Studies, Bujos, and Madness

hey im Chrys and this is my organization and studying (aesthetic?) blog find my main at foreverspookyho

[caesarsaladinn]

I think the university course database should have a filter to only show classes taught by extremely old people who are insane

[orpheuslament]

terrifying when you watch a movie or a show or whatever & youre like that was fun but it felt a little redundant they didnt need to hammer the point home that much & then you go online & theres thousands of people going that was so weird i did not get it what did that mean google.com ending explained please?

[mothsbythelamplight]

It's easy to forget that media literacy IS a skill. Like, its not something that you just have or you don't, you absolutely can improve your ability to pick up on metaphors and literary devices etc if you actually care to, it just takes practice (ie: watching things through a critical lense and stretching that muscle).

Along the same line of thinking I don't think people who lack media literacy are stupid. Even people with high media literacy tend to forget it's a such valuable skill, but if it wasn't valuable and wasn't something that takes practice and effort there wouldn't be so many literary breakdowns and explanation videos and reviews that get into authorial intent.

More people WANT to understand the deeper intent behind art, but a lot of people never bother to try stretching that muscle because they're convinced that they're just stupid and can't interact with media in that particular way, that that's the job for the brainy reviewers and critics.

All it takes is a little nudge and some encouragement sometimes; There was a time in our lives where none of us knew what a metaphor was. Ultimately if it's someone you care about who "misses the point" of something you like, you COULD be upset that they're "not smart enough" for it or whatever, or you could break down exactly why the point is what it is, and encourage them to look for those literary devices in other things they watch.

Everyone's gotta start somewhere.

[boybeetles]

You know technology literacy is dying because I saw this meme with 76k likes

F11 the full screen button? You’re scared of the full screen button? F10?? It opens the menu bar???

[boybeetles]

Computers are so scary what if I accidentally hit F12 in a steam game and it takes a screenshot. What if I press shift + F12 while in word and accidentally save my document 😖

[yetanothergreyjedi]

[shower-thoughts-last-responder]

If you had to learn what the F keys on your computer do through me reblogging this post, then I'm glad you did. Computer literacy is not a skill that gets taught anymore, and it is absolutely one that needs to be taught in order to be learned. Don't ever feel bad for not knowing something, but ☝️ don't ever stop learning learning about your environment, the tools you use, and especially the people around you

[soberscientistlife]

Do Not Let HR do this to you. It is not illegal to talk about wages in the work place. I did and got a 12% raise!

[katsdom]

True info. Now let me add something: The power of documentation. (I was a long time steward in a nurses union.)

Remember: The "'E" in email stands for evidence.

That cuts both ways. Be careful what you put into an email. It never really goes away and can be used against you.

But can also be a powerful tool for workplace fairness.

Case 1: Your supervisor asks you to do something you know is either illegal or against company policy. A verbal request. If things go wrong, you can count on them denying that they ever told you to do that. You go back to your desk, or wherever and you send them an email: "I just want to make sure that I understood correctly that you want me to do xxxxx" Quite often, once they see it in writing, they will change their mind about having you do it. If not, you have documentation.

Case 2: You have a schedule you like, you've had that schedule for a while, it works for you. Your supervisor comes to you and says "We're really short-handed now and I need you to change your schedule just for a month until we can get someone else hired. It's just temporary and you can have your old schedule back after a month." A month goes by and they forget entirely that they made that promise to you. So, once again, when they make the initial request, you send them an email "I'm happy to help out temporarily, but just want to make sure I understand correctly that I will get my old schedule back after a month as you promised." Documentation.

[can-i-make-image-descriptions]

[Image ID: Text reading: In the middle of a busy clinic at our practice, I got pulled in by my manager to speak to HR, who must have made a special trip because she lives several states away, and told I was being 'investigated' for discussing wages with my other employees. She told me it was against company policy to discuss wages.

Me; That's illegal.

Them: (start italics) three slow, long seconds of staring at me blankly (end italics) Uh...

Me: That's an illegal policy to have. The right to discuss wages is a right protected by the National Labor Relations board. I used to be in a union. I know this.

HR: Oh, this is news to me! I have been working HR for 18 years and I never knew that. Haha. Well try not do do it anyway, it makes people upset, haha.

Me: people are entitled to their opinions about what their work is worth. Bye.

I then left, and sent her several texts and emails saying I would like a copy of their company policy to see where this wage discussion policy was kept. She quickly called me back in to her office.

HR: You know what, there is no policy like that in the handbook! I double check. Sorry about the confusion, my apologies.

Me: You still haven't given me the paper saying that we had this discussion. I am going to need some protection against retaliation.

HR: Oh haha yes here you go.

I just received a paper with legal letterhead and an apology saying there was no verbal warning or write up. Don't even take their shit you guys. Keep talking about wages. Know your worth. /End ID]

[noping-out-deactivated20241117]

At one of my old (shit) jobs my boss would continually come have these verbal discussions with me and would never put anything in writing I took to summarizing every discussion we had in email. Like “just to confirm that you asked me to do X by Y date and you understand that means I won’t be able to complete the previous task you gave me until Z date - 2 weeks later than originally scheduled - because you want me to prioritize this new project.

The woman would then storm back into my office screaming at me for putting the discussion in writing and arguing about pushing back the other project or whatever. At which point I would summarize that conversation in email as well. Which would bring her storming back in, rinse and repeat ad nauseum.

Anyway I cannot imagine how badly that job would have gone if I hadn’t put all her wildly unreasonable demands in writing. Bitch still hated me but she could never hang me for “missing deadlines” because I always had in writing that she’d pushed the project back because she wanted something else done first.

Paper your asses babes. Do not let them get away with shit. If they won’t put what they’re asking you to do in writing then write it up yourself and email it to them.

[elfwreck]

If you don't have this kind of job but someday you'd might: start practicing.

After a casual conversation with friends, write up a brief synopsis of what you discussed & agreed to. (...Do not email this to friends unless you have their agreement that this would be a fun group project.) Get practice with,

"A, B, and C had a brief meeting about food options after the big game. We decided on pizza, with A&B agreeing to contribute X dollars each, and C agreeing to contribute Y dollars and also bring soda. A will call for pizza on the day of the game and schedule it for delivery at 8:30 pm."

"A, B & C discussed movie options. A wanted something lite and fun; B wanted something scifi; C was fine with anything but horror. Nobody wanted superheroes. Decided on Lost Space Wanderers which opened last weekend; C agreed to research theatre options and report tomorrow."

...and so on. Practice describing the results of "meetings" with friends and you'll be ready to sum up "boss told me to set aside Project A to focus on Project B for the next two weeks" - because what's likely is that boss didn't say anything that clear; boss talked about how important Project B is and how the company needs parts X and Y done asap and you have the best skills for that, and when you mentioned how much time Project A was taking, boss said "eh don't worry about that right now; marketing is breathing down my neck so we really need part X by Friday, okay?"

...at no point did you get a direct instruction.

Which is why anyone who is not the screaming-drama boss mentioned above would think it was perfectly reasonable for you to say, "I want to clarify the discussion we had earlier - you told me to focus on Project B to the exclusion of Project A for the next two weeks, even if that means Project A will miss its deadline; is that correct?"

[krakenartificer]

Genuine question: what do I do when the boss in question doesn’t reply to my confirmation email, then says that he never approved the project delay?

[ms-demeanor]

In person or over the phone you say "that doesn't match with my memory of the project but let me check my records and I'll get back to you about what happened on this project." Then go back to your desk and write the pettiest email in the world.

To: Boss

From: you

Cc: work group, team lead, project partner, direct supervisor, etc.

(Depending on severity of problem) Bcc: your personal email

"Hi Boss, I'm trying to resolve some confusion here. After our conversation about priority projects on [date] I reached out to you for confirmation of these details (see attached outlook item) and didn't receive an update to the timeline since that communication. I have been working from the agenda we discussed (summarized in attached outlook item from [date]) in absence of further direction. Do you have a copy of your response updating the changes or correcting mistakes in my summary? It's possible that I didn't see your email and I'd like to identify where a communication was missed so that we can avoid issues like this in future projects.

Best,

[Name]"

For this to work you have to be militant about sending summary emails and firm with coworkers and supervisors that you will be documenting project plans via email, but once they're used to your MO it's worth the work.

[amynchan]

Maybe I need to send this post to my students. =_= Show them that writing what they know and think is actually important.

[sidras-tak]

Idk how many young people are still on tumblr but as a college academic advisor please listen to me: it is fine to drop out of college. It’s great even. You can drop out of college if that is what is best for you. However. Please. For the love of god, actually drop your classes. Go to the registrar/your advisor/your student portal/whatever and withdraw from your classes. Do not just stop attending. If you just stop showing up, you will fail all of the classes you’re enrolled in. This will tank your GPA, and if you ever decide you want to go back to school for a specific career, those Fs will come back to bite you. My college program is fairly lenient for our field (healthcare) and still we have to turn away a bunch of students who don’t have a 2.5 GPA, and the reason is that they attended half a semester of college in 2000, dropped out without withdrawing, and ended up with a 0.0 GPA and 16 credits. It’s very tough to recover from that. Even if you think you’ll never go to college, please just withdraw from those classes. Depending on when you withdraw, you may still have to pay for them, but at least there will be a little W transcript that will save your GPA.

[izukuwus]

Still reeling from the realization that bullet journaling was essentially created to be a disability aid and got legit fuckin gentrified

[izukuwus]

Like I'm at work and don't have the time to properly organize my thoughts atm but like.

-bullet journalling was invented by a man with a learning disability (99% sure it was ADHD but his website now just says learning disability so I can't be 100%) as a system for organizing his life/way to work WITH his learning disability

-the general concept is bullet point the important things you need to do and use a simple system of symbols to mark whether it's done, rescheduled, cancelled, etc. with very little fanfare, keeping it all in one notebook so you know where to easily find the information at a glance

-people pick it up and it starts getting popular

-bullet journaling becomes an aesthetic movement largely populated by white neurotypicals

-bullet journaling has turned into creating an extremely pretty notebook that has some function, but largely depends on complicated decoration and aesthetic function that takes more time to set up than is tenable for the people it was created for

-new entries to bullet journaling feel pressure to shop at particular stores, use particular brands, purchase lots of stationery purely for its aesthetic value, and prioritize the artistry of the pages rather than the information being stored on them

-people who would massively benefit from the original system can only really find information on it from members of the aesthetic movement. There is now a barrier to entry for ppl with ADHD and other similar conditions, as bullet journaling now requires a focus and motivation to start that these same people often lack or struggle to maintain consistently

-bullet journaling is no longer a disability aid and has become an aesthetic movement largely for middle class white neurotypicals, pushing out the people who the system was created for to begin with

[bibookmerm]

This is the original guide from the person who made bullet journalling. Super simple. Not at all high maintenance.

It was eye-opening to rewatch this after getting used to bullet journal meaning "work of highly decorative art you might journal in if it doesn't detract from the decoration" everywhere online.

[writterings]

how i'm handling my students using AI to write papers:

-don't accuse them on using AI from the get-go and instead ask them to informally define all the huge words that they used in their essay which i know they don't know the meaning of

-ask to see their original file where they "wrote" the essay. go to version history to see if it was just copy and pasted and then just edited a bit. i keep an eye out for the shit like "certainly! here's an essay about...."

-if they own up to it, they can re-do the assignment for a higher grade even if there will be an automatic penalty. if they don't, i process it like plagiarism and get my supervisor involved.

[manicali]

And this is much better than the immediate accusations. Some students have a good vocabulary. Stop accusing them of faking their essays without proof, and this is a good way to check.

Fellow students please stop using AI, go back to promising not to kill the school nerd if they do all your homework or something.

[great-tweets]

Beware!

[rayvenreayes]

Avoid sci-hub too👀

[queeranarchism]

From Ask for PDFs from People with Institutional Access

[dowereallyneedthis]

If you want to read an academic article that's behind a paywall just email the author and ask politely if they will send you the article. Most academics will be thrilled that you want to read their work and will gladly send it to you.

[42ds]

PSA

[dabwax-deactivated20250410]

I emailed to ask a Harvard researcher and advocate for intersex rights for access to one paper and she sent me seven plus additional resources and permission to stay in touch. Ask for papers!

[soberscientistlife]

[what-even-is-thiss]

I went to a school district where it switched over to free lunch for everyone when I was in high school and before that I saw people go into lunch debt and have to take the cold lunch set aside for kids that couldn’t pay and it was always embarrassing for them. And technically those people’s families didn’t qualify for free lunch. But still their families couldn’t or wouldn’t pay for their lunch.

Once everyone got free lunch though there was no more embarrassment for anyone. And I started eating breakfast at school too because the breakfast my family gave me wasn’t always enough and I didn’t wanna be a bother by asking for more or asking for money to get breakfast at school. A lot more people started eating breakfast actually. Everyone got hot lunch. Everyone benefited. Poor families that couldn’t afford it, lower middle class families like mine who could put the spare money to use elsewhere, and anyone who just wanted extra breakfast and a hot lunch. It was an incredibly positive change for everyone.

Free school lunch makes life better for all students and also removes a layer of logistics that everyone needs to keep track of. The lunch line started going way faster because instead of waiting for people to add money to their lunch accounts we could just scan our lunch cards and move on.

[undeadentropy]

We have such a long way to go to unlearn capitalism, if there can be literally any debate in whether we should feed children. Literally what is the point of a society that can't even get that right? Why the fuck do we do anything?!

It's crazy that we need proof that doing basic good things is a good thing

[heartbranches]

Free lunch is great. You know who else gets to eat the free breakfast and lunch?

The teachers.

[dankmemeuniversity]

[bluehairedspidey]

(via @yourguyeli)

[behind-blue-eyes]

When i was a teachers assistant(first grade), i would add extra points for doodles and drawings when i was grading papers. Obviously, these points didnt go in the grade book. I called them Miss Rachel points. But the kids loved it and started doing more complex drawings on the back of their homework to get more points. I had a parent tell me that her daughter got excited to finish her homework so she could do a new drawing for me, so teachers, of literally any grade, give the drawings some acknowledgment. Its a creative outlet that may motivate your students to do their homework but more importantly, it could be someone's escape and you just writing "nice panda" next to their drawing will make them feel so special.

[tamagotcharm]

[comic ID by @al-the-grammar-geek: a tweet by user @space (ayishii) that reads “guys… my teacher tried to draw my doodles when he graded my quiz..” followed by the crying emoji and two broken hearts. The two doodles appear to be drawn on a math quiz. One is a whale, the other a bear. The teacher has attempted their own versions right above and next to each doodle.

the second screenshot is a set of tags that read: "oh......, he gave them liddol friends....." end ID]

[teapot-studies]

Random writing tips that my history professor just told during class that are actually helpful

Download all your sources or print them so you can turn off your wifi

Give your phone to someone

Just. WRITE. Writing is analysing, you’ll get more ideas as you write. It doesn’t need to be perfect, for now you can just blurt out words and ideas randomly. You can fix it later.

Create a skeleton/structure before writing.

Stop before you get exhausted. It’s best to stop writing when you still have some energy and inspiration left, this will also motivate you to get started again next time.

Make a to do list

Work in bite sizes. Even if it’s not much, as long as you put some ideas on paper or do some editing.

Simple language =/= boring language, simple language = clear language.

Own your words. If they are not your words, state this clearly in the text, not just in the footnotes.

STOP BEFORE YOU GET EXHAUSTED. Listing it again because it’s easily one of the best tips a teacher has ever given me.

[sandersstudies]

Best attribute you can have working with kids is chillness. You can and should still enforce rules and expectations, but kids pick up massively on vibes and if you are chill, you become a dam to unchillness

[sandersstudies]

Sometimes kids don’t need to hear “this behavior is unacceptable,” sometimes they need to hear “bruh.”

[sandersstudies]

If you establish really clear expectations from the get-go, kids usually don’t actually need any second explanation. You can just say “dude” and they will self-correct unless they are actively trying to be disruptive.

[sandersstudies]

“Guys if you don’t behave I’m not going to do the Fortnite dance for you anymore.”

“NOOOOOOOOO”

[sandersstudies]

Also if you sincerely commit to being chill 99.9% of the time, they will take that remaining 0.1% WAY more seriously when it’s actually most essential. (For me this line is crossed with unwanted violence or sexual behavior toward other students, but depending on the age group the line may be drawn elsewhere: for young children it is probably more centered around dangerous behavior and personal risk.)

[sandersstudies]

@vyeoh Hope it’s okay if I steal your tags and expand on them.

I’ve found it’s very effective to focus on how kids’ behavior affects others, including me, before focusing on their personal risk.

If I tell kids stuff like “stop that because you could get hurt,” common responses are “no I won’t” or “if I do I don’t care.”

I’ve found it’s actually way more effective to bring somebody else’s feelings and responsibilities into the mix so they understand OTHERS better. Examples vary by age but can look like this:

1) I know YOU feel okay dangling from the upper railing, but you are making me feel very scared and nervous. Would you mind stopping so I don’t feel scared and nervous anymore?

2) I realize YOU are willing to face consequences related to opening the fire alarm door, but if you do, I will have to go talk to the camp leader and also do an incident report, which would mean we cannot play mafia during free time today.

3) Hey. I know the street looks empty right now and we are having fun, but if a car comes around that corner and hits you, I am going to have to drive you to the emergency room and also call your mom, and I really don’t want to tell your mom I was watching you and you got hit by a car.

[sandersstudies]

Another very fun thing is to say (when true) “this rule applies to EVERYONE, even grown-ups. If you are doing a good job and then you see a grown-up breaking this rule, you can tell the grown-up to stop.” They often get busy watching out for the grown-ups to break the rule and stop breaking the rule themselves.

[roach-works]

with LITTLE kids like 4-6 i've found the best way to get them to do stuff is pretend you can't do it yourself and ask for their help. you can make a game of it like 'let's see how much we can lift or how fast we can go' but kids that are angry little demons in the face of mom and dad's constant nagging and demanding are pretty cool with helping a friend out with a problem he's having. it really engages little kids to see that a grownup guy could need help from them! and it flatters the independent kids who actually really do need, at this stage in their development, to see themselves as powerful and capable and ready to make their own decisions.

and when you absolutely need to slam the breaks on 'no it's not safe to play in the road' or whatever you just say 'i know kids die that way and your mom would be SO MAD at me if you died while i was there. let's play over here. 😢' and they always fold. Mom Will Get Mad At Me is a universal game over.

at a certain age they're bright enough to suggest that mom doesn't have to KNOW which is hilarious but the checkmate to that is just 'i will cry. come back.' even if they know that you, a grown man with a beard, probably will not cry.... they fold. but with the most gracious attitude.

[bogleech]

These things feel obvious to me because my memory of being a child is as clear as any other memory, like I remember my internal thoughts and feelings, but apparently that's rare which explains why so many people in childcare and education somehow don't think about any of this.

[saintmachina]

Grad school is lying to you. You can indulge fixations on obscure topics on your own time. You can sit in a library color-coding notes on articles printed from JSTOR for free. You can argue with dead philosophers in essay format whenever you like. Academia is a state of mind.

[macgyvermedical]

Took me until about halfway through college before I realized “study” means “play with the material in a variety of ways until you understand it” and not just “read the assigned chapters and do the homework” and I think that probably should have been discussed at some point prior to that.

[macgyvermedical]

Took me until about halfway through college before I realized “study” means “play with the material in a variety of ways until you understand it” and not just “read the assigned chapters and do the homework” and I think that probably should have been discussed at some point prior to that.

[thoughtstherapy]

Images that you would probably not see again @thoughtstherapy

[sunbathe]

dd__boon