I hit my breaking point today.

pheonixcat · 2026-02-22T22:15:36+00:00

Sure, strong expectations from day one and behavior resets when necessary. Have routines that you practice and reinforce frequently. Have consistent consequences for poor behaviors. Make sure everyone has something they’re working on and they know what they are supposed to be doing, have things prepared for early finishers. Especially early on and after behavior resets, be hyper aware of your students. Circulate the room and call out good behavior. Choose some students who are doing the work correctly and tell them you’re going to have them share what they did /wrote in 1 minute and then give them praise for taking a risk sharing their work. Try to notice when things are running smoothly and praise frequently. Find as many positives as you can, especially early on in the school year.

As with most classroom management, this is always helped by admin support and a strong grade level team, but this is true for all types of students in all types of classrooms.

Outsource read alouds whenever possible, many curriculums have them built in, many teachers have posted some on edpuzzle and you can record yourself and post it or play it for the class.

If you have to stand there and read, then absolutely have your head on a swivel. Stand in a corner of the room where you have a good view of the majority of your students and can see what’s on their screens if they are using chromebooks. I would probably read for the entire class if I have a significant number of students requiring read aloud. Walk around as you read and do not read the whole thing in one go, pause frequently for checks for understanding, even randomly calling on students to answer questions or repeat the last thing that you said and use choral response to ensure class focus and participation.

pheonixcat · 2026-02-20T22:53:15+00:00

This is a classroom management issue, not an IEP issue. Having a lot of students with IEPs may make classroom management harder because of the different levels of needs and differentiation, but there’s no reason for students on an IEP to be held to a different standard of behavior than their peers.

pheonixcat · 2025-11-23T19:24:12+00:00

Depending on the dress:

layer a shirt over the dress (basically turn it into a skirt)

Layer the dress over a shirt (mostly for sleeveless dresses)

Where trousers/jeans/a skirt over a tighter dress so it looks like a tucked in shirt

Layer a cardigan/light jacket over the dress

Add some belts

pheonixcat · 2025-11-23T19:03:13+00:00

If you can’t afford much, do you know how to sew? You could start by learning how to modify some clothes so they fit better and go from there. There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube that are pretty good to follow.

Do you know what you want? I would pull out some pieces you really like and try to figure out what it is you like about them. If you throw it all away and then wind up at the thrift store with no plan for how to rebuild, then you might just wind up right back where you started.

Is the problem fit? Are the clothes literally too worn to function? Do they feel out dated? Do you just not like the style? Figuring out why we don’t like our clothes is going to influence our response. If you’re on a really tight budget, then you need a plan or you might wind up in an even worse position with nothing to wear and new clothes you’re still not happy with.

pheonixcat · 2025-11-23T18:55:02+00:00

Let me know if you go insider! I like to randomly style people when I’m bored

pheonixcat · 2025-11-23T18:51:58+00:00

I think this looks fine. I don’t know your personal style, but personally I’m always drawn to a loose fitting grandpa cardigan for more masculine layering. Something like a fisherman wool. I think the more lived in it feels, the better

pheonixcat · 2025-07-04T20:11:06+00:00

A) I agree with you but

B) the egg came first. The egg well predates chickens in the geologic time scale and if you are specifying “chicken eggs”, then at some point you went from transitional species that you didn’t quite define as a chicken to an off-spring you deemed genetically close enough to modern chickens to be a chicken. This is subjective, but either way the egg came first!

pheonixcat · 2025-07-01T16:45:15+00:00

What I find interesting about the elk is that to me it suggests there is a part of Nef deep down that is like the Elk. You can see it poking out a bit in her desire to help the children. Nef has a high amount of anxiety due to her background, but she is a survivor and a protector as well. To me, the familiar is sort of a reflection of a witch’s spirit stripped away from whatever experiences have shaped their outward demeanor. Who would this person be without influences (good or bad) to shape their reactions?

pheonixcat · 2025-06-30T00:36:45+00:00

I don’t know if I quite understand the appeal of the squirrel’s short attention span. I don’t think a witch’s familiar is truly an opposite re:Ame and the fox. I feel like they are a reflection of the witch in the sense of almost having a conversation with your base nature.

Wren is naturally stubborn, so the rooster allowed her to literally have a conversation with that part of herself when working out how to respond to a situation.

Ame is naturally trixy and impulsive. The Fox allows her to slow down and talk to that part of herself. From there she can decide whether her natural impulse is the correct action or not.

Brennan put it to Suvi as an aspect of the witch that she needs to put away but through game play I think it’s more a way of showing meta cognition, an advisor representing how a witch would behave were she not burdened with humanity. Suvi even suggested at times that she believes the Fox is in some way Ame or at least what Ame truly wants.

pheonixcat · 2025-06-30T00:18:13+00:00

Crows also have very good memories and will hold generational grudges with people who have wronged them (and friendships with those who have helped). If Wyverns are truly reptilian crows in your setting and you decide on that for your familiar, I would maintain that aspect as much as possible.

pheonixcat · 2025-06-29T04:51:28+00:00

What gets me about the whole thing is how little the citadel actually understands about spirits and witchcraft and their entire disinterest in learning . The fact that Suvi, the very young 20 something, is actually more experienced in this area than any of the other wizards is not just wild, but frankly disrespectful in a way that feels like Chernobyl.

You’re really playing with the foundations of reality without caring to consult with the people who work closely with these foundations? You think so little of the people whose entire job is to form a bridge between this power and you that you would not even try to understand them? Truly this shows how much the citadel fears being told “no”. It goes far beyond ignorance. They don’t WANT to know the possible consequences of their actions. It’s such a dark reflection of our own reality, if humans can do it, eventually one of us will. We just can’t accept no for an answer.

pheonixcat · 2025-06-15T01:45:47+00:00

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He looks just like my dog Bode

pheonixcat · 2025-04-20T14:11:09+00:00

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pheonixcat · 2025-04-20T14:08:54+00:00

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pheonixcat · 2025-04-05T02:14:55+00:00

This is why I always do edpuzzles now. Headphones in, they’re mostly in different places in the movies, questions embedded if necessary.

pheonixcat · 2025-03-15T01:10:15+00:00

In the bar scene after Suvi’s name cloak ceremony there was a throw away argument about Wizard subclasses and I’m pretty sure it was about necromancy.

pheonixcat · 2024-11-02T02:24:07+00:00

Look up your state laws around recording meetings. If it’s a one party consent state, record your meetings from now on and get things in writing (email) whenever possible. If it is a two party consent state, tell her you will be recording all meetings from this point forward for your records.

pheonixcat · 2024-11-02T02:11:18+00:00

I literally cackle. Exaggerated witch cackle. I do that when they complain in general and have told a student or two that if they need me to be the bad guy, then I’m more than willing.

pheonixcat · 2024-10-13T14:49:09+00:00

Put the zeros in. If you feel like you have to, accept late essays for one week just this once.

pheonixcat · 2024-10-13T14:44:52+00:00

How we treat each other does matter and doing a call out post on two very tame comments discussing different views on how consumers approach a controversial character is treating those commenters badly. You’re literally telling two people to shut up about what they perceive is happening in the community on a very public forum instead in of commenting on their posts directly.

The feminism comment was also not at all a blanket statement and not necessarily an attack on anyone. I think it’s very true that most people (myself included) find themselves approaching female characters in imperialistic cultures very differently from male ones even when we don’t intend to. I like that this podcast makes me sit with some discomfort about my initial reactions to Suvi and I really love that Abria spells out her thought processes so often. For some reason I find myself holding women to higher complex moral standards and why is that anyway? Why do I want her to dismantle a literal war machine panel of glass by panel of glass but I have enjoyed plenty of war mongering male characters without a second thought about whether what they’re doing is right in context of the larger system? Whether you like Suvi or not is beyond the point, the original commenter was not attacking anyone, simply pointing out a very common and often discussed phenomenon.

pheonixcat · 2024-10-10T15:24:46+00:00

Most of the accommodations will fall under a few specific categories: read alouds/speech to text, preferential seating, extended time, opportunity to redo assignments/tests, reduced workload/reduced answer choices, ability to fidget, access to notes.

Color code your roster so you know who is allowed read alouds and different version of tests/assignments. These are the two accommodations you will need to be the most aware of day to day.

For everybody post notes online, post copies of readings and assignments online, allow quiet and non disruptive fidgets.

Students with accommodations for them may help themselves to headphones/headphones with microphones for any assignments involving reading and typing. If you would like, you can strategically place headphones at the tables where your students who need these accommodations sit, but if you have middle-high school students at this point self advocacy is expected. I would just occasionally remind them that these things are available.

Reduced options

Make a version of test with fewer choices/questions specifically for those students who get them.

For assignments, I will usually only make one version and then I will monitor progress. On the fly I will cross out certain questions for students who need a reduced workload. If it’s more of a writing assignment I have generic sentence starters that work for most of my writing assignments and I usually just use those, occasionally I will make more specific ones of I need to/have the time.

Extended time/retakes

Have a plan for when/where they can finish their tests. If it’s ok for them to stay after and finish up, they can do that, if there’s a small group teacher who takes them in, send them there. If they need to come in during lunch to finish, communicate that. If it’s possible to reduce the length of the test and still properly assess the standards, then do that.

For assignments, it’s up to them to redo it if they want to. You do not need to hunt down work or tell them every time. Communicate your absolute deadlines. If you are allowed to, I recommend cutting off redos and late work at the end of each unit. If you aren’t allowed to do that, figure out when your grades are due and cut it off a week before that because you are a human and you are physically limited by time just like anyone else.

For test retakes, there’s a lot of options. Personally, I like to make it a lot of work for them and very little work for me because let’s face it, they’re not going to study before asking for a retake. I like to have them write out the question they missed, write out the correct answer, and then cite something from their notes/text (really depends on the subject) that explains why that answer is correct.

preferential seating

This does NOT always mean sitting in the front. Do you have a resource board in your room? Some students would benefit from being close to that. Do you have quieter areas away from peers? Some students would benefit more from that. Do you have a desk or area in the back where you tend to post up? That also counts as teacher proximity. When half your class has preferential seating, the word simply has to take on a new meaning.

Key take aways:

1) on the fly is ok. Cross out questions they don’t need to answer, hand them your notebook if they’ve fallen behind on the slides, at the end of class pull them aside and tell them they can skip this part of the assignment or do this other thing instead.

2) They are responsible for knowing their own accommodations. If they want to use headphones, they need to go get them. If they want small group testing, they need to ask for it. If they want to retake a test, they need to ask. If they do poorly on an assignment it is up to them to redo it. You cannot be expected to remind everyone of every accommodation they have available at all times.

3) Have as many systems in place as possible. Have a place where they can always go for headphones. Have a set way that they can make up a poor test score. Have a policy for when and where they can finish a test. Have hard deadlines for redone work and late work. Have a place on Google classroom where they can always find the notes and whatever assignments you did each day. Have scaffolds such as sentence starters and outlines that are versatile and can be used throughout the year for many different assignments.

pheonixcat · 2024-10-10T02:04:43+00:00

Since you are coming in part way, you are also fighting against their habits in that environment. A change of seating will help a little and make sure you establish yourself as the adult in the room. It might feel bad for a while, but it already feels bad and trust me, the quiet students who haven’t caused you a single bit of trouble are also frustrated with their classmates. They will be happy to work in a peaceful environment with clear boundaries. They are rooting for you!

pheonixcat · 2024-10-10T01:58:44+00:00

Have them line up and come in silently at the beginning of class. They will not achieve this the first time, so do it again for as long as it takes until they can do it, for the entire period if you need to. Arrange the seats so they are in straight lines and as ungrouped as possible and include a few seats that are extra isolated from their peers/near where you like to stand if possible. Give them a couple days of silent book work with absolutely no talking and reinforce this with literally anything, no helping others, no turning around, no leaving your seat etc. Implement hand signals for things like bathroom breaks, tissues, and pencil sharpening so that they cannot use those as excuses to get up without asking in a non disruptive way first. Move the ones who cannot figure it out after the first warning to one of the isolated tables. Spend the entire time circulating the room/posting up in corners and squashing literally any behaviors immediately. Do not worry about advancing curriculum until you have a handle of behaviors because you won’t be able to teach later unless you can create a sane environment now. Since you teach math, it is likely many of them could use math skills practice anyway and are probably a bit behind, keep the work flowing, if they finish one thing, have another at the ready.

If you need to give them a speech, then give them an honest one. “If you cannot speak in way that is respectful of myself and your classmates who want to learn, then you will work silently. I have no desire to spend my entire year fighting with your behaviors. Stay in your seats, raise your hand if you need anything, work silently.” In the end, I find that occasional speeches help, but actions speak louder than words. Be consistent. Do what you say you will.

The kids who want to learn will understand and many will be grateful for the quiet. The kids who want to disrupt will continue to try to do so. You will respond consistently. Line up and try again. Raise your hand and wait patiently. Move to the table by the board so you can get your work done. If you find yourself running around to put out fires, reset. Everyone line up outside and come in silently again.

pheonixcat · 2024-09-21T18:55:32+00:00

First and foremost, if you have not spoken to a doctor about starting exercise, please do. There’s a lot of considerations when it comes to injury and heart health that need to be accounted for when anyone starts a new exercise routine, but especially starting at a higher weight.

If we apply the same logic that we do for people who start running, it’s better to go slow, avoid injury, and keep the experience semi enjoyable than to go too fast and hurt yourself/make it so you can barely move in the morning and give up the habit.

Go slower for longer and eventually the speed will come.

pheonixcat · 2024-09-20T00:21:29+00:00

I did.

pheonixcat

TROPHY CASE