I am CuTRis

Yesterday, I went back to a full day of substitute teaching, fourth graders. It was a new district as I had taken some time off, because the district I was working at previously, banned me after I stopped a student from assaulting his classmates. So yesterday, at a new district, in a new school, with different kids--within the first 30 minutes, a fight broke out, and I had to stop it. That's kind of risky, because once you make contact with the kids, even to pull them off of each other, someone can lodge a complaint and you can lose your job. Also, notable about yesterday, was the level of disrespect and lack of discipline. Their teacher had been absent for a while, so they closed the door of the classroom and then started throwing things, running around screaming and playing games on their computers. There was no making them stop, and there's not enough support from the school. I'm not working today, and I don't miss it. And I don't miss being told by a 10-year-...

The issue of bad behavior and violence in schools has gotten worse not better. And it could be, because the trend is to manipulate the numbers on spreadsheets, rather than to address the issues of the bad behavior. Because certain demographics show up more often for behavior problems, the answer from governing bodies and echoed by administrators, is to stop targeting those individuals. The result is that teachers have to play the "game," of not reporting incidents, or asking for help. Because if they do, the behavior problems are often "thrown back at them," as if it is due to their (lack of) teaching ability. The true answer lies in finding out why certain groups have more behavior issues, rather than not reporting them—just to manipulate the numbers. The fix involves trying to understand and alleviate the problems at their source. So far, many people won't accept this, because it shifts the responsibility back onto the students (and families), who have difficu...

https://youtu.be/gShGrkzlrW0?si=UjKKot1qXDu67jOm

Hey Hmong Friends and Family, I love you guys, but I would like it better if you started recycling. One Hmong funeral creates a giant dumpster full of mixed trash, including styrofoam plates, plastic utensils, glass beer bottles, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, hunks of butchered cows, pigs and chickens, and much more (all mixed together and bound for the landfill). Fifty years is long enough to learn to recycle, so please don't tell me (anymore) that you can't do it. I'm just concerned about the World we are leaving behind for our children. I know no one else will call you out on this, because they choose to ignore issues if it makes them politically uncomfortable. But I can like you, and hate that you aren't recycling simultaneously.

I dislike hypocrites. I also dislike people who won't be "inconvenienced," even though it is detrimental to our planet and future generations. So after once again, going to a couple of parties over the weekend, where people refused to recycle, I'm left with a bad feeling. Especially when these people, seem to outwardly hold their children in the highest regard. Yet they won't recycle! What kind of a world are they leaving for their children and grandchildren? And they will tell you that they don't recycle because no one else will. And often, they are correct. If you try to recycle, often, someone will come along after, and they will throw garbage in with it. So, then what are we leaving for future generations? So your great-grandchildren may never see a giraffe, or a tiger, or a polar bear? Is that such a big deal? Yes, it is! Creating a better world starts with individuals. People who do the right thing just because it's right. Not for instant gratificati...

On January 20, 1961, newly inaugurated President John F. Kennedy gave the famous quote, "And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." 62 years later, it's a sentiment that we seem to have lost.