Categories
Climate Current Events Haiku Poems Poetry

Yolo

Record heat persists

Living beside intense fires

And massive flooding

The stripping of rights

Polarizing of nations

Anger…everywhere

But this damn sunrise

Is so fucking beautiful

That we snap photos

Rather than bask in the bright

And vivid moment

Categories
Current Events Education Local Government Poetry Teaching

A Lack of Teachers

Is not because of teachers

It’s becoming clear

That the teaching profession

Is in some trouble

Put very simply

There are not enough teachers

To man the classrooms

Conservatives say

This is a teacher problem

That “we” are too “soft”

This is not the case

The profession of teaching

Is treated poorly

Teachers have low pay

Combined with high education

Our hours are long

Our work is not just hard

It can also be dangerous

Not only covid

But we have angry students

We have poor buildings

On top of threats of shootings

And high expectations

We are not babysitters

We are professionals with

Very high expertise

And we are also

Often treated like shit from admin

And the public.

It’s not hard to see

Why teachers are leaving quick

With none in the wings.

So, don’t act as though

You’re suddenly surprised when

Your kids’ teacher quits.

Categories
Current Events Education Poetry

A Note on the Great Resignation

A free-write on the (lack of) intellectual property

Perhaps you know this, but in most jobs…or at least most of the jobs I’ve had, anything you create for that job is not your own intellectual property. Instead, your creative brainchild is the property of the company you work for. Depending on the rules or the fine print of a contract, that could mean that anything you created using company internet — or even a company computer — is not actually yours.

Since all the newspapers tell us that we are in the middle of a “Great Resignation” I thought it may be appropriate to discuss this a little bit.

I’m a teacher. Not only that, I’m a teacher that was hired as the first history teacher in a brand new Jr. High. Administration gave me full creative freedom. What this means is that I’ve created every stitch of Jr. High history curriculum. Now that the school has expanded, my curriculum is our curriculum. I pull extensively from the American Yawp, but I’ve also created power points and activities using unique knowledge that only I have. I’ve won awards for this curriculum and, suffice it to say, it’s been a boon for my school. It is, in essence, intellectual property.

However, it’s not technically my own. I didn’t get a stipend, or even a raise from doing this, I just…had to do it because that was the option. If I were to quit, *technically* my school could take all of what I created and leave me with access to nothing.

Now, you may say to yourself, surely they wouldn’t do that? Surely they would allow you to take curriculum that you created with you? Or, at least keep the curriculum and give you access to it.

I like to think that. And perhaps they would, however I’ve known teachers who, upon giving their notice, were locked out of all school files. Not at my school, but at others. Since I may move states this Summer, I’ve started to think about how I can protect myself, and all the work that I’ve done personally. Much of which was done outside of contract hours, on my personal computer.

Ok…So What?

As the article I linked to above explains, a lot of this “Great Resignation” is much more about “switching”, or rather, going somewhere that pays you more money and where you are more valued.

I know that a lot of teachers are contemplating their options right now. So many of us are unhappy in our circumstances and we are looking to go somewhere that will treat us better, or have better amenities.

If this is you, I would take care to save the things you have created. It is very likely that many teaching jobs won’t care…or even know…if you take curriculum with you. However, it is possible that if you plan on giving in your notice, you’ll lose everything you’ve done.

Sure, you can probably re-create it to some extent. But, that’s a lot of time and energy. So, save it. Make sure you have access to it. Make sure that the things you’ve done you can keep to some extent.

And, if you’re not sure of the policies in your school or job…ASK. Information is power, so it’s often obfuscated. Be sure to know your rights and take steps to protect yourself.

Categories
Current Events Education Local Government Poetry

An Absence of Knowledge

A free-write on book banning

Nobel Prize in Literature

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Presidential Medal of Freedom

These are only three of the many awards Toni Morrison has won. Yet schools are pulling her books (amongst others).

Why?

Because with every action comes an equal and opposite reaction. Because the path to change is through the next generation. And, at heart, change is uncomfortable. It’s a discomfort that comes with a loss of power.

Let me be clear. These are not valid reasons. Learning should make you feel uncomfortable. You should wallow in your discomfort. You should watch the walls that you’ve built around yourself crumble down.

Why?

So you can rebuild yourself with better materials. Knowledge is not congruent with stagnation. Knowledge is the house that is always under construction.

Because, you see, learning is the action of remaking our knowledge base with stronger materials. Learning is active, you must constantly be building your house with better, and stronger, and newer materials.

And I’m not talking about “information I found on youtube” or “on some website that upheld my already firmly held, and stagnated, belief.” No. Those are bad building materials. They’re the rotted wood that causes your roof to leak. That’s lazy building.

Ok…so what?

Toni Morrison should be required reading. Toni Morrison is the type of author who writes something so gloriously beautiful that you can’t believe you’ve lived without that book, and those words, and that story for half your life.

So why would we want to stop children from experiencing that?

Fear. Adults are afraid of new knowledge. They are comfortable in their house, even if there’s not enough sunlight or the furniture needs to be replaced

There is the problem.

Children are constantly learning. They are building forts and toppling them down to build new ones in trees or on mountains. Adults…well many adults stop learning the minute they are out of school. They have old methods and old information stuck in their head, and they want to reinforce that old knowledge and protect it from new ideals.

So, adults remove choice from children.

Because that’s what this is. The removal of books is the removal of choice. The absence of information is still a method of control. When you don’t give information, it doesn’t mean it ceases to exist. It means you’re hiding it.

Not telling the full story is still a lie.

The removal of books is a method of control – don’t let anyone fool you into thinking it’s “for the children.”

It’s not. It’s to control the children.

Categories
Current Events Health Care Poetry

Parental Leave

A poem based on this article.

Having kids is hard

Difficult on both parents

Sleepless nights…and days

All bleed together

A cacophony of stress

That saps energy

Babies, though, are great

With chubby cheeks and fat feet

But…we’re still tired

Four weeks? Laughable

Healing takes longer than that

Both emotional

And then physical

For a country so obsessed

With the birth of babes

It should be easy

To both have a baby and

Have time with baby.

Categories
Climate Current Events Poetry

The future of energy

Or the future of exploitation?

A poem inspired by this article.

New energy source.

Renewable energy.

Sounds pretty great right?

Of course it sounds great

We all want to fix the world

But…what is the cost?

“Future Energy”

Also means “future profits”

And…exploitation

Ok..So what?

When there’s money made

There’s people to profit from

And land to ruin

It’s not the future

If old practices are used

We must do better

Categories
Current Events Haiku Health Care Local Government Poetry

Let’s Do This Thing!

Children over Five

Can now get vaccinated

Do it fast and now

Covid is still here

And there is a solution

It’s…vaccination

Ok…So What?

The pandemic has

Impacted children so much

See, for example:

A loss of parent

Schools with rolling qurantines

And anxiety

To “save the children”

We must vaccinate children

Like…we’ve been doing

That’s why we don’t have

Polio and Chicken Pox

So, let’s do this friends!

He Man GIF - HeMan Thundercats MastersOfTheUniverse GIFs | Pop culture  references, Masters of the universe, 80s cartoons
Actual Image of the power of vaccination
Categories
Current Events Education Local Government

Can’t is Different than Won’t

On October 25, the New York Times released a visual story on their Instagram page with pictures and short blurbs of men and women who were making the choice not to get vaccinated. The stories discuss their reasons which ranged from hesitancy regarding the safety of the vaccine to fears about breastfeeding to religious reasons.

However, what they did not include were pictures and short blurbs about men and women who could not* get vaccinated. This is an important part of the puzzle and leaving out this piece of information glorifies the idea of choice, rather than the idea of social need.

Because you see, by choosing for non-medical purposes to refuse the vaccine, the unvaccinated are making a choice for those who can’t get the vaccine for medical purposes.

*The Times did release an opinion piece that went into more detail – but let’s be real, people get their news from social media

Barriers and Misinformation

Before I go further, I want to note that I’m very aware of the barriers that prevent people in the United States from getting the vaccine. Not having a car, living in a rural space, communities mistrusting medical providers for various reasons – I understand these. Additionally, there’s been a raft of misinformation – largely for political purposes – regarding the Coronavirus and Vaccines. I get it. Don’t at me.

Can’t is different than Won’t.

Recently I had a student break down in my class because his mask broke. He’s a student with underlying medical conditions already. As he descended into panic mode, he told me he was afraid he was going to die because he was only able to get one shot. He had a bad reaction to the first one, and the doctor said he couldn’t get the second. This wasn’t a choice that he and his family made – they tried to protect him. However, he’s only partially vaccinated because of necessity, not a choice.

Ok…So What?

The conversation regarding vaccination often revolves around those who are making a choice to remain unvaccinated. I think this is in an effort to humanize and understand the various reasons so many refuse the vaccine. However, there are people who actually can’t get vaccinated. Up until recently, that meant any child under the age of 12. It also means those who had an allergic reaction to the first shot, those who are undergoing chemotherapy, or those who have other underlying health conditions.

This is important because vaccination provides a shield for the most vulnerable people in the nation. While an unvaccinated person may feel comfortable taking risks with their own health and their family’s health; those who can’t get vaccinated are forced to remain in isolation. Telling the stories of the vaccine-hesitant glorifies that choice, and leaves out an incredibly important piece of the puzzle.

The unvaccinated are preventing children from going to school, preventing families from seeing their loved ones, and very literally may cause the death of another person.

The voices of the medically vulnerable deserve to be heard. Large news outlets like The Atlantic and The New York Times should do better, and flip the narrative.

And, if you aren’t vaccinated. You should get vaccinated.

Cute Animals Snacking Away Gifs - Animal Gifs - gifs - funny animals -  funny gifs
It’s a serious post, so here’s a dog eating pasta.

Categories
Current Events Education Local Government

Carrying the Banner?

Wisconsin’s Senate has passed a bill that will allow 14-year-olds to work until 11 PM in the evening. They’ve done this in an apparent attempt to “fix the labor shortage” during a pandemic that’s seen the loss of over 700,000 men and women, many of them within working age.

I want to note, this bill has not been passed as a law, however, I want to talk about it because if it passes, this law will have ramifications greater than just “the parent for this kid is up late picking them up.”

First, let’s break down the bill.

On a school night, the bill would allow a 14-year-old to work until 9:30 PM, on a non-school night, the child could work until 11:00 PM. Federal law mandates children stop working at 9pm during the summer, and 7pm for the rest of the year. Children could still only work three hours on a non school day – but Federal law currently allows teens to work eight hours on weekends, and up to six days a week.

Why Teens?

Apparently, proponents of the bill (in tourism no less) think that putting teens to work will solve the labor shortage. Obviously, they’ve never worked with teens.

In practice, what this means is they want children to fill low skill, low wage, menial jobs that adults don’t currently want to work, and they want to continue to pay the barest wages possible. For the record, I don’t know full motivations, however, I think the idea that it would “plug the labor shortage” is laughable. I love teens, I work with them, I have 4 of them myself, but getting them to do anything well is a labor of love. Might as well just do it yourself (or pay better wages and have an adult do it).

Ok…So What?

Obviously, this bill targets teens most in need of work. This means financially disadvantaged teens, or children who are working to help support a family. Yes, this happens, especially if students are citizens, but parents are not.

In practice, keeping a teen until 11 PM, or allowing them to work as early as 6 AM, will impact them socially, emotionally, and academically. They’ll be prevented from completing homework, lose sleep, which will affect their academic performance, and lose valuable social opportunities with friends and family.

All for what? So some hotel can pay a 14 year old 7.25 an hour to clean rooms? So that some restaurant can split tips with a 14 year old bus kid?

There are deep ramifications on an individual level for teens, but also on a societal level. Privileged students already don’t have to work, and if they do – they don’t have to start at 14. They have access to opportunities already. Putting 14 year olds at work until 11 PM will degrade the laws already in place that protect literal children from the greed of corporations. This means a widening of the gap that’s already created between rich and poor.

This is important, and it could set a precedent. It should be noted, and you should fight in your community for labor laws that protect children.

Actual image of teens forming unions

Categories
Current Events Education Local Government

Pronouns Matter

There’s been a lot of discussion in political circles about whether teachers ought to use a student’s preferred pronouns. There have also been a number of news articles about teachers refusing to use preferred pronouns, along with proposed legislation that could make it illegal for teachers to use any other identification other than the name and gender on school records.

For my part, I’ve never met an educator who outright refuses to use requested pronouns. I live in a red state and teach with conservative educators. However, I do know students who’ve encountered prejudice from their teachers when coming out, and many will only tell a few teachers while asking that the other teachers are kept in the dark.

Ok…so what?

I could focus on the dialogue surrounding teaching and the restriction of what we can and can’t teach and what we can and can’t call students. I’m not going to. I’m simply going to offer my opinion on the subject and hope that you’ll agree and/or be swayed.

School is a time that kids explore and define themselves. Home is sometimes unwelcoming to different sexual and gender identities and I believe school shouldn’t feel that way. My job is to be kind and make the students feel welcome. It costs me literally nothing to call someone by a preferred name (mark rather than Michelle) or pronoun (they rather than her).

This trend, to not call students by their preferred name or pronouns, is simply implying that students and children are undeserving of respect. Except- of course they are. They are humans with hopes and dreams, exploring their identity. They spend most of their waking hours in school, and it should be a place where they are respected.

I know many parents and conservative school board members would disagree. However, it will cost you nothing to respect a child. They may drop the pronoun later, or they may carry it with them their whole life. If it’s the later – then they’ll remember that you provided them a safe place by simply calling them “they” rather than “her”. That’s what matters.