Out of the darkness comes light like a flash

FACT ABOUT SUNDAYS

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:41:40 -0700

They’re way more fun when instead of grocery shopping, grading, planning, and being miserable, you ignore all adult responsibilities and go to a music festival and drink beer in the sun with your friends all day.

I did run into a student though. That was mildly awkward. I gave her a hug. I hope I didn’t smell like beer.

I mean really

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:05:14 -0700

How many times in your life do you get to say, “I’m in the band,” without being ironic?

My musician husband played his first huge local festival today and I’m so proud.

I also have a backstage pass and it’s awesome.

Time for another beer and more perfect California sunshine.

Elizabeth Smart: Abstinence Education Teaches Rape Victims They’re Worthless, Dirty, And Filthy

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:29:11 -0700

Elizabeth Smart: Abstinence Education Teaches Rape Victims They’re Worthless, Dirty, And Filthy:

geofaultline:

girlwithalessonplan:

fuckyeahsexeducation:

TW: Sexual abuse

Elizabeth Smart became a household name after she was kidnapped from her home in Salt Lake City, UT at the age of 14 and held in captivity for nine months. She was forced into a polygamous marriage, tethered to a metal cable, and raped daily until she was rescued from her captors nine months later. Smart was recovered while she and her kidnappers were walking down a suburban street, leading many Americans who followed her story on the national news to wonder:Why didn’t she just run away as soon as she was brought outside?
Speaking to an audience at Johns Hopkins about issues of human trafficking and sexual violence, Smart recently offered an answer to that question. She explained that some human trafficking victims don’t run away because they feel worthless after being raped, particularly if they have been raised in conservative cultures that push abstinence-only education and emphasize sexual purity:

Smart said she “felt so dirty and so filthy” after she was raped by her captor, and she understands why someone wouldn’t run “because of that alone.”

Smart spoke at a Johns Hopkins human trafficking forum, saying she was raised in a religious household and recalled a school teacher who spoke once about abstinence and compared sex to chewing gum.

“I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m that chewed up piece of gum, nobody re-chews a piece of gum, you throw it away.’ And that’s how easy it is to feel like you know longer have worth, you know longer have value,” Smart said. “Why would it even be worth screaming out? Why would it even make a difference if you are rescued? Your life still has no value.”

Now in her mid-twenties, Smart runs a foundation to help educate children about sexual crimes. She now believes that children should grow up learning that “you will always have value and nothing can change that.”

Social psychologists and sexual abuse counselors agree that comprehensive sex education can help prevent sexual crimes. Teaching children about their bodies gives them the tools to describe acts of abuse without feeling as embarrassed or uncomfortable, and it also helps elevate their self-confidence and sense of bodily autonomy. A shame-based approach to genitalia and sexuality, on the other hand, sends kids the message that they can’t discuss or ask questions about any of those issues.

When I went through abstinence only education they did an activity where they put different activity from holding hands to intercourse around the room and asked everyone how far they would go, and how far their parents would be okay with them going. I refused to do the exercise because I thought it was inappropriate and my parents trusted me to be safe and make decisions for myself. Now that I look back on that I can’t imagine how traumatic that could have been to someone who had been sexually abused. We need to keep this in mind when discussing sex education.

THIS.

Way to important to miss..

Cards against humanity!

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:34:54 -0700

Cards against humanity!:

iamlittlei:

positivelypersistentteach:

msleahhbic:

positivelypersistentteach:

go to PPT’s game - Password is education

limit is 8 players. First come first serve.

If it gets full and someone wants to start another message me and I’ll post the info.

Hurry up guys!

New game, limit 10, we have room for 4 more

Do it! You will be laughing a lot.

Every game I try to join is FULL.

Ok, I am going to lay down until 8:45.

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:21:34 -0700

adiemtocarpe:

positivelypersistentteach:

Then I will be looking for people to play cards against humanity online.

I am in EST time zone.

I might be in for this!

Cards Against Humanity ONLINE?! YES.

Procrastination Professional

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:47:10 -0700

Excuse #1: That will take like 5 minutes. Since I have more time than that, I should do something that will take up that amount of time.

Excuse #2: That will take longer than the amount of time I have right now. I’ll start it later when I have time to finish it.

Then, Tumblr.

Gatsby Soundtrack in It's Always Sunny gifs, because why not?

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:06:19 -0700

tomesaway: The seniors asked for a movie date to see The Great...

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:51:54 -0700

tomesaway:

The seniors asked for a movie date to see The Great Gatsby, and today’s the day.

Hopefully wearing my Out Of Print Gatsby shirt to the movie isn’t the same kind of uncool that wearing a band’s previous tour shirt to the current tour tends to be.

Either way, it’s happening.

Add in the facts that (a) they’ve never seen me in shorts, or (b) I think I may be the first person to rock this shirt while this pregnant, and I think I get some major points for bravery in the line of duty.

First, isn’t that baby bump adorable?

Second, I saw Gatsby last night with the 11th grade English teachers and their students (I don’t teach juniors, so I didn’t know any of the kids), and it was so fun watching the kids talk about it all afterward. Such a good idea!

Also, since I had rather low expectations for the movie, I was pleasantly surprised.

Familiar feeling: realizing you’re behind at the end of the year and having to drastically...

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:02:04 -0700

Familiar feeling: realizing you’re behind at the end of the year and having to drastically change everything. Also known as panic.

Unfamiliar feeling: Having enough good resources to easily modify without losing too much content.

Sometimes being a second-year teacher is grand.

Allison Unsupervised: the points

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:32:04 -0700

Allison Unsupervised: the points:

allisonunsupervised:

“I have to tell the truth because that’s the kind of person I am,” he says and is. “I did that test…carelessly. I just wanted it to go away.”

“I know,” I say because I do.

Though my students are not taught the regular communication arts curriculum, exactly, they are required to take the…

She’s the best #education writer on Tumblr.

Education Dare Day

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:39:03 -0700

mrsjdr:

coloursinaflower:

amiteachingyet:

gjmueller:

girlcanteach asks:

When was the last time you cried in class?

Every time I try and read Love You Forever.
Every.
Dang.
Time.

When I read Our Mother’s House by Patricia Polacco

Oh yeah, Patricia Polacco always gets me. Thank You Mr. Falker and Junkyard Wonders. Every time.

Is my heart made of stone? I never cry in class. Even when I have to read George shooting Lennie four times in one day.

My freshmen have been performing scenes of Romeo & Juliet as we've been reading

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:53:00 -0700

And it’s just … amazing.

The two kids who played Samson and Gregory in the first scene spoke in British accents and hit every single joke. It was hilarious.

During the party scene, the background “extras” started doing the Macarena.

Today, two boys did the balcony scene. It was engaging in the most hilarious way, but it was also easy to show how they’re both talking about each other but not to each other for the first half of the scene. They even made a balcony using chairs and my podium.

The best part though has been a struggling student who has volunteered to be the director and has done an amazing job making decisions about how the scenes should be performed in our classroom.

It’s just been more awesome than I ever thought it would be.

Favorite Teaching Books?

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:11:34 -0700

astoldbymissg:

My field instructor bought me The EVERYTHING New Teacher Book by Melissa Kelly as a “Congratulations, you’re finished! Welcome to Teaching!” present. I have been trying to read a few pages or a chapter every night. What are some of your favorite books for teaching? Any recommendations?

Teach Like a Champion! Easy to read, easy to implement. :)

positivelypersistentteach: hisnamewasbeanni: edwardspoonhands: ...

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:39:50 -0700

positivelypersistentteach:

hisnamewasbeanni:

edwardspoonhands:

lips-richmond:

game over

AMAZING GIRL IN THE BACKGROUND!

I can’t stop watching this.

I don’t actually think he knows what she’s gesturing at. He turns to her like, “What?” (really, watch his lips, he says “What?”) not, “I’M BUSY!” There’s no moment when he looks at the jumbo tron and sees what she’s trying to say.

I’m all for Girl Power, but not when it puts down a guy who hasn’t done anything wrong.

"I don’t expect gay people to prove to me, a straight person, that there’s actually homophobia. I..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:02:57 -0700

“I don’t expect gay people to prove to me, a straight person, that there’s actually homophobia. I don’t expect poor people to prove to me, a Harvard grad, that hunger and poverty are widespread problems. And if someone asked me, as an Asian person, to “prove” to them that racism exists, I would laugh all the way back to Chinatown. Marginalized groups are not responsible for explaining their marginalization to you. If you are actually concerned, you would take the initiative to do some research yourself instead of showing up at some oppressed group’s door step demanding a list of citations for things (racism, sexism, etc.) that are proven time and time again in the real world.”

- WORD (via notevenbovvered)

oh hell yeah.

(via randomberlinchick)

Amen!

(via soulquarius)

This. I owe no one an explanation of my oppression, nor do I have the responsibility to educate you. You feel me?

(via ladyatheist)

^ TRUTH

(via thefingerfuckingfemalefury)

wilwheaton: jenniferdeguzman: He said Star Trek is too...

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:11:49 -0700

wilwheaton:

jenniferdeguzman:

He said Star Trek is too “philosophical”? Screw that noise.

mechcanuck:

I don’t know when this interview happened but I AM SAD AND ANGRY NOW

The philosophies in Star Trek are kinda part of the actual setting. If you don’t get that, why are you allowed to make Star Trek movies.

Sigh. The whole point of Star Trek is that it’s philosophical. If you don’t want philosophical Science Fiction, there’s plenty of that for you to enjoy, but Star Trek is philosophical. Philosophy is part of Star Trek’s DNA, and if you’re given the captain’s chair, you’d better damn well respect that.

Cool your jets, people. He says later on that he now gets it and LOVES it, he just didn’t when he started watching it.

Teaching: not for the faint-hearted

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:17:02 -0700

teaching-everydayisdifferent:

tomesaway:

So much of my job requires me to not think about how goofy/laughable/foolish/ridiculous I must look in front of large groups of teenagers nearly every moment of every day.

I recently tried to explain to my students that I am a different person when I leave the classroom. They didn’t believe me.

To explain the significance of the religious metaphors in Romeo and Juliet’s first conversation, I said something along the lines of, “He didn’t just go up to her and say, ‘GIIIIIIIIIIRL, you look GOOOOOD!’”

That’s high on the list of things I would never say/impersonate in real life.

Leap of faith

Tue, 14 May 2013 05:41:53 -0700

mrskaaay:

Sometimes there are 6 days of school left and a student wants to check out a book you really, really love and also promised to loan out to a couple friends this summer.

And you say yes because this girl treats books the way people ought to be treated.

We went on a field trip today

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:44:48 -0700

What’s the best way to thank a parent chaperone for guiding 4-6 freshmen through a day of Shakespeare and Steinbeck appreciation activities?

Also, living near Monterey and Salinas has its perks when one teaches Of Mice and Men.

OK, off to eat Ben & Jerry’s, watch Downton Abbey, and then sleep.

greenandpurplesharpies: jurassicaaaa: kyliesparks27: First...

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:19:06 -0700

greenandpurplesharpies:

jurassicaaaa:

kyliesparks27:

First trailer for Arrested Development - Season 4!

I AM SCREAMING

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

YES!

This is actually why I got Netflix. True story.