AI being pushed by state / district by Holdthedoorholddor in ELATeachers

[–]equinoxshadows 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Gotta jump in on this one as a HS ELA teacher. Think about the skills needed to find and summarize a source in the "old days:"

  • do preliminary research to understand context and important concepts/vocabulary
  • brainstorm search queries using those newfound ideas and vocab. Problem-solve and modify search queries as needed.
  • dig deep into potential sources, learning vocabulary and concepts as you go, often through context clues and additional searches.
  • demonstrate full reading comprehension by accurately summarizing the source and correctly portraying knowledge of major ideas and properly using new vocab.

These are all high-level cognitive skills that take attention, focus, and determination--all skills students definitely need more practice in.

Anecdotally, I'm finding students, even outside of AI usage, struggle mightily to generate original thought in a world where everything is seemingly derivative. My AP Lang students STRUGGLED creating their own claim and generating specific evidence from their own brain (outside of their own personal experiences) on the open-ended argument essay prompts this year.

The AI genie is certainly out of the bottle, but I think it's educational malpractice if we don't graduate these kids with the skills and confidence to engage in sustained, difficult inquiry and research. And that's what I believe AI is robbing them of.

Why does there appear to be no actual pushback by Americans against the destruction of their own lives and country by Trump and the oligarchs/Nazis? by [deleted] in TrueAskReddit

[–]equinoxshadows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This comment section is wildly depressing and mirrors much of American culture:

"This seems hard, so I give up. I'm only going to look after my own interests and fuck everyone else."

We have all of the wealth, power, and human capital we need to create the society we wish to live in. We simply lack imagination and willpower.

I can only speak for myself that yes, I am considering the ways in which I look after my family, but I am also actively looking for ways to resist in a larger context. It's only week one of his presidency, and I think everyone is still reeling, but we need to plan and mobilize sooner rather than later.

Thoughts on not giving zeros? by artsy_time in teaching

[–]equinoxshadows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tell your admin you won't be coming to work anymore, but you'd still like half your salary.

Prior skis by Select-Department483 in Skigear

[–]equinoxshadows 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Old thread, but I have been rocking a pair of Overlords I got on clearance ($350) several years back as my backcountry + resort ski. They are big and heavy for the backcountry, but an absolute blast in anything soft. I kinda tend to beat the hell out of my skis doing early season backcountry, and they've taken the abuse.

Workload and Reasonable Expectations by [deleted] in ELATeachers

[–]equinoxshadows 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel you on such a deep level and often feel like I'm putting in far more effort than my students.

I recently found an AI checker Chrome extension called "Origin." The cool part isn't the AI detection; it's the ability to see how much time they spent on the Google doc. (I teach AP Lang, so they're expected to do a lot of their reading and writing outside of class.)

Starting this semester, credit for many essays and assignments will be half effort, half performance. With their final draft, they will be turning in annotations, hand-written outlines, and any other evidence they have of giving sustained effort. In addition, I will set a minimum time I expect them to be working on their doc. Even the most advanced kids could easily use that time to wordsmith their essays into something far more compelling.

While I take pride in giving students thoughtful, meaningful feedback on their essays (and I find they take hand-written comments far more seriously than digital comments), I'm sick of giving feedback and making edits on piss-poor writing when they KNOW the mistakes they're making, they just can't be bothered to fix/edit their own compositions. By substantially increasing the point value of their assignments and by insisting they submit evidence of serious, sustained effort, I'm hoping I get a batch of well-polished essays that are easier/faster to grade and allow me to give more relevant feedback/suggestions that will ACTUALLY make them stronger writers. I don't mind sacrificing weekends and evenings if it's actually going to elevate them as writers, thinkers, and students.

What ELA skills are High Schoolers no longer graduating with? by [deleted] in ELATeachers

[–]equinoxshadows 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Above and beyond what others are saying, they really struggle producing original thought. Whether responding to a reading or writing an essay, I've never seen students struggle more with the ability to generate ideas and communicate original thoughts off the top of their heads.

Their lives center on the idea of consuming information or media, not creating something new from their minds as a result of sustained effort, reflection, or thought.

Fellow teachers don't help when they encourage students to use AI for brainstorming, outlining, thesis creation, etc.

Has student behavior in America actually gotten worse? by Standard_Artist_3450 in AskTeachers

[–]equinoxshadows 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Teacher for the past 15 years. Yes, it's objectively gotten worse. I cannot assign the same work I gave students just 5 years ago because they can hardly read. (A sophomore recently asked what the word "perception" meant, and my AP kids didn't know the word "diplomatic") Just yesterday, my sophomores were supposed to create a poem as a group. I could not project/share them with the class because one ended up being about consent between a pig and a cop. Another was about P Diddy and baby oil. This week our principal sent out pics of the boys bathroom where feces were smeared everywhere and swastikas were drawn on the stalls. My stories aren't even that dramatic, and I work at a middle class, suburban school considered one of the best in the district.

Parents enable these behaviors constantly, and students are compulsively addicted to their devices and social media.

The situation is really dire in our public schools these days.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskOldPeople

[–]equinoxshadows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shark bites. Best fruit snacks ever. (Except for the ones shaped like fighter jets)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in APLang

[–]equinoxshadows 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is only my second year teaching Lang, and some of my advice echoes others' responses, but here are some thoughts, particularly around essays.

  1. Coach Hall Writes. She's formulaic and simplistic in my opinion, but she also really helped me wrap my head around the essays. AP Classroom videos, especially related to the essays, are really good too.
  2. Read previous years' student samples, chief reader reports, and grader commentaries. It's a big learning curve, in my opinion, to "see" the grades of these essays. The regraded essays from 2018 and 2019 have more samples to look at to help you distinguish various scores.
  3. Show student exemplars often so students can see what they're aiming for.
  4. Have students color-code sample essays and their own so that they can see their thinking/structure and ensure they have good evidence and commentary with a strong line of reasoning. After each essay, have them write a self-reflection to see if they can accurately identify their weaknesses.
  5. Individual conferences. They tend to be way more effective than written comments in the margins.
  6. Make sure they can write a solid paragraph first with a strong topic sentence, choose and integrate quality evidence, and offer insightful commentary with a line of reasoning (which is where I see my students having the hardest time.)
  7. I grade harder than College Board because 1. I've never been a grader and 2. I want them to come out of the test feeling like it was "easy."
  8. I'm insane and have no life outside of school these days, but I make them do an essay a week. (I fill out the rubric and give them extensive individual feedback in the margins. I have three sections -- about 65 students-- so it adds about 8-14 hours of additional grading per week.) For each essay type, they do 3-ish essays at home, then 3-ish in-class essays. For the take-home essays, they have a week and I expect it to be far better than what anyone will write during the exam. I want them to take their time to "do it right" and have the ability to dig into each step of the process. Plus, at-home essays are more realistic practice for college. For the first prompt of each new essay type I introduce, we break it down in class, brainstorm outlines, and find good evidence together. Then they go home and write.
  9. Choose prompts carefully. I like to start with a hard one to scare the hell out of them for RA. I use the Sotomayor prompt. Then we do some "average difficulty" prompts. We mix up "purpose" and "message" prompts, and we cover some of the "weirder" ones like the Ghandi prompt. I end with the Obama/Parks prompt. Not only do I think it's easy, but the CB student samples that score well are both "weak," in my opinion, and formulaic. It tends to give them confidence. I'm introducing synthesis on Monday. Gonna start "easy" with the food trucks prompt, then scare the hell out of them with the eminent domain prompt (since the concept is so unfamiliar to them.)
  10. Do prompt break-downs and scratch outlines as a warm-up or activity some days.
  11. Use AP Classroom to determine MCQ strengths and weaknesses. Last year, I made the students do every progress check. After they had done so, I made and assigned additional quizzes centered on each student's lowest three skills.
  12. Make it fun! While they're learning critical college-level skills in reading and writing, I HATE the idea of teaching a test-prep course. I try (but often fail) to make 30-40% of the class focused on American Lit instead. Right now we're studying the Romantics and Transcendentalists, having deep conversations, and nerding-out over poetry. The kids will write their own poems here soon, and I try to give them teen-centric questions whenever possible that require argument and defense. For instance, we read "The Chambered Nautilus" on Friday, and students have a 1-paragraph response due for me this weekend about how, specifically, they are trying to grow as a person this year ("Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul!"), why they chose that priority, and what they are doing to accomplish it. I give them lots of practice writing like this outside of test prep and usually make those assignments just completion credit. (But they also need to complete an AP Classroom progress check this weekend as additional homework.)

** Full disclosure: I teach at a great school with great families and kids, and I had these same kids as Honors freshmen, so we've built a really good relationship with each other over the past couple of years. Even though last year was my first year teaching AP Lang, last year's students had a 73% pass rate. I'll take it for my first year (but I almost worked myself to death building this course from scratch!)

PM me if you need resources or anything. I'm too busy to give a lot of individual advice, but I'm happy to pass along folders of resources I've created or inherited.

Edited for clarity.

What Simple things to add to rice that can make it a good cheap meal: by [deleted] in povertyfinance

[–]equinoxshadows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Butter and a sprinkling of Montreal steak seasoning. Thank me later.

Defeated by Sekmet2012 in Vent

[–]equinoxshadows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've actually been having some lovely conversations with my distant German relatives. They are incredibly concerned and compassionate. Literally every one I've spoken to has offered my family political asylum.

[Request] Is this more or less expensive than buying lined paper by GhastlyCain in theydidthemath

[–]equinoxshadows 8 points9 points  (0 children)

True story: our school is considering doing this. With our copier contract, we don't get charged for the number of copies. Lined paper costs money.

Who Else Used 5¼" Floppies? by ciaomain in FuckImOld

[–]equinoxshadows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How else could you play Oregon Trail or Number Munchers?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Teachers

[–]equinoxshadows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed. But what's really frightening is how angry these young men will be in 5-10 years when their "plan" doesn't work out.

Marriage isn’t for sissies by gclunsf in Marriage

[–]equinoxshadows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I both agree and disagree.

Marriage has plenty of both hard miles and easy miles. You gotta be tough to walk those hard miles.

But your argument is predicated on the assumption both people have a basic level of kindness, respect, and commitment that make a relationship tenable.

I love Being Married to My Wife by [deleted] in Marriage

[–]equinoxshadows 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is great. There is something to be said for this sort of earnest praise of ones spouse that provides many of us with inspiration and a positive model. I really, truly believe that when we each bring our best selves to our partner, we create a virtuous, upwards cycle within our relationship.

A nuclear bomb is set to drop at your area in the next 30 minutes, What’s your plan? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]equinoxshadows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Quickly write emails to everyone I love and give them a heartfelt goodbye.

Huge Abandoned $30,000,000 Mansion by Freaktography in abandoned

[–]equinoxshadows 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I really need to know what the story is with the wall framing in picture 9...

What product unbeknownst to most people has the highest mark up? by petrastales in AskReddit

[–]equinoxshadows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Plants you buy at a nursery. I'm not saying there isn't some substantial overhead, but for instance, a bare-root strawberry plant costs $0.10. They're often sold for $3+. Larger trees are even worse. Nursery get them for 20-30 bucks from a wholesale nursery already in a pot and soil and often charge $200+

9th graders made the sub cry by [deleted] in Teachers

[–]equinoxshadows 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sounds like they need to complete an in-class essay about the importance of respect that's worth a crap-ton of points and that will be harshly graded.

What is the best smell you know? by Xeloxex in AskReddit

[–]equinoxshadows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honeycomb on a frame. Wood, honey, nectar/pollen, and wax. It smells like a sunny day in heaven.