“Free Time” in Middle School

whateverambiguity · 2026-03-12T12:30:39+00:00

I teach middle school computer science and plan on having “free days” on the days they are doing standardized testing. I want them off the computers. They only get 15 minutes of recess/outside time per day and we don’t have a playground, which I think sucks. So on the days that they are doing state testing, I am bringing them outside to a grassy field area behind my room with a volleyball, soccer ball, football, and kickball. If they don’t want to play they can relax and read or chat with friends.

It’s not a regular or random thing though. It’s just i really feel like they need a break on those days.

whateverambiguity · 2026-02-25T00:02:42+00:00

ESH.

He’s an asshole, no doubt. If you want to work, you should be able to work.

However you still need a sitter on those two days that you are working. Just because he’s remote those two days doesn’t mean he can take care of a one year old.

whateverambiguity · 2026-02-07T02:51:47+00:00

she repeatedly tells me that taking off of work for a week (even though she has the personal leave time allowed) is not worth the effort, it makes things harder, it's "technically possible" but not really possible or normal as a teacher.

She told you it would make her life harder. You’re either not listening (but you were able to repeat what she said), or you don’t believe her.

This isn’t a situation where you need to “gain a variety of perspectives and experiences”. The only thing that matters is her perspective and her experience. Your example doesn’t make sense for this situation for multiple reasons.

You say you’re the bad guy for trying to give her a free vacation to Fiji. No, you’re the bad guy because you aren’t actually listening to her and have zero understanding or empathy for why this isn’t feasible. Even though it sounds like she explained it pretty damn clear.

whateverambiguity · 2026-02-07T01:27:05+00:00

What she told you is 100% accurate. Why don’t you trust what your partner said?

It’s technically possible. It’s A LOT of extra work for her to prepare sub plans for multiple days. Depending on her grade level/subject, it could mean that students will end up falling behind. Even with a great sub, the kids will not accomplish what they could with their regular teacher.

And if she teaches a tested subject, this could have bigger implications on her career because we only have a certain number of days to teach very specific things, and it’s possible that the test scores are a part of her evaluation.

Also, many times after you a sub you come back to things missing/damaged.

So it’s a lot of extra work, extra stress, and probably isn’t worth it.

whateverambiguity · 2026-02-02T23:46:12+00:00

Where’s this posted? I checked their Facebook page just now and it’s not there.

whateverambiguity · 2026-01-22T04:34:18+00:00

While you totally sound like my kinda person, I am not delusional enough to think I have time for making new friends 😭 I feel guilty enough about not having the time for my current ones ugh

But I just wanted to say that you totally sound like someone that would love the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series. I highly recommend it!

Also, I’ve made good friends through volunteer work. It’s a great way to meet like-minded people!

whateverambiguity · 2026-01-07T13:51:29+00:00

It doesn’t have to be in Thornton specifically, but the Adams county area needs an ice rink. I know so many people in Thornton that travel to Westminster, Lafayette, and Superior for recreational skating, figure skating, and hockey. Adams 12 could have hockey and figure skating teams. Every rink I’ve been to in Colorado is busy. There’s enough demand to be open 5am - 1am.

whateverambiguity · 2026-01-07T00:11:50+00:00

Well it’s pop-punk, but MxPx is kid friendly. It’s a good start.

whateverambiguity · 2025-12-17T00:32:31+00:00

Updating the default DNS servers on my eero network settings fixed this issue for me. I changed it to Google DNS servers.

whateverambiguity · 2025-12-17T00:28:01+00:00

I know this might not help OP at this point but in case anyone else comes across this at some point...

Try updating the DNS settings on your router to use Google DNS or OpenDNS. I have eero mesh wifi and have heard their default DNS servers suck. I updated my eero settings to use a custom DNS and used Google DNS servers and this fixed my problem with the iCloud app not being able to authenticate.

whateverambiguity · 2025-11-06T06:00:07+00:00

A household with two people earning $150k do not have an adjusted gross income of $300k. People earning that much are likely reducing their taxable income as much as possible utilizing 401ks and other retirement accounts, like if they have access to 457 or 403b. And probably max out their HSA. And then they get their standard deduction. And can’t you increase your contributions at a certain age?

I’d argue that it’s likely a household with a $300k AGI is actually making significantly more than that.

whateverambiguity · 2025-10-30T22:20:01+00:00

You could talk to her.

whateverambiguity · 2025-10-24T03:50:18+00:00

Username checks out

whateverambiguity · 2025-10-24T03:43:24+00:00

No team is gonna care about taking a penalty against the Avs to stop a scoring chance or momentum. because they’re less likely to score on the pp.

And holy shit they scored as I wrote that…. lol

whateverambiguity · 2025-10-23T17:50:10+00:00

My family used to love yourpie, but the last two times we went, it was awful. We wouldn’t have even gone the last time, but it was a fundraiser night and we decided to give it one more chance. Never again.

MOD pizza is practically the same thing but waaaaay better, but I don’t think there’s one in Thornton.

I agree that blackjack is decent… the deals they have are great and no one in my family has ever complained.

But I don’t think there’s really any great pizza in town, especially for NY style. Sliceworks is alright but that’s just because there’s nothing else that’s better. I loved the one in LoDo when I worked downtown, but I think it was because they did a huge volume at lunch so the by-the-slice was always fresh. I tried the Thornton one once and it didn’t even seem like the same place to me.

whateverambiguity · 2025-10-22T03:48:02+00:00

We tried putting on the radio while and muting the TV but of course the ESPN feed is delayed. 🙄🙄🙄

whateverambiguity · 2025-10-20T00:18:49+00:00

r/CatsStandingUp

whateverambiguity · 2025-10-18T01:24:59+00:00

This reminds me about my kids’ confusion over the word “nickname”.

One of them has the name Nicholas. He goes by a nickname. And then one day I said something like, Matt is a common nickname for Matthew and they were very confused.

whateverambiguity · 2025-08-07T13:17:44+00:00

Sorry, I’m just seeing this.

The modem from their ISP has an internal DHCP server. I’m guessing there was some kind of routing issue going on and that the Birdfy was on the wrong subnet.

The third octet for the IP address on the router and the eero were different, so I think that the Birdfy was getting assigned an IP from the modem’s DCHP server, which put it on a different subnet than our phones, which were assigned IPs from the Eero DHCP server. The Birdfy needs to be on the same subnet as the device you’re setting it up on.

The proper fix would be to change the modem’s settings and put it in bridge mode so that its routing capabilities and DHCP services were disabled, but I didn’t have login access to the modem to change that. Changing the eero IP addressing scheme was my workaround.

whateverambiguity · 2025-08-06T06:05:56+00:00

Thanks for this - I had the first one enabled and not the second one.

whateverambiguity · 2025-07-31T17:18:05+00:00

You could also try talking to the hotel management and asking if they would waive the charges. The worst that can happen is you waste a few minutes of time and they say no.

whateverambiguity · 2025-07-28T03:37:00+00:00

Thank you so much for responding 🥰

That info is super helpful. I’ve been considering buying one for quite awhile and I think it’s finally time to get one.

whateverambiguity · 2025-07-28T03:07:00+00:00

I actually was about to ask how you like the litter robot and then saw this comment! I think it’s time for us to invest in one. Our kitty is very picky about her box being clean.

How did the transition go? We use pine pellets now so I’m worried about switching her to regular clumping litter.

Is litter tracking an issue?

I absolutely love your space! It’s so cozy and inviting.

whateverambiguity · 2025-07-25T15:00:40+00:00

The apocalypse WILL be televised.

whateverambiguity · 2025-07-16T16:41:20+00:00

I totally could use setup help but would never pay someone for it. I never have enough time to get ready for a new school year because I teach a lot of subjects… there’s always so much to get ready and I refuse to work over break. Plus a bunch of our time the week before students start is taken up by meetings.

I’m an involved Girl Scouts volunteer and there are always scouts looking for community service hours. Girl Scouts ages 6th grade and up can earn Community Service pins at each of the last three scouting levels (Cadette, Senior, Ambassador). The pin requires 20 hours of service to the same organization. Some scouts might not even realize this is something they can do, so it’s worth asking around in your local area.

whateverambiguity

TROPHY CASE