From: (An assistant principal who always meant well)
Sent: (Before COVID)
To: (Around fifty teachers and paraprofessionals)
Subject: Referrals are in

Referrals are in, referrals are in!!!  I only order (sic) 2500 since the past two years we haven’t exceeded 2400.  They are in my office for pick up, please feel free to stop by and pick them up!

(An assistant principal who always meant well)

(Name of Title 1 school)

(Somewhere in the Midwest)

Eduhonesty: Found this while cleaning old email. I remember we ran out of referrals in the spring. I am sharing this because the number is worth a moment’s reflection. Currently, the school has closer to 600 than 500 students, but those are hardly large urban numbers. It’s a little smaller than the US average. (Table 5. – Average public school size (mean number of students per school), by instructional level and by state: Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1999-2000 (ed.gov))

I stopped to think about this, reader. Let’s do the math: 2,400 divided by 180 = 13.33 referrals per day. Except we ran out of referrals. Let’s say the number turned out to be 14 or 15 referrals per day. Let’s also note that school policy had teachers managing many behaviors without use of referrals. Teachers were to manage lesser infractions such as the random swear word or “tardiness of less than 5 minutes” etc. That “Prior Action Taken by Teacher” on the form is all about avoiding office referrals, and I don’t want that to seem a criticism. Teachers should not be bombing the office with every kid who decides to drop an “F” bomb when he hears his ex-girlfriend may be seeing a new guy.

The numbers will not be in yet, but I don’t personally know a single teacher who does not think that behavior is worse post-pandemic than before. For one thing, we have added a whole new category of infraction: refused to mask/distance/follow COVID protocols. Changes in routines alone are throwing off even the go-along, get-along crowd, many of whom want their old schools and their old lives back.

I only want to make one observation here: Admin may be struggling but those well-meaning assistant principals and deans must step up to the plate right now. Teachers are too busy to manage afterschool and lunch detentions. They may even be covering for a colleague at lunch. Deans and others who are part of the disciplinary process may want to let the little stuff go because of the sheer volume of referrals, BUT THAT MUST NOT HAPPEN. The kid who gets away with stealing an extra hour of game time on Tuesday will try to steal two hours on Wednesday. Kids naturally take advantage of weaknesses in policy enforcement, and if a kid gets away with cursing at his or her teacher once, that behavior may even be pushed pushed pushed just to find a limit — or find out there isn’t one, not really.

I am reading all sorts of “should I quit” posts and even “I am so glad I quit” posts on social media right now. Many say things like, “the kids are awful this year, worse than I have ever seen in my (10-20-30) whatever years of teaching.” “I can’t handle this anymore.”

Depending on their location, kids may be experiencing whole new levels of stress, unlike anything in their earlier lives. Their behavioral shifts are understandable. They are suffering from rapidly changing routines and expectations, leaving many nervous, angry and confused. Some have suffered family job losses, illnesses and even tragedies. This fact leaves administrators and teachers feeling a natural compassion and desire to go easy on off-the-charts behavior.

But we cannot afford to be too understanding. Student behavior has always been a major component in how teachers view their jobs — probably the major component — and teachers’ working conditions must be prioritized. A teacher shortage is coming, a fiery comet blazing in our sky. In some areas, the comet has entered the atmosphere. Schools are tapping district office secretaries and IT support people to teach in classrooms. Palo Alto High Unified School District asked for help from parents to help keep schools open Palo Alto schools recruit parents for support as teachers, other staff call in sick amid omicron surge (mercurynews.com). I wouldn’t be surprised to find a few maintenance and lunchroom employees helping to hold the line. Staying firm on student misbehavior will help keep teachers in the classroom — and students on track academically.

I see many changes coming, including better pay for teachers eventually. Shortages push up salaries. That’s still in the future, though, and right now this country needs to support and nurture teachers. That means letting them send kids out who are disrupting the learning process. It may mean taking advantage of recent steep climbs up the remote learning curve. Suspensions can include time logged for learning from home. Yes, some kids won’t log on, but while we don’t seem to be watching a planet-killer of a comet yet, that post-impact tidal wave may not be far away. School districts are seeing educators leave profession at alarming rate (kktv.com)

Eduhonesty up: With all of our recent educational changes, figuring out where to put our energies will be tough. One major item to prioritize stands out, however: interventions to manage student behavior must be positioned front and center. Strategies for behavior management must also be created with the understanding that teachers cannot add hours to their day to manage those behaviors. Too many are already drowning as they try to juggle home, family and job requirements. Too many keep finding themselves with 36 hours of work to do in a 24 hour day.

School administrators need to step out onto the front lines to manage this problem. If next year’s curriculum meetings don’t happen because of today’s disciplinary challenges, last year’s curriculum should become the default move. Business cannot continue as usual. Teachers who feel unsupported, or even isolated, are choosing to move on. I know a fair number currently who are only hanging on to reach a critical point in their pension benefits before turning in retirement forms.

Discipline should be the central topic in those schools that are struggling with surging disciplinary infractions. If thirteen office-managed disciplinary infractions have crept up to twenty-some infractions, classroom learning has already been badly impacted by those behaviors. Teacher morale is going down rapidly, too. I absolutely guarantee this. Teacher morale is DIRECTLY tied to student learning for most teachers.

All eyes now should be watching our teacher exodus. We can recover from many forces undercutting education. We can’t recover from a widespread, permanent loss of dedicated teachers.

Antibiotics for 20 Days

Small sick one sneezes

all over wet sub papers.

I want to go home.

Not in the Gym though She’d Like to Be

Broken young humans

wear boots and casts to walk.

Humans break easy.

In Self-Contained at the End of the Hall

Dan who cannot speak

moans, waves hands that cannot grasp,

runs and talks in dreams.

Eduhonesty:

One thing about “Dan” that people may miss. Not all our Dans and younger children can tell us if they are sick. That 20 days on antibiotics was real, and I walked right into it. I’d been sitting beside “Alex,” this nonverbal little guy all morning, smiling at him as his large dark eyes watched me. It wasn’t until he took my hand when we walked to the bathroom that I realized how hot he was. Heat was baking in silent waves off that little hand.

Kids don’t get the same cues adults do and they don’t always understand those cues. They throw up all over their desk and the classroom floor because they don’t see it coming. Or they know they feel nauseated but they don’t know exactly what to do next. This is not a bathroom emergency for which the protocol is clear. Should they ask to see the nurse? Interrupt the teacher? Do they feel that bad? Before a kid comes up with a working strategy, breakfast may spew all over everywhere, and suddenly the custodian is doing biohazard duty while the teacher is heading off future teasing and managing excited eruptions throughout the classroom.

As to that girl missing gym, that above haiku contains another truth: Kids will go to school injured, and older kids especially will also choose to go to school sick. They don’t usually get on the bus or in the car when aching and feverish — although that happens — but humans, young and old, are masters of rationalization. “It can’t be COVID. I don’t feel that bad.” “My allergies are so bad right now.” “If I don’t go, mom won’t let me go to Erin’s party tomorrow.” “I promised Mark I’d meet him at lunch. I don’t want him to go to lunch with Marta. I know she likes him.” Children and adolescents tend to live in the present, with friends and fun trumping any other considerations.

Even parents rationalize away illnesses. Or ignore them. I got pink-eye twice from a bank vice president — or, rather, her daughter who turned up in class with eyes that shouted, “Doctor, please!”

Eduhonesty: This post is in support of teachers who are asking parents and others to understand why they don’t want to be in the classroom when children are demonstrably getting sick all over the country. I’d like to take a moment to praise those Chicago and other students who are raising flags about health and safety. No, some schools at this time are not safe. For those schools, a remote option should be available.

This is not convenience. This is health. The evidence has been piling up that not everyone who gets COVID can expect to be well in two weeks — or even two months. A close relative of mine lost her sense of taste and smell to COVID and still has not recovered those senses; it’s going on one year and two months now and counting.

Schools are not little corporations filled with adults who understand expectations and protocols. They are often old, too-airless buildings filled with kids who look like sardines while navigating passing periods. Most of those packed-in kids remain hazy on germ theory, although they know much more than they did two years ago. And, oh my, can America’s students be slimy. I have wiped so many noses in my past and watched at least as many noses get wiped on handy sleeves. Sometimes kids with bad allergies just run around with snot on their face for months. That’s kids, especially in winter.

I understand the fierce desire to open school doors. This is education, and for many children education works best inside a classroom. Opening those doors is a tough decision, one which has to be informed by numbers, but what I want to emphasize is this: NUMBERS ARE NOT ENOUGH!

The plans we make also must take into consideration KIDS — KIDS who are not now and never have been little adults. Numbers from a mostly adult population don’t truly apply to groups of children in closed spaces. Children cannot be treated as inputs into a plan that ignores childhood.

I don’t know how we got to this place, this angry place that has many parents and others demanding a return to the education of 2018. I understand fully the desire to go back in time to a simpler time. But simple plans can be too simple and bold policies can be too bold.

Let’s try to put this in a nutshell: Government leaders and school board members are creating and implementing strategies that rely on the diligence and caution of people who still believe in Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy. In middle schools and high schools, those plans expect circumspect behavior from adolescents. “Circumspect adolescent” is a perfect oxymoron — a case of clearly misunderstood use of exact estimates which somehow end in an only choice that is no choice.

When transmission rates are too high, I believe we must shut the doors. We don’t have to shut those doors for the year or maybe even for the month. But we must be ready to shut the door until the wave passes:

1) For the sake of the grandmas and grandpas who may end up coughing and feverish, shots or no shots. My boosted mom is doing pretty well after a week with COVID, but her bedrest likely created increasing problems with a clot in her leg.

2) For the sake of other family members whose “sick leave” may have already left and whose income may not allow them to skip work. US businesses now often have a vaccine or weekly test policy, but omicron is managing to break through the vaccines. My mom is a symptomatic break-through case in a memory care facility. It’s worth taking a moment to think about places where employees are tested weekly. If Tom is tested every Wednesday, what happens when he gets sick on Thursday? The answer will only sometimes be, “Tom takes time off and goes to bed.”

3) For the sake of the kids who do not need the guilt of thinking they made their family or friends sick — or worse. For the sake of the kids who may get sick — yes, the percentage of truly ill children with COVID is extremely small, but a small percentage spread over millions of kids will result in many very sick kids regardless. And when “Dan” starts getting really sick, he will struggle to communicate that fact. Our schools are filled with vulnerable kids. At the start of the year, a teacher is given a list and there is nothing strange about finding students with diabetes, immunosuppression from medications, or chronic lung disease. (These kids should have a remote option regardless of the state of the pandemic.) Obesity is an established risk factor for children and is rampant in the US today.

Plans for outbreaks should always include well-thought-out options for closing the doors in worse case scenarios.

Christmas break anyone? It’s finally arrived. Has it felt like a super long year so far? If you are sitting reluctantly at the computer still, wishing you were “done,” this post is for you. Readers, please pass this on to coworkers who may also be hunkered down working. Let’s all stand up for our own version of nap time.

The title of the Chicago News Tribune article by Heidi Stevens is “We need to stop demonizing our food.” (Dec 5) Here’s the paragraph that inspired this post:

“Eating disorders skyrocketed during the pandemic. Since March 2020, when lockdown orders went into effect in most states, the National Eating Disorders Association helpline has reported a staggering uptick in calls — a 78% year-over-year increase during some months. Teenagers account for up to 35% of the calls.”

Let’s extend this thought: Girls and women form the majority of persons diagnosed with eating disorders. Research varies on the extent of differences and, just as I believe girls are underreported for ADHD, I suspect boys are underreported for eating disorders. Recent studies back up my view. But eating disorders remain a heavily female category in a stressful time. Anorexia sufferers are about 90% female and a recent study in Pediatrics showed “cases of adolescent anorexia increased 65 percent in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.” (Adolescent Anorexia Up 65 Percent in Canada During First Wave of Pandemic, Study Finds (msn.com) My two previous posts about the dramatic increase in suicide attempts among adolescent girls highlight a mental health crisis.

I think back to my children and other little kids I have known. Food is one of the first great comforts we discover in life, as any parent knows. Fwench fwy, anyone? Cad I ‘ave a gookie? Even as adults, many of us are attempting to duplicate mom’s macaroni and turkey stuffing,

Eduhonesty: This will be a short post. As Heidi said, we need to stop demonizing food. Because sometimes right now, it seems all the news is bad. Gas prices are scary, the weather is wrong, supply shortages have knocked favorite foods off the shelves, school shootings keep coming, adults and kids are putting schools on soft lockdown with rumors that sometimes turn into credible threats, and, all the while, omicron is surging.

If parents and teachers want to encourage healthy eating right now, that’s great. Pushing clean, fresh vegetables and fruits hurts no one. I am making daily fresh fruit smoothies, a fun activity that encourages eating melon pulped into juice.

But discussions revolving around fat, calories and weight have the potential to do harm, especially since weight gain has been one part of today’s COVID misery. According to Harvard University, “39% of patients gained weight during the pandemic, with weight gain defined as above the normal fluctuation of 2.5 pounds. Approximately 27% gained less than 12.5 pounds and about 10% gained more than 12.5 pounds, with 2% gaining over 27.5 pounds.” (Did we really gain weight during the pandemic? – Harvard Health).

It’s natural to want to attack our weight gain problem, but I’d like to suggest that maybe, in most cases, issues of weight gain should be left mostly alone. As a teacher, I have watched girls freak out over added pounds, cinching in waists with impossible belts and cutting out breakfasts and lunches. Then I have dealt with midmorning and afternoon eruptions, inspired by light dinners, few or no snacks and no breakfast. Those girls get hangry from lack of food. Sometimes they break into tears. Then they often binge eat as a consequence.

We can worry about fat calories later. I recommend treading lightly. Melon is a great snack. But if Ava wants a Candy Cane Chill Blizzard from Dairy Queen, I encourage parents and teachers to support her. Encourage her to go out safely with friends and then watch a fun movie (preferably not Night of the Dying, Sloppy Corpses Trying to Get Into the Mall, though if that’s a feel-good movie for her, I take back my last statement). Eating soft serve ice cream filled with candy chunks while relaxing at the end of the day may be exactly what Ava needs. Blizzards are cheaper than Prozac. They are low in sodium, have some useful calcium, and may not be high in fat, depending on what candy treat is mixed in.

Not that I’d necessarily share that nutritional information. Let’s take body image, weight gain and related topics off the table for now, while approaching nutrition and exercise carefully. Our kids have more than enough to manage.

I blogged on a crisis almost two weeks ago that the Surgeon General has just taken on. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy warns of youth mental health crisis worsened by pandemic – The Washington Post

From the CDC (Emergency Department Visits for Suspected Suicide Attempts Among Persons Aged 12–25 Years Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, January 2019–May 2021 | MMWR (cdc.gov)):

“During 2020, the proportion of mental health–related emergency department (ED) visits among adolescents aged 12–17 years increased 31% compared with that during 2019.”

…

“In May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, ED visits for suspected suicide attempts began to increase among adolescents aged 12–17 years, especially girls. During February 21–March 20, 2021, suspected suicide attempt ED visits were 50.6% higher among girls aged 12–17 years than during the same period in 2019; among boys aged 12–17 years, suspected suicide attempt ED visits increased 3.7%.”

ESPECIALLY GIRLS. Astoundingly, suspected suicide attempts were a remarkable 50.6% higher among girls compared to boys at only 3.7%. On a normal day I might let that 3.7% pass unremarked. With COVID and other changes between 2019 and 2021, a slight uptick in attempted suicide rates seems understandable.

But an increase of 50.6% — that number blows up the charts. That number is a nuclear bomb. If I were to pick a leading indicator to document a group’s emotional breakdown, I doubt I could find a better choice than suspected suicide attempts. Any group that shows a 50% increase in suicide attempts is absolutely in crisis.

Eduhonesty: The toxic emphasis on testing has been attacked repeatedly in this blog, but repealing unnecessary testing right now seems like putting a band-aid on a third-degree burn. We have to do more than reclaim our classroom days for teaching. We have to reclaim our children. When death seems like the best option to a physically healthy adolescent, in a country that has seen 28 school shootings this year, we need to slam on the brakes. IMMEDIATELY.

Discussions related to curriculum and test deficiencies need to be thrust onto the backburner. State standardized tests should be cancelled for at least a year or two in order to work on more urgent problems — such as those many girls who are obviously buckling under the strain of everyday life in 2021. What is happening?

I’d like to ask readers for help me. We have to discuss those girls. What is happening to our girls? Why are they falling into such depths of depression? What are we doing wrong? Or what are we not doing? We can’t leave this to the Surgeon General and US health bureaucracy. We can’t leave it to the schools. Please share this post. The mental health of our girls needs to be at the top of today’s confused agenda.

These are suicide attempts.

I am glad we are finally hearing more about this crisis — and I hope there will be more focus on the astounding difference in effects by gender.

*Note to parents: If you have a child who is slated to receive special services, I would check to see that those services are being delivered. If they are not, please don’t simply demand compliance. The district may be UNABLE to comply with last year’s plan. Instead, work with your district to find a workable solution for support.

“Kristine” chants, fiddles, breaks her pencil lead.

Ignores the latest test.

Looks sad.

Her mechanical pencil will not survive this test.

I give her a yellow pencil.

The pencil is so not the problem, though, as a middle school student might say.

_________________________________________________________________

Tension is baking off of Kristine in silent waves, as she kills graphite threads. The administration wants this latest writing test. But it’s another test. Test. Test. Test.

One way I know that our relentless measuring of knowledge has gotten out of hand: I am grateful Kristine is breaking her pencils instead of herself. It’s a teacher thing. When I see long-sleeves and pants on hot, muggy Illinois days, I wonder if a student is a cutter. Are there scars below those sleeves?

The tension out here has ratcheted up too. They are not OK, these pencil breakers.

Here are a few sobering facts from the CDC (Emergency Department Visits for Suspected Suicide Attempts Among Persons Aged 12–25 Years Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, January 2019–May 2021 | MMWR (cdc.gov)):

“During 2020, the proportion of mental health–related emergency department (ED) visits among adolescents aged 12–17 years increased 31% compared with that during 2019.”

Stress levels in some areas have become meteoric, especially among girls. I’d like the CDC or someone to explain this latest gender disparity, too:

“In May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, ED visits for suspected suicide attempts began to increase among adolescents aged 12–17 years, especially girls. During February 21–March 20, 2021, suspected suicide attempt ED visits were 50.6% higher among girls aged 12–17 years than during the same period in 2019; among boys aged 12–17 years, suspected suicide attempt ED visits increased 3.7%.”

Eduhonesty: I honestly don’t have the slightest idea how to explain what is happening to the girls.

I know Kristine is barely making it through the day and we have lots of Kristines.

I know it’s time to stop measuring so much and start nurturing our students more. Students can make up learning loss over time — but first they have to be peaceful and enthusiastic enough to engage with new material and optimistic enough to believe they should invest in their own futures.

Have you ever watched “Extreme Hoarders,” reader? Forget that “lost in the closet” header above. Sometimes the closet itself gets lost. My late aunt had a third bedroom that disappeared from view. The contents of that room’s doorway blended into the wall on either side, except for a few suspicious gnaw marks at the top of doorway moldings.

Education today sometimes reminds me of a hoarder’s house. How can you locate what matters? How can you find anything when the shelves have become so packed, when objects in view start flowing out doors into hallways, and out hallways onto hard-packed ground outside? The issues stream out from all sides, so many articles attacking so many problems, leading to so many prescriptions for improvement. Some of these touted solutions are vetted, while many others just spring into being, wild inspirations by people who never spent a week teaching in a classroom. If Bill Gates decided students required mid-morning energy bar breaks and afternoon yoga, would we all start accepting energy bar shipments while buying yoga mats?

I can easily visualize a staff meeting sucking up another afternoon as we all discuss yoga mats.

Eduhonesty: Just a wisp of a thought that I decided to share. Meanwhile:

As of 2017, the National Center for Education Statistics reported the percentage of persons 3 to 18 with no home internet access by race: white 16.5%, black 24.0%, Hispanic 21.4%, Asian 14.5%, Pacific Island 15.4%, American Indian/Alaskan Native 35.8%, and Two or more races 11.9%. During COVID-19’s time of remote and blended learning, that lack of access guaranteed the racial achievement gap would widen.

In the end, it’s all about time. How long to get and issue new laptops to students who never had access to home devices before? HOW to teach students to use the new technology when they are not in school to watch and learn? How many days will be required to teach students to use the new technology? What about the damn internet connection? Lack of connectivity dogged many areas, and photos began turning up of students working in fast food parking lots.

The process of getting technology into student hands jammed early on. Suddenly, many districts wanted new technology all at once, some of it sourced from overseas. Principals sat waiting for laptops that had been promised but were delayed.

From First toilet paper, then yeast. Now laptops are hard to find – CNN: “But with districts across the country all placing big device orders around the same time — and with many universities and companies also reliant on remote work — the unprecedented demand for laptops has strained supply chains. As a result, schools and families are dealing with shipping delays, limited selections and higher-than-usual technology costs.”

Eduhonesty: You don’t need a weatherman to see how this particular wind blew. Schools that were already 1:1, with each student possessing that laptop or notebook, were able to start remote learning immediately. Their students already knew how to use that technology. Technology was in the background, not the foreground.

A question too often ignored about our many remote start-ups: What were the opportunity costs of teaching technology — that is, what were students not learning while catching up on urgent new technology requirements? Almost all US students had around 180 days, but only some students had to learn how to use new laptops. While those students were learning their tech, what curriculum items had to be sacrificed?

This short post discusses a topic that’s received regular attention since early in the pandemic, but that attention has often focused on poor vs. financially comfortable schools. I thought I’d make a connection that’s sometimes lacking. That loss of learning that has resulted from COVID-19?

Tired of discussing this issue? Here’s today’s story: Florida second-grader suspended 36 times over mask mandate (nypost.com). It’s no surprise that this particular story comes out of Florida. Mom is outraged that her girl may have to repeat the grade, despite a teacher’s report that she has fallen far behind due to missed class time. I’m just sorry for the kid who has a mom who is proud of her girl for getting regularly thrown out of school. There are additional in-school suspensions too. Time after time, little Fiona lost learning opportunities. What did mom expect would happen?

Amazingly, we are still doing “The Battle of the Masks.”

Let’s start this post with an observation: Not all the anti-mask information is bogus. From the CDC itself at Effectiveness of Cloth Masks for Protection Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 – Volume 26, Number 10—October 2020 – Emerging Infectious Diseases journal – CDC:

Abstract

“Cloth masks have been used in healthcare and community settings to protect the wearer from respiratory infections. The use of cloth masks during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is under debate. The filtration effectiveness of cloth masks is generally lower than that of medical masks and respirators; however, cloth masks may provide some protection if well designed and used correctly. Multilayer cloth masks, designed to fit around the face and made of water-resistant fabric with a high number of threads and finer weave, may provide reasonable protection”… In community settings, however, cloth masks may be used to prevent community spread of infections by sick or asymptomatically infected persons, and the public should be educated about their correct use.”

Unfortunately, this mask guidance has been twisted around to say simply that cloth masks don’t work. That’s not what the abstract says. That’s not what most of the studies out there say, although I am sure if I dug I could find contrary information. I could probably find a story detailing how the aliens who took over the US government in 1964 have been placing special chemicals on our masks to brainwash and subjugate any men or women foolish enough to cover their faces. You can find almost anything and everything in cyberspace if you are willing to look long enough.* If you can’t find it, you can create it.

There’s an important kernel of information for parents and teachers in that CDC abstract that deserves attention, though. The CDC acknowledges that the “filtration effectiveness of cloth masks is generally lower than that of medical masks and respirators; however, cloth masks may provide some protection if well designed and used correctly.” The key takeaway here is that certain masks are better than others. A few helpful articles:

1. When and how to use masks (who.int)
2. 7 tips for making masks work in the classroom

I’ll ignore the many people wearing a mask below their nose. Those masks are pretend masks, of course. But other masks may unintentionally not be serving their purpose. A single layer of looser-weave cloth, especially one that does not fit well, may also be a pretend mask. If your glasses fog, the mask fits poorly. If the mask gaps anywhere, the mask fits poorly.

When someone says, “cloth masks don’t work,” the rebuttal is in the above CDC article on the effectiveness of cloth masks. They do work, if you do them right. They are not perfect. The N-95s and medical-grade masks are better, if you can find them in the correct size. But that cloth mask is a viable option.

Eduhonesty:

I created this post for another reason, too. I believe mask burn-out has been mushrooming lately. Aside from masks riding on chins, I see many other masks that I know can’t be working well. That bulging cheek pooch may be nothing but a big air canal in the middle of a mask. A few well-placed staples take seconds and can render a mask much more protective.

Masks work. Not perfectly. Nothing works perfectly, but we have entered a time of trade-offs. Saturday evening movie? I decided to take a pass in favor of a Tuesday matinee or even HBO+. We are making our trade-offs, many of us, while others are just trusting their parachutes.

As part of these school mask discussions, it’s vital to remember kids are a special category of problematic. A sad friend with MS will be skipping his family Thanksgiving this year due to nieces and nephews who are out in the world, going to school and not yet vaccinated. He’s not happy. However, he is immunocompromised and he is sensible.

Tired of battling face coverings, reader? Me too! But it’s not time to give up yet — because it’s not over yet. Kudos to that school in Florida for holding its ground. We can’t let COVID fatigue stop us from trying to make the world safe for as many people as possible.

Hugs to my readers! Jocelyn Turner

*For fun, I put ” detailing how the aliens who took over the US government in 1964 have been placing special chemicals on our masks to brainwash and subjugate any men or women foolish enough to cover their faces” into Google. The fourth entry that came up from this search was “Time traveller WARNING: ‘Man from 2030’ says aliens will INVADE Earth in 2028.” Apparently this fellow Roman has been on YouTube explaining that “the greys” are on their way. What I Ioved about this article was that the author did not reject the idea that a species from a destroyed planet might be already here and coming soon in much greater numbers. However, the author did imply that Roman’s claim should be viewed skeptically since the evidence suggested short-term travel back in time was impossible.

This post is for teachers, paraprofessionals and others who have recently started new positions in education. Readers, please forward this to anyone you know who might be questioning whether or not to add union dues to their paycheck.

I have been seeing social media posts from new hires asking whether they ought to join the union. Yes, union dues cost more than mere pocket change. However, paying your dues is exactly like purchasing homeowners insurance. You may never use that insurance once in your life. But if the house burns down, your homeowners policy will be invaluable. Insurance can save your retirement funds and, in a larger sense, your future.

Not all educational administrators are trustworthy.

Not all evaluation systems provide an honest reflection of an employee’s performance. I have seen numerous people whose entire year’s performance was assessed based on less than a half day of actual in-person observation. Not all evaluators know what they are seeing in those scant hours of observation. And teaching has its own unique hazards. Students and others have been known to lie about teacher performance, for example. Early on, adults are usually warned not to be alone with students in closed rooms. I know one woman who essentially had a group of girls gang up on her to deliberately sabotage her evaluation, too.

Added to the above, every so often, the wrong administrator or teacher simply takes a dislike to someone. The wrong teacher can make a parapro miserable all year, acting as a stream of negativity and a source of unfair evaluations. The wrong principal may try to push a teacher out through harsh evaluations and other dubious tricks like assigning his or her target the too-hot room over the noisy boiler. Education is not free from nepotism and favoritism either. Sometimes when Ed just doesn’t like Harry, Ed may decide to get Harry replaced with someone more to his own taste, such as his golf buddy’s newly graduated son.

Reader, maybe you will never encounter any seriously unjust treatment in the your workplace. Ever. You may be lucky enough to work for “Mike” or “Carly,” who are trying to build their best team possible and who only want to provide a school where you can learn and grow to become the best “your-position-here” possible.

But I believe fiercely in the old proverb, “Trust to God and row for the shore.” Sometimes I’ve heard, “Trust to God and keep your powder dry.” You have to take care of yourself. Your union is part of that self-care. If ever that kid does lie, or Ed decides he needs to open up a social studies position for his golf buddy’s son, or any of the many, many reasons why good teachers have found themselves fighting to hold onto their positions, having a union rep in the room can help you keep your position. Union reps remind districts of their promises and ensure due process does not get ignored.

The alternative to the union is trusting your administrators to be wise, honest and fair, even when under heavy pressure from outside forces such as angry parents, angry or frightened* students, other teachers, social media campaigns, and inadequate budgets.

Hugs! I wish everyone a great day. Jocelyn Turner

* Those lying students may have absolutely nothing against their teacher. But let’s say “Marigold” has a “D” or “F” to explain to her scary parents. The blame has to be placed somewhere away from Marigold. Once a lie has started, too, a child may not know how to walk away from the lie due to fears of embarrassment or punishment.