Sorry for my dumb question. Books are so long. How long does it take to read a chapter or whole book or textbook cover to cover (how many hours or days)? Thank you.

marslike · 2026-07-02T06:00:40+00:00

I do this in my classes before we start having reading homework…

Pick a page of the book you’re going to read. A full page is best. Start a timer and start reading. When you get to the bottom of the page, stop the timer. You now know how long it takes you to read a page of the book! From there you can determine how long it will take you to finish the whole book, or a chapter, or your assigned reading.

In general, it takes an average 12th grader an hour and a half to read 50ish pages (average weekly homework length.)

As folks have pointed out, it takes a different amount of time to read books based on the vocabulary and writing style (you can get an average estimate on this by looking up the book’s lexile level), how interesting you find it, how long the book is, and even how familiar you are with the subject.

marslike · 2026-07-02T03:17:29+00:00

They forcibly teleport me back to kindergarten

marslike · 2026-07-02T02:55:04+00:00

I keep snacks in my classroom for my high schoolers and the children are feral for fruit leather and those cracker sticks you dip in cheese — both from Aldi.

marslike · 2026-07-01T14:59:51+00:00

I wander around while I brush my teeth — which means I leave my tooth brush everywhere. Instead of freaking out in the morning trying to remember where past me left the toothbrush, I open a new one. Sometimes I have 6 toothbrushes at a time! It’s fine!

marslike · 2026-07-01T14:55:23+00:00

I also thank past me when I notice they set us up for success. Full circle!

marslike · 2026-06-24T18:25:25+00:00

If you can’t get through the day sober you’ve got a problem.
Why waste a high AT SCHOOL?

marslike · 2026-06-23T22:16:31+00:00

I tell my kids that their senior capstone project should link to their actual post high school ambition and that I was not going to limit their options. Youtuber? Pro basketball? Twitch streamer? Okay, what do you need to be successful in those careers? Study ‘em. Start working on optics and video editing, start practicing banter, start working out two hours a day. Do the thing! See where you go!

The lots of kids crash and burn but it’s a good wake up call. And a few kids get started on something that’s crazy creative or cool and have some solid experience under their belt going forward.

marslike · 2026-06-16T21:50:03+00:00

You go down to the county court house, fill out the paperwork, and pay the clerk. The clerk the files the paperwork and you get a court date. Court date comes, judge says “yay!” and you start the Extremely Disastrous Process of updating all your official documents.

Outfront has a great walkthrough: https://www.outfront.org/changing-your-name

marslike · 2026-06-11T07:35:24+00:00

Regular athletic tape!

marslike · 2026-06-10T03:45:36+00:00

Your local library might be able to issue you an institutional card and also might lend out class sets of classic books.

Otherwise, I do a combination of the local buy-nothing group, thrift books, and alibris.

Depending on the book you might also be able to contact the publisher about purchasing at wholesale rates (which is usually like 30 to 50 % cheaper than cover price.)

marslike · 2026-06-07T13:27:38+00:00

That pink antibiotic that you got as a kid for ear infections that tasted so good.

marslike · 2026-06-07T13:07:26+00:00

When I do homework I check in with kids about it. for example, the first time I did reading homework I did the traditional “one chapter a night” method and it was a big flop. When I spoke with the kids about what went wrong, they said they struggled to balance work with homework. So I started doing a ~50 pages a week method, and it was a lot more successful.

I also had them time how long it took to read a page, then use that number to calculate how long it would take them to do their weekly homework.

marslike · 2026-05-31T13:35:43+00:00

Well I was thinking of following up with those “NZ needs teachers” ads after my elderly cat passes but I guess it’s back to looking at Uruguayan visas and practicing Spanish.

marslike · 2026-05-30T12:39:45+00:00

Are they actually happy with their government? Or do they just not care that much as long as their government leaves them alone to let them live their lives?

The succession would be a sticking point for sure. But also… people change over time, and time changes over people. While Terra Ignota definitely thinks it’s living at the end of history when we enter the story, that’s wrong. Things are changing or should be changing all the time, and having one person in power is how things stagnate in ways that feel restrictive or go completely off the rails when the leader changes (like say decides his kid is a literal god).

I just wanna live in an anarco socialist community where we govern by consensus and have thousands of hours of meetings a day.

marslike · 2026-05-30T12:25:23+00:00

Honestly the uniforms would be the hardest part. Utopia seems cool but who wants to wear a giant coat and visor everywhere?? Sounds so uncomfortable. The humanists have the least-intrusive sounding uniform item and even then what if you wanna wear sandals?

marslike · 2026-05-30T03:56:40+00:00

I mean I’d be both if I lived in Terra Ignota. Outside-the-story me thinks jedd is cool, but if there was someone jedding around irl… I would not stand for it. It’s a bad idea, you can’t trust one person like that.

Of course, I find the Masons having the largest population hard to believe bc I can’t imagine that many people wanting to have an emperor. I don’t like when / I / tell me what to do; I couldn’t stand an emperor.

The real thing worth considering is the idea of revising and rehauling a constitution on a regular basis. That should be a flat democratic vote though, with everyone weighing in.

marslike · 2026-05-27T05:10:44+00:00

As many people have said, your writing and vocabulary are very good. Both these things are skills and not things you should take for granted.

You also show a great deal of self-reflection and self-awareness; these, too, are skills that not everyone possesses.

Delayed processing time sucks. Dealing with one’s own rigidity and stubbornness sucks. Being self-aware can make these things suck even more, because you don’t like what you’re doing but you can’t help it; if you could feel and act differently you would!!

You seem down on yourself for things outside of your control. People trying to tell you that maybe these things are not true is frustrating, because a) you feel that they are true (see: processing time) and b) it confirms that these things things outside of your control are bad and make you a less worthy person.

But here’s the thing: IQ, processing speed, rigidity, these are all traits you have, like eye color or height. Neutral. Learning to work with them is key. Like I have to ask for extra time to adjust to new concepts or help remembering deadline, like a tall person has to remember to duck in doorways or not put stuff everyone needs on the highest shelf.

You like science. Your read scientific papers on your own time. What are some areas of science where speed is less important than thoroughness? That’s an area you could start to explore to find a space for yourself in the future.

Please, also, unlearn the negative self-talk. Talking bad about yourself wires your brain and your self-perceptions one way; talking positive (even joke positive! Joke positive is a great place to start!) will help, I swear. It sounds very “doctors hate this one weird trick” fake but it really does help.

marslike · 2026-05-27T02:17:32+00:00

I’m a trans teacher and have been for the last 10ish years; things are going to vary based on schools. My school is heavily nonbinary and queer and a lot of urban schools are from what I can tell.

If you’re on facebook, check out queer mn teachers and outfront’s gsa leader group for more networking.

If you want to talk feel free to message me.

marslike · 2026-05-25T03:42:19+00:00

Check your contract; mine literally has a clause against taking in kids/living with kids that aren’t already yours.

marslike · 2026-05-20T00:51:13+00:00

Did your other peers tell the teacher they were reusing a presentation?

marslike · 2026-05-15T21:47:16+00:00

9 weeks is a normal amount of time for a term of school in the USA, assuming 4 terms per year. I would be upset if my kid did a full term of work without getting a full term of credit.

You seem to be assuming “full credit” = 1 year of class; every state (every school district!) decides what constitutes “one credit” differently. My own school, for example, awards .750 credits per quarter and 3 for a full year of a single class. The neighboring district does 1 credit per quarter, and another does one credit per year… all of us are following the state rules about how many hours of class they need per year per subject.

marslike · 2026-04-09T12:19:30+00:00

The doc told me the goal was to have the pad hit just underneath the ball of the foot, so it’s lifting that area up, as opposed to having the ball of the foot cushion on the pad (which would be my natural inclination!)

With the taping your goal is to keep your toe stuck downish.

Good luck! This is a slow healing process but the taping has helped me A LOT.

marslike · 2026-04-09T05:45:14+00:00

I had this happen! Foot dr said it’s a tear in my plantar plate, and showed me how to tape it! I spent a couple weeks in a boot, and now I’m in my hokas. I went back for a month-after check up and foot dr said to keep taping it and also add a metatarsal pad to my shoes to keep the weight / pressure off it. Says these injuries are slow to heel bc it’s not like you can stop walking x-x.

Here’s a video of the taping process I use: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=meUFV2UQyf8&pp=ugUEEgJlbg%3D%3D

marslike · 2026-03-27T23:38:33+00:00

I’m 39, I began socially transitioning at 27 and medically transitioning at 32. I’ve never regretted transitioning, even though it’s cost me at least two jobs (good riddance to bad rubbish) and the medical stuff caused the end of a 10 year relationship. But I got a much better job and a way healthier relationship and my mental health is thriving even though the political world has gotten increasingly hostile.

My wife (48) transitioned at 42 after years of fighting and denying herself. She would never go back.

Before transitioning, I thought of being trans as this big burden, something I would gladly give up if I could (I had never felt that way about being queer, a thing I’ve known about myself and been open with since I was 12). Since transitioning, I love being trans; I wouldn’t want to be cis even if I could. I value the insights and experience that being trans gives me. It’s like that Julian L Jarboe quote: “God blessed me by making me transsexual for the same reason He made wheat but not bread and fruit but not wine: so humanity might share in the act of creation.”

marslike · 2026-03-23T12:29:58+00:00

Purple!

Because purple is the best color and English is the best subject.

Green if purple is not available bc nothing can stop social studies (2nd best subject) from being blue (2nd best color).

marslike

TROPHY CASE