Shit show in Texas
Opinion is different from
Solid evidence
Speaking on that point
Transphobic remarks shouldn’t
Get large Netflix deals.
Anyway stay safe
Go find a vaccination
And wear your masks friends.
Categories
Tag: Pandemic
Categories
“Learning Loss” is a Lie.
A catch phrase that’s being bantered around a lot in teaching circles is “learning loss.” This refers to the perceived “loss” of learning over the 6-12 months that kids were completing school online.
Before anyone comes at me, I want to be clear. I think online school absolutely can be effective, but being effective at online school comes with a huge amount of privilege. To be effective, a student had to have: access to stable internet, access to a computer, access to a private work space, a structured schedule, support at home – both to maintain the schedule and to help with work. IF a student had all this, then online school worked. IF a student didn’t (and most didn’t) then online school was difficult. They did miss important concepts AND social opportunities.
However, online school kept the students, and their communities safe. It was (and should still be) the absolute right thing to do. Fuck your standardized 7th grade math concepts – keeping students home was right, whether they learned or not.
Except, now they’re back in school.
I have no scientific data to back this up, but I believe that as years pass, I will be proved right on the anecdotal data I’m about to present.
Our current expectations on students are stressing kids out.
I’m not talking about a little stressed out. I mean full fledged panic attacks. I’ve already had a number of children who have had attacks at school, and a few more whose parents have contacted me regarding anxiety. Stress is caused by a number of factors – but that buzz word of “learning loss” is absolutely a factor, and a large one.
Schools are trying to “catch kids” up to where they should be with no understanding of where they are. There’s an expectation that students who haven’t been in school since 5th grade can and should do 7th grade math. There’s no restructuring of concepts, and no discussion of how to help rather than hinder our students.
Pile on top of that the fact that teachers are even more overworked this year than they were during the pandemic. Administration has placed the onus on the teachers to “close the learning gap” in these students, rather than acknowledge that we need to meet them where they are.
Ok…So What?
We are expecting too much out of our students and our teachers. Not only are we not meeting the actual needs of our students, we are not acknowledging their experience. Students, like the nation, have experienced grief and trauma from the pandemic. Moreover, students are on the front line of a pandemic everyone has forgotten about. No one has given them the tools to manage the staggering trauma from the past eighteen months. Of course they are having panic attacks.
So, how do we help?
The first, and best, thing we can do for them is to meet them where they are. Instead of “set the bar and they will rise to it”, we need to acknowledge that the kids don’t have the tools or strength to get there. We need to give them grace.
Second, we need to teach them to set healthy boundaries. We do this by example. Are you a teacher? Are you being expected to work outside of contract hours? Don’t. Don’t do it. Set a boundary, and stick to it. Teach students to set boundaries as well. You do this through structure, consistency, and example.
There are other strategies, but the bottom line is that our students are not robots. They are panicked, they are scared, they have anxiety, and they don’t know how to manifest or handle those feelings. As teachers, admin, and as a nation we need to stop assuming that kids aren’t affected by what’s going on the world. That probably will mean changing the expectations in your classroom or in your home.
And you know what? That’s ok. The world is different than it was 18 months ago. It’s changed, and we have too.
Categories
Haiku Review ( burn out edition)
Kids are stressing out
Teachers have no time to prep
Unsustainable
When will we realize
That collective grief is real?
Unsustainable
We aren’t the same as
Eighteen months ago. This is
Unsustainable
From the Pandora Papers to Facebook and Instagram being down for a number of hours, you may have missed the fact that there’s an oil spill off the California coast. Honestly, news like this mostly gets washed over now days. Oil spills, like the coronavirus, seem to be a necessary evil that we are willing to live with because we either can’t or won’t make the changes we need to stop the problems they bring.
But, there was an oil spill, and it is a big problem.
So let’s talk about it.
On Saturday, a pipe owned by Amplify Energy (based in Houston) somehow failed. What resulted was 126,000 gallons of “post production crude” to be spilled into the ocean. The company has had noncompliance violations in the past, and overall, is operating with equipment decades old. I mean, I’m not sure if you know this, but saltwater corrodes metal quickly. So, failure is not a matter of “if” it’s a matter of “when”.
Damage to wildlife
You may remember that the Pacific Coast already went through a massive heatwave that killed billions of sea creatures. This time, the oil has coated and destroyed ecosystems in a matter of days. One specific reserve impacted is the Talbert Wetlands. Aside from that, wildlife is washing up on the shores of California beaches, and there is an impact to human health as well. This is important, because people often don’t actually understand what “the ecosystem has been destroyed” means, but they do understand “can harm you or make you, personally, sick”. Which, is irritating, but the months since 2020 have really thrown human self-centeredness into sharp relief.
Ok…So What?
Look, this blog is not going to change the oil industry overnight. However, as our climate disaster worsens, and as people look towards new energy, oil is being phased out. However, I predict that spills like this will not only continue to happen, but happen more frequently. Why? Because companies are still trying to make the big money, and they are doing it with less funding and less compliance. I can’t point my finger at any specific thing, but it’s clear that companies may be willing to bend the rules to make money. Shit like “an oil spill has now killed wetlands we’ve been preserving for decades” will keep happening.
And this matters, because we need healthy ecosystems for our world to heal from everything we’ve put it through. If you’re sick, you need time to recover. With that recovery comes a host of other things, diet, sleep, vitamins, medicine. You’re not (or shouldn’t) go out and binge drink the day after you’ve left the hospital.
Except, that’s what this oil spill is. It’s just making our planet sicker than it already is, and it’s happening because of aging and outdated equipment that’s not kept up amidst a declining planet.
So what do you do? I mean, vote right? Do your best to cut back on oil products (that means plastics too my friends). To the best of your ability (I know we are all so tired) stay informed about climate issues. Why climate? Because even the coronavirus came out of human interference on animal life. All this trauma that we’ve experienced since 2020 we can tie to climate change. Honestly, it’s a privilege that some of us have been impacted by it for such a short period of time.
I’ll do another blog post on oil impacts to indigenous lands, but you can also begin educating yourself on this topic.
Categories
Saturday Haiku Review
Activists for Earth
Are being killed at high rates.
While we turn blind eyes
Flooding will not stop
Unless we change our habits
Is that possible?
Mask-less kids roll by
Uh-oh, guess what? They have Covid
No one quarantines.
More than ever it is so easy to be upset at the world. Our nation is utterly divided because of the politics of Trump. We’ve lost 650,000 people to Covid (and counting). Climate change is becoming more visible and impacting our lives in tangible and frightening ways. Our communities are hurting, and we are all so fucking exhausted.
And then, in walked Steve.
On September 7, 2021, Steve Burns from Blue’s Clues spoke to us from our screens. Framed by an orange and salmon colored background, he wore his signature green striped shirt and hat. Not only did he address, and apologize, for the “abrupt” way in which he left Blue’s Clues so many years ago, he reminded us how far we had come. He looked straight into the screen and told us that we were going to be ok. Then, to top it all off, he told us that despite the pandemic and all the bread we’ve been eating, we look good.
And, collectively, we weeped.
Ok…so what?
Look. His appearance is advertising the fact that Blue’s Clues is coming up on it’s 25th year anniversary. It’s still some strange form of capitalism wrapped up in all the feels. But. I don’t fuxxing care.
Despite how divided we are, or how alienated we may feel from our communities or our families, despite the fact that I spend time on Twitter everyday yelling at my local politicians for the terrible decisions they’re making, Steve reminded us that we are human.
He reminded us that sometimes things happen that we have no control over. And, when we face challenges, we do the best with what we have. We pick ourselves up and we keep going. We are not the people we were when Steve left us so many years ago. We also aren’t the people we were in January of 2020, before the pandemic started. We’ve changed.
And he reminded us that that’s ok.
Twenty years ago
We experienced trauma
Covid brought some more
To people saying
“We came together back then”
What have you done now?
Categories
The Death of Innovation
Y’all. Being a teacher is hard work.
In one day you have to manage 30-200 (depending on grade) little humans and each one of them has a different need. Not only do you have to manage content for each of their needs (some kids are lower than others, and some kids way higher – so content can’t be one size fits all, there has to be allowance on either spectrum), you have to manage their space.
What I mean by that is you can’t sit Jessica next to Tiffany because they are mortal enemies/best friends forever and they will make your life a living hell if they are next to one another. Except you don’t necessarily know that so your first month is hell until you figure it out.
And, in the midst of this…you get one 45 minute prep period, to make all your content, collaborate with other teachers, look at seating charts, contact parents, put your grades in, create copies, create power points etc.
Some of you may be lucky. Maybe you get more than one prep (I don’t). Maybe you get before and after school too (I don’t). Maybe you get Fridays (I don’t).
Maybe, like me…you don’t.
OK…So What?
Recently, when fellow teachers and I attempted to solve our problem of literally no time to breathe we were told that we could just be handed a bad curriculum and go off of that. The fact that we were choosing to innovate was really the problem.
I want to be clear, it was not meant as an unkind thing. It was meant as an “you are all so awesome though, of course you want your stuff to be great, which is why you spend personal time on it.”
Still, it rankled me the wrong way. You see, teachers should be innovators. In fact, it’s not just a *should* it’s a required aspect of our job. We must have a certain number of continuing education hours, all of which are supposed to help us become better teachers.
Or, for a better phrase, become better at innovating within the classroom.
Now, I understand that administrators must balance the needs of the school in its entirety, and the needs of the individual teachers. But…we are being asked to do too much, especially in the middle of a pandemic. Some of you haters may say “bUt wHaT aBoUt SuMmEr?!” And to you, I say fuck you John, in the summer we’re attending the education classes required for our jobs, or working a second job to pay the bills.
So…what the point? Well, if you’re admin, consider asking yourself if you actually want innovation at your school. I feel positive the answer is yes. Now, ask if you have provided teachers enough time to be innovative.
You probably think you do. However, I challenge that you ask yourself if there’s a culture within the school of pressuring teachers to work outside of their contract hours. Do you say things like “this is just what we do”, “this is the job”, or “this is why we pay you”?
If the answer is yes then a radical shift must be made in the culture of your school. Teachers can’t innovate without time to do so. Teachers can’t be good employees without having the time to actually do their fucking job. And in the midst of the pandemic, everyone is realizing how incredibly important their own time is to them.
So don’t be dumb, give teachers time and allow them to innovate.
Categories
Culture of Transaction
I can’t imagine that you don’t know by now, but Biden has called on states to offer a $100 incentive for people who get a covid vaccine. A number of states are offering incentives (you should click that link and check out what Hawaii is doing, it’s amazing), including $100 for getting the first shot.
I want to be clear, I am not against this. Whatever we need to do to get people vaccinated must be done. However, as more states start offering incentives, or start considering incentives to get their residents vaccinated, it has made me think about a few things.
At heart, in the United States we have a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” kind of culture. It’s not “help your community” it’s “help yourself.” I call this Toxic Individuality, and it’s something that’s irked me for a long time, and something I’ve brought up in multiple blog posts.
In America, there’s no reward for community.
I believe that American culture sees no reward in a healthy community. Our culture is extremely transactional on an individual level. “I will do this because it helps me. I will vote this way because it helps me.” Not, “I will do this because it helps the community.”
Even church is a transactional experience. People do good or live by a moral code in exchange for personal spiritual salvation, not necessarily because it’s what is good for the health of the cities our country they live in.
Ok…so what?
Right now our communities, our schools, our churches, and our families are in the middle of a pandemic. That pandemic is not waning or getting easier, rather it is infiltrating more of our country, making us more divisive and angry. The past year and a half has made it very clear that the cult of toxic individuality and our culture of transaction is…well…literally killing us.
What we need is a radical change of thinking. Rather than think, “If I get this vaccine, I will get $100”, we need to think “If I get this vaccine, a child that I have never met and do not know may not end up in the ICU.”
I know, it’s not as glamorous. And I KNOW, the $100 and other incentives are very useful for a lot of people. Again, I am not against them.
But $100 won’t be enough to get us out of the mess we are in. We have to start considering the health of our community as the end game. It is not you against the world, it’s all of us against a virus. That virus..it’s killing us, it’s leaving lasting impacts on our economy, our children, our future…it’s time to stop pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps, and instead help out your neighbor. Do it for no reason. Do it anonymously.
The reward is a better future for everyone – not just for the individual.
Categories
Teachers…be like Ted Lasso
Hands down the best show on television right now is Ted Lasso. A fun, feel good show about a football (soccer) coach who gets into the minds and hearts of the players. If you haven’t watched it, or want to know more about it, check out here.
I fully believe that watching this show has made me a better teacher. Ted has made me truly think about how I deal with each student and coworker. He’s taught me to value myself and my team, and he’s taught me that even the brightest lights sometimes go through dark times. I really can’t put into words what Ted Lasso has done for my personal life, my career, and…well…my psyche during the pandemic.
I even made a believe sign to hang up in my classroom (see above)
Teachers…be like Ted Lasso.
I am sure that if you are anywhere in the United States you’ve run across a variety of teachers. I’ve already made too many posts about how teachers get the short end of the stick constantly. We aren’t paid well enough, we aren’t funded, we are held to high expectations, we must continually go through trainings, and at the end of the day, society doesn’t love us.
But also…teachers are leaders in the community…like Ted.
Ok…So What?
I’m regretful to say that there are a number of teachers (within my school even) who refuse to vaccinate or wear a mask. I’m also regretful to say that teachers also took drugs made for animals to prevent/cure covid.
Here’s the thing friends, as teachers we are leaders. Our communities may not love us, may not value us, and like Ted – we may be called wankers by our communities. Yet, we should still be thoughtful in our approach to them. We should do the correct research, not facebook research, actual research, when we aren’t sure about something. Like…IDK…if your doctor says you shouldn’t take a drug made for animals then maybe you shouldn’t do it. Your sisters boyfriend doesn’t know better than your doctor, and honestly, as a teacher you should know better than that.
So, you’ve figured where this is headed. I’m positive that if Ted Lasso were living during this pandemic he’d get vaccinated, and still wear a mask. Why? Because it protects his community.
Do the same. Be leaders. Be like Ted. Bravely or stupidly go out into the community and be people that our students, our parents, our co-workers, and our nation can’t help but root for.
And fucking watch Ted Lasso.
Hipstory 