She fought for justice for all, against mustaches. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Dissent collars and statement earrings and glasses. The right in the world feels so very wrong today. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Thank you for all you have done. We'll be persistent.
invisible students cameras clicked off and microphones muted can't even mark them truant because i'm teaching invisible students invisible students masks hiding their faces making them feel stupid and like mutants because i'm teaching invisible students who don't want to talk because nothing is normal the People in Charge have stopped offering improvements because we're teaching invisible students living in the paranormal ghosted translucent the People in Charge are being imprudent because They don't care that we're teaching invisible students
you’re thin air
i need an oxygen mask
because you’re blowing thin air
i gasp and i gasp and i gasp
and i sigh
because i can’t breathe your thin air
you’re breathing in lies and breathing out lines
i can no longer ignore the signs
when you’re weaving thick lies out of thin air
your thin air is under pressure
your thick lies are under pressure
think you can press my face into the gas
for your pleasure
i can’t breathe because you’re pressing my face into the gas for your pleasure
i’m under pressure
i’m under pressure
and i’ve got one question to ask
for good measure
how can you be so cold when you’re full of hot air?
i gasp and i gasp and i gasp
and i sigh
if i stay here a moment longer
i’ll disappear into thin air
but my lungs are getting stronger
My lungs have gotten stronger.
I won’t stay a moment longer.
Because I can’t breathe your hot air.
No more oxygen masks
because I’m through with thin air.
You’re out of thin air.
My lungs have gotten stronger.
And you’ve disappeared into thin air.
Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Pexels.com
Me me me meme
me gets me news from a meme
You you you youth
you ignore the truth
We we we Westerners
we look like misinformed questioners
Me me me meme
open the economy
You you you youth
keep hanging out in groups
We we we wealthy
don’t care if the masses are healthy
Me Me Me Me
and
You You You You
and
We We We We
are fucked.
When it’s time to Kneel, Keep in mind how black men Kneeling in peaceful protest made you feel.
When it’s time to Kneel, Keep in mind how history Kindles and spins a white, privileged wheel.
When it’s time to Kneel, Keep in mind how mothers Keening over their murdered black sons’ graves is real.
Because it’s never time to kneel on a black man’s neck on the asphalt. It’s not their fault.
Because when are you going to stand up instead of just kneel?
Because it’s time for you to stand up, Neil.
Stand up, Neil.
I don’t know who or what to believe anymore
so I’ll just put My trust in youtube folklore
the experts are crooks
who want Me to read books
and wear a mask
what an unpatriotic task
you can’t tell Me what to do
because I’ve got google and it knows more than you
I’ll keep My gun on My hip
and call you a dip shit
for believing in science
screw your feminist liberal defiance
you can’t tell Me what to do
because I’m a man and will always know more than you
everything will go back to the way it was before
just go ahead and reopen the economy’s door
because your life doesn’t matter as much
as Me being able to get a decent haircut and such
you can’t tell Me what to do
because I will never let you forget that I know more than you
On an indigo whim,
she sweeps her soul into sunshine and turpentine,
whispering its bouquet to the wind.
It butterflies like dandelion fluff,
parachuting on the breeze.
While teasing the ground,
with ambrosial and noisome sounds,
it harmonizes into hymns of him–
a heady elixir that grieves the miles, the years, the bigger picture–
and lands on his sleeve.
He breathes in her song, her scent–
what went wrong and what it all meant–
and breathes out: I was never enough.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Psssttt. Here’s a secret. This English teacher hates Romeo and Juliet more than the Montagues and Capulets loathe each other. (I know. Gasp. Shocked emoji face. Call Karen in HR and fire me right now.) And because it’s entrenched in the freshman canon, I will never escape its overtly romantical clutches as long as I am teaching English I.
Why do I hate Romeo and Juliet and teaching it?
And while I do lather on the Romeo and Juliet hate thick, I love teaching it for almost the same reasons I despise teaching it.
What are some texts you hate but you have to teach? I’d love to hear! I’d also love to know why and what you do to combat your hate to make interesting lessons.
(Also, another shocker, I’m not a huge fan of To Kill a Mockingbird—but that’s a whole other blog post.)
begin with the end in mind, AKA backward design
Common Core and 504
ELL, STEM, and IEP are not absentee (But if they were, you’d have to let them make up the work, for sure.)
collaborate and debate
Claim retired, and its replacement is assertion; try teaching that to little persons.
rigor
response
reflection
rubric
will point you in the right (write?) direction
facilitate with fidelity; provide actionable feedback . . . (but don’t call in sick unless you’re having a heart attack)
Is your summative assessment warm or cold? (Grab a blanket–so we’re told.)
flip the classroom; personalize learning (to get their brains churning)
What’s the objective?
Does it align with the standards?
How does the curriculum get them college and career ready?
Scaffold.
Differentiate.
Rigor.
Peer conversations.
Rigor.
Text complexity.
Rigor.
Rigor.
Rigor.
Build relationships.
Rigor.
One to one.
Rigor.
Lexile.
Rigor.
Rigor.
Rigor.
Rigor.
TRIGGER WARNING
The kids still find it boring.
And by week’s end, the only buzz words we care about are Tito’s, tequila, and Tanqueray (with honorable mentions to happy hour and chardonnay).
Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com
