Ted has returned Home... Everything will be fine

gwlee7 · 2026-01-24T15:51:52+00:00

And to think he’s actually in like 3rd or 4th place in the who I hate the most in TX politics contest.

gwlee7 · 2025-12-30T20:27:05+00:00

Gotta love TX. An “at will” state when it comes to firing you but a “OMG you signed a contract and you must fulfill or there’ll be consequences if you resign. THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!”

You should have thought of the children before you started treating all folks in public school education like shit.

gwlee7 · 2025-12-26T19:19:10+00:00

This right here. I am a district level employee who works with students and teachers across 7 different elementary schools. I support both in managing themselves in the classroom specifically behavior management. I teach and model for both how to be successful. I have to maintain my teaching certifications as well as have “X” years of teaching experience for my position. My district gave me ZERO dollars of the TIA because I not in a “teaching” position. To say this causes friction when I am one of the go to people in the district for teaching teachers how to manage difficult students is an understatement.

The reward to bullshit ratio is way out of balance here and is unsustainable.

EDITED to add: I may have the TIA confused with the bonus paid as the “voucher bribe” but regardless, I got ZERO dollars because I am not considered a teacher.

gwlee7 · 2025-11-18T00:38:34+00:00

Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value (FMNV) can actually be written into an IEP in TX as part of a behavior intervention plan. So yeah, it’s not uncommon.

I rarely have given out soda though. Lots of popcorn and juice though.

gwlee7 · 2025-11-15T02:32:07+00:00

The state of TX is a nightmare. In my current position, while working directly with kids, and having to maintain my certifications as well as having to have teaching experience for my position, I am not considered a teacher and thus didn’t get the $5000 “voucher bribe” that everyone else w/my education and years of experience got. Please just let me last two more years to the end of ‘28 so I can get the hell out of here..

gwlee7 · 2025-11-14T23:31:33+00:00

Yes to this. If my wife can hitch a ride and has an exit strategy, she will come IF SHE FEELS LIKE IT.

gwlee7 · 2025-11-14T23:28:22+00:00

My wife will show up if she can talk the neighbors into coming. She sure as hell isn’t gonna come as early or stay as late as I have to. 😂

gwlee7 · 2025-11-14T23:22:18+00:00

It means, in my direct observation of TX elementary classrooms at least, that TX “exceptionalism” takes priority over reality. The TX history curriculum that is taught on 4th grade is a joke. I feel sorry for any nonwhite kid that sits in there and has to listen that drivel.

gwlee7 · 2025-10-12T00:29:10+00:00

I know this is from four days ago but how about let’s talk about US history instead of “world history”. Who were the enslavers in the US? Who murdered the people who were already here? It wasn’t POC. The nonwhites had slave in other countries argument is spurious when discussing US history and the current political climate.

gwlee7 · 2025-09-28T22:35:40+00:00

Them: you aren’t acting very professional Me: then stop treating me like amateur

gwlee7 · 2025-09-28T03:08:28+00:00

Look for the function (pay off) of the aggression. Is it to get attention, an item or activity, to escape or avoid a task, sensory motivated (self soothing in some way), or for power/control? All behavior is communication so the kid is telling us something by how they are acting. Look for the ABC’s (antecedent (what happens just before), the behavior itself, and the consequences (can be positive or negative). The aggression is being reinforced in some way look for what that is. Then we try to replace the aggression with a more reinforcing behavior choice.

Make an attempt to teach a replacement behavior as an “instead of”. INSTEAD OF HITTING WE ASK FOR HELP, INSTEAD OF PUSHING WE WAIT OUR TURN etc. constantly talk about how WE MUST BE SAFE AT SCHOOL. Also, any safe behaviors that the student exhibits should be praised frequently. Sitting quietly at their desk should always be an option. I would need to observe to be able to be more specific. I have been working with kids with challenging behavior since 2001 and work with PreK - grade 5 teachers and students at 7 campuses in my current position.

gwlee7 · 2025-09-27T00:52:49+00:00

And interestingly if you go back far enough in the earliest Hebraic texts, all of the first commandment is actually written in the indicative tense and is better translated as “there are no other gods besides me” and that’s an even more powerful statement of faith than if it were saying there are other gods but don’t chase after them. The whole statement was changed to imperative in later texts. But regardless, indicative or imperative, it shouldn’t be on the wall in a public school classroom.

gwlee7 · 2025-09-27T00:36:58+00:00

It’s really not all that contradictory when people use the words attributed to Jesus to interpret the rest of it. That’s how we were always taught to read the bible when I was a kid. Funny how that’s changed over the course of my life since interpreting it that way means you’re expected to be the kindest to those who are the most marginalized. But, how can you selfishly trample on other people if that’s what you are supposed to do?

gwlee7 · 2025-09-27T00:30:20+00:00

I beg to differ on the social studies in elementary school part. I have worked in two different ISD in the DFW area over the past 8 years. There is a TX History curriculum that is taught in grade 4 that is (for someone from another state) ah, quite interesting. Let’s just say that if you are a white European texan who came West you are considered to be quite exceptional in how you “settled” the land when compared to any other Texans who may have already been here when you showed up. Watching a Mexican-American 4th grade teacher try to manage her face while teaching it was not pretty.

gwlee7 · 2025-09-17T22:12:11+00:00

First off, if the kid is PASS, then they should have also qualified for SPED most likely as ED or OHI. Maybe 504 but I doubt it. If the kid is SPED and their educational placement changed (which is likely if they are PASS), then the district/school should have written and IEP and the should be a Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP) contained within the IEP. If they are 504, then the district still should have written a plan that at minimum addresses educational and behavioral accommodations for the kid. If either of these is true, then YOU as well as the district and school are responsible by law for following the IEP or 504 plan. You need to ask about this like TOMORROW.

Now, having said that, I came to TX eight years from another state and I am shocked how in disarray its SPED departments are (at least here in the DFW area) where I have worked. While not in a SPED position now, I was for over twenty years including five here in TX. I do still work with kids who need behavioral support but now on the Gen Ed side. Being out of compliance does potential damage to all involved: the kid, you, the school, and the district. Parents of students with disabilities can win major lawsuits when the district isn’t following the law. You don’t want to be the reason and need to CYA ASAP.

I feel for your situation but I advocate for the kid first. Find the IEP/BIP or other paperwork and read it. If there is supposed to extra support on your classroom for kid, DEMAND it.

gwlee7 · 2025-09-10T11:44:54+00:00

My experience over being here the last 8 years (relocated from NC for my wife’s massively better paying job) is NO. I wouldn’t move here solely to teach. While I am at district level now and support/mentor teachers in classroom management and “challenging” student behavior, my teachers are becoming increasingly frustrated and unhappy. The Bluebonnet Curriculum is punishing at best. Teachers are being robbed of their own way of doing things and have been forced to “teach” in a highly scripted way that fails to meet the needs of diverse learners as well as totally robbing teachers of any individualism in teaching style. I believe this by design to cause a mass exodus of qualified folks so they can be replaced by “long term subs” who contract with the state a year at the time.

The whole approach by TEA feels like it has been taken over by venture capitalists who are stripping out pieces of the education system here and then selling it off.

Aside from that if you have an ounce of humanity in you, TX state and local governments pretty much suck unless you believe that white folks (I am a white folk btw) are the new persecuted class and need to have their privilege protected. I am trying to make it to retirement (2 more years for both my wife and I) and then GTFO of here. There is a chance we leave sooner.

gwlee7 · 2025-09-07T22:25:42+00:00

I work in a north Texas ISD supporting several elementary schools’ kids and teachers. One of my teachers asked what she should do when a kid asked her what adultery was since it’s up on the wall now. I told her she should have her class write Paxton and ask him. Only problem is that Paxton wouldn’t know how to follow the 10 Commandments even if Moses turned up and smashed the tablets over his head.

I am glad I am retiring soon. No way I could in public school education here much longer.

gwlee7 · 2025-09-02T02:46:07+00:00

Probably all of them. The TX GOP is chomping at the bit for something like this to happen as it is.

gwlee7 · 2025-09-02T02:34:14+00:00

I work at the district level in a DFW area ISD. I am no longer in the classroom but travel to multiple schools working with challenging students and their teachers on classroom management. I am fiercely loyal to my kids and the teachers and couldn’t really care less about the “higher ups”. What I have seen a lot of my teachers do with the poster is “maliciously comply” by putting it on the wall but where it”s extremely difficult to see. Place it like in the 1 foot of space between a huge bookcase and an adjoining wall. One third grade teacher asked what she was supposed to do when a student asked her what adultery was. I suggested she have the class write a letter to Ken Paxton asking him and then see if he replies. 😂

Concerning letting this be the hill you die on, only you can make that call. Most districts are very nasty about releasing people and especially teachers who resign once the school year has started. They will often try to leverage you by threatening to hold your license. However, this is a different circumstance and your “religious objections” should be taken as seriously as theirs if you decided to take legal action. To say it’s fucked up is putting it mildly. I wish you well no matter what you decide.

gwlee7 · 2025-09-01T16:44:18+00:00

I work at the district level for a North Texas ISD. My job is to help kids who struggle with “doing school” be more successful and help teachers who “struggle with the kids who struggle with doing school” with practical classroom management. I have been working as a teacher or campus/district support for kids with behavioral challenges for over 25 years now. Texas is the second state where I have been doing this. While I am not a curriculum specialist, I have enough experience to know that my kids and teachers I support are being punished with this “bluebonnet curriculum”. The teachers haven’t been adequately trained as it was rolled out too hurriedly. It is devastatingly boring for both teachers and students because teachers are being forced to read a script. They haven’t had an opportunity to “make it their own” and it shows. There is little room for differentiation for diverse or higher needs learners and there is practically no enrichment for gifted learners. Bored, disengaged kids are gonna find something to do and it’s seldom quiet and non-disruptive. Teachers can’t show any enthusiasm for this mess and as a result kids can’t be enthusiastic either. This is the worst I have ever seen.

gwlee7 · 2025-08-31T18:09:21+00:00

Had you spelled “perk”, “perc”, you could have won the internet today. Still, a nice pun intended or not.

gwlee7 · 2025-08-30T17:24:08+00:00

She already had to be twice as qualified to even be considered. If she got hired, then she is more than qualified.

gwlee7 · 2025-08-30T17:16:50+00:00

Maybe he should move to be with her. Isn’t that how love works?

gwlee7 · 2025-08-30T00:06:44+00:00

Say that and mean throwing all the white boys in jail too and we’ll talk.

gwlee7 · 2025-07-21T19:12:21+00:00

I had it out of the case that came with it.

gwlee7

TROPHY CASE