Nerdious and Sundry

Teacher, activist, grad student, nerd. This blog is for things I like, connecting with others, and creative destruction of the alienating, exploitative, dehumanizing, profiteering, unsustainable casino capitalist system. Because fuck that shit, we deserve better.

[nerdfightr]

#QuestionsIAskMyselfEveryDay #TheStoryOfMyLife

[portraitsofboston]

     “I was born with a lot of birth defects and had to have a lot of reconstructive surgeries. There were complications, so I was constantly going back and forth to Boston Children’s Hospital. That was a tough time. There was a lot of sacrifice involved, and it brought my family closer together. A lot of people in the community also helped out. I actually feel lucky—I could have had different parents. My parents were willing to make trips to Boston several times a week for my treatments. Of course, money was tight, and I understood that, but my family stood by me and the community was there to help us. That’s actually how my family got involved with community service. It’s our way of giving back.”

Orleans, MA

[nerdfightr]

Shoutout to this brave dude from my hometown

[collegeessayguy]

Readers Respond to Redesigned, and Wordier, SAT

Most readers support a move to harder reading passages and wordier math problems, saying it will better screen which students are ready for college.

Is it unfair to some students that the redesigned SAT, being rolled out next month, will include longer and harder reading passages and wordier math problems than before? Anemona Hartocollis’s article on the topic drew more than 900 responses from readers.

Some stressed that college admissions tests, by their very nature, should winnow out weaker readers.

“Why would you want to accept students who can’t read and write at a college level regardless of their background?” asked Ed H. of Irvine, Calif. “Instead of complaining about the idea that it is unfair to certain students, why not make sure those students are better prepared? If the poor can’t read as well as the rich, then that’s the problem that needs to be addressed.” His comment was the most recommended by other readers.

Some readers zeroed in on a sentence in the article that noted educators “fear that the revised test will penalize students who have not been exposed to a lot of reading, or who speak a different language at home — like immigrants and the poor.”

Ed Bloom, from Columbia, S.C., wrote: “I’m a reading specialist. I went nuts. Let’s not penalize people who haven’t been exposed to a lot of driving by flunking them on the driving test. Let’s not penalize the pilot of our jet liner by keeping him out of the cockpit just because he hasn’t been exposed to a lot of flying. The correct way of thinking about all of the above is not to think of it as penalizing but, instead, a need to get that person the experience. … There are lots of ways to get children ‘exposed’ to reading.”

Adam from New York wrote: “You could call it ‘penalizing students who have not been exposed to a lot of reading.’ Or you could call it ‘evaluating students’ reading skills.’”

Click on the link to read what others had to say about the new SAT.

[teamteachers]

Curious about #education’s response to this (particularly high school teachers / those affiliated with colleges). 

[nerdfightr]

As if students without a lot of exposure to academic English at home weren't already penalized enough, now this, this nonsense.

[nerdfightr]

This is an incredible example of how good music can be, when it’s a real person just playing a real instrument that they’re good at.

[nitroboy97]

YES

[h0odrich]

🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾

[refleza]

We poppin the BIGGEST bottles

[nerdfightr]

This had better not be April fools

[nerdfightr]

This is really cool. It’s all stuff that I know, but seeing it like this, laid out so vividly, is so much more powerful educationally

All credit to linguist Minna Sundberg, whose website is here

[nerdfightr]

If only, Duolingo

[nerdfightr]

Irish wake topped off by karaoke rendition of 'Mr. Brightside,' and it's lovely

This might make you laugh and cry.

I was fine until the first chorus and then *sniffles* I’m not crying, it’s raining in my eyes, they’re Irish so it’s appropriate *sniffles* 

ok maybe it’s flash flooding in my eyes *sobs*

[nerdfightr]

A student asked me this afternoon why I drink coffee a lot

Me: *standing at the front of the class with my cup of life-giving elixir, imparting wisdom to younglings*

Student: “Mr. Teacher, haven’t you had a cup of coffee in your hand in every class today? Why do you drink so much coffee?”

Me: *looks at student*

Student: *earnest look of questioning*

Me: *scratches chin and stares off into distance* 

Me: Thinks: “Because it’s 1:30pm, I’m teetering on the edge of complete exhaustion due to working full-time, studying half-time for my masters, trying to manage classrooms full of underprivileged late teenagers who are only now learning how to behave like students, and trying to do all the paperwork commensurate with regulation. Now I have 25 minutes left before the students leave, then I can collapse into my chair for a while before planning tomorrow’s lessons, and then I’m going to my second job.”

Student: *still earnest look of questioning*

Me: *looks back at student*

Me: “I just like coffee a lot”

[nerdfightr]

(via The enduring, cult appeal of 'Magic: the Gathering')

[mothernaturenetwork]

From The Grapevine:

7 places where the scenery is as exciting as the music  We’ve picked seven jaw-dropping open-air venues from around the world that you’ll want to add to your bucket list.

[buzzfeed]

19 Of The First Things To Ever Happen On The Internet

[nerdfightr]

Wow this is some cool stuff

[ommanyte]

REPLIES HAVE RETURNED

[nerdfightr]

Yussss

[badlydrawnbandguys]

sorry it’s so long, but i saw a post on my dash about someone who said they would unfollow anyone who posted screamers, and i felt like compiling this into a list!!

seriously, be nice. april fools’s’s’s’ with the debatable apostrophes is a day for jokes and pranks, not for hurting people. screamers aren’t funny. rick astley is funny because you can close that as soon as you hear the opening chords.

[wildlyunlikelybabe]

You forgot the most important one…DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE SUICIDE AS A “JOKE”/“prank”, NO SUICIDE SCARES…. NOT OVER THE PHONE IN PERSON ON OVER THE INTERNET. D O N O T DO IT. Literally do not do it. Like seriously. SUICIDE IS NOT FUNNY. don’t fucking do it Jesus Christ and a bag of rice PLEASE.

[cantwontserve-blog]

I hate that any of this needs to be said, but this clearly needs to be said. Haven’t you people ever heard of fake planning a wedding with your best mate?? Innocent fun!

[nerdfightr]

It is ludicrous that this needs to be said, but I'm way more comfortable being a killjoy and protecting people than I am being pleasantly complicit in hurting people, so sharing this

[nerdfightr]

He had no idea why my siblings and I were laughing at him, poor confused puppy, and it was so adorable but at the same time I felt kind of sadistic and cruel

[nerdfightr]

As a person with anxiety, I think this is great.

[nerdfightr]

You know when you’re having a conversation with someone and they start talking about something they really love and they just kind of light up and get full of energy and enthusiasm and then they sort of catch themselves and the light leaves their eyes and they say “sorry I got excited”

I just think it’s so damn sad because I feel like at some point in their lives someone they trusted and looked up to told them “nobody cares” or “that’s enough” or “we have other things we need to be doing” and now they apologize for having a passion and sharing it

I’m a teacher and this is my formal position on the matter. Yeah, shutting them down? Over my dead body. It is classroom policy that I invite kids to share what they’re doing or care about. Anytime one of my kids gets on a roll like that, I just let the fire burn and often the kids begin asking questions about the rolling fireball’s hobby in question. They start sharing their own connections to it and planning things and wanting to do stuff

That feeling of openness and love and momentum should be the entire point of education. Kids are busy affirming each other’s life passions, the syntax of Beowulf can wait until next class, curriculum be damned