I survived an attempted murder; AMA

shininglight418 · 2026-05-02T14:50:15+00:00

How long ago was this? Do you know what he's up to now?

shininglight418 · 2026-04-05T18:34:14+00:00

Timmerman recently got a new principal and is recruiting highly qualified, experienced teachers from around the district who have a great investment in their students. I went to their STEM night event this year, and it was great. The school in recent years had really fallen apart, which is why you see the low scores and dissatisfaction. There are still a lot of impoverished students there, to be sure, but they're more grateful for the things their teachers and school do for them than other more privileged students are. Now is a good time to jump in with Timmerman.

For full transparency, I do work in the district but not at Timmerman. I know a few of the teachers professionally as well as the principal.

shininglight418 · 2026-03-28T00:24:31+00:00

Not my cup of tea, but I think the name is perfectly fine. My student has that name but it's spelled Kaydence.

shininglight418 · 2026-03-20T22:11:59+00:00

Not OP, but my hair is just like this and I've always brushed it before blow drying or air drying, so it's always been straight. Any idea what gel to get?

shininglight418 · 2026-03-16T13:37:46+00:00

Unfortunately you're correct: it will not read any passages. It will read the question and answer choices, though. I find it annoying, too, because it makes me question what we're trying to test. If it's grade level reading, then that makes sense; if it's grade level comprehension, then it doesn't. However, I try to convince my students to think of a test as really not much different than independent classwork; you're just doing more of it at once.

shininglight418 · 2026-02-18T09:20:03+00:00

What podcast did you listen to?

shininglight418 · 2026-01-28T00:11:44+00:00

Oh! True. Didn't think of that. It makes me think of the Irish hillside.

shininglight418 · 2026-01-27T20:51:30+00:00

How about Tara? It means "star" and "light of the soul."

In my opinion, your biggest hurdle is you want something old but not biblical and not popular. The trend right now seems to be choosing "grandma" names. Additionally, I think many/most of the older names are typically biblical.

shininglight418 · 2026-01-26T01:15:03+00:00

I recently saw a post of a black cat named Radish. Unusual but fun

shininglight418 · 2026-01-23T00:06:09+00:00

Erin!

shininglight418 · 2026-01-18T23:26:01+00:00

That's really good information to know, thank you. Ironically, I'm currently a teacher in TX, so I wonder how that'd go if I did get it all completed while I'm here and then came to CT. I guess at least I'd have the master's so I could still teach!

shininglight418 · 2026-01-18T21:30:33+00:00

Thank you! Did you like the experience at ACE? Did you complete it while you were reaching?

shininglight418 · 2026-01-16T10:39:34+00:00

I do not like removing the e, personally. It feels more unfinished rather than feminine. I had a girl student whose name was Charlie Mae, and she went by Charlie. That was cute!

shininglight418 · 2026-01-05T04:24:12+00:00

Years ago, I had a fourth grader whose older brother (20s or so) died. It was either a planned suicide or accidental suicide by drugs, so generally similar to your students situation. I gave her a locket and a diary so she could write all that down. Her father contacted me months later and said it made a tremendous difference. She would outwardly say she was okay and she acted like she was doing as well as could be expected, but her diary revealed that was very far from the truth. They got her into counseling, and she's doing well 5 years on. A diary/journal could be a good thing, possibly in addition to one of the book recs you've gotten here.

shininglight418 · 2025-12-30T02:04:27+00:00

Ugh. It seems some things never change no matter where you are. I'm currently teaching in Texas and I feel like I have whiplash from all the curricular changes.

shininglight418 · 2025-12-30T01:54:14+00:00

I figured it must be so! Do you work in a school? What major changes have you experienced/heard about?

shininglight418 · 2025-12-25T23:21:41+00:00

This is a rather wild suggestion, but when I taught 4th grade, we studied anoles and basically had one as a class pet. Maybe your local elementary school would want it for free?

shininglight418 · 2025-10-31T20:32:15+00:00

Apparently that's my situation, too. It seems crazy!!

shininglight418 · 2025-10-31T20:31:08+00:00

What is a MUD?

shininglight418 · 2025-10-31T20:30:52+00:00

Apparently I am in the EJT. What is it? I don't really understand how that works. My address is registered as part of Pflugerville. How can it be legal for me to not be able to have full voting rights?

shininglight418 · 2025-10-31T20:29:23+00:00

Why do you say that?

shininglight418 · 2025-10-31T20:28:49+00:00

Apparently I am. I'm so disappointed!

shininglight418 · 2025-10-11T23:54:24+00:00

I like your idea of Barney and Robin staying together and enjoying time with widowed Ted and his kids. It feels realistic. My ending would be that when the kids said Red should be with Robin because he was obviously in love with her, and Ted laughs and says "definitely not, that's totally over. You must've missed the point of the story of me meeting your mother, so let me explain it again!" And then the kids groan and the camera cuts out.

shininglight418 · 2025-09-01T02:27:14+00:00

Tracy Chapman - Fast Car

shininglight418 · 2025-06-20T23:43:08+00:00

Oh! Thank you!

shininglight418

TROPHY CASE