The Dangers of a Catchall Term: Bullying
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Glow Worms, Moonbeams, and Desert Drifts
Glow Worms, Moonbeams, and Desert Drifts Wombat Shit and Animal Reports Did you ever have to complete one of those silly animal reports back in elementary school? If yes, you have my permission to go ahead and skip this next section. If no, let me lay out the general procedure for you: ( *Skip this section if you already know it all ) Teacher gets up in the front of the class and invokes their android tone, saying something along the lines of, “Today you will be completing an animal report and you get to decide which animal you will be exploring.” At this point, the majority of students groan that note of reluctance harmonized with boredom we all know so well. The next steps proceed something like this: You choose an animal that you love, research them at the library by reading a book, an article from the internet - at the time via dial-up I am sure - and then you write a few sentences about the creature. If you are lucky, maybe you are even asked to illustrate the animal...
That's So Gay and Why Revisionism Should be Your Life Partner
That's So Gay and Why Revisionism Should be Your Life Partner Derrick said that I should wear tighter shorts that would accentuate my otherwise flat-ass ass. I responded flippantly with, “ That’s so gay Derrick.” After uttering the phrase, time froze – Derrick and Layla transformed into Quicksilver from X-men, their eyes darting about my sterile dorm room with a mixture of surprise, melancholy, and acrimony while I sat there inert, dormant, immobile. You see, Derrick is gay, and of course I knew that, but somehow the phrase came out my lips, smooth as sippin’ mornin’ coffee. Breaching the space of infinite awkward stretching out before us, Layla said, “Gill, what do you mean by that?” I spluttered. Swallowed my tongue. Didn’t have a response. Layla’s brave questioning confronted me with perspective. My meta took a moment to collect itself, but eventually it caught up and I thought: there is no one way a gay person acts. Why the hell do I even have that p...
Musings of a Teacher on the Edge
Why did I sign up to take 2 full weeks away from my already tiny summer break? I’m a teacher on the edge that’s why. On the edge of what? I’m not sure. I’m constantly battling with self doubt and also brimming with passion. These 2 things are at odds with one another and it makes me feel crazy sometimes. I call my classroom “controlled chaos” however this year I think I lost most of the control part. So here I sit, a teacher who hates writing due to some mysterious writing trauma in my younger years I guess, in a writing class to try to get that passion part of me to beat the self-doubt for once so that I can overcome my fear of teaching writing. I have always been a good student. I just followed instructions, did all my work, and got good grades. Writing, however, is different. When given specific writing constraints and structure, I was able to do well, but anything left to interpretation or creativity just causes me extreme anxiety and I have no idea where to start...