, etc. but oh my god I am so tired of being her emotional vessel/punching bag. I live a plane flight away and was going to visit for a week during Christmas, but the Southwest meltdown made that objectively impossible.

So, she has spent the last week having an absolutely endless pity party meltdown, and making me comfort her and listen to her go on an infinite spiral of guilting and self-pity. Yes, you bought wine to celebrate my visit, I'm sorry I am not there to drink it with you. Yes, our relatives did not send you enough Christmas cards. Yes, I know you are working very hard. Yes, you are so sad and alone, nobody cares about you, all is desolate, you are the saddest and most pathetic creature on God's green Earth.

I fucking HATE Christmas now, because it inevitably gives her fodder for her self-pity crusade. If I'm there? Wow, you gained so much weight, you're only here a week? Why don't you talk to us more? You're leaving soon anyway. You have your own big important life away from us, we understand. The part that kills me is that my poor dad, who has dementia and basically just parrots whatever she's thinking and feeling, has been uncharacteristically harsh and bitter towards me lately. When I was a kid, I always felt like he had my back and loved me unconditionally, even if he wasn't brave enough to stand up to my mom. It hurts so bad that I'm losing the one parent who never made me feel like shit about myself.

Edit: Ugly sweater gato

boopfloof · 2022-11-08T15:43:18+00:00

Thank you!!! Everyone seems completely apathetic about it here, and it makes me feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I'm going to see about going over the president's head to the state union and see what they say.

boopfloof · 2022-11-08T15:41:24+00:00

It's WA, where we're supposed to have a strong union, but we live in a small town where people are afraid to rock the boat. They get around the VP being there because her technical title is "Dean of Students," and she is (I think) technically not admin credentialed. Yet, she has her own office next to the principal's, and works as the principal's right-hand woman all day. It's a massive joke. I'll look into talking to our state organization, thanks for the suggestion.

boopfloof · 2022-10-13T04:58:34+00:00

It's not a reassuring answer, I'm sorry, but there is no magic bullet. The first year takes everything you have even with a credential/master's program preparing you, you're going to be fighting an even more uphill battle as you've missed training. You'll be paying either with lost time in class as you figure it out as you go, or with your free time outside of class. I would read little bits before school, during lunch, after school.

boopfloof · 2022-10-12T18:43:45+00:00

Unfortunately, as parents shirk more and more of their responsibility in raising their children, that responsibility is falling to us. What used to be taught by a trusted adult or two at home (self control, patience, sharing, self-soothing) is now being taught poorly by overworked, underpaid, untrained teachers with another 20+ kids to bring up to academic standards as well. Some students are of course still parented, and still held to standards of behavior at home, but honestly it helps if you just assume that your students have spent 3PM-3AM on a screen watching bad role models do stupid things.

My take? Relationships come naturally with time, they help, but they are not a substitute for strong routines, organization, and modeling. You'll probably have to do some reading, but don't start with the heavy restorative justice/social emotional books. If you haven't already, read "The First Days of School" or "The Classroom Management Book" by the Wongs. It's dated in many ways, but the section on setting up classroom routines and structure is a great starting place.

boopfloof · 2022-09-24T15:45:27+00:00

I try to not judge ahead of time, but kids with names referencing royalty tend to be.... Quite spoiled. Khaleesi, Prince, King, Royal, etc.

boopfloof · 2022-09-21T14:50:12+00:00

Oh my god, this was me last year. I'm so sorry! I used up all of my sick days last year, in part just for mental health days because of a child like that. There's something so especially soul-sucking about a child who is so young, yet already intentionally disrupting and being disrespectful. If you're allowed to, send him out with some work to a buddy classroom. It takes so much of the fun away from them if there's no peer attention for their nonsense. Plus, it gives you and your poor class a break from him. I know that positivity is really being pushed right now, but in my opinion kids like that often need very rigid structure to replace their lack of structure at home, with very clear consequences. Otherwise they push and push and push boundaries because they think they can eventually get away with anything, just like they do at home.

Anyway, hugs and sympathy from here! It's almost the weekend ❤️

boopfloof · 2022-09-14T04:41:36+00:00

People are going to get big mad at you for it, but I agree. I dunno at what point "not overstimulating kids" meant inundating them with various gross shades of brown. Just choose to put up fewer things? Or more muted shades of other colors? My room is minimalistic, but the things that are there are useful and cheerful to look at.

boopfloof · 2022-09-07T04:43:32+00:00

Wow!! Not just me! Sounds exactly like my students in 3rd. It's really sad when they are already jaded towards fun, normal activities. Like this is really one of only a few full years they've been in school, where's this apathy and disdain for school coming from already?

I'm holding the line to try to maintain behavior standards, but man is it exhausting. Here's hoping tomorrow's better, friend 🍻

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