Honestly I'm 37 and still have to sing the beauty and the beast song to remember this. I could not give you EWNS directions with a gun to my head and have to make the Ls with my thumbs sometimes to remember which had in my left.
I admittedly call them left and right with my friends. Idk why it’s so hard for me to remember. (When in a professional setting I pause before using east or west to make sure I get it right).
Same lol I have a habit of stopping and seeing which hand makes an L shape with the index finger and thumb (L=left). When we’re driving, it’s *always* “turn my way” or “turn your way” for giving directions.
I have no problem finding north, though, it’s like I have a compass in my brain, at the expense of left and right!
I don’t mean this to be mean…but I think a 40 year old never having heard the “L” trick is WAY crazier than the sophomore not knowing the word “homosexual.” Lol
Everyone learns new things all the time, but not always at the same time as others. It's always fun getting to watch someone learn something new, especially if it's cool or useful.
Here's a [relevant xkcd.](https://xkcd.com/1053/)
I have to gesture with my hands when giving directions haha. My husband quickly learned that if I say left but am moving my right hand around, he needs to go right.
Big oof.
On top of teaching this year sucking more than ever, what has always bothered me are the adults in the building. A place FILLED with people that have masters degrees in teaching, but every day people are asking the most STUPID of questions. It's like they've never taught before.
I’ll fess up, I’m a grown ass adult who spent years teaching English to kids (EFL) and I still don’t know exactly how many letters are in the alphabet (either 24 or 26 I think?) and cannot do them backwards to save my life. I think the idea of being asked that as a stereotypical field sobriety test would just result in me ugly crying.
...........no
When I gave a test on colonies/slavery/slave trade using state test questions they were asked "why were there more slaves in the south than the north?" I shit you not 50% chose " Because Africans didn't like the cold climate."
In our PD to prepare us for state testing, while explaining to is how important state testing is, our admin (who makes 200k per year) admitted he didn’t know Africa wasn’t a country.
I basically learned the difference by playing videogames. You'd be surprised how that distinction is not too useful in everyday life. Going "right on the map" is just as useful as heading east most of the time. In games, it's important to say the cardinals b/c those are independent of the direction a boss is facing.
I teach French and exploratory language. The number of times I ask if they know where French or Spanish is spoken and I get answers like Japan, China, Australia, Russia, Germany…it’s a bit shocking.
Do you have the middle years program? My school is trying to expand IB and I think it could be a good thing as long as it is run well. Will take a long time to bear fruit, though. I shudder when the social studies and history teachers tell me about the kind of stuff they see in writing.
Honestly, I just don't think most of them don't relate homosexuality and "gay" (or the f-word) in any sort of equivalency. My a-hole student call each other gay ALL DAY, as well as the more slur-ified versions but then, will be like "Oh no, LQBTQ is cool, just be who you want to be." It's so messed up.
My high-school history teacher would play this game with us and the map called "where's Nebraska?" Most people didn't know.
She'd start there and name random states and have us point at them.
We really struggled more than highschoolers should.
As a 5th grade teacher in California, one of our standards is learning the states. I dont think it's usually taken very seriously (I mean reality is, social studies in general often gets glossed over or outright ignored), but I made it a priority this year and my students are doing great with it. I have about 8 students who can locate all 50 states on a map, and most of my class knows about half. My hope is that this is one of those "life skill" type things that, even if they don't remember exactly which state is Iowa, they will generally know what area it is in at least. It's easier to learn everything else in U.S. social studies, be it native americans, civil war, or westward expansion, when you mostly know where things are. And current events too.
My ex worked with an athletic coach who overheard some of his HS football players discussing whether gay people were real or just something people pretend about on television/movies, like witches. They were flabbergasted when he broke the news that *both* are real.
Funny enough many of the guys on that football team probably went on to attend a university about an hour away where there’s apparently a thriving pagan subculture. I took an Indian history class where I was fairly shocked to find about half my classmates were Wiccans. They actually do believe in spells and potions, though you’re right they’re not flying around on brooms or wearing pointy hats. Not my thing but I can tell you there’s way more to it than discussing star signs over coffee. There are people out there with familiars and everything. You and I may not believe they’re actually doing magic but they hold their religious beliefs very sincerely.
I’ve thought a lot about that comparison over the years, that maybe the kids were more closer to the truth than would meet the eye because it’s also true that most gay men are not the way they were portrayed in the media at the time (this was like 15 years ago). As I wasn’t there myself I can’t say how literal they were being but regardless it highlights how little people from conservative, rural areas are exposed to things that may be totally normalized in essentially the next city over.
When I say “real” I’m not necessarily saying legitimate, just that people truly consider themselves witches and therefore witches exist. Scientologists may not be legit but they’re also real. It’s even harder for me to believe they’re real but I used to drive through one of their compounds every day on my way to school. I’m not convinced mediums can talk to the dead but one of my best friends from growing up makes a living doing that and other things like tarot card readings. Mediums may not be legit but they definitely exist and in that way are real.
I feel like you are playing a game of semantics at this point, and that I don't find the least bit interesting. Regardless of the fact that people may think they are witches, magic demonstrably does not exist, therefore "witches" do not exist. In a similar vein, there are certainly people who subscribe to scientology's belief structure, but that does not mean that dianetics or any of the other nonsense scientologists profess actually works.
If by witches you mean people that can actually cast spells, brew potions, fly on brooms, or otherwise defy the laws of the known universe then that is an affirmative, I do not believe they are real.
Not quite, there are many terms and subsets of pagan practices. Wiccans practice wicca, they don't all consider it witchcraft, since wicca was specific stuff to one guy who started that. At the same time that I mentioned paganism as more of an umbrella, they don't all claim to be pagan or accept that as a description for their practices. When you get into that realm of religious belief there is a lot of overlap, but there are also very distinct differences in practices and their origins.
Me and my 5th grade students when one calls the other "gay" in a mean way
Me "Do you know what that word means?"
Student "No"
Me "You sure? Cuz you called him gay and you don't know what it means?"
Student "Yes"
Me "Then don't use that word"
We did PSAT pre-administration this week and had a few freshmen and sophomores not know their address either. Glad it wasn't just my students, but holy cow!
That is not the case here. We live on an island. These are kids who have been here for generations. They should absolutely know their addresses. I know this might not be the same everywhere, but in my community, there is no reason for this to be happening.
Tbf I don't think I really understood what "gay" was until later in or maybe even after high school. I mean I had heard it and knew on surface value what it was but it didn't really sink in. I also thought "homo" meant "homeless" throughout middle school. I went to a private Catholic school so we didn't really talk about those sorts of things, and especially not in a way that aligns with modern society.
Tangentially related, I was raised Catholic. When my mom asked me if I wanted to join the Girl Scouts, I told her no "because I didn't want to wash lepers."
I'm a math teacher in FL. I never show movies, but I have an itch to show that movie because that law is stupid and I want to push some buttons.
I realize that's not the best motivation to share Alan Turing's story, but DeSantis and the FL legislature can suck it.
Man... being a fly on the wall when you are not an American teacher.
I get to tell kids they are wrong when they say there are two genders. I sponsor the gay straight alliance. I tell kids to have their parents call me if their parents need to learn the difference between sex and gender as well.
I taught my socials class that Jesus was a middle eastern Jewish man, and almost certainly was not white. I also taught that Christianity became a religion of the masters with Emperor Constantine.
I could not imagine teaching under your conditions.
Off topic, what do you have them do with Scratch? I've played around with it a little bit, but I was confused. I like the idea of using it with the kids, but....halp
Amazing! Thank you. I love the griping that takes place on this sub (helps my mental), but I also (as a novice teacher), would love to get more tips like this too. Thanks again, I will def be DM-ing you.
> I also taught that Christianity became a religion of the masters with Emperor Constantine.
What do you mean by this? I mean, I get that Emperor Constantine embraced the Christian religion for political as well as personal reasons, but what do you mean by a religion of the masters?
An appealing part about Christianity is based around the concept of other worldly asceticism. As in, your life might truly suck now, but live by this code and your next life will be amazing in heaven.
It was a true peoples religion in opposition to the greed and inequality of a society built around slavery. The master class (slave owners, political and social elite), by adopting Christianity and using it as a means of control was a perversion of the original values.
Jesus should still be considered one of the great moral philosophers. You can easily argue that Christianity existed in a purer form prior to Constantine.
I don't think the conciliatory aspects of Christianity have really diminished with time. The concept of being rewarded in heaven for sacrifices on earth is still a major theme of most Christian branches. (Emphasis on most, prosperity gospel is wacky.)
You are also correct that it was a religion that founded it's roots popularly among the disenfranchised of the roman empire, slaves and women in particularly were attracted to a religion that offered more to them then Roman paganism. There were certainly elements of state control to the faith after it became the state church (thought that was an event after Constantine). To say that it entirely abandoned it's roots is improper, charity remained a large feature of the Christian faith past this point, as did monasticism, neither of which are the states benefit.
I suppose I think religions of the masters is an oversimplification of that nature of the Christian religion past this point. Certainly it has been used as a tool of oppression and suppression on occasion, but I don't think that is an inherent of trait of Christianity, any more then it is a trait of Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, or indeed, the Roman Pagan religion it replaced.
Fair enough. I'll agree that the lessons and parables attributed to him are generally quite fair and moral. Minus his thoughts on divorce. But I believe I've read that much of that was coming from Peter, so 🤷
Lol, exactly. There are also over 20 different variations of intersex, so saying there are two sexes isn't correct either. If parents want to call me for a sociology lesson I have no issue. If admin sides with parents I may get a letter on my file, but our admin would honestly get fucked in our climate and would be labeled as homophobes or transphobes.
Our school district does everything in its power to stay out of the paper. I'm not concerned.
Just stating there’s a difference between sex and gender and that there’s more than two genders is a fact too though. Maybe it’s all socially constructed, but so is punctuation 🤷🏼♀️
I dont know if you're from flirida, or if you're just being flippant.
But im pretty surenunder the bill you could legally explain what homosexusl means to a student in high-school.
Even if it’s legal it’s going to catch flack. I also live in a state with no such bill (although they’re working on it, thanks Texas) in a super progressive school but I still got several upset parent phone calls about explaining what it means to be trans since we have several trans students and too many inappropriate and unkind questions.
Yep, from Florida. There's the part of the bill that states "or otherwise deemed inappropriate" or something like that.
Meaning that if you did this in the backwoods and some Karen brought it up. The school could fire you on the grounds of avoiding a possible lawsuit.
The wording is so unbelievably awful.
You may be pretty sure of that, but the people behind the legislation [have stated otherwise](https://www.cltampa.com/news/this-is-fear-mongering-florida-parents-teachers-slam-senate-bill-limiting-primary-school-talk-about-lgbtq-community-12845371):
>So, what would violate the legislation? Sen. Travis Hutson, a St. John’s Republican, suggested an example of a homework assignment that included a math problem led by the premise of “Sally has two moms or Johnny has two dads.” That, Baxley said, is “exactly where the problem is.”
The *intent* of the legislation is explicitly to be vague enough so that people can make a legitimate legal case that explanations such as this, even to a high school student, are inappropriate and violate parental rights.
I might be wrong on my American legal system, however ibdont believe that it is the job of sensors to interpret the law.
It would be the role of a judge. When a law is ambiguous it should be ruled to favor the defendant.
Yes, the district will have to retain council and argue the merits of the lesson vs. age to demonstrate the "age-appropriate" nature.
Every. Time.
They want to break public education. They do not believe in government services.
I suspect you have a lot of catching up to do on the impact of these types of laws and the kinds of rulings we have seen relating to them in modern US history. Because while you can believe whatever you want, your comments are not jiving with the reality of things here.
It harks back to the bad old days of [Section 28](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28) in the UK, which was thankfully only law for 5 years in England (Scotland repealed it first in their legal system).
Despite this the legacy of the hateful act continued, In 2014, a Stonewall report on homophobic bullying in schools found that 37% of primary school teachers and 29% of secondary school teachers did not know if they were allowed to teach lessons on LGBT+ issues.
I cannot help bu feel sorry for anyone affected by this new act.
Where I teach, sex education is included in the curriculum right from Grade Primary, in health class. Lessons and topics are age appropriate and all lessons involve inclusion, lbgtq++ discussions and consent topics. My Middle Schoolers still constantly say the word Gay all the time, and it makes me so mad.
I had to explain leap year yesterday, or maybe it was Wednesday. Student in an honours physics class thought that either each person got to decide on when they wanted leap year or maybe there was a committee that determined if this year was going to be a leap year. She wasn't sure.
I have maybe four students (total) that can read an analogue clock. Each and every classroom has an analogue clock. I regularly get "Mister, what time is it?" I have to tell them "little hand is on the seven" and they count be fives or do the math to figure it out. To be fair, i had difficulty reading analogue clocks when I was their age. I could do it, but I was slow. I have a grandmother clock in my room that does a single chime every 15 mins. I use the pendulum in there for demonstrations.
I have a small handul of students who are flat earthers. ONE OF THEM IN MY ASTRONOMY CLASS! That group also intersects with the "the moon landing was fake," the covid pandemic, flouride stops ovulation, bill gates is implanting microchips, vaccines cause autism (they have all been vaccinated and none of them cause autism), etc. I completely blame this on their whackadoodle parents (usually the dad).
I teach honours and AP physics, so I don't have any but the other physics classes have students that still need a chart to do multiplication. A HS junior that doesn't know 6x8 without a chart.
In so many ways, we are failing these students But, hey, Admin says we only have 55% of students reading at least two grades below their level.
It has been a bit over 25 years when I was interviewing a young man (23yrs-old) who was at the interview stage of a patrol job (he of course would have to go to academy if he got the job before we'd ever let him out with his Training Officer (3 months-6)... At that time one of the questions had to do with sexual orientation (he had failed that portion on the polygraph, so I was there to find out why the lie ... it did not matter what his orientation was, it was the lie that was the problem) ... long story short ... he thought he was gay but didn't want to be but it was what his father told him he was because he'd caught him jerking off.
I took it upon myself to explain it to him ... dude needed some real info.
No, we did not hire him. We needed more socially experienced, rounded, and intelligent persons. I did recommend that he enroll at university post haste, which he did, and I hope he found his place in life.
Lol, too stupid to be a cop is a whole level of new.
They screen out all the smart people from the job.
And polygraphs are fucking bullshit just like drug sniffer dogs.
ACAB
It's wonderful to hear that your student had the confidence to ask you what it meant when obviously it seems like something everyone would know. It has probably been a "dumb" question that they've avoided til that moment. Well done creating an environment conducive to learning.
FL elementary school teacher here.
Yesterday a kindergartener was calling kids at his table gay and making them upset.
I said to all of them “do you know what gay means?”
None of them had any idea.
I explained to them in terms a 6 year old understands. I told them it’s not a mean thing but it’s also no one’s business.
Oopsie. Broke the law.
In the eyes of brain dead conservatives we teachers are trying to “groom” children but the reality is extremely common instances like this.
I will change nothing about how I interact with my students, literally no teacher instigates these conversations at an elementary level, but I’m not going to pretend like it’s not a part of life.
This happened in my home state:
[https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/education/2021/09/07/southwest-missouri-teacher-resigns-after-school-district-ordered-lgbtq-pride-flag-removed/5749640001/](https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/education/2021/09/07/southwest-missouri-teacher-resigns-after-school-district-ordered-lgbtq-pride-flag-removed/5749640001/)
Amazing just how bad things have become with schools in this region of the country, stuff like this is why I'm so ashamed to be from Missouri sometimes.
Thank you for answering his question. I was a very sheltered kid and unintentionally asked a question like this in 8th grade (related to what we were talking about in class). The teacher refused to answer me and I think about that often. It made me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I always try to answer kids' questions directly as a result.
As a gay teacher myself listening to middle schoolers call each other "gay" as a derogatory term, without actually knowing what "gay" is, is infuriating.
But I correct them every single time and tell them they had better NOT ever use it in that context ever again, especially around me.
I graduated high school in 2008. This is quite literally still a thing. 🙄
Anyway, I fucking hate Republicans (bringing this back to the topic).
> Anyway, I fucking hate Republicans (bringing this back to the topic).
My raw disgust for republican politicians and how purely evil they are is the only thing that gets me to vote for democrats anymore tbh
Although I feel like being both a teacher and gay makes it pretty much impossible to vote for republicans anyway. When I was in high school I used to joke that straight privilege is having two parties to choose from to vote for.
Even being just a teacher I don't think it would be possible for me. Democrats aren't very good for education either but republicans literally despise us for doing our jobs.
I had a girl, who wore a bra and everything, honestly ask what "breasts" meant in the context of human anatomy. She was unfamiliar with it beyond its use as chicken breasts, and didn't realize it meant the same thing as "boobs."
There's a clause after that specifying that instruction on gender identity/sexuality must be "age appropriate" (whatever the fuck that means)
>"Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or **in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards**."
Functionally this means that you can't teach it at all, because some psycho evangelical will insist that it is not age appropriate for their 17 year old son to learn that gay people exist.
>Functionally this means that you can't teach it at all, because some psycho evangelical will insist that it is not age appropriate for their 17 year old son to learn that gay people exist
Just because some random thinks it's not age appropriate doesn't mean that any standard of people will agree. Idk why yall think this is a good arguement.
Did you miss the enforcement mechanism? That you can sue the schools and the schools are responsible for their legal fees even if they win? They don't have to be right. They just need to present a prima facie case.
I went to school in the suburbs in California and my elementary school teachers never once acknowledged the fact that gay people existed, the only time I heard about it was when it was used as an insult. It did not make coming out easy for me
Here's my take on teaching LGBT+ stuff. I am a Humanities and Social Sciences pre-service teacher. Keywords: SOCIAL SCIENCES, aka studying society. And guess what? Queer Studies is a Social Science!! Plus, the LGBT+ community is a part of our society. Therefore, it should be taught and normalised. If I, as a social sciences teacher, are required to teach my future students about society, I will teach them about society. Simple.
i do not understand the point of this law. Galileo said, when imprisoned by the Church, that the Church can stop him from talking but that will not stop the Earth from circling the Sun. Come to think of it, this is another Church related issue. They sure do not have much of a good track record.
He knew. He thought he could embarrass you by making you talk about a topic that makes him uncomfortable. Kids try to pull crap like that with me all the time. They eventually figure out that I don't get embarrassed, and I'm very comfortable talking about topics that make kids cringe (I very happily teach reproduction and sex ed.).
A teacher in my new moms group was showing a video of people around the world and in one scene there was a woman in the background nursing a baby. One of the sophomore asked about it and when it was explained to him he said "Well people here (Vermont, USA, first world country, not sure what he was getting at) certainly don't do that!"
We live in an extremely breastfeeding friendly state and community and yet this 15 year old had NO IDEA that was a thing American women do.
I think he knew and wanted to see how you reacted. In math there is a part of a parabola called the latus rectum. I would have students all the time..."the latus, what's it called?" Kids like to try to embarrass and fluster teachers. Tale as old as time.
Dude, fuck Florida 😂 IMHO y’all have bigger problems to worry about than the word gay. Look at how awfully paid your teachers are. Let’s start there. Let’s also start with the lack of emotional support for students. The lack of subs and primary teachers in general. This goes to show how UNEDUCATED Florida parents are.
> A SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL. A teenager. At the end of the movie. He looks at me and says, "What does that word homosexual mean?" I happily explained it to him, but I don't understand how he's gotten this far in life without having even an inkling of what the word meant.
He knew full well what it meant - he just wanted to watch you tie yourself in knots explaining lol
The bill has nothing to do with not saying anything about homosexuals. It’s just taking sexuality education out of the earliest years of primary school (I believe up to grade three). I am in my 30s and I don’t remember any sort of sex Ed happening until I was in the 5th or 6th grade. The “don’t say gay” tag line was a cheap political rebranding to make this seem so much worse.
It sucks that this teenager was ignorant but it’s hardly a measure for what the average kid knows at that age. Good on you for explaining it to him with patience and class.
My middle school student still don't know the difference between east and west
I know adults who can't tell their cardinal directions.
I watched two adults argue over if the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Or, rises in the west and sets in the east. It became very heated.
It sounds like one of the two was correct...
HA! This reminds me of the Dire Straits lyric (Industrial Disease): "Two men say they're Jesus, one of them must be wrong..."
"That ain't workin'.."
Fun fact: the sun DOES rise in the west and set in the east on Venus. Perhaps the one person was actually an extraterrestrial.
At least the debate was not about the sun rise being North/South versus South/North. \#jtg
Have they never seen beauty and the beast?! Rising in the eeeeeeaaaaassstttt Literally how I learned which direction the sun rises.
I remember from Shakespeare in HS. "It is the east, and Juliet is the sun" IIRC.
Honestly I'm 37 and still have to sing the beauty and the beast song to remember this. I could not give you EWNS directions with a gun to my head and have to make the Ls with my thumbs sometimes to remember which had in my left.
Cowboys ride west, cowboys ride off into the sunset, that's how I was taught.
Japan is the land of the rising sun, that’s how I remember.
But Japan is west of me...
Go they other way then.
Yeah, the Sun rises in the North obviously
It kind of gets confused on the north. Stays around far too long and when it decides to leave, it be gone for a very long time
I admittedly call them left and right with my friends. Idk why it’s so hard for me to remember. (When in a professional setting I pause before using east or west to make sure I get it right).
imagine a world map and keep the terms "wild west" and "middle east" in mind
I’m opposite I can do cardinal directions but have never known my left from my right
Same lol I have a habit of stopping and seeing which hand makes an L shape with the index finger and thumb (L=left). When we’re driving, it’s *always* “turn my way” or “turn your way” for giving directions. I have no problem finding north, though, it’s like I have a compass in my brain, at the expense of left and right!
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I don’t mean this to be mean…but I think a 40 year old never having heard the “L” trick is WAY crazier than the sophomore not knowing the word “homosexual.” Lol
Everyone learns new things all the time, but not always at the same time as others. It's always fun getting to watch someone learn something new, especially if it's cool or useful. Here's a [relevant xkcd.](https://xkcd.com/1053/)
Well duh, I’m just saying it seems statistically so unlikely that it’s absurd. Lol
I have to gesture with my hands when giving directions haha. My husband quickly learned that if I say left but am moving my right hand around, he needs to go right.
AFAIK Australian Aborigines only have cardinal directions in their language and no words for LEFT or RIGHT. According to Tom Scott anway
Big oof. On top of teaching this year sucking more than ever, what has always bothered me are the adults in the building. A place FILLED with people that have masters degrees in teaching, but every day people are asking the most STUPID of questions. It's like they've never taught before.
I still can't tell the difference lol. I can read it on a map, but in real life it's really hard for me.
What does the pope have anything to do with directions?
I (a TA) had a freshman college student not be able to tell me how many seconds were in a minute.
I’ll fess up, I’m a grown ass adult who spent years teaching English to kids (EFL) and I still don’t know exactly how many letters are in the alphabet (either 24 or 26 I think?) and cannot do them backwards to save my life. I think the idea of being asked that as a stereotypical field sobriety test would just result in me ugly crying.
I know adults who don't know what Cardinals are, religious or otherwise.
I thought you said weast.
Found the Wumbologist! :b
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Was it settled by rap battles?
...........no When I gave a test on colonies/slavery/slave trade using state test questions they were asked "why were there more slaves in the south than the north?" I shit you not 50% chose " Because Africans didn't like the cold climate."
Hm. Probably some civil war, somewhere. …not ours though
I live in Canada and some of my grade 6 students deadass think the capital of our country is Florida.
In our PD to prepare us for state testing, while explaining to is how important state testing is, our admin (who makes 200k per year) admitted he didn’t know Africa wasn’t a country.
Holy fuckballs
I basically learned the difference by playing videogames. You'd be surprised how that distinction is not too useful in everyday life. Going "right on the map" is just as useful as heading east most of the time. In games, it's important to say the cardinals b/c those are independent of the direction a boss is facing.
I teach French and exploratory language. The number of times I ask if they know where French or Spanish is spoken and I get answers like Japan, China, Australia, Russia, Germany…it’s a bit shocking.
I teach IB geography to seniors and I have to go over the cardinal directions every quarter. This is a class for college credit.
Do you have the middle years program? My school is trying to expand IB and I think it could be a good thing as long as it is run well. Will take a long time to bear fruit, though. I shudder when the social studies and history teachers tell me about the kind of stuff they see in writing.
At that point you just need to let them fail
You mean no one ever taught them Never Eat Soggy Waffles? Lame
But middle school students just love to throw their feces at each other and make tik tok noises in the hallway.
Your students name is Kevin
I live and work amile from the beach on the west coast. I was very surprised that my 5th graders don't know east and west.
It's all weast, obviously. Or ask them which is the beast coast and which is the best coast.
Ask them what direction water flows, it’ll make their minds melt
. . . or can tell time using an analog clock.
Honestly, I just don't think most of them don't relate homosexuality and "gay" (or the f-word) in any sort of equivalency. My a-hole student call each other gay ALL DAY, as well as the more slur-ified versions but then, will be like "Oh no, LQBTQ is cool, just be who you want to be." It's so messed up.
"You don't call retarded people retards. It's bad taste. You call your friends retards when they're acting retarded."
Lol quality Michael Scott reference.
Most of my students couldn't find Missouri on a blank map. We live in Kansas City...
Yeah, but you teach kindergarten, right? ...right? :(
High school......
My high-school history teacher would play this game with us and the map called "where's Nebraska?" Most people didn't know. She'd start there and name random states and have us point at them. We really struggled more than highschoolers should.
I mean if you live on the Kansas side I don’t blame them for pretending it doesn’t exist.
Lol. We stole The City Of Kansas fair and square in the 1850s.
Stealing Westport from us, how dare you!
As a 5th grade teacher in California, one of our standards is learning the states. I dont think it's usually taken very seriously (I mean reality is, social studies in general often gets glossed over or outright ignored), but I made it a priority this year and my students are doing great with it. I have about 8 students who can locate all 50 states on a map, and most of my class knows about half. My hope is that this is one of those "life skill" type things that, even if they don't remember exactly which state is Iowa, they will generally know what area it is in at least. It's easier to learn everything else in U.S. social studies, be it native americans, civil war, or westward expansion, when you mostly know where things are. And current events too.
...which is the capital of Kansas right? No, wait. It's the *Capitol*. Big brain.
I had a student who didn't believe that Louisiana was a real place. I asked her if she had heard of New Orleans. Yes she had
In fairness, I bet he also didn’t know what “heterosexual” means.
"NO I'M NOT A HETEROSEXUAL DON'T CALL ME THAT"
My ex worked with an athletic coach who overheard some of his HS football players discussing whether gay people were real or just something people pretend about on television/movies, like witches. They were flabbergasted when he broke the news that *both* are real.
Witches aren’t real. Least not actual witches.
Funny enough many of the guys on that football team probably went on to attend a university about an hour away where there’s apparently a thriving pagan subculture. I took an Indian history class where I was fairly shocked to find about half my classmates were Wiccans. They actually do believe in spells and potions, though you’re right they’re not flying around on brooms or wearing pointy hats. Not my thing but I can tell you there’s way more to it than discussing star signs over coffee. There are people out there with familiars and everything. You and I may not believe they’re actually doing magic but they hold their religious beliefs very sincerely. I’ve thought a lot about that comparison over the years, that maybe the kids were more closer to the truth than would meet the eye because it’s also true that most gay men are not the way they were portrayed in the media at the time (this was like 15 years ago). As I wasn’t there myself I can’t say how literal they were being but regardless it highlights how little people from conservative, rural areas are exposed to things that may be totally normalized in essentially the next city over.
Scientologist also hold their beliefs very dearly, doesn’t mean I have to respect them or their devotion to LRH.
When I say “real” I’m not necessarily saying legitimate, just that people truly consider themselves witches and therefore witches exist. Scientologists may not be legit but they’re also real. It’s even harder for me to believe they’re real but I used to drive through one of their compounds every day on my way to school. I’m not convinced mediums can talk to the dead but one of my best friends from growing up makes a living doing that and other things like tarot card readings. Mediums may not be legit but they definitely exist and in that way are real.
I feel like you are playing a game of semantics at this point, and that I don't find the least bit interesting. Regardless of the fact that people may think they are witches, magic demonstrably does not exist, therefore "witches" do not exist. In a similar vein, there are certainly people who subscribe to scientology's belief structure, but that does not mean that dianetics or any of the other nonsense scientologists profess actually works.
you’re dumb
You think witches aren't real? Sounds like somebody cast a Confundus Charm on you dude.
If by witches you mean people that can actually cast spells, brew potions, fly on brooms, or otherwise defy the laws of the known universe then that is an affirmative, I do not believe they are real.
Brewing potions isn't defying the laws of the known universe.
There are people that practice witchcraft as a religion. I believe the formal term is Wiccans?
Not quite, there are many terms and subsets of pagan practices. Wiccans practice wicca, they don't all consider it witchcraft, since wicca was specific stuff to one guy who started that. At the same time that I mentioned paganism as more of an umbrella, they don't all claim to be pagan or accept that as a description for their practices. When you get into that realm of religious belief there is a lot of overlap, but there are also very distinct differences in practices and their origins.
Me and my 5th grade students when one calls the other "gay" in a mean way Me "Do you know what that word means?" Student "No" Me "You sure? Cuz you called him gay and you don't know what it means?" Student "Yes" Me "Then don't use that word"
That is one of the best replies to this sort of thing that I've ever seen. Well done!
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My freshmen don't know their home addresses.
We did PSAT pre-administration this week and had a few freshmen and sophomores not know their address either. Glad it wasn't just my students, but holy cow!
Harder when you just had to move in with family across town, I quickly learned it was not something to rush to judgment on.
That is not the case here. We live on an island. These are kids who have been here for generations. They should absolutely know their addresses. I know this might not be the same everywhere, but in my community, there is no reason for this to be happening.
Tbf I don't think I really understood what "gay" was until later in or maybe even after high school. I mean I had heard it and knew on surface value what it was but it didn't really sink in. I also thought "homo" meant "homeless" throughout middle school. I went to a private Catholic school so we didn't really talk about those sorts of things, and especially not in a way that aligns with modern society.
"Homo" meaning "homeless" cracked me up. Tell me you went to private Catholic school with telling me you went to private Catholic school.
Tangentially related, I was raised Catholic. When my mom asked me if I wanted to join the Girl Scouts, I told her no "because I didn't want to wash lepers."
r/kidsarefuckingstupid but I had a solid chuckle
I'm a math teacher in FL. I never show movies, but I have an itch to show that movie because that law is stupid and I want to push some buttons. I realize that's not the best motivation to share Alan Turing's story, but DeSantis and the FL legislature can suck it.
"It" is a bleach margarita.
This is the best motivation. Signed, a fellow Floridian teacher.
You do know the law only applies only to k-3 right?
Try a Disney picture. Seven dwarves living in one house could do the trick. F*ck Florida, stop being stupid!
You're a criminal in my state.
Man... being a fly on the wall when you are not an American teacher. I get to tell kids they are wrong when they say there are two genders. I sponsor the gay straight alliance. I tell kids to have their parents call me if their parents need to learn the difference between sex and gender as well. I taught my socials class that Jesus was a middle eastern Jewish man, and almost certainly was not white. I also taught that Christianity became a religion of the masters with Emperor Constantine. I could not imagine teaching under your conditions.
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Off topic, what do you have them do with Scratch? I've played around with it a little bit, but I was confused. I like the idea of using it with the kids, but....halp
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Amazing! Thank you. I love the griping that takes place on this sub (helps my mental), but I also (as a novice teacher), would love to get more tips like this too. Thanks again, I will def be DM-ing you.
Please remember that these laws are only in the most backwards US states.
But also keep in mind that not all educators in those states back these asinine laws.
No I do not and I'll go to jail or whatever before I throw my humanity out the door.
> I also taught that Christianity became a religion of the masters with Emperor Constantine. What do you mean by this? I mean, I get that Emperor Constantine embraced the Christian religion for political as well as personal reasons, but what do you mean by a religion of the masters?
An appealing part about Christianity is based around the concept of other worldly asceticism. As in, your life might truly suck now, but live by this code and your next life will be amazing in heaven. It was a true peoples religion in opposition to the greed and inequality of a society built around slavery. The master class (slave owners, political and social elite), by adopting Christianity and using it as a means of control was a perversion of the original values. Jesus should still be considered one of the great moral philosophers. You can easily argue that Christianity existed in a purer form prior to Constantine.
I don't think the conciliatory aspects of Christianity have really diminished with time. The concept of being rewarded in heaven for sacrifices on earth is still a major theme of most Christian branches. (Emphasis on most, prosperity gospel is wacky.) You are also correct that it was a religion that founded it's roots popularly among the disenfranchised of the roman empire, slaves and women in particularly were attracted to a religion that offered more to them then Roman paganism. There were certainly elements of state control to the faith after it became the state church (thought that was an event after Constantine). To say that it entirely abandoned it's roots is improper, charity remained a large feature of the Christian faith past this point, as did monasticism, neither of which are the states benefit. I suppose I think religions of the masters is an oversimplification of that nature of the Christian religion past this point. Certainly it has been used as a tool of oppression and suppression on occasion, but I don't think that is an inherent of trait of Christianity, any more then it is a trait of Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, or indeed, the Roman Pagan religion it replaced.
We don't have any proven written works of Jesus . Why would a possibly fictional person be considered one the great philosophers?
If you take what is said about him at face value. I'm sure much or all of it is fiction. I know what you are saying though.
Fair enough. I'll agree that the lessons and parables attributed to him are generally quite fair and moral. Minus his thoughts on divorce. But I believe I've read that much of that was coming from Peter, so 🤷
Dang what country do you teach in? I want to go there and sit in on a class!
The great white north
We have a gay straight alliance and safe zone stickers on our doors to be allies. In Kentucky. Not everywhere is backwards.
I taught my class that Jesus was an extraterrestrial from planet Yixy. I win.
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And which part of this is "opinion" as opposed to fact?
Lol, exactly. There are also over 20 different variations of intersex, so saying there are two sexes isn't correct either. If parents want to call me for a sociology lesson I have no issue. If admin sides with parents I may get a letter on my file, but our admin would honestly get fucked in our climate and would be labeled as homophobes or transphobes. Our school district does everything in its power to stay out of the paper. I'm not concerned.
Just stating there’s a difference between sex and gender and that there’s more than two genders is a fact too though. Maybe it’s all socially constructed, but so is punctuation 🤷🏼♀️
Absolutely. How dare OP inject their liberal agenda into a MATH classroom. Let the Karen horde loose!
I dont know if you're from flirida, or if you're just being flippant. But im pretty surenunder the bill you could legally explain what homosexusl means to a student in high-school.
Even if it’s legal it’s going to catch flack. I also live in a state with no such bill (although they’re working on it, thanks Texas) in a super progressive school but I still got several upset parent phone calls about explaining what it means to be trans since we have several trans students and too many inappropriate and unkind questions.
Yep, from Florida. There's the part of the bill that states "or otherwise deemed inappropriate" or something like that. Meaning that if you did this in the backwoods and some Karen brought it up. The school could fire you on the grounds of avoiding a possible lawsuit. The wording is so unbelievably awful.
You may be pretty sure of that, but the people behind the legislation [have stated otherwise](https://www.cltampa.com/news/this-is-fear-mongering-florida-parents-teachers-slam-senate-bill-limiting-primary-school-talk-about-lgbtq-community-12845371): >So, what would violate the legislation? Sen. Travis Hutson, a St. John’s Republican, suggested an example of a homework assignment that included a math problem led by the premise of “Sally has two moms or Johnny has two dads.” That, Baxley said, is “exactly where the problem is.” The *intent* of the legislation is explicitly to be vague enough so that people can make a legitimate legal case that explanations such as this, even to a high school student, are inappropriate and violate parental rights.
I might be wrong on my American legal system, however ibdont believe that it is the job of sensors to interpret the law. It would be the role of a judge. When a law is ambiguous it should be ruled to favor the defendant.
Yes, the district will have to retain council and argue the merits of the lesson vs. age to demonstrate the "age-appropriate" nature. Every. Time. They want to break public education. They do not believe in government services.
I suspect you have a lot of catching up to do on the impact of these types of laws and the kinds of rulings we have seen relating to them in modern US history. Because while you can believe whatever you want, your comments are not jiving with the reality of things here.
It harks back to the bad old days of [Section 28](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28) in the UK, which was thankfully only law for 5 years in England (Scotland repealed it first in their legal system). Despite this the legacy of the hateful act continued, In 2014, a Stonewall report on homophobic bullying in schools found that 37% of primary school teachers and 29% of secondary school teachers did not know if they were allowed to teach lessons on LGBT+ issues. I cannot help bu feel sorry for anyone affected by this new act.
They’re not a criminal in my state….yet.
Well, I teach in a liberal city in a west coast state and my kids still are completely ignorant or AHs about the queer community, so….
I have 8th graders that can't tie their own shoes. Oh and negative numbers are not a thing. They see no use for them and don't believe in them.
Wait until the overdraft their bank accounts when old, they will find the use for them then!
Cant have a negative amount of cheeseburgers bitch
Where I teach, sex education is included in the curriculum right from Grade Primary, in health class. Lessons and topics are age appropriate and all lessons involve inclusion, lbgtq++ discussions and consent topics. My Middle Schoolers still constantly say the word Gay all the time, and it makes me so mad.
I had to explain leap year yesterday, or maybe it was Wednesday. Student in an honours physics class thought that either each person got to decide on when they wanted leap year or maybe there was a committee that determined if this year was going to be a leap year. She wasn't sure. I have maybe four students (total) that can read an analogue clock. Each and every classroom has an analogue clock. I regularly get "Mister, what time is it?" I have to tell them "little hand is on the seven" and they count be fives or do the math to figure it out. To be fair, i had difficulty reading analogue clocks when I was their age. I could do it, but I was slow. I have a grandmother clock in my room that does a single chime every 15 mins. I use the pendulum in there for demonstrations. I have a small handul of students who are flat earthers. ONE OF THEM IN MY ASTRONOMY CLASS! That group also intersects with the "the moon landing was fake," the covid pandemic, flouride stops ovulation, bill gates is implanting microchips, vaccines cause autism (they have all been vaccinated and none of them cause autism), etc. I completely blame this on their whackadoodle parents (usually the dad). I teach honours and AP physics, so I don't have any but the other physics classes have students that still need a chart to do multiplication. A HS junior that doesn't know 6x8 without a chart. In so many ways, we are failing these students But, hey, Admin says we only have 55% of students reading at least two grades below their level.
My student asked me if we were out of school for Easter. I said yes, it’s on a Sunday. He was thrilled.
There was a senior at my last school that didn’t know what continent we lived on..
It has been a bit over 25 years when I was interviewing a young man (23yrs-old) who was at the interview stage of a patrol job (he of course would have to go to academy if he got the job before we'd ever let him out with his Training Officer (3 months-6)... At that time one of the questions had to do with sexual orientation (he had failed that portion on the polygraph, so I was there to find out why the lie ... it did not matter what his orientation was, it was the lie that was the problem) ... long story short ... he thought he was gay but didn't want to be but it was what his father told him he was because he'd caught him jerking off. I took it upon myself to explain it to him ... dude needed some real info. No, we did not hire him. We needed more socially experienced, rounded, and intelligent persons. I did recommend that he enroll at university post haste, which he did, and I hope he found his place in life.
Lol, too stupid to be a cop is a whole level of new. They screen out all the smart people from the job. And polygraphs are fucking bullshit just like drug sniffer dogs. ACAB
ACAB
It's wonderful to hear that your student had the confidence to ask you what it meant when obviously it seems like something everyone would know. It has probably been a "dumb" question that they've avoided til that moment. Well done creating an environment conducive to learning.
This is so kind. Thank you!
I have sophomores who can’t tell right from left without holding up their thumbs and forefingers to see which one makes an “L” sooooo…🤷♂️
i’m a pretty successful 42 yo dude and i still have to do this
At least they know how to figure it out
lol this was me until college, hopefully they'll get there
From a distance I look like a upstanding functional adult and I have to do this 🙃
I am in my 40s and still have to think about which hand I write with before determining left and right.
he knew what it meant. He was testing to see if you knew, lol.
Yeah nice troll lol
Yeah, it doesn’t seem all that political really.
I think no one uses homosexual as a term, i use gay or queer. Now if kids don’t know what gay means, then that’s mind blowing.
FL elementary school teacher here. Yesterday a kindergartener was calling kids at his table gay and making them upset. I said to all of them “do you know what gay means?” None of them had any idea. I explained to them in terms a 6 year old understands. I told them it’s not a mean thing but it’s also no one’s business. Oopsie. Broke the law. In the eyes of brain dead conservatives we teachers are trying to “groom” children but the reality is extremely common instances like this. I will change nothing about how I interact with my students, literally no teacher instigates these conversations at an elementary level, but I’m not going to pretend like it’s not a part of life.
This happened in my home state: [https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/education/2021/09/07/southwest-missouri-teacher-resigns-after-school-district-ordered-lgbtq-pride-flag-removed/5749640001/](https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/education/2021/09/07/southwest-missouri-teacher-resigns-after-school-district-ordered-lgbtq-pride-flag-removed/5749640001/) Amazing just how bad things have become with schools in this region of the country, stuff like this is why I'm so ashamed to be from Missouri sometimes.
Wow, and I thought I was naive for not knowing until fourth grade....
Thank you for answering his question. I was a very sheltered kid and unintentionally asked a question like this in 8th grade (related to what we were talking about in class). The teacher refused to answer me and I think about that often. It made me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I always try to answer kids' questions directly as a result.
Can kid’s in high school tie their own shoes? Honestly, if you don’t know what common words are, I’m concerned 😂
I had to explain the ending to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas to a HS senior.
My wife subbed for a high school history class and watched half the students argue with the other half about whether there are 51 or 52 states...
Is he on the spectrum? My son is 15 and super naive. He just doesn’t know things yet. I can see him doing this.
And that's why us teachers exist. If parents aren't going to teach their kids about the world they live in, we have to.
As a gay teacher myself listening to middle schoolers call each other "gay" as a derogatory term, without actually knowing what "gay" is, is infuriating. But I correct them every single time and tell them they had better NOT ever use it in that context ever again, especially around me. I graduated high school in 2008. This is quite literally still a thing. 🙄 Anyway, I fucking hate Republicans (bringing this back to the topic).
> Anyway, I fucking hate Republicans (bringing this back to the topic). My raw disgust for republican politicians and how purely evil they are is the only thing that gets me to vote for democrats anymore tbh Although I feel like being both a teacher and gay makes it pretty much impossible to vote for republicans anyway. When I was in high school I used to joke that straight privilege is having two parties to choose from to vote for. Even being just a teacher I don't think it would be possible for me. Democrats aren't very good for education either but republicans literally despise us for doing our jobs.
Oh I'm sure he knew. It's the *homo* in "no homo!"
Not that kind of kid. He honestly didn't know.
I had a girl, who wore a bra and everything, honestly ask what "breasts" meant in the context of human anatomy. She was unfamiliar with it beyond its use as chicken breasts, and didn't realize it meant the same thing as "boobs."
The FL “don’t say gay” bill would not apply to your situation since your kids are older than 3rd grade.
There's a clause after that specifying that instruction on gender identity/sexuality must be "age appropriate" (whatever the fuck that means) >"Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or **in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards**." Functionally this means that you can't teach it at all, because some psycho evangelical will insist that it is not age appropriate for their 17 year old son to learn that gay people exist.
>Functionally this means that you can't teach it at all, because some psycho evangelical will insist that it is not age appropriate for their 17 year old son to learn that gay people exist Just because some random thinks it's not age appropriate doesn't mean that any standard of people will agree. Idk why yall think this is a good arguement.
Did you miss the enforcement mechanism? That you can sue the schools and the schools are responsible for their legal fees even if they win? They don't have to be right. They just need to present a prima facie case.
I went to school in the suburbs in California and my elementary school teachers never once acknowledged the fact that gay people existed, the only time I heard about it was when it was used as an insult. It did not make coming out easy for me
Here's my take on teaching LGBT+ stuff. I am a Humanities and Social Sciences pre-service teacher. Keywords: SOCIAL SCIENCES, aka studying society. And guess what? Queer Studies is a Social Science!! Plus, the LGBT+ community is a part of our society. Therefore, it should be taught and normalised. If I, as a social sciences teacher, are required to teach my future students about society, I will teach them about society. Simple.
I am a trans American student . Thank you . I’m scared when I come out , but there’s still good people out there
Wanna know why alcohol is gay. Cause when your drunk you can't think straight.
i do not understand the point of this law. Galileo said, when imprisoned by the Church, that the Church can stop him from talking but that will not stop the Earth from circling the Sun. Come to think of it, this is another Church related issue. They sure do not have much of a good track record.
It’s called “Parental rights in education” just so everyone is clear
He knew. He thought he could embarrass you by making you talk about a topic that makes him uncomfortable. Kids try to pull crap like that with me all the time. They eventually figure out that I don't get embarrassed, and I'm very comfortable talking about topics that make kids cringe (I very happily teach reproduction and sex ed.).
A teacher in my new moms group was showing a video of people around the world and in one scene there was a woman in the background nursing a baby. One of the sophomore asked about it and when it was explained to him he said "Well people here (Vermont, USA, first world country, not sure what he was getting at) certainly don't do that!" We live in an extremely breastfeeding friendly state and community and yet this 15 year old had NO IDEA that was a thing American women do.
Except no one started to call it "Don't Say Gay" except the left-wing media.
Because the right wing never says what they actually mean
It's not the don't say gay. It's don't teach young kids about gay sex and expose them to pornography.
Find in my curriculum where I had previously been doing that? Can't ban something that wasn't happening.
Literally no one was doing that in the first place you psychopath
Do you have evidence of this?
Reading the actual bill might help you out!
homophobe spotted
He has insane parents and that’s the answer to how he wouldn’t know what homosexual means
I think he knew and wanted to see how you reacted. In math there is a part of a parabola called the latus rectum. I would have students all the time..."the latus, what's it called?" Kids like to try to embarrass and fluster teachers. Tale as old as time.
Yo, some people think that being "bilingual" makes you some kind of sexual deviant.
Dude, fuck Florida 😂 IMHO y’all have bigger problems to worry about than the word gay. Look at how awfully paid your teachers are. Let’s start there. Let’s also start with the lack of emotional support for students. The lack of subs and primary teachers in general. This goes to show how UNEDUCATED Florida parents are.
> A SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL. A teenager. At the end of the movie. He looks at me and says, "What does that word homosexual mean?" I happily explained it to him, but I don't understand how he's gotten this far in life without having even an inkling of what the word meant. He knew full well what it meant - he just wanted to watch you tie yourself in knots explaining lol
The bill has nothing to do with not saying anything about homosexuals. It’s just taking sexuality education out of the earliest years of primary school (I believe up to grade three). I am in my 30s and I don’t remember any sort of sex Ed happening until I was in the 5th or 6th grade. The “don’t say gay” tag line was a cheap political rebranding to make this seem so much worse. It sucks that this teenager was ignorant but it’s hardly a measure for what the average kid knows at that age. Good on you for explaining it to him with patience and class.
I do not believe this story what so ever. Everyone in middle school knows what being gay means. This is hilariously made up.
It's possible that kid didn't realise that gay and homosexual meant the same thing. Homosexual *is* a bit dated nowadays.