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Dear Grumpy Advice on Teaching in Today's Classroom

New Teacher Advice from a Burned out Veteran

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Yep Teenage Boys! All they can think about is Sex and how they do not have any. Just remember that it is not their fault as they are suffering though a massive chemical overhaul at this stage of life.
Mom Nature can be mighty cruel at times!

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Dear Grumpy Advice on Teaching in Today's Classroom

New Teacher Advice from a Burned out Veteran

Teaching is 24/7
Yep and you will also have Teacher Dreams even after retiring like I did. Like the one when I am looking for my classroom and cannot find it.
Grumpy

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Dear Grumpy Advice on Teaching in Today's Classroom Fieldcraft

9 Ways to Open a Bottle Without an Opener

 Jeremy Anderberg | September 3, 2015
Manly Skills
how to open a bottle without an opener

You’ve arrived at the campsite with your friends and some cold beer in the cooler, only to realize you left the bottle opener at home. Lucky for you, that’s no problem — you’re a master of improvisation.

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Dear Grumpy Advice on Teaching in Today's Classroom

New Teacher Advice from a Burned out Veteran

Be Happy Teachers
This is another meme that has a grain of truth in it. But just remember this. Your Students have an incredibly acute sense of smell for Bullshit too. They can smell it from a mile away.
When asked why I had become a Teacher. I just told my students that it was the only job that I could get that had benefits. They will respect you a lot more for your honesty.

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Dear Grumpy Advice on Teaching in Today's Classroom

New Teacher Advice from a Burned out Veteran

Don't Lick the Desk
As a Teacher you will see some mighty strange behavior as you try and civilise your latest batch of Thugs / Barbarians.
Just try and keep your sense of humor going and not drink too much during the Christmas / Winter Break. By the way most Civilians will not believe your war stories. Just saying.
Grumpy

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Dear Grumpy Advice on Teaching in Today's Classroom

New Teacher Advice from a Burned out Veteran

Be a Little Crazy
I made sure that all my students thought I was insane. It can be really helpful at times to just start laughing in a sinister way. Think Renfield from the Monster movies.
It also a good thing to have your Administrators think so too!  Because of the ADA Act. As it makes it harder to fire you. They might even leave you alone a little more.
Remind Them Why It's Worth It
Be a Rebel - Enjoy Monday
Happy Teachers, Happy Students

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Dear Grumpy Advice on Teaching in Today's Classroom

New Teacher Advice from a Burned out Veteran

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My thugs would always do things like this!
One of the biggest surprises though.
Was finding out that there are a few folks out there. Who do not want to learn anything ever! I am not kidding about this. They will also get really mean & nasty about it if pushed.
So do not say that I did not warn you about this. Or this one either.
Do not ever try and get between a Homeless student and their stuff or food. I guarantee it is a sure fire way to start off the day with a major incident. If you are foolish enough to try it!

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Dear Grumpy Advice on Teaching in Today's Classroom

New Teacher Advice from a Burned out Veteran

I'm Just a Girl, Standing in Front of an Interactive Projector
I have never had much luck with Technology in my Classroom either!
Grumpy

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Dear Grumpy Advice on Teaching in Today's Classroom

A couple of things that helped me a lot in the Classroom

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Let me begin by saying the following things to the Youngsters who are thinking about becoming a K-12 Teacher.
If you have any doubts about liking Youngsters. Save yourself a lot of time & Money and DON’T DO IT!
Most Rookie Teachers quit after a year or two. On your 1st day look to your left & right during orientation day. Those folks will not be there in a year or less!
It will be the hardest job that you will undertake. I still say that the US Army was a little bit easier but not by much.
I met more Characters in my District than I ever did in the Army.
In the Army I would just have to say that I wanted something done. Most of the time, Folks would actually do something about it. Both Good or bad.
In Teaching, you will have to learn the fine art of nagging to get close to the same results at times. That & when to do it!
I was a very lucky teacher as I almost never had problems with my students. But I can not say the same about the so called adults involved at school.
Everyday was a struggle to keep my reputation at work
Never count on anybody at school! They will always let you down. But always do your best to keep your word. It will really pay off later!
Be interested in your students and ask them questions. It will pay off in spades!
Be nice to the Support Staff as nobody else does! Especially the Janitor, Who ever is in charge of supplies and The School Secretary (The Power behind the Throne) As they can make or break you!
More later, Good Luck as you are going to really need it!
Grumpy
 

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Darwin would of approved of this! Dear Grumpy Advice on Teaching in Today's Classroom Grumpy's hall of Shame

Just another reason on why I am so glad to be a RETIRED Teacher!

Activists demand more social justice in Medieval Studies

Toni Airaksinen

Toni AiraksinenNew Jersey Senior Campus Correspondent
 A group of medieval studies scholars is threatening to boycott next year’s International Congress on Medieval Studies to protest the rejection of sessions proposed by “Medievalists of Color.”
  • Conference organizers, however, insist that workshops like “How to Be a White Ally in Medieval Studies 101” and “Toxic Medievalisms” were rejected based on standard criteria such as lack of intellectual justification.
A prominent association of medieval studies scholars has pledged to boycott the discipline’s largest annual conference over a lack of social justice programming.
On July 11, the BABEL Working Group published an open letter to the organizers of the International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS), which is planning to host its annual conference of about 3,000 academics at Western Michigan University in May 2019, outlining two “concerns” about the conference.

“Decisions that seem in favor of ‘academic freedom’ or ‘fairness’ to the current small group of decision-makers, for others, reinforce structural inequalities.”    

“The first is that there seems to be a bias against, or lack of interest in, sessions that are self-critical of medieval studies, or focused on the politics of the field in the present, especially relative to issues of decoloniality, globalization, and anti-racism,” the letter explains, adding that the second concern relates to an alleged “lack of transparency around the process by which ICMS programming decisions are made.”
[RELATED: Profs fear ‘alt-right’ is taking over Medieval Studies]
The letter, which has been signed by more than 600 people as of press time, argues that by rejecting workshops such as “How to Be a White Ally in Medieval Studies 101,” “Toxic Medievalisms,” and “Intersectionality and the Medieval Romance,” the ICMS organizers are hurting scholars of color and excluding their perspectives.
“The rejection of multiple sessions co-sponsored by Medievalists of Color (MOC) in particular minimizes the intellectual guidance that scholars of color would provide at the conference, when these scholars are already severely underrepresented in the field,” the letter protests.
Other workshops rejected by ICMS organizers included “Toxic Medievalisms: Misuses and Abuses of the Medieval in Contemporary Culture,” “Race and the Medieval,” “Translations of Power: Race, Class, and Gender Intersectionality in the Middle Ages I and II,” and more.
[RELATED: Prof: ‘white marble’ in artwork contributes to white supremacy]
While the BABEL Working Group suggests foul play, a review of previous conference schedulesindicates that social justice issues are not typically discussed at the conference.
Instead, workshops on topics such as “Commemorating Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians,” “Transmaterial Dynamics between Italy and Iran,” and “Law as Culture: Inquisition, Landholding, and Murder” are more likely to be seen during the event.
In an effort to influence the topics of discussion at the upcoming conference, the BABEL Working Group demands that the ICMS organizers allow at least two of the previously rejected workshops to be added to the 2019 schedule, threatening to withdraw thousands of dollars in annual support if the ICMS does not comply.
“If ICMS chooses not to recognize the special urgency of supporting the Medievalists of Color this year…the BABEL Working Group does not anticipate putting more of our collective resources into the Congress,” the open letter warns.
[RELATED: University drops ‘Crusaders’ nickname to be ‘welcoming and inclusive’]
“Now is an urgent, contested time in medieval studies and in the world at large,” the letter asserts. “What may look like duplicate sessions to the current small group of decision-makers are, for others, urgently different conversations that need to happen for the field to be inclusive and to move forward. Decisions that seem in favor of ‘academic freedom’ or ‘fairness’ to the current small group of decision-makers, for others, reinforce structural inequalities.”
The letter goes on to invoke “the current political climate here in the US and abroad” as justification for why the rejected workshop proposals should be reinstated, suggesting that the field of medieval studies should serve as “a site of resistance” against the “darker forces” of nationalism and academic freedom.
“We implore the Congress Committee to work together with us to ensure that the discipline of medieval studies will act as a site of resistance to, and also refuge from, these darker forces,” the letter concludes.
[RELATED: Prof: ‘Privileging of standard English’ is ‘linguistic racism’]
In an interview with Campus Reform, ICMS spokeswoman Paula Davis said that conference workshops are approved based on a strict criteria, including “the intellectual justifications offered for individual sessions,” “the balance of topics addressed,” “the balance of sessions of various formats,” and “apparent redundancies among proposed sessions.”
Davis noted that the ICMS is aware of the open letter, but explained that the group will only respond if and when the letter is formally presented to the organizers of the upcoming conference.
CORRECTION: This article has been corrected to reflect that the International Congress on Medieval Studies conference will be held at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, not Kalamazoo College.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @Toni_Airaksinen