Big Stick Physics

Category: Education (Page 1 of 6)

Teachers are whining about Trump.

November 7, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I just checked in on the Teachers Forum on Reddit to see how they are holding up after the election.  You would need a heart of stone not to laugh at this post.

Reddit: first_time_in_my_teaching_career

This is allegedly from a AP Gov teacher.  It is long and fraught, and describes the reaction of students to Trump being elected.  Let’s focus on quotes from her students.

So, to give my students the voice they so rightfully deserve; here is a list of quotes from our discussion today.

“He won,and I am terrified. But even if she won, I would still be scared.”- A sophomore girl who had been kicked out after her parents found out she was gay.

“I feel like the people who want to be protectors, are showing women why they have to do everything for themselves.”-A freshman boy,who frequently quotes Andrew Tate.

“I’m sorry Ms… this country has failed you.”- A sophomore boy who I have to gaslight into coming to class.

“I watched my mom hold my baby sister cry Trump won the first time. This morning, she held us both tight crying before she went to work.”-A sophomore girl of a single mother.

“I’m scared.”-Many Students

“Law and Order my ass”-A freshman non-binary student who LOVES playing devils advocate.

“I can’t even make a joke about this. I am so tired Ms… I dont even feel like making jokes.”-A sophomore girl, who I constantly have to tell to stop talking in my class every day.

“Ms…You as a woman have taught me how to be a man. I am so sorry you have to continue teaching about this, basically raising the children of American. And you will never be recognized for it because of your gender.”-A senior boy I had during student teaching, who I fed every single day because his family couldn’t afford to eat.

“Ms…Can I please stay in here today? I just feel safer here.”-A freshman boy who had been bullied for being ‘gay’…he wasn’t gay.

It’s funny because none of this ever happened.  It isn’t plausible.  Each one is a liberal trope.  Somehow, there isn’t a tear-jerker about a girl afraid that Trump is going to cancel her abortion appointment.

The person posting this removed her name after posting.  That also indicates that it’s fake.

Most of the comments are of two types.

The first type are the people calling the post “fan fiction” or otherwise indicating it’s completely phony.

The other type, are from other Gov teachers saying that their students didn’t mention the election.

There are several other fantasy posts on Reddit that are similar to this.

The good old days are gone unless America stops screwing around.

October 11, 2024 / / 0 Comments

NYT: Manufacturing isn’t coming back.

NYT: Manufacturing isn’t coming back.

Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are vowing to engineer a manufacturing renaissance. Such promises evoke 1950s-era memories of strong communities full of ordinary Americans, many without college degrees, earning attractive pay and benefits for their hard work.

The author believes the US cannot get back to the fully functioning country we had in the 1950’s.  That is a widely held opinion, so talking about this article is as good as any other.

Manufacturing bottomed out at around 10 percent of nonfarm workers by 2019. The numbers employed in manufacturing started to recover under President Biden and may continue to rebound.

The author shows her bias.  If the bottom was in 2019, then it started to recover after that.  Biden took office in 2021, so it wasn’t his policies that turned things around.

While women and immigrants helped offset the slowing growth of the native-born population, it hasn’t been enough: Two-thirds of respondents to a National Association of Manufacturing survey this past spring said that their biggest challenge was attracting and retaining employees.

Attracting and retaining employees is simple.  Pay more and improve the working conditions.

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Gen Z people are strange.

October 2, 2024 / / 0 Comments

What went wrong with Gen Z?   Why do they talk like this?

This was posted on the Teacher subreddit.   So much about this post baffles me.  We don’t know if the author is a man or a woman, but from posting history, is about 25 years old.

Why is this on a forum for teachers?  This is a “dating a coworker” scenario, not a teaching, school or education topic.  Does the poster have no friends with whom this could be discussed?

YUP! So I’ve found solace in forming connections with my colleagues. Recently, I’ve been bonding with another teacher over after-school work drinks, where we’ve both been able to vent about our experiences, students admin, and support each other through the ups and downs of our jobs. However, as we’ve spent more time together, I’ve started to develop feelings for her.

Many posts from young teachers are fraught and dramatic.  Who says, “found solace in forming connections”?  A normal person might say, “I’m getting to know my colleagues”.  Better yet, leave it out as it isn’t relevant.

That could all be replaced with, “I am developing a crush on a colleague”.

Now, I’m faced with the question: what should I do about it? I understand I could just be trauma bonding with someone and maybe that’s why I’m catching feelings.

“Trauma bonding”?  “Catching feelings”?

How in the hell would a bunch of anonymous online strangers know if this is a rebound crush or something more? 

I’m thinking probably the best move is to wait for one of us to leave the school before we either make a move. But should I wait that long?

This person is a full-time teacher.  I moved around more than most, and was at Normandy for eight years and seventeen years at North Royalton.  Who waits years before dating?  Younger teachers seem so frightened of violating social norms.  Maybe the #MeToo movement shook them up.

The post ends with:

I also know a lot of teachers date/marry other teachers did y’all meet at the same school or what? Just need some advice.

This person doesn’t mention social anxiety or being neuro-divergent, which Gen Z brings up at every opportunity.  The person sounds normal, except we doubt that the person has dated, has good friends to talk with or  was ever in danger of a sexual encounter.

The topic of this post is unusual, but the word choices and writing style is pretty typical.  It’s strange.

Secret Service Report: Averting School Violence

September 13, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Secret Service Report: Averting School Violence

After the school shooting at Appalachee High School in Georgia, the discussion proceeds as it does after every school shooting.  Both sides make their predictable political arguments, and it isn’t clear that anyone really cares.  The corporate media encourages a therapeutic response, without providing much actual information.  The Secret Service studies these things, but their reports aren’t mentioned much. 

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Ohio State’s new intellectual diversity director

September 9, 2024 / / 0 Comments

College Fix: Ohio State’s new intellectual diversity director

Legal scholar Lee Strang is now at Ohio State University to lead the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society. It is one of five new “intellectual diversity” centers at public Ohio universities that are in the works. They will work to promote “civic thought and leadership,” according to Strang, a former University of Toledo professor.

Intellectual diversity is important to get all sides of an issue.  This sounds like a good move, but we’ll see what this center actually accomplishes.

Georgia school shooting

September 9, 2024 / / 0 Comments

CNN: Georgia school shooting.

It’s been five days since the Appalagee High School shooting, and the details are starting to come out.  A few items are notable.

Bri Jones, 14, was in second period Wednesday when Colt Gray left the classroom, Jones said. “We didn’t notice he left,” Jones said, adding that he was “always quiet.”  But Gray came back and knocked on the door, Jones said.  Bri said she peeked out the door before she opened it because that’s what her mom taught her to do.  “As I was looking at the door, he was pulling his gun out, and then I froze up, like I froze up and I said ‘no’ to myself,” she said.  The teacher asked for the door to be opened, Bri said, “because she didn’t know he had a gun because she was at her desk.” As she went to open the door, “I was like, ‘No, he has a gun,’” Jones said. 

Everyone in that classroom owes their lives to Bri Jones.  Generally, 14 year-olds are awfully dumb.  Bri should get a statue or t-shirt or something.

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Dumb jokes

June 21, 2024 / / 0 Comments

 

At North Royalton, the Special Ed department would go around with some of their students to refill the pop machines.  It gave the students a way to feel like they were contributing and helped them with practical skills.

One day, as I was leaving cafeteria duty, one of the differently-tarded students hailed me.

“Mr. Nestoff, do you want to hear a joke?”

He was given a joke book for his birthday, and was pretty happy about it.

“I really do.  Tell me a joke.”

“What do you call a sick pig?”

I should be able to get this, but I was stumped.

The punchline

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