A World Class Organization

Once upon a time I worked in Virginia. Now I'm back in my home state, teaching quite a few deaf/hard of hearing elementary schoolers and a few high schoolers skills that will help them communicate with the world.

[sleepyteacher]

Kids talk.

You make a joke during class, and they misinterpret it.

They ask if you're married or live with someone.

You tell them no. "I like it that way. I can do what I want when I want it. If I want to eat pizza at 10pm, nobody will say something about it."

And then suddenly parents complain about that, bc you teach them wrong things. Or you're too personal. Bc I said I ate a pizza at 10pm once.

I hope I never become that kind of parent. The one that expects teachers to be static robots that delay information.

I did a lesson about starting a conversation. And I added "you don't have to start a conversation when someone makes you uncomfortable" and then half the girls started telling me about a situation that a stranger made them uncomfortable and started a conversation with them. So I try to give them advice on how to handle it. Even if that's not part of my subject.

Because it's important. Right?

A kid complains about not wanting to pay attention bc they're tired. You tell them you're tired too, you didn't get much sleep. But you still have to do your job, and they still have to try their best. Will they tell their parents something completely different? Will they say I'm teaching them to stay up late? Pulling your words out of context?

I don't know.

I feel like they misjudge my character. Based on half stories and twisted words.

I don't know

It's always that line between what to share and what not to share.

I don't feel like I'm inappropriate. I'm not rude, I don't give them details. They ask questions and I answer them. But I'm honest. A kid asked me how to watch shows online, and I told her that you can always find tv shows online if you want to. But I also said that it's best not to, bc there'll be a lot of inappropriate pop up ads. Was that something I shouldn't have said? Should I just let her look it up and find out for herself? Is that better? They're 12yo. I feel like they should know about the world. Maybe tell them instead of having them experience it without warning.

I ended with suggesting that maybe she can ask for Netflix for Christmas. Or ask for one of those giftcards so she can watch it for a few months. I hope that's what she remembers. That if they say anything at home, that they remember the right thing.

Bc I don't know. Some parents might be very protective. My mom wouldn't have cared if someone told me that. But I don't know. I just. Don't know.

[englishmajorhumor]

^A million times this

[aworldclassorganization]

When you get a box of sidewalk chalk and find a beach coloring sheet by Stephanie Kiker and you have time to kill...

[hilarioushumorfromouterspace]

[windwardstar]

My best/favorite teacher would literally take off the points for a question that the majority of the class got wrong from the total on the test and then hold a lesson on the topic because she realized if 90% of her students didn’t know the answer then she hadn’t done a good job teaching it.

[randaness]

I hate it when teachers take pride in having a large percentage of students get bad grades in their classes. It just means that students aren’t learning from you

[sunshine-tattoo]

as a teacher, I feel like I personally have failed when a lot of my kids don’t do well on assignments in my class.

Because it means that I didn’t do my job right.

So we go backwards and figure out what’s tripping everybody up.

[aworldclassorganization]

Am I the only teacher who doesn’t find Gerry Brooks funny? Like, at all?

[iwantthedean]

Excuse me while I vent/rant.

There’s a good chance I’m going to lose my mind before this is all over. And I’m sure I’m not the only one. Finding an education plan for kiddos in times like these are difficult - but the kids on IEPs and with special needs are going to be hit the hardest.

I will admit, I did not ever expect things to go this far. I didn’t expect the virus to spread so quickly. However, I made sure to wash my hands even more than I normally do. I took extra precautions for people like my aunt who is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer — for ANYONE who is immunocompromised, for any reason. As the seriousness of the situation came to light, I followed my state’s directions to help flatten the curve.

Now I, along with thousands of others in education, have to sit at home and wonder how our babies are faring at home. Are their basic needs being met? Are they being loved on everyday? Do they know we are thinking about them? How are my deaf and hard-of-hearing kiddos understanding anything that is happening when there’s such a HUGE communication deficit at home because most of our parents can’t be bothered to learn sign language?

My heart is breaking for my kiddos. I worry about them more than I worry about anything else in this situation, honestly.

For anyone who is continuing to ignore extra precautions and not doing your part to flatten the curve ... SHAME. ON. YOU.

I know nothing will ever be the same; we’ll have to find another new normal after this. But anything to get back in the classroom - I’ll take it.

End rant. 🤟🏼

[eauudenil]

Normalize apologizing to children.

[crissle]

Normalize doing right by children.

[thebroccoligoblin]

Normalizing telling children YOU were wrong

[my-unique-mess]

Normalize listening to children when they see the solution to a problem.

[aaliyah-apollonia-deactivated20]

Yes I love this entire post

[blablabiblejesusmagic]

I sometimes don’t think people realize how mentally draining being a teacher can be. We have these kids 180 days out of the year. Half the time, these kids see me more than their own family. We form a bond with these children that some don’t understand and we really are a family. That being said, we hear some of the most heartbreaking stories and see these kids go through every abuse imaginable.

Four of my previous kids came to me in a panic this morning. One of my kids announced on his bus that he touches his little sister. They were so freaked out and scared. I had to get the counselor and vice principal in on this one. Come to find out, it is true. He has been assaulting his little sister. We believe that this has been done to him in the past.

It’s just so difficult. I’ve had kids come to me with bruises and they said their dad was mad at them and pushed them down the stairs. I’ve had kids moved from foster home to foster home, being abused in each one. We have children who try to commit suicide. We have child who have succeeded in taking their own life. I have seen it all and it never gets any easier.

Anything that goes on at home, we teachers know about. The only thing we can do is write up a counselor’s form and hope something gets done. It’s so hard knowing what goes on in these kids’ homes and not being able to do more.

I have fought and will continue to fight for these fucking kids. They deserve the world and deserve someone to love them. I try and be that person every day. Still, it is so draining. I love my job more than anything and I love my kids. It just isn’t easy.

[thegraveyardwitch]

Imagine: paying teachers for the services they provide. They spend 8+ hours a day with your demon spawn and should be paid accordingly.

[summershadowtwin]

Deaf student creates more than 100 new signs for scientific terms

A student at Scotland's University of Dundee has created more than 100 new signs to help students better communicate scientific terms.

[aworldclassorganization]

Fellow teachers, could you help me?

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a PD on being more culturally inclusive with literature education. I don’t actually teach reading, but I do incorporate books in my instruction of language and vocabulary. My students (8 students with hearing loss ranging from ages 5-12) have selected a country to research. We’ve colored flags and discussed population and the capital. This week, we googled animals and food from the region. We’re going to continue researching various aspects of the countries until Christmas break and I have something I’d love to do.

If anyone out there is willing, I’d love to get some mail from each country. A postcard would be great-we’d be able to talk about stamps and how it got from one country to ours. If you’re from one of the below countries, could you message me for the school address? I’d really appreciate it!!!

Germany, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Chad, Cambodia, Canada, Mongolia, Argentina

[aworldclassorganization]

I had a post all drafted and Tumblr ate it. Ugh. I’m gonna try to recreate it.

Oh. My. Gosh.

I am floored by the response I’ve gotten in the last 24 hours. Thank you so much for sharing and responding. I’ve gotten volunteers from Canada, Brazil, and Germany. I’ll take more from those places-but please keep sharing so I can get something from the other countries (Argentina, Cambodia, Chad, Mongolia, and Saudi Arabia). And honestly, I’d love for them to get mail from other places if you’re willing. My intent with this project is to expose them to other countries and cultures-so I’ll happily accept anything. Please message me if you’re interested. And I know I originally said teachers, but my students need to learn about occupations-so if you do something unique, we’d love to hear from you.

For those that want to send something, please remember that these are children and it needs to be age appropriate. We’d love to hear about events, daily life, school, work, food (we talk about food ALL. THE. TIME. What can I say? We’re from the American south and we like our food), holidays, family traditions, pretty much anything.

In addition, can someone help me find some passport stampers/stickers? I’m hoping to make passports for my kids and I can only find stamps for a few of these places (Canada, Germany, and one or two others). What I’ve found is on my Amazon wishlist, so if you know of something else, please let me know.

Again, thank you all sooooo much. I’m excited and the kids will be thrilled!!

Check out my list on Amazon

Check out my list on Amazon

[aworldclassorganization]

New update to my original post. I’d still love people to send things. But today, I found out that I’m getting a new student tomorrow. I’ve made an executive decision that she’ll study Australia, so we’ll have a country on every continent (except Antarctica. And if there’s someone in Antarctica that wants to send me a postcard, I’ll take it. And I want a penguin as well. ;). ). So if anyone on here is from down under and would be willing to send a sweet little girl a post card, please let me know!!

[aworldclassorganization]

Update-I’m reposting to ask again-please reblog and share. I’d love to hear from people from Argentina, Cambodia, Chad, Saudi Arabia, and Mongolia.

And for extra begging reasons today-I got a new student who is going to take some intense focus from me and my kids are going to have to adjust to some major changes. I’d really love to surprise all of them with a post card from their country.

[languageboutique]

[ummno]

Dear teachers,

It’s November. It’s dark approximately 72 hours a day. It’s cold. The children are just comfortable enough to show you their crazy. You probably have a cold or a sinus headache or are just fucking exhausted.

So take a sick day. Write the stupid sub plans. Lay out the assignments. Load that stuff up in the google drive. Do whatever.

And take the sick day. Sleep in. Or read. Or clean your house. Or actually go to a doctors appointment. Or binge Queer Eye.

But take the sick day.

[aworldclassorganization]

Fellow teachers, could you help me?

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a PD on being more culturally inclusive with literature education. I don’t actually teach reading, but I do incorporate books in my instruction of language and vocabulary. My students (8 students with hearing loss ranging from ages 5-12) have selected a country to research. We’ve colored flags and discussed population and the capital. This week, we googled animals and food from the region. We’re going to continue researching various aspects of the countries until Christmas break and I have something I’d love to do.

If anyone out there is willing, I’d love to get some mail from each country. A postcard would be great-we’d be able to talk about stamps and how it got from one country to ours. If you’re from one of the below countries, could you message me for the school address? I’d really appreciate it!!!

Germany, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Chad, Cambodia, Canada, Mongolia, Argentina

[aworldclassorganization]

I had a post all drafted and Tumblr ate it. Ugh. I’m gonna try to recreate it.

Oh. My. Gosh.

I am floored by the response I’ve gotten in the last 24 hours. Thank you so much for sharing and responding. I’ve gotten volunteers from Canada, Brazil, and Germany. I’ll take more from those places-but please keep sharing so I can get something from the other countries (Argentina, Cambodia, Chad, Mongolia, and Saudi Arabia). And honestly, I’d love for them to get mail from other places if you’re willing. My intent with this project is to expose them to other countries and cultures-so I’ll happily accept anything. Please message me if you’re interested. And I know I originally said teachers, but my students need to learn about occupations-so if you do something unique, we’d love to hear from you.

For those that want to send something, please remember that these are children and it needs to be age appropriate. We’d love to hear about events, daily life, school, work, food (we talk about food ALL. THE. TIME. What can I say? We’re from the American south and we like our food), holidays, family traditions, pretty much anything.

In addition, can someone help me find some passport stampers/stickers? I’m hoping to make passports for my kids and I can only find stamps for a few of these places (Canada, Germany, and one or two others). What I’ve found is on my Amazon wishlist, so if you know of something else, please let me know.

Again, thank you all sooooo much. I’m excited and the kids will be thrilled!!

Check out my list on Amazon

Check out my list on Amazon

[aworldclassorganization]

New update to my original post. I’d still love people to send things. But today, I found out that I’m getting a new student tomorrow. I’ve made an executive decision that she’ll study Australia, so we’ll have a country on every continent (except Antarctica. And if there’s someone in Antarctica that wants to send me a postcard, I’ll take it. And I want a penguin as well. ;). ). So if anyone on here is from down under and would be willing to send a sweet little girl a post card, please let me know!!

[aworldclassorganization]

Fellow teachers, could you help me?

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a PD on being more culturally inclusive with literature education. I don’t actually teach reading, but I do incorporate books in my instruction of language and vocabulary. My students (8 students with hearing loss ranging from ages 5-12) have selected a country to research. We’ve colored flags and discussed population and the capital. This week, we googled animals and food from the region. We’re going to continue researching various aspects of the countries until Christmas break and I have something I’d love to do.

If anyone out there is willing, I’d love to get some mail from each country. A postcard would be great-we’d be able to talk about stamps and how it got from one country to ours. If you’re from one of the below countries, could you message me for the school address? I’d really appreciate it!!!

Germany, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Chad, Cambodia, Canada, Mongolia, Argentina

[advanced-procrastination]

It always kills me when people use “its all about the money” when trying to disparage public schools.

“Schools have strict attendance policies bc thats how they get their funding, and of course its all about the money” yeah?? Schools have operating costs?? Maybe instead of blaming the schools that need that funding to, like, stay open, blame the federal government for tying funding to attendance?

“Teachers are always asking for higher salaries, it shouldn’t be about the money” bitch?? living has inherent costs associated with it?? Teachers arent in it for the money, theyre in it to be a teacher?? Kinda hard to continue being a teacher when you’ve died on the street with no food??

“Schools shouldn’t charge for lost textbooks/broken calculators/etc, they just want our money” your child?? Broke/lost school property?? That now has to be replaced?? And we have no extra money to replace it with?? Maybe teach your child to be careful with things that are not theirs??

Like... none of that money that y’all think schools are just all about goes to lining anybody’s pockets. It’s literally just... trying to keep the school open so we can continue providing an education to every child. Is it a perfect system? No. But we aren’t the ones who designed capitalism. We aren’t the ones that decided energy and water and food should cost money. Go bitch about those people — they’re actually all about the money, and they’re taking ours just as much as they’re taking yours.

[windycityteacher-deactivated202]

This particular brand of bullshirt is particularly strong in Chicago. Glad for this post.

[aworldclassorganization]

Anyone know of safe but cheap hotels in the Cambridge, MA area?

Looking to attend a weekend program at Harvard and $925 for tuition plus travel and lodging is making it unlikely.