Chebucto Regional Softball Club

*long wistful sigh*

Three of them.

@tantramar

She looks so astonished by her predicament.

@tantramar

Can't get herself down, yes, but that bottle and vase could get some help to get down.

(or that is what Pica would do. )

@alexwild

I've heard these ants do not do well in captivity. Jordan Dean had a colony IDK if he still has them.

@alexwild

So much to love about these ants

* Walks like a stick insect
* too much legs
* Holds her body like a spider
* Sometimes treats her sisters like living storage balloons
* looks like she has on a black turtleneck
* is an ant

@Moss @LillyHerself

they think I'm a magical cable dispenser ...

@Moss @LillyHerself

I'm known to "have USB cables" at work and recently got very upset because someone just *assumed* I'd have a certain cable. "Can I have a 3' chunky old USB to USB C cable?"

I did ... of course have it but STILL.

@christopherbrown @LillyHerself

mmm hmmm how big was the fish again?

@pteryx @funnymonkey

"I don't see why parents can't provide them with breakfast..."
*takes orange madeleine from plate*
"... really if you can't provide your child with breakfast and lunch should you even be a parent?"
*bites madeleine, starts to pour some coffee*
"These people expect us to do everything for them! Where is the cream? Ugh. Powdered? Disgusting."

@pteryx @jhavok

The things I'm talking about re: class size and teacher time per student are not magic. But they are required. Things can get even worse.

This doesn't minimize the way that schools with these basics can also fail.

@pteryx @funnymonkey

Same people will get grouchy if they have to go to a long meeting and there is no coffee or little snacks.

But they think about food so little they might not even be able to articulate that is WHY they are grouchy. Because never thinking about food is one of many privileges.

@jhavok

150 is the total students in all of the classes that I teach, or my upper limit for doing any kind of effective teaching. You are correct that class size is better around 15.

@richpuchalsky

IDK Rich. The way you come at me in these conversations I feel like I'm holding a gate closed and there are snapping monsters (think ancaps) at the other side, they are trying to get in. I'm trying to keep the gate closed and talking about how we could get a better lock, take turns keeping them out so I could get a little rest.

But you walk in and point out that if we didn't have monsters we wouldn't need a gate, and gates are horrible aren't they?

Oh I agree! HOWEVER

@richpuchalsky @datarama

And there are conservatives, religious leaders, charter school grifters and assorted others who have been bouncing up and down excited to dismantle national standards for decades. If we only let them they wouldn't need to even try to teach "those" kids algebra. Think of the pliant employees without other options the schools could turn out for them. Think of all the money they could make running even worse schools.

@babelcarp @tea
"If you aren’t getting enough pretentiousness from tea these days"

This is absurdly unlikely LOL

@fasterandworse

That scrolls through every website in alphabetical order?

@richpuchalsky @datarama

I don't agree. Not having national standards just means you get a hodge podge of local ones which will on average be less well-thought out.

In some cases they *will* be better, but in many other cases they will be worse. Sometimes "worse" as in destructive.

I do agree there is too much testing.

But many of the national requirements are they only thing keeping schools from simply cutting out huge portions of the curriculum and hiring even less educated teachers.

@datarama @richpuchalsky

Like many specialists anarchists overestimate the appetite of the general public to think for itself. Even within their own organizations.

To think like an anarchist you must treasure a kind of independence and find joy in questioning authority.

But a lot of people (even me at times) really love "authority."

"Teachers could organize a body to ... "

nooo not more WORK.

I feel like I'm being looked at by a 17th monarch who is disappointed the the job I did brushing off their cloak.

@annehargreaves @richpuchalsky

Homeschooling can be wonderful or horrible. That kind of comes down to who is doing it and how much time they have.

It's not a great solution for most people I think. Don't you want some help?