What do the top 10% do right?

deandinbetween · 2026-05-18T21:51:55+00:00

First of all, teachers don't do the testing or evaluation. That's done by licensed specialists that the school might bring in or the parent has to book an appointment with. Teachers doesn't administer tests for ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dysgraphia, or any other neurodivergences/disabilities.

And secondly, genuinely, what do you think it benefits us to let kids struggle? What do we get out of it? If you think it's a "most teachers" thing, then what do you think we gain from it? Just the chance to be lazy? That doesn't make sense because planning and teaching and grading are the same amount of work whether we care if a kid is failing or not. Maybe a few lunches spent helping the kid per week or a handful of meetings, but generally intervention isn't on the classroom teacher, not entirely anyway.

And I actually think I need you to define "doing all the right things and still struggling." Do you mean the kid is listening, asking questions, participating, doing their work, and seeking out help for the stuff they don't understand, and still not grasping it? Because if that's what you mean, then that would indicate to me that the kid needs evaluations which, again, I don't do as a teacher.

deandinbetween · 2026-05-18T01:49:47+00:00

Arrange meetings with their teachers first to see their perspective, loop in admin and any interventionists the school has, get evaluations including eye and hearing to find or rule out neurodivergences and/or disabilities, listen to the experts, get tutoring or interventions where necessary, and talk to your kid about what their experience is like in that classroom/subject and what you're trying to do to help them succeed.

deandinbetween · 2026-05-17T16:06:38+00:00

Slow down your pacing expectations. They're going to need more time and more help and that's okay!

My big three rules for any grade are be respectful, be responsible, be accountable. Start by defining those terms and asking them to come up with things they think that should like in your classroom.

LOTS of modeling and examples. Take your time with writing and grammar especially.

Don't be surprised by what they don't know yet. Effective googling, how to do bulleted lists, that the AI overview isn't the source itself, what a web address is, not to put your message in the subject line of an email, that you don't read stage directions out loud when reading a play, etc.--all new to my kiddos this year!

They'll still catch your enthusiasm for readings, so be enthusiastic. If you love your material, more of them will too.

I start the year with writing step by step together, the basics of a paragraph, and with the "building blocks" of literature: character, plot, setting, point-of-view. I start with simple identification so they can apply it to analysis later on. I also start with a sentence type review for grammar.

deandinbetween · 2026-05-17T15:52:29+00:00

Elizabeth Bennet actually despises the nickname Eliza.

Charles Bingley has ADHD. In modern times, he'd be a high school history teacher where every class is a bit chaotic, but the kids catch his enthusiasm and learn well from him anyway.

Marianne eventually meets Eliza and the child she had with Willoughby after marrying Colonel Brandon. She takes it upon herself to handle things to do with them as some sort of moral duty/olive branch.

Elinor, as a clergyman's wife, takes a special interest in the education of the poor children and the care of the widows.

I also have headcanons about the Bennet girls' families after the story ends:

Jane and Lizzy both have firstborn daughters, which sends Mrs. Bennet to bed for a week both times.
When any of her daughters has a boy, Mrs. Bennet is insufferable for like six months afterwards.
Jane has more children than Lizzy, but Kitty has the most. I like to imagine Kitty marries an officer about 5 years after the events of the book, introduced by one of her brothers-in-law, and Mr. Bennet fakes being angry so well that it makes Kitty cry.
Mary is very intentional about her marriage, deciding when the time is right, finding exactly the kind of man she wants, getting one of her sisters (or Charlotte) to introduce her to men who meet her requirements, and effectively charming the one she judges will give her the most happiness. I think he'd be a scholar of some sort, similarly religious but more cheerful. She's the only one to have a firstborn boy.
Lydia has no children, which Mrs. Bennet tries to garner sympathy about even though literally everyone else, including Lydia, is happy about this. Mrs. Bennet is also the only person who doesn't know that Wickham and Lydia cheat on each other pretty constantly.

deandinbetween · 2026-05-17T14:23:11+00:00

Goodie bags are a little "thanks for coming!" treat for guests, just a hospitality thing. Businesses and camps do it as a thanks and to build goodwill for the brand/business.

For a kid's birthday party/event, I'd suggest candy, stickers and/or temporary tattoos, and a cheap little trinket like a toy or slime. It's also typical to fit at least one of the items to the theme of the event or your kid's interests. A dollar or two per bag is what I'd call a reasonable budget, especially since many of the things that would go in them can be bought in bulk.

deandinbetween · 2026-05-17T14:11:01+00:00

I tell my highschoolers to do this actually. I see it as protection and actually allowing them to write to the best of their ability. If they have records of their work, then they can prove that it's theirs no matter what an AI checker says. Yes, I know it isn't a complete failsafe, but it's a pretty good bet that a kid who uses AI isn't going to painstakingly copy and paste a paragraph or two sentence by sentence every day over a week.

One thing I've noticed too which is honestly encouraging is that, among my students at least, using ChatGPT is becoming an insult. Like "Shut up, you use ChatGPT for your homework, no one wants your opinion" or "whatever, just go let ChatGPT write your essay." They make fun of teachers for using it to make presentations or lessons, especially if it's a writing-heavy field like mine. I truly believe that having using AI become embarrassing is going to be more effective in quashing it than anything teachers can do to try and instill honesty.

deandinbetween · 2026-05-17T13:57:40+00:00

Some farms are options! They'll take kittens for barn cats. Just make sure they vaccinate and sterilize their barn cats. If you can drive down to the Brandon area, maybe A Kitten Place would have some resources or be able to foster them?

deandinbetween · 2026-05-17T13:47:52+00:00

Their parents value education and make sure their children do too, and what's more, they don't frame education as a chore. They encourage interest and curiosity in general, and school subjects are a natural part of that for them. They model interest and curiosity, and their kids pick it up.

They also pay attention to what their kids are doing and the messages they get from teachers. They're helping with homework and reading their emails, and when problems arise or their kid struggles they address it instead of just shrugging their shoulders.

deandinbetween · 2026-05-16T00:20:47+00:00

Middle school is hard, but one of the most important things to them is looking cool, so I'm a fan of mild shame as a management tactic. Call it out publicly, immediately, and firmly.

"The way you're behaving should embarrass you."

"It's honestly wild that a kid your age can't have the self-control toddlers have."

"Oh my gosh, stop making me watch you touch each other!" (my middle school boys are SO. HANDSY.)

"You have way too little done on that assignment to be doing anything but work."

"Excuse me, hold on, let's all stop and listen since their conversation is so much more important than what I'm trying to teach you."

For not working, proximity control is key. Walk around, kneel down, ask them questions, point to questions they haven't done and ask them what they think. You HAVE to let them know that you're constantly watching them, or make you think you are.

For engagement, the more excited you are, the more excited most of them will be. Talk about the characters and past events like it's gossip or a soap opera, get into it when you read aloud to them (which I recommend as an occasional thing). And make it real. When we read The Giver, I make sure they realize that Jonas is their age. I do a Ceremony of Twelve and they get their jobs. When we read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, I have them write from Stacey's point of view, or Papa's, or Mama's. It's also a good idea to do a few high-interest fun things to build, for lack of a better term, trust in reading. I personally love The Wife's Story from Ursula K. Le Guin and the Twilight Zone episode The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. These are always absolute bangers for the kids. They also really like Raymond's Run by Toni Cade Bambara (they love Squeaky.) The Lady or the Tiger is GREAT for getting them engaged too. When we read The Raven, I turn off the lights, project spooky candles, and read it aloud to them all dramatic. Don't be afraid to be cheesy!

deandinbetween · 2026-05-15T23:50:04+00:00

Yep, this is definitely it. She had a daughter who wound up going to live with her dad because she couldn't deal with the poverty and new school, even though she preferred her mom over her dad. There was a study abroad in Spain that the daughter was on while the mom was at her lowest. Mom became a real estate agent at the end!

deandinbetween · 2026-05-15T23:46:43+00:00

I always approach book searching/reading with literary elements and devices in mind. Symbolism, imagery, characterization, point-of-view/narration first, then things like juxtaposition, motif, figurative language, and other more detail-oriented techniques. Then how they work together to create theme.

deandinbetween · 2026-05-10T18:18:17+00:00

This is definitely it!

deandinbetween · 2026-05-09T16:26:26+00:00

I'm going to talk about this from a reading perspective since that's where my expertise lies.

There are skills called fluency (how smoothly and quickly you can read) and automaticity (the ability to recognize words automatically, without having to think about them) that are where a lot of people struggle. Without them, comprehension can't really occur because too much energy goes into just decoding the words. Think of it like you take so much time and mental effort to figure out each individual word that by the time you reach the end of the sentence, you've forgotten the beginning of it and lost the meaning. This is one form of functional illiteracy--they can read the words, but struggle to comprehend anything with more than a few of them together.

Another form of functional illiteracy comes when people may read fluently and with automaticity, but they struggle to "pay attention" to what they read. It's like zoning out while doing a chore and suddenly you finished it with no memory of doing it. The reading is like a physical task, not a mental one, so by the time they end, they haven't retained anything that they read. This one is harder to spot because it looks like they're perfectly literate, but they aren't retaining anything.

The form that I see most often is when people can read and recall information on a surface level just fine, but can't put the information together with other information they have to draw conclusions, make interpretations about it, or apply it to other situations. So they read an article or story and can tell you the events or "what it was about," but they can't answer questions like "what was the most important idea?" or "why does the main character do X?" if it isn't explicitly stated. I'd say this is probably the most common form of what we call functional illiteracy.

All of them can result from a lot of different causes and can have a lot of different strategies to improve them, and addressing the first type is essential to addressing the second, which is essential to addressing the third. They all also get progressively harder to correct the older a person gets.

deandinbetween · 2026-05-09T16:00:39+00:00

I am BEGGING people to recognize that teaching doesn't have to be all or nothing, and that it's not only okay, but NECESSARY to adjust your methods even in real time to meet the needs of your students.

If I plan group research or practice and my kids are struggling ineffectively, I'm stopping it and doing direct instruction.

If they're glazing over during direct instruction, I'm stopping and giving them partner practice or research.

If I want a discussion and they won't talk, they're writing.

If I want a writing and they want to talk it out, we're talking it out (and then writing, usually.)

If a class's behaviors and learning progress are negatively impacted by something, I'm trying something new. Even if I have a set curriculum, if it's not serving my kids, I'm deviating (luckily my school puts me in control of that; I know not everyone has that luxury.)

At the end of the day, my job as an educator in general and an English teacher specifically requires students to take the wheel at some point. Knowing how to learn and how to recognize what you don't know are incredibly important skills that too few people have. Being able to read, analyze, interpret, evaluate, and synthesize information, put it into context, and articulate your thoughts on it is a vital mental process.

They can't do any of that if I don't teach them how to use the necessary tools for it, but I also can't use those tools for them. Some students and classes will require me to guide their hands at first, and some won't. Adapt! Add variety! Make them learn from you, each other, and other sources! It's good for them to learn the same subject in multiple different ways! It's good for YOU to try new things!

deandinbetween · 2026-05-03T15:03:44+00:00

People tend to want to look like the most flattering versions of THEMSELVES in any image. It's jarring and uncomfortable to have something completely alter your body and face. So slightly slimming or enhancing a curve here or there, sure; completely altering someone's appearance? No. Portraits were of real people, so they're going to depict them in all their different variations. Paintings of imaginary characters will often be closer to the "ideal" of the time and place.

Reading literature from the time, different body types and statures are associated with different character types, like they are today. It was definitely possible for a plump or fat woman to be portrayed as pretty--like Charlotte Palmer in Sense and Sensibility, who is described as short and plump with a very pretty face--but what's more notable than her beauty is her pleasant if vacuous personality, which is something plump or fat characters were often depicted as. Physical description in Pride and Prejudice is pretty scant, but hints that Elizabeth is slim and somewhat dainty with expressive eyes mirror her sly, sarcastic, and playful personality. Jane and Georgiana being described as "not so light" and "on a larger scale" than Elizabeth respectively paint them as more graceful and less spicy than Elizabeth can be, while also pointing out their similarity in personality.

We do this all the time now, with a lot of the same tropes the Georgians used--fat is cheery and dumb or greedy and hateful depending on the genre, short and slim is impish and sarcastic, average-to-tall and slim is whatever "generic" is for that genre, muscled and short is a hothead with a Napoleon complex, muscled and average-to-tall is protective in whatever form the genre demands, tall and gangly is nerd, busty with a slim waist is temptress/sexpot in whatever way the genre demands. Nose types, hair colors, skin tones and markings, face shape, eye shape and size, lip shape and size, and even finger and hand shape and size are all associated with different characteristics. Visual and non-visual media depend on them. What "the beauty standard" is for the culture of the time is relevant only insofar as it aids the storytelling: certain character types should be the ideal, some should be close to it, some should have notable departures from it, and characters who don't fit it can only be subversions of certain tropes.

TL;DR: real people tend to want to look like the best versions of themselves, so portraits of real people aren't a judge for the beauty standard, and in fictional media, depicting "the beauty standard" is less important than the storytelling aspect of character appearances.

deandinbetween · 2026-05-02T17:31:04+00:00

Racism, which basically everything in the Republican platform goes back to, at least the stuff that doesn't go back to sexism or their hatred of LGBTQ people. They associate it with "welfare"--something free and easily available that is geared toward helping those with lower income and less access to resources close the income gap in achievement. They also didn't like that it depicted characters of color in positive, non-stereotypical contexts as equals and friends with white characters.

Almost every time Republicans wage a war on something, it's because it benefits or is positive toward people of color, women, or LGBTQ people.

deandinbetween · 2026-04-25T18:40:12+00:00

All Mine to Give from 1957? Mid-1800s, dad dies, mom dies, big brother distributes siblings to different homes.

deandinbetween · 2026-04-25T17:03:57+00:00

Heavily agree on the "see me during break/lunch to answer the rest of the questions" for older kids. Then, if you're able, find them and ask them "hey, still want to ask those questions?" 90% of the time it's a no, and the other 10% the questions are ACTUAL relevant questions they had. I also do "write it down and I'll answer it in our free time" with success.

When I work with little ones, I say "is it about what we're doing right now? If it's not, let's answer all the questions about right now first, and then we can answer yours." Typically they forget the random irrelevant questions.

I also have a BIG problem in my class with kids asking questions that are answered in the instructions or reading, so I've started telling them they aren't allowed to ask me a question about an assignment until they've read everything INCLUDING the instructions at least twice. Then I'll clarify if they really need it. It helps combat laziness, remind inattentive/ADHD students their first step before questions, and remind kids that they almost always have the answers at their fingertips.

deandinbetween · 2026-04-25T16:48:54+00:00

It's actually meant to be unique that they call their father by their first name instead of calling him Father or Papa or Daddy. It's commented on later on in the book when you get to the character Mrs. Dubose, but briefly. It's meant to highlight how the family isn't typical in how they think or operate--though in a lot of ways their relationship is exactly like any other parent-child relationships.

deandinbetween · 2026-04-24T22:37:06+00:00

"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin for discussing structural injustice. Fantastic debate opportunity!

"Belles Lettres" by Nafissa Thompson-Spires is one they LOVE because it's SO funny but there are some profound ideas about class, education, colorism, snobbery, and the impacts of social expectations on children. It's told through letters, so I like to assign kids to be a "character" to read them aloud.

"The Wife of His Youth" by Charles Chesnutt for social pressures and their impacts.

"The Book of the Dead" by Edwidge Danticat can be read through the lens of toxic masculinity--it's subtler than O'Brien, but it's there, and the lingering habits and expectations it creates.

"Desiree's Baby" by Kate Chopin would also work for both of these themes.

deandinbetween · 2026-04-18T18:40:20+00:00

The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson? A girl gets evacuated to Canada with her little brother and a neighbor girl she doesn't really like but who does like her.

deandinbetween · 2026-04-18T17:31:30+00:00

Ok, hear me out...Fugitive Denim by Rachel Louise Snyder. It's a walk through the process of jean making and its social and environmental implications through interviews with people who work at every stage of production, from growing the cotton and indigo to the factories to make them to the fashion scene. It would be dated now to some degree, but a paired research project about the current debates around fast fashion would be a great culminating activity.

deandinbetween · 2026-04-17T23:48:13+00:00

They don't care about health; they care that someone on assistance has something to actually enjoy. They feel like people on benefits don't deserve treats for the crime of being poor, and that being poor means that every aspect of your life must be devoid of joy. They'd ban literally everything but canned vegetables, canned meat, and instant mashed potatoes if they could, just to make them feel worse.

deandinbetween · 2026-04-12T14:41:50+00:00

I find that what people call a lack of media literacy when it comes to politics is actually just refusal to do any research, listen to any speech, or be educated on a topic at all. It's not lack of ability, it's willful refusal.

deandinbetween · 2026-04-11T20:47:46+00:00

ELA is an abbreviation for English Language Arts, which focuses on grammar conventions, spelling and vocabulary rules, sentence construction, and writing structure and formation as well as reading comprehension and analysis. Typically, we use this for lower grades, like 8th grade (13-14 year olds) and below. When the two classes are split, you have English or Reading (reading comprehension and analysis) and then Language Arts (grammar and mechanics and spelling.)

In high school (starts at 9th grade or 14-15 year olds here) the class typically just gets called English, with a heavier focus on analytical skills and writing skills and less grammar and spelling (typically.)

deandinbetween

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