Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

And there's also interesting stuff there with the 4th line, where she talks about how the fruit is the important part of the melon plant and the ivory is all anyone cares about when killing the elephant (though it seems like a reversal when she says the timbers are fine, because what's really valued...

Okay as part of the interview process, I have to give a 20 minute lesson to a classroom of 11th grade AP lit kids, on the subject of my choosing. I'm thinking I might do this poem by Plath: Metaphors I'm a riddle in nine syllables, An elephant, a ponderous house, A melon strolling on two tendrils. O...

Hey teacher-friends. I have to do an in-person teaching demonstration (20 minutes, on the subject of my choice) in front of a bunch of 11th grade AP lit students. Any suggestions on that? I've never done a teaching demonstration before, and I'd like to do a good job.

McSweeneys recommends? http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/reco ... 12-present

Yeah, the Common Core (at least for English) is essentially a checklist of skills students should have by the end of the year. Often those skills are things like "Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and a...

Unrelated, but do you all know the sell/sale merger? It is pretty thorough in Utah, and my dad (who was born and raised in Utah) just sent me an email where he wrote "when it sales" for "sells"! Good stuff. I don't know this. And my mind would be more likely to replace "sal...

To be fair, I saw the guy on his way out from the interview. He looked professional and competent and was saying something about getting a masters. He's probably a much better teacher than the average coach stereotype. I hope he is, anyway. And Portia, I'm looking for high school, so K-8 is a little...

Grumpy. I was interviewed for a position I really wanted, and it was just as a formality: the principal had already told the department head she could have me. But the other guy they interviewed to make it seem legit had all the same qualifications I could, plus he could coach a sport. So now I'm ba...

One, I doubt it. Two, that sounds like astringency to me. Is that what you meant by chalkiness?

Fact: I kind of hate the term "ginger" and I keep hoping it will die and people will call me a redhead again. So long story short, it's not me. When did you first notice the rise of the gingers? (I feel like the term wasn't at all common in the US as recently as 5 or 10 years ago.) Also, ...

Fact: I kind of hate the term "ginger" and I keep hoping it will die and people will call me a redhead again.

So long story short, it's not me.

I love the weather in my hometown and would love to be closer to my family, but there's a weird little part of myself that feels like going back there is giving up. At least before I've worked at a real job for a while. Also, I was so socially incompetent there that trying to join the social scene, ...

My students keep asking if they can call me Donna and wondering if they can watch That 70's Show in my honor. So I guess I know who my doppelganger is.

I'm genuinely confused why he would address women at an event from which they actively barred women from attending. Seems passive-aggressive. It's like when President Hinkley took time in Priesthood session to talk about how much he wished sisters wouldn't go on missions! Fun. (Though in his case, ...

Elder Oaks' talk. Holy cow. I definitely enjoyed the directness Honestly I found his talk pretty confusing. If women have priesthood authority why can't they use it outside the temple (I guess because the temple president only gives women the authority to use it inside the temple?)? After I read th...

The first time I heard that was any sort of opinion on which hand to use at all was a few years into college. I was horrified that I'd been doing it wrong all this time and hadn't known. (I'm always worried that I'm committing horrible social errors and no one is telling me. I guess I should combat ...

I'm mostly eating corndogs, freezer pizza, cereal, and takeout. It's grading hell time, plus I don't want to do dishes to be able to eat or cook, and I also don't feel like confronting my roommates about their failure to ever do dishes. Maybe I'll care again once this week is over, but for now, anyt...

Katya always says the best things. It's been hard for me, too, here and there. I've made those unconscious deadlines, too, and I've missed most of them. I hit 23, which I thought was a reasonable goal, when I was a kid, and I graduated, and my little sister got married, and I make friends and then t...

Okay, so hiring season for teachers is just starting to kick off. I've subbed around but I still don't always have a great idea of what different schools are like. Maybe you guys do, maybe you don't. But as I am nosing around different schools, I'll probably come here to ask if you guys know anythin...

And I.I, I love unsolicited advice on stuff like this! Thanks.