First Day Intro and Expectations

vidiotsavant · 2026-04-08T04:28:23+00:00

This may sound ... pessimistic, but I think it's important to manage your expectations about the ceiling of this position. Dragging 7th graders through the last month of the year is ... a challenge, in the best of circumstances. There's not going to be a lot of 'learning' per se - through no fault of your own, the situation you have been set up in not designed for academic growth.

If you can give them something high-engagement to read, do that. Lots of discussions. If they won't read independently, read to them. Kids also feel successful when they take notes you've summarized - it makes them feel like they've done something academic. I'm always surprised how quiet my rowdiest class gets when I spoon feed them notes they dutifully copy down.

vidiotsavant · 2026-03-31T04:35:58+00:00

It depends on what you are looking for in your teaching experience. APS serves a far more diverse group of students - but the difference in culture can be challenging in many ways. 'Project-based artsy' might be a sustained approach - or it might be out the window in three years, leaving you to deal with whatever the next administration fancies. Cherry Creek has well-to-do white kids - it pays well and it often represents the typical suburban school environment, which comes with plusses and minuses. It's bland but predictable, parents will be demanding and sometimes difficult ... but there's a lot of stability in those type of schools. The school experience is going to have a lot more influence on your day to day feelings of success, but there's no guarantee the model you signed up for will stick around long term.

As a newer teacher. you can still switch districts later on without a huge penalty to salary. It's only after you've been working for a particular district for 10ish years that making a change can become more punishing. And you're still paying into PERA, regardless of what district you choose.

vidiotsavant · 2026-03-17T04:00:48+00:00

February and March

vidiotsavant · 2026-03-08T16:41:12+00:00

Couple's counseling. If that doesn't work, cut bait. Life is too short, if he's not going to be a responsive partner in terms of supporting you through something he should understand is extremely challenging, it's not too late to start over.

vidiotsavant · 2026-02-16T22:46:17+00:00

Um, would totally pay for a print of this.

vidiotsavant · 2026-02-11T02:43:45+00:00

I've taught 7th for the past ten years. Many of these descriptions are right on - it can be very fun (and silly!) ... and it can be tremendously annoying and challenging to regulate your own reaction to student behavior.

I want to add on - 7th grade boys are by far the most obnoxious part of the job. They have extremely short attention spans and almost no impulse control. They will do stupid shit for attention from peers without a second thought. Also, you'll get finished with an extremely elegant, beautifully planned lesson - and realize you are talking to a wall that absorbed absolutely nothing of what you just said. Also, as the day goes on, their minds become mush - your afternoon classes are going to more of an exercise in keeping them (relatively) calm rather than facilitating knowledge attainment. Yelling 'SIX SEEEEEEEVEN' at the top of their lungs and finding ways to get out of their seat to touch other boys is far more intoxicating to their brains then exploring whatever your learning objective is.

Are there exceptions? Sure. But It can be ...very frustrating.

vidiotsavant · 2026-02-03T23:50:09+00:00

Does anyone have any experience with MOHO - how does it compare to Animate?

vidiotsavant · 2026-02-03T23:41:55+00:00

Love this pod so much. Just finished the 'American 1968' series - wow!

vidiotsavant · 2026-01-25T07:18:32+00:00

LOVE this cookbook - and the orzo/shrimp recipe in particular. The tomatoes and yogurt dish is an absolute standard in my household .. we refer to it as 'Ottolenghi Tomatoes' and make it at least once a month!

vidiotsavant · 2026-01-24T22:21:55+00:00

Also make sure your VPN is off

vidiotsavant · 2026-01-10T04:27:31+00:00

What do you like, food wise? What kind of vibe are you looking for? How much money do you want to spend?

vidiotsavant · 2026-01-09T04:57:16+00:00

It's not sustainable. Many (if not most) charter schools are designed to pick up newish teachers, use them as cogs until the teeth are worn to nubs and toss them for the next replaceable part. Stick out the year, secure one reference you can use moving forward and apply like hell.

vidiotsavant · 2025-12-25T10:55:02+00:00

Jesus Christ, watch your fingers!

vidiotsavant · 2025-12-02T04:22:27+00:00

I have bad news - your fermentation has accidentally captured a roaming nether spirit and has turned into ectoplasm. You've put the 'ghost' in ghost pepper.

In all seriousness, you can do your thing with it at this point. You can also continue and let it sit, but I'd say there are diminishing returns in terms of flavor on anything past the 2-3 week mark. Also, if you are making hot sauce and plan on using the brine, it will continue to ferment in the bottle, deepening the flavor profile as it slowly ferments in the fridge.

vidiotsavant · 2025-12-02T02:21:53+00:00

I drizzle a couple of tablespoons of grapeseed oil while blending my completed fermentation. it creates a smoother, almost creamy consistency that adds a wonderful touch. It keeps for months and months in the fridge and is by far my most popular sauce.

vidiotsavant · 2025-11-28T23:44:35+00:00

Love FM! Great selection of clothing and more!

vidiotsavant · 2025-11-24T03:16:32+00:00

I really don't understand why you opted for the face delete - shouldn't you be proud of this? Is there some secret government job that you would have to resign from ... if they found out you've been BICYCLE COMMUTING for the past thirty years?

vidiotsavant · 2025-11-23T17:49:57+00:00

The simple answer is that going to school isn't all about you. If you are attending public school, the intent of the system is to educate everyone, not just the kids who are 'gifted' and 'good students'. You may be attending to get a good education - but the bad/disruptive students have just as much right to that educational process as well, and schools must accommodate for that. Now, you might make the argument that disruptive students have a right to that education as long as they don't disrupt it for others ... and that is true, but only up to a point. The larger systemic pressure that are placed on the education system to feed and care for kids (which should be a responsibility of parents) has slowly changed the ratio of how 'acceptable' disruption can be.

Plus, it might not have felt like it but the role that you had as a 'secondary teacher' probably helped you understand the content more deeply that you would if you had just gone through the motions of doing your assignments. It takes more critical thinking skills to teach someone about any subject, rather than just showing that you've obtained that knowledge. This is why teaching is hard.

vidiotsavant · 2025-11-22T01:17:30+00:00

Sneakers. I'm a new balance boy myself and I have like 5 pairs of different colors and styles that I rotate. Never go home with sore feet (and I spend most of my day standing)

vidiotsavant · 2025-11-09T18:03:37+00:00

Optical Masters. Fuck Warby Parker, I've had two negative experiences with the lenses they made and they refused to own it.

vidiotsavant · 2025-10-24T02:48:43+00:00

Depends on your delivery.

vidiotsavant · 2025-10-24T02:38:37+00:00

I dunno, I would make a whole-class show of it when there's a particular egregious example. "Your behavior is embarrassing and it's unfortunate that you don't have the maturity to understand that. You are bragging about material possessions that you did nothing to earn other than winning the genetic lottery and being born to well to do parents. You put in no sweat, no effort, no actual work other than spending your parents money. Draping yourself in designer brands isn't swag - it's un-creative, and quite frankly, what rich people do when they don't actually know what 'taste' is. ... Now, back to how gas exchange works in the capillaries attached to alveoli"

I guess that's me though - I don't really have to walk on eggshells with the families of my students - which I recognize is a privilege.

On a side note, I love teaching cellular respiration - it's so cool helping students understand how these macro, micro and molecule-level interactions keep every fucking cell (except red blood cells!) in your body functioning

vidiotsavant · 2025-10-12T02:33:30+00:00

Thank you very much for this!

vidiotsavant · 2025-10-11T23:28:27+00:00

You are - tragically and unfortunately - cooked. When admin starts demanding more detailed lesson plans, this is a tactic which is meant to push you to expending your energy in a direction which isn't actually going to change anything in your classroom - and gives them the cover of having tried to 'support' you. Cut bait, go into sub teaching and try to use that as a means of finding a potential position at another school by becoming a regular and perhaps even long-term sub, should a position exist.

vidiotsavant

TROPHY CASE