"ride wit her hell naw go fa wat if she gne fuk she gne fuk bra u n yo feelings be secure or she really aint yours str8 like dat"

Translation: Don't ride with her! If she is going to cheat on you then there is nothing you can do to stop it. You need to be confident in yourself and trust that she is faithful or else she is already gone. TRUTH.



[Edited on April 26, 2012 at 9:39 PM. Reason : EBONICS TRANSLATE]

4/26/2012 9:33:45 PM

In my head, I know you're probably just trolling, but I'm going to respond to you as those you're legitimately confused.

The shoulds and oughts aren't enough to motivate a teenager. Would education be easier if I could just say, "Because it's good for you and it's an important skill?" Of course, it would, but it doesn't work that way. I'm willing to meet my students halfway if they'll commit honestly. You can read your sports if you come away with worthy analysis and evaluation. You can read about video games if you can draw a cultural conclusion/connection when your'e done.

As educators, we often -- accidentally or otherwise -- suggest that there's only one way to approach our subjects. If I can show them that words on a page (or a screen) aren't always thees/thous, archaic diction, and dead white male writers, then I'll take that opportunity. Especially as a start. I read about upcoming Xbox releases and I read columns about the artful use of symbolism in video games. I want them to see that there's more out there and that even their interests have literary -- yes, literary -- merit.

4/26/2012 9:38:40 PM

If they can already read the material then what are you actually teaching? A curriculum solely composed of grammar and vocabulary would prove far more valuable than any lesson plan of enjoyment and hidden meanings as it allows a reader to derive their own thoughts... and more importantly, pen them.

4/26/2012 9:44:38 PM

The thing is they often can't. It helps them to work on fluency, an important part of comprehension. It's also to help scaffold harder texts.

Text you can read --> Text you need help with (ZPD)

Success in an important part of developing reading skills. Constant confusion, misunderstanding, and frustration makes it harder to persevere and improve.

It's not the crux of our reading or English education, but it is an important part. Practically speaking, vocab and grammar are likely to be more important for core education, but that doesn't mean independent, choice-based reading isn't.

4/26/2012 9:48:58 PM

You have only a limited time with the student. If the child already owns the digital media device and already knows of their favorite blog's existence then why let them use valuable classroom minutes on drivel that they will be reading outside of school anyways? As you just noted, grammar and vocabulary do prove to be a better foundation. Meh, guess my argument boils down to an issue of student appeasement.

4/26/2012 9:59:18 PM

It isn't appeasement though. Blogs were only one example, and I guess you understand that to mean they'll be on Tumblr all day. That isn't the case at all. I mean blogs as one type of media devoted to a particular subject, of which there are many interesting and educational blogs to be found.

There are many studies that demonstrate the importance of meeting "digital natives" where they are technologically. Vocab and grammar drills all day won't work anymore. I see digital reading as a way to trick them into practicing reading skills. It's the Ovaltine of literacy.

4/26/2012 10:07:14 PM

God bless early release days!

Anyone else been feeling completely burnt out since spring break?

4/27/2012 8:07:38 AM

"early release" my ass. sure the kids get out early... teachers actually have to stay longer than normal (on a friday no less)

today's mandatory early release training: Kony 2012 (waste of my fucking time)

4/27/2012 8:16:58 AM

Oh, fuck that. We have our end of the year luncheon and then "independent work in classrooms."

Also, isn't Kony a bit political for a training?

[Edited on April 27, 2012 at 8:29 AM. Reason : .]

4/27/2012 8:29:25 AM

yeah. it pisses me off. i'm going to bring my laptop and do other shit (play on tdub)

4/27/2012 8:31:18 AM

Quote :

"Let me get this straight. These are only like 10% of the students that are mother fuckers like this but they spoil the bunch. In a class of 30 for a non honors class there are usually 10 amazing students that by some tragedy, are not in honors classes. There are usually 5 crazy maniacs that want to destroy the world and they usually take all the attention away from the 15 kids that are normal kids and would try to learn if they weren't completely distracted. "

Yep, this describes my experience and why I decided to get out of teaching.

Quote :

"I mean blogs as one type of media devoted to a particular subject, of which there are many interesting and educational blogs to be found."

Honestly though, how many of them are reading "interesting and educational blogs" and how many of them are reading shit like this? https://www.facebook.com/cindy.gaston3?sk=wall

Judging by the atrocious grammar and spelling skills of the average teenager these days I'm guessing most of them are reading the latter during their reading free time when given access to the internet.

4/27/2012 8:55:36 AM

I don't buy into the idea that texting and the internet as a whole are ruining language. I believe that the internet is allowing slang and other cultural markers to spread more readily, but I don't believe it's somehow eroding English standards. To be honest, most of my understanding of formal English grammar was acquired in my later years of high school having my AP essays destroyed by Ms. Temple.

Realistically, I know that many of them are not necessarily reading educational things, but, to be honest, that doesn't worry me as much.

Step 1: Get them reading something, anything.
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit

Step 2 likely being to suggest more challenging, more stimulating, more educational readings in tangential to their demonstrated interests. I frequently suggest Reality Is Broken to my gamer kids. I point them towards interesting articles that I come across that might interest them. Ultimately, this is a small aspect of my responsibilities as a teacher, but it's one that I'm extremely passionate about. I believe it's so much easier to have a student work at improving their reading when they have say in what they read and the selections have a direct relationship with their interests. Otherwise, I feel like we're sending the message that reading is important because you can't understand the classics.

This is also why the Common Core places a greater emphasis on non-fiction and historical documents, to work at improving more practical reading skills: the skills that will help them analyze news bias, evaluate contractual agreements, and connect cross-curricular information.

4/27/2012 9:12:54 AM

Quote :

"To be honest, most of my understanding of formal English grammar was acquired in my later years of high school having my AP essays destroyed by Ms. Temple. "

So if you don't take AP English you'll never learn proper grammar? I hope that isn't what our educational system has come to lol. I remember as early as elementary school having grammar and proper spelling drilled into us. And now I have teenage cousins that can't spell worth shit. I worry about their ability to get into college and god forbid a college take them with their poor English skills, their ability to maintain any sort of job that requires written business communication.

I'm not trying to talk shit about your teaching skills because this is an overall problem. The educational system as a whole seems to have given up on requiring even basic skills out of certain students and would rather just push them through the system.

You say that kids don't want to read the classics and therefore they don't read. Well then why aren't they being asked to read more contemporary literature? I think getting them to read The Hunger Game is more productive than reading J-Wizzy's Thug Lyfe 4Eva blog.

[Edited on April 27, 2012 at 9:26 AM. Reason : a]

4/27/2012 9:25:18 AM

My AP English teacher was terrible. She said no one in the class would score higher than a 2 and my (now) wife and I both scored a 4. She didn't know good writing or structure from her ass and tried teaching seniors grammatical concepts that we learned 5 years passed with stupid mnemonic songs.

The quality of teachers varies greatly.

4/27/2012 9:32:13 AM

That's not what I saying at all. I was saying that even as an English teacher the majority of my complex grammar skills developed later in life. This doesn't mean that I spoken in broken in broken English or used double negatives, but I definitely had a host of comma splices.

As I've said, when I used the term blogs I meant sites updated in blog form not necessarily personal journals of poor role models.

That's exactly what this is: pushing contemporary literature and literature of choice. We're updating the lessons in common core to reflect more contemporary authors, but the classics will still be there. For many kids, that's never going to motivate them to read, but the ability to choose what appeals will.

Anyway, I hear you and Moox, and I'm taking your thoughts into consideration. On to other topics...



What's the deal with school lunch being a la carte for teachers? Maybe I'd enjoy an entree, two sides, milk, and a juice for two dollars instead of that being the price of a chicken sandwich.

4/27/2012 9:32:22 AM

Quote :

"As I've said, when I used the term blogs I meant sites updated in blog form not necessarily personal journals of poor role models."

I guess what I'm not understanding then is how do you know what they're reading at all if it's on a tablet or their phone? It'd be nice to think they're all reading something inspiring or informative but I know with my kids if given the chance they were reading baby momma drama and other stupid shit. It was kind of sad because the one school I taught for had a nice computer lab but they never let the kids use it because they wouldn't stay on task and/or destroy the equipment once the teacher's back was turned.

4/27/2012 9:50:17 AM

That was the original question How do I ensure they're on productive sites. In the case of tablets, it's easy. Unless, they're paying for 3G they don't have access to wireless. With phones it's not so simple. The conclusion seems to be that I cant, and I'm beginning to wonder if I should worry about it all.

4/27/2012 9:53:35 AM

^ ask them to write reflections on what they're reading -- including the url/link. Maybe not every day, but weekly, or perhaps a daily journal that you check once a week. I'm sure some things will jump out as more appropriate than others. It would also be a good way to get them to not only read, but to think about what they've read.

But you won't be able to do anything about them not using appropriate content unless you establish what is appropriate and what is not first.

4/27/2012 10:33:17 AM

Quote :

"What's the deal with school lunch being a la carte for teachers? Maybe I'd enjoy an entree, two sides, milk, and a juice for two dollars instead of that being the price of a chicken sandwich."

ew. i have never had a school lunch at my current school. I DID eat school lunch regularly when I worked in Johnston County at North Johnston (my first year teaching)

4/27/2012 1:18:26 PM

Watching Kony now. :|

4/27/2012 1:19:29 PM

wtf are they talking about in Kony anyway? Could it even remotely be considered part of your job?

4/27/2012 1:21:40 PM

yeah, that's crazy. I'm really interested in hearing how they are trying to relate that to your job.

4/27/2012 2:46:53 PM

it was a waste of fucking time.

4/27/2012 8:27:27 PM

What did they talk about? Or did you totally tune out lol?

4/27/2012 8:29:06 PM

well the head of the african studies department from UNC came as a guest speaker... talked about the background of the situation and the video (and basically made sure everyone knew the video was a marketing scam)

4/27/2012 9:39:09 PM

Did he tell them about UNC football?

4/27/2012 10:02:00 PM

AHA, I remember when Smath74 had to read No Way Out as some sort of professional development.



^LOLOLOLOLOL

4/28/2012 2:10:05 PM

Just had a kid lose it in my class because i called him out for bullying. He flipped a desk and threatened to burn a girl's house down for being a bitch. This is after he walked by and casually knocked her stuff on the floor, refused to pick it up and was given a detention.

5/2/2012 8:04:59 PM

Hang in there, man. It's almost over.

Do y'all do ALC at your campuses? It's this new thing we're piloting instead of in school suspension. Students get assigned to an Alternative Learning Community (center?), which basically means they have structured instruction rather than a room they just hang out in. It's well-meaning, but this also means there's no place to send a kid that's being straight up disruptive. Taking the place of ISS is the "buddy teacher" system where unruly students are sent to another teacher's class. If the disruption continues, then they're sent to the office. The whole thing is rather annoying, as is submitting assignments to students in ALC who won't get the benefit of the instruction/discussion that precedes the work.

Also, everyone here -- teachers, staff, students -- is ready for summer. This means we've all got attitudes and little patience. Kids I thought were a little bit stubborn have become down right obnoxious. Little things that I ordinarily would ignore as immaturity are grating on my nerves.

[/whinging]

5/3/2012 9:03:31 AM

Quote :

"Just had a kid lose it in my class because i called him out for bullying. He flipped a desk and threatened to burn a girl's house down for being a bitch. This is after he walked by and casually knocked her stuff on the floor, refused to pick it up and was given a detention."

How old are these kids?

Quote :

"Do y'all do ALC at your campuses? It's this new thing we're piloting instead of in school suspension. Students get assigned to an Alternative Learning Community (center?), which basically means they have structured instruction rather than a room they just hang out in. It's well-meaning, but this also means there's no place to send a kid that's being straight up disruptive. Taking the place of ISS is the "buddy teacher" system where unruly students are sent to another teacher's class. If the disruption continues, then they're sent to the office. The whole thing is rather annoying, as is submitting assignments to students in ALC who won't get the benefit of the instruction/discussion that precedes the work."

ALC seems like a better solution than giving out a week's worth of ISS but that buddy system sounds stupid as hell

5/3/2012 9:24:03 AM

That's the thing; it's good intentions that don't seem to work well in practice. Their argument was ISS/OSS are not a threat to the truly misbehaving student. "You fucked up; your punishment is a vacation," but the same can be said of ALC. There is literally no threat; you're just in a different room doing the same work, usually less. I respect that idea that it combats missing work by ensuring the student doesn't fall behind, but as a deterrent it does nothing, so I can't really understand its continued existence.

"Put your phone away, David."
::puts phone away for a few minutes then starts texting::
"David, bring me your phone."
"No. You're not taking my phone."
"David, that is non-compliance, which is one of our non-negotiable policies. If you don't surrender your phone, there will be disciplinary consequences"
"Whatever, you're not taking my phone"
::gets ALC, is gone a day, returns only to use his phone in class again::

I would say that a large number of ALC infractions are related to non-negotiables like that, primarily with students not surrendering electronics. One could argue that the electronics policy should change -- which we're exploring -- however, it's also the fact that ALC provides a near painless route to misbehavior.

5/3/2012 9:44:43 AM

I suspect that the benefit of ALC is that it lowers suspension rates. So you can get kids out of class more often while lowering suspension rates. This is only beneficial if it applies to students who are genuinely disrupting the class though.

5/3/2012 12:47:51 PM

Of course, but that's mainly a semantic argument. The kid is effectively suspended, punished by removal from class.

5/3/2012 1:25:20 PM

It's not like flunking them is going to help them either, so what can you actually threaten them with?

5/3/2012 1:48:49 PM

Right, I think that's the major issue of discipline: how to manage the students that seem to strive for misbehavior. Carrot or the stick? PBIS says carrot, but the stick seems to work more consistently.

Also, it was suggested that we determine who is/was a teacher. I figure years of subject, level, years of experience, county, and status are all worth mentioning.

TWW Teachers:
Byrn Stuff: High School English, ninth grade/creative writing/study skills, six years, Wake, currently teaching

5/3/2012 2:27:48 PM

If I was teaching, I'd just continue on with my lecture and let the students sit on their phones the entire class. If they aren't paying attention, it's their loss. Maybe when they fail out they'll realize what an idiot they were.

5/3/2012 2:38:26 PM

We have ALC and ISS. The kid I just mentioned got 4 days of ALC and he will come back and be placed in the same classroom with the girl he threatened. I also had a girl beat another girl with a pipe at a gas station and they are both in my same class with 30 other students but the school can't do anything about it off-campus.

Tensions are so high everyday. Usually I notice it when its just verbal but honestly I wouldn't be surprised if someone tried to murder someone else in school.

Quote :

"How old are these kids?"

Mostly sophomores.

Quote :

"It's not like flunking them is going to help them either, so what can you actually threaten them with?"

As a teacher, it would be nice if I could banish kids from my class permanently but that could never happen in this society. There will always be major problems as long as we continue to FORCE people to go to school. I have kids who admittedly are trying to come up with creative ways to get kicked out of school.

The problem with ALC is that kids who go there just hang out with all the other potheads, bullies, and bad kids overall so once they go there, they are lost forever.

Quote :

"If I was teaching, I'd just continue on with my lecture and let the students sit on their phones the entire class. If they aren't paying attention, it's their loss. Maybe when they fail out they'll realize what an idiot they were."

This is the best and only solution. This is real life but we can't do it in schools because parents prefer babysitting.

There have been cases where kids fail and say "the teacher let me play games in class" and it was ruled the teacher's fault. Society wants babysitters more than teachers.

5/3/2012 6:03:20 PM

lol @ cartman pic

5/3/2012 6:12:32 PM

Quote :

"Also, it was suggested that we determine who is/was a teacher. I figure years of subject, level, years of experience, county, and status are all worth mentioning."

If you're a current teacher, I wouldn't post more than your subject and grade you teach if you don't want things you post here potentially biting you in the ass at work, especially if you teach in the Triangle.

5/3/2012 6:22:29 PM

Well said.

5/3/2012 6:45:01 PM

1) ask people before the class if they want suggestions for something to read if they have nothing. If someone says no, perhaps have them download the Amazon app and let them "borrow" something from you? Or recommend an article for them to read if they have nothing.

2) at the end of the period, "randomly" pick someone to talk about what they read, if it's not a trashy novel or something.

I had a palm pilot device my 12th grade year (2002) and read any book from class on it, that was from project gutenberg. It actually gave me an advantage being able to search for keywords in class during discussion.

5/3/2012 7:01:59 PM

Quote :

"Byrn Stuff: Of course, but that's mainly a semantic argument. The kid is effectively suspended, punished by removal from class."

Yes, but I imagine that the ALC option makes the job of administrators a bit easier. They can give a student the punishment they deserve for their actions without having to worry about some growing tally of suspensions. That's a tough spot for them to be in: Don't want the school to look bad with too many suspensions, but the kids are still breaking the rules in ways that typically end in suspension...and the hallmark of good punishment is consistency...so what are they supposed to do? It seems like ALC would help. I'm not a teacher or an administrator or anything, but I do like studying schools.

5/5/2012 2:59:48 PM

Y'all heard of the "Excellent Public Schools Act"? It showed up on Facebook feed today via one of my former professors.

http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/Senate/PDF/S795v0.pdf

5/17/2012 6:44:40 PM

Compiling a list of things to do with kids at the start of the year before I get into any subject-specific content. These are all universal

A. Activities to find out about the personality/strengths/weaknesses/learning styles of each student.

I have a ton of fun activities that will reveal what type of learner each student is, their strengths and weaknesses. These will also serve as ice breakers at the start of the year since they are fun and involve a lot of things that are about student interests.

B. Brainstorm, discuss and review expected conduct/attitude for class college and life in general.

Have students come up with rules, dos and don'ts for class.
Have students act out good conduct and bad conduct in groups.
Discuss how negative attitude towards anything will inhibit your performance.

C. Stress organizational skills and proper study habits.

I'm completely giving in on this one. I have always been against hand-holding but I'm going to get them color coded dividers and force everyone to keep an organized notebook.

5/17/2012 6:53:14 PM

^^It's a Rethug-sponsored bill, so I doubt it will actually promote excellent public schools, and of course it seeks to give districts carte blanche to screw teachers over by among other things ending tenure; then again I do like the ending of social promotion.

Quote :

"I still am not seeing how letting a kid read a blog on the internet during school hours is "inspiring life-long readers". In today's society literacy is necessary to function."

It depends of course on what kinds of blogs are being read; some of them are rather well-written, like these...
http://krebsonsecurity.com/ (Internet and payment-network security from the view of the good guys)
http://chroanagram.zxq.net/blog/ (gender identity and ableism from a neutrois perspective, not updated for about a year)
http://abagond.wordpress.com/ (various issues, but increasingly racism from a black perspective)
http://skillcrush.tumblr.com/ (technology for girls, but not in a super dumbed-down or flowery manner)
http://volokh.com/ (commentary on the courts, from a libertarian-conservative and scholarly perspective)
http://www.english-online.org.uk/englishblog/profblog.php (the numerous quirks of the English language)

I know I personally do most of my reading in the blogosphere, including some more chatty and less well-written fare like Feministing, Jezebel, Naked Security, Huffington Post, AddictingInfo, LGBTQ Nation, and the Bilerico Project; although Sturgeon's Law definitely holds, the most influential blogs tend to be better-written and link to even more scholarly material from time to time.

[Edited on May 17, 2012 at 9:25 PM. Reason : It doesn't have to be committed to ink and paper to be educational.

5/17/2012 9:24:07 PM

On the first day I hit the ground running. As soon as the bell rings, I start lecturing and by the end of the hour and a half, the students who haven't caught on they should be transcribing my lecture will be so far behind they will end up failing the class. Then they will know what to do next time.


at least that's how it should be.

5/18/2012 7:50:26 AM

^shoulda been teaching professional school

5/20/2012 12:10:20 AM

^^,^^^^Yeah, a friend of mine teaches high school...next year, she's committed to going through the beginning-of-the-year explicit student/teacher expectations thing with the behavior practice and all that, but every teacher is doing that every year (even twice a year at some schools). So if the students aren't catching on or aren't willing to catch on by high school...uhhhh...it's not clear that one more review is going to change anything.

It still makes sense to go through the motions just in case you have a student or two who genuinely doesn't know or understand how a classroom works. And it thoroughly establishes a very clear, fair environment for everyone to learn.

[Edited on May 20, 2012 at 1:11 AM. Reason : ]

5/20/2012 1:07:28 AM

^Every teacher has slightly different expectations though.

I'm the only teacher in my school who doesn't allow students to line up at the door a few minutes before the bell rings.

[Edited on May 20, 2012 at 1:45 AM. Reason : tough time with that all year]

5/20/2012 1:45:11 AM

Byrn Stuff and I finished up the same year.

My degree and license is in secondary English, but I have not spent time in the public school classroom outside of student teaching. I have over four years of experience in tutoring public speaking and composition. While the majority of my work is with college aged students, I have spent a significant amount of time with students from Wake and Pitt Co. Schools. I am currently a SAHM of two with one special needs child in the public school system.

I think that Suspension and In School Suspension is a joke. I think that it even rewards misbehavior in certain students. I would ask to go to ISS and when I was told that I couldn't just go, I would get in trouble. I'd be sent to ISS for three days, but would finish my classroom work up in a day. That meant that I'd have the other two days to read. I liked being able to finish up things at my own pace (usually faster than in the classroom) and then do whatever I like. How is that punishment? You really have to be able to alter the punishment to fit the child.

5/20/2012 3:09:59 AM