Hey so, gonna go on a rant here but can we agree that treating kids like shit is bad? I've seen a trend of a lot content that makes fun of gen alpha for being brand consumerist, or having bad jokes, or even not being able to read. Like guys these are preteens. These a kids who have had the trauma of unfiltered internet access worse than we did, and I was born in the late 2000's. Like it's not these kids fault they've been raised in a capitalistic hellscape, or had a tablet shoved in front of them since they were born, which SIDE NOTE, I think it's really fucked up we are also acting like that's a result of lazy parenting, like people have to work multiple jobs just to stay afloat, many families can't afford nanny's or babysitters, also how lots of jobs these days require you to be "on call" while you are AT HOME. Also on the not being able to read thing, that's just so fucked up, like you do realize how fucked up that is. Not only is it just like ableist as hell to kids with developmental disabilities, but also like did y'all just forget COVID happened? Is *still* happening. We were did education completely online for two to three years, like ofc that's gonna have setbacks, elementary kids cannot be expected to sit still and be able to pay attention. I went into COVID in middle school, and it was hard as hell. Ofc these kids are gonna have setbacks, ofc they are gonna struggle more, we all do, we all did.

Sorry for ranting but when did we start blaming kids for the crime of being kids, I'm not gonna ask you to grow up, because there is no shame in being young, but you are no better than boomers.

Now that the prologue is done, I can't thank the fans of this series enough.

No, we haven't hit any particular follower milestone. The story has just begun. And most of you haven't given me any sort of financial support to help me out, either. (And that's alright! I haven't asked, lol.)

I'm thanking you for just being apart of the audience.

I started PB in a little blue notebook during the summer of 2015. It was originally meant for my eyes only. And a big part of the reason why was that, when I googled things like "Special Ed makes me feel bad," there wouldn't be much of anything coming up. There were Quora forums! A couple of YouTube videos. Articles here and there.

But it wasn't a lot. Not enough to help me out for long. And it only hammered the idea further into my head that I was alone in what I endured. As I got older, grew up, and away from the program and people who took my disabled youth, I constantly felt this urge to talk about it. What SpEd had put me through. What I'd lost. What I'd seen & heard. The things I did and didn't learn. Even though I was never a very open kid, let alone teenager.

I hated that no one was talking about it. And how nobody knew what happened to kids like me behind closed doors. At 13 and 14, almost none of the new friends I made had ever heard a life story like mine. And I've always found that wild: I had a LOT of friends! (Still do!)

So I kept drawing it out. Kept working on the story in notebooks, sketchbooks, my friends' DMs, and anywhere else words could go. Sometimes, my family would catch glimpses of the concept art. Sad sketches of Matthew crying, freaky drafts of Monster, or tense moments between what would become Class 7-C.

And one of my parents would be like, "Why is your art so depressing?" They'd roll their eyes. And they'd add on, "People's parents aren't gonna like it!"

No, I never told them what the story was about. I never even told them it was a children's media (because it kinda isn't! I'd personally put PB as 13+?) These were judgments made with just one glance at computer papers covered in pencil strokes; sketchy and shapey little kids who didn't look like they were having fun.

I knew they were wrong. But the audacity still pissed me off. There aren't many times where it's appropriate to boss somebody else around in how to tell their story, you know? Not only that, but I also worried about not having an audience back then. Sure, all my friends loved my work. But at the time, I was the only one who'd really experienced anything "Special Education" in life. Thus, these were General Ed kids watching it unfold. Able-bodied eyes and (as far as I knew back then) neurotypical minds, watching and learning from whatever I made.

And I liked that. But that wasn't the only group I wanted to be seen by. I wanted disabled people, especially youth in their teens and twenties, to see it. That's my primary audience. And shit like that made me wonder if I'd ever find it. Had me second-guessing myself a little, you know?

But I shook it off. It's like that thing teachers always say in class. "If you're confused or have a question, ask: whatever it is, you probably aren't the only one thinking it!"

And I searched for stuff like PAPERBOY, hadn't I? Yeah. I had. So by that logic, other people definitely would be, too.

So I stuck to my guns, and... check it! Y'all showed up!

One thing I've noticed ever since publishing part 1 is that the PB Nation is pretty damn devoted. You guys have been patient, passionate, silly, and unapologetically yourselves since the get-go. And the response to every old promotional comic or post I've made has been OVERWHELMINGLY positive and curious. I've gotten fucking fanart, man! More than once! I've had the honor of meeting a few of you in person already! And for the ones who haven't caught me out with my friends in New York, believe me, I REMEMBER who comments what.

By the way, you guys should spam my comments more. Fuckin' love that shit. SPEAK TO ME, lmao. Even if it's like, the most irrelevant PB question ever. Keyboard smash in my comment sections. Send me disability reels you like. Tell me what you wanna see from the story. Whatever, as long as it doesn't bleed into parasocial territory!

I've gotta have one of the best audiences out there. So thank you! For just... being around. Here's to hoping y'all enjoy the journey we're aboutta go on.

so now that its been over a year since ive graduated high school id like to tell you all a story that ive been thinking about a lot recently. its a bit long, but i promise its worth it. 

this post gets political, fair warning

for context: i went to high school in a very upper middle class, very white town. everyone i talk about in this story is white. 

trigger warning: mentions of the german political administration during ww2, their tactics, and extreme right politics 

junior year i took ap us history. the class itself was absolutely fantastic, definitely one of the best i took in high school. but we had Quite the assortment of kids...

my high school had this dumb thing called the university program. essentially you applied in 8th grade and it was advertised as this Special Accelerated Learning Program. spoiler alert: it was pretty stupid, all we did was take a certain number of ap classes per year and do x amount of community service. everyone hated it but we all stuck it out cause you got a chord at graduation. so if you were in the university program, you started only being in class with like a variation of the same 75 people. ap us history was one of those classes. 

in our class we had quite the mix: 98% of us were members of national honor society but in addition we had the girl who would go on to be the salutatorian, this one guy who knew more about bitcoin than anyone should, two football players who were actually not assholes, and this really passionately german kid. 

now this german kid, were going to call him s. he was...interesting. he was very very smart (everyone thought he was going to be valedictorian but he wasn't) but he took his ethnicity very seriously. and when i say ethnicity im referring to that period of german history from 1939-1945. s knew far too much about german politics, esp ww2 german politics (if youre picking up what im putting down there) and he often went as far as to “correct” our various teachers whenever germany came up and talk about very radical right ideas. but our apush teacher was a no-nonsense kinda lady and had no problem telling him “s youre wrong” which all of us absolutely Loved.

the other person in our story is one of the not asshole football players. we’ll call him d. he was what you Wished football players were like, nice, funny, almost like a class clown, would no doubt stand up for anyone getting shit talked, talked to everyone in class no matter what their “group” was and he was really smart, but not in an in your face kinda way like s was. 

so anyway. in apush we would periodically have these Round Table Debates, where there were 4 groups: 1 group of jurors who would ask questions and then three teams that were defending their own stance on whatever historical argument we were having. our teacher would sit in the back corner and take shorthand notes on what we were saying, essentially leaving the entire discussion up to us except to tell us when it was time to move on to the next group. we all Loved round table debates because we were all an intelligent group and ended up having really deep and insightful debates and also whichever team won got 5 points of extra credit as did the juror who asked the best questions. about halfway through the year, we had a debate on what to do with the philippines after world war 2 (because they were technically a us colony at that time)

i dont remember what the three different stances were that we were arguing, but i do remember that d was one of the jurors and had asked one of the teams a question. s happened to be on this team and he answered the question. they went back and forth for awhile and things started to get Pretty Heated. we were all watching them intently, not really understanding a good half of what was being said because s had a way of talking in complicated circles that took at least 5 braincells minimum to understand, and all of us being crazy ap students, only had about 2 brain cells each. 

but then, s said something in his usual backwards fashion, and d paused dramatically, staring at s intently and all of us were collectively like o shit. i have never heard a classroom that quiet, you could hear a literal pin drop. we were all waiting for 1. d to decipher what s had just said and 2. see what he was going to say in return. 

several long moments passed. d leaned forwards in his seat, so far that it looked like he was going to tip the desk over, and, looking completely and utterly baffled, opened his mouth and said:

“are you defending e t h n i c   c l e a n s i n g?”

the entire classroom e r u p t e d. cause holy shit, we all knew that s had some, to put it very simply, problematic conservative viewpoints that linked back to ww2 administration germany, but no one had ever called him out on it before (aside from our teacher telling him to be quiet during her lectures). and also this was supposed to be a history role play debate of sorts, the whole point of it was to take on a viewpoint that might not be your own and argue it to the best of your ability. but d knew and everyone else in the class knew that ethnic cleansing was not something that s was pretending to defend for the sake of the debate (public school might be wild but we never touched that topic in a debate setting because our teacher knew that it would make people uncomfortable to argue in favor of), it wasn't even in the prompt sheet, it was something that he had come up with entirely on his own.

so when s started spewing random nonsense as an attempt to backtrack and take back what he had just said, d started shouting back at him about how it was wrong and was halfway out of his seat, fists clenched, ready to literally fight s (if you recall, d was a football/baseball/wrestling guy, at least 6 feet tall, and as far as high school guys go, pretty jacked. he was Scary when he was mad) 

it was at this exact moment that our teacher spoke up (which she n e v e r did during debates). she looked pretty shocked at the whole turn of events (as in, s defending ethnic cleansing, not d almost decking him) (and nothing ever phased her) and said, as calmly as she could muster, “alright. lets move on to the next question.” 

we were all 16/17 year olds. we couldn't vote yet, but we still had very strong opinions. and d knew the implications of s’s opinions, knew that they were hurtful to other people, promoted the hurting of other people, and called him out on it. publicly. in front of our history class, filled with his friends and peers, our teacher, and some of the smartest kids in our grade. 

after that day, s never suggested radical right ideas in class again, and if anyone else had similar ideas, they kept them to themselves. and from that point on d had my complete and utter respect. 

now, im not telling you to almost beat up your classmate in class in front of your teacher and risk suspension, but if someone you know has a viewpoint (especially a young person) that is hurtful or promotes hate/harm to a group of people, dont be afraid to try and educate them. we might be young and the older generations might brush us off, but in a few years its going to be this generation pulling most of the weight in polls. educate your ignorant friends, family members, classmates etc. every little bit helps. and education is the only way that we will be able to promote change. this is not a battle that we are going to win overnight, but that doesnt mean we should ignore it if it doesnt affect us. 

(oh and yes, d totally got 5 extra credit points from that debate)

((if this post offends anyone or is wrong in any way let me know and ill take it down or edit it))

I literally cannot do anything else until I get this out.

I’m... really not okay.

And when I say that, I’m not mentally unstable. I say that because I’m tired of waiting on empty promises, I’m tired of never having money in our account, I’m tired of living in a fucking city where half of the white people fucking worship the ground Trump walks on, and where most of the gay community has so much messy drama that it’s worse than middle school. And I went to a rough middle school.

I never talk about my past, because I don’t like to. It sucked. HARD. Being and only child in my family was nothing less than torture, especially as a closeted queer person. We grew up in the white Christian part of Nashville that dominated Music Row in the 90′s and early 2000′s. I played basketball with Alan Jackson’s daughter, and being around famous people was just no big deal. But, my parents decided to leave Nashville after my dad lost his job at TPAC, and we moved down south an hour to the town where the KKK got started (Pulaski, TN).

I had maybe two non-white people in my private Christian school growing up. I was never afraid of Black people, but my parents showed their racist asses quick when we moved there. The KKK has never left America, guys, no matter how many articles you read or studies you do. From 2005 to 2009 I saw a white town show its very worst to the Black community. I’ll never forget the first time I saw a march for “White Christians for Purity” the summer before Obama got elected. The disgust I felt inside was palpable. I had all kinds of friends in school, and I didn’t give TWO SHITS who they were or what they looked like... but I saw children my age, being brainwashed by their parents, that “white” is “right.”

Ever since then, I have been learning and growing about the issues of race. I remember my white classmates using the N word and getting away with it. I remember hearing about the principal at the high school punishing all the Black kids but not the white kids. I remember being invited to a church south of town that was a historically Black church, and how nice the ladies were to me for coming.

But I’ll never forget the racism that the religious groups promoted there, especially First Baptist Church and the 12 Tribes. I’ll never forget how FBC told me that my friend was going to Hell because she killed herself. I’ll never forget my mom telling me not to marry a Black man because of “impure genes.” I WILL NEVER FORGET THE INJUSTICES I SAW WHITE PEOPLE DOING TO BLACK PEOPLE THERE. NEVER.

And thank God, I have shaken the burden of religious guilt, but I still fight against this mentality. I live in a place that’s usually not even 10 minutes away from Trump-humping, sister-fucking, meth-addicted Confederate cunts in any direction. And we’re even closer to the rich white people who silently supported him, upset that their taxes would go up because of Biden.

And in the past four years since Trump got elected, I’ve gotten married, graduated college with honors, started my own photography business, and was making more than my husband there for a minute. I did my own taxes, marketing, editing, and everything. And then I came out as trans.

I lost everything.

I lost my studio. I lost friends. I had rumors started about me. I had people post hate messages on my wall. I had people at my drag shows tell others not to tip me, for whatever fucking reasons. I’ve had bosses give cis people jobs over me, and I’ve had government workers give me second looks when I hand them my license.

It. Fucking. Sucks. To. Live. Here. Like. This.

Oh yeah, did I mention I’m also a witch/medium? I’ve talked to dead people before and have told their relatives things I shouldn’t have known otherwise about their grandparents. Like, this information doesn’t even exist on Google. And I’m attuned to reiki. I’m always aware of what’s happening on at least SOME metaphysical level. This is a gift that I’ve had to go through life developing and learning about myself, with no one’s help but me.

I didn’t even know until I was an adult that I have autism and ADHD.

I’ve taken bullets from people who were about to kill themselves. I’ve yelled at 5th grade music classrooms for doing racist dance moves and appropriating Native Americans (I have a degree in Music Education K-12). I’ve consoled kids in classrooms who suddenly have panic attacks. AND I’ve told horny teenagers to stay in their fucking lane and respect the girls around them. I’ve apparently been an inspiration to those around me, but inspiration NOR exposure pays the bills. I’ve already had COVID, and so has my husband, but I knew that after graduating college that I would never have a fulfilling life being a music teacher in Tennessee’s public schools.

And now that we have COVID, and an orange, small-dicked, pedophilic, rape apologizing, dirty, crusty white president who STILL REFUSES TO CONCEDE, who is DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR HAVING HIS FOLLOWERS SEND DEATH THREATS TO MY FAMILY, I really don’t know what the fuck else to do other than go burn down all the houses I know of in North Georgia that belong to these Christian sex cult pedophiles and call it a day. My girlfriend unfortunately was born into one of those families, and I know just how bad it can get. In fact, her dad’s lawyer threatened me with blackmail earlier in November, so that was fun!

And now, on December 11, 2020, I’m still sitting here in the same fucking house, doing the same fucking things I’ve been doing all year - trying to get a job and failing horribly. I’M SICK AND TIRED OF THIS COVID BULLSHIT AND OUR INCOMPOTENT CUNT OF A PRESIDENT! And there’s only ever one other person I’ve ever called a cunt... my own mother.

I’ve lived in many places. I’ve met many different people. I’ve made mistakes, and have grown, but there’s one thing for damn sure that I always make sure to do, every single fucking day.

I ALWAYS try to do better.

In addition to this, I treat everyone with the same amount of respect, unless they have done something directly to me to negate that. If I know that someone believes in something that directly harms me or my family, I don’t even associate with them. I don’t spend my energy on things that don’t need it. And everyone else should, too.

The problem with some of y’all is that you care about the wrong things. Like will Becky text me back or did I get front row seats to that concert, or did I slave my life away to capitalism just so that I can own a Mercedes and have my friends jealous. I’ve had way too many dear death experiences to know that EVERY single fucking day is a gift. EVERY day.

I don’t want to be remembered first for the art I create. I want to be remembered for my character. I want to be remembered as the courageous person who never backed down in the face of adversity. But when you live in a place that already hates you and that is against you, that’s really fucking hard. Trust me. My marriage went from a cis straight passing couple to a white gay passing couple. I’ve seen how people’s attitudes changed around me as I transitioned. I know what it feels like to slowly lose a piece of your privilege you were born with.

So yeah, I kinda get a little fucking upset when I see people saying All Lives Matter, or when I see doctors refusing to treat trans patients in pandemics, or when I see cops YET AGAIN harassing Black people only a few blocks away from my house for no other reason than racism. And at this point, anyone who thinks they know me but only knows what people think they know about me can suck my entire ass and eat ten dicks. I don’t give a FUCK about who you are or what you’ve done. If you treat me or other people with no respect for no reason other than to be an asshole, you’re just plain shit. If you SERIOUSLY believe every little rumor and lie that someone tells about me before meeting me, fuck you AND the horse you rode in on.

What I can’t stand is people doing or saying things just to get a rise out of me or others. I thought we left petty shit in high school. Some of the people that “know” me really need to fucking grow up and grow a pair and either say what they want to my face, or stay mad. I’m tired of playing fucking petty games with y’all. We have a whole ass pandemic to solve.

So here’s the ultimatum... if you agree that Black Lives Matter and that queer people deserve basic human rights, EVEN THE ONES YOU HATE, then that’s the bare minimum to even be a decent person. If you can’t even do those things, then I don’t fucking know what else to say to you.

So NBC, maybe not have John Mulaney joke about my license debacle with my gold van on SNL, and Seth Meyers... maybe HIRE ME INSTEAD of Mulaney because clearly y’all don’t know about the south as much as I do? Oh, and that gazeebo joke with Lee University... I caught that. I may have autism, but I’m not a fucking idiot. I mean. I’m funny when I’m given the chance. And yeah, I’m on a watchlist, but who the fuck isn’t these days? At least all my secrets are out for the world to see, and I have a bangin’ tattoo.

I’m tired of everyone being like “omg, I’ve seen what he can do, it’s fantastic!” or “omg you’re so funny haha” and bragging on me and then NOT FUCKING HIRING ME. I’m TIRED of waiting on something that’s clearly at this point never coming.

I don’t even have testicles, and my balls are bigger than most of the cis men I have EVER met.

So, if you want to help me, or hire me, or get me out to an audition... I’ll be there. But until then, I’m so fucking MAD at some of these producers. Yeah, my mom is a cunt, but she worked in various forms of digital production from the 1980′s until she retired this year. She taught me SO MUCH about directing, writing, shooting, and more. I know how these things are supposed to run behind the scenes. I know what the fuck I’m doing, and I don’t take constructive criticism like a bitch. I actually WANT to be criticized, so I can do even better.

So PLEASE, for the love of Christ... y’all need to get your priorities together AND PLEASE STOP LEAVING ME OUT OF THE LOOP WITH THIS BULLSHIT. Grow a fucking pair and either call me, email me, or leave me alone. It’s really not that fucking hard. Looking at you, Lorne Michaels.

Oh and someone tell my husband what the fuck’s been going on because I’m tired of him gaslighting me about it.

finally i’m getting ‘round to barbie’s bio!! she’s a charming native that loves this town more than she hates it, but only by a small margin. she’s the secretary to the mayor, but her father was a disciple so she’s... neutral on the club. wolves, tho? gross. her mom is also a little infamous around town for partying too much, even into her fifties, sort of like lorelai from gilmore girls if she was chaotic and a former biker groupie. anyways, here’s her details:

content warnings: death, implied bipolar disorder

born october 20th, 1988 in charming, california. her mother, also named barbara goodwin, was new to the town when she met ty. she didn’t plan on staying long, accepting a temporary job to fill in as a substitute teacher that was on maternity leave, but it was love at first sight for the two of them. she didn’t know he was a biker until two weeks into their relationship, a fact that ty kept from her. she was only twenty three when she moved to charming, ty a bit older, but she decided to forgive him for lying. by that time, she was madly in love with him... or at least she thought so. the relationship didn’t last as long as her pregnancy. they were constantly on and off, fighting daily, and when barbie was born, barb decided ty would have nothing to do with his daughter. (that didn’t last very long.)

barbie grew up with her father wandering in and out of her life, sometimes living with her and her mom, sometimes not seeing him for months, depending on what was going on with the club at any particular time. it was mostly just her and her mother, and barb only being in her mid 20s when barbie was born, quickly felt like she was losing her youth. she would party regularly, leaving barbie with the elderly neighbor, usually at the clubhouse when she liked ty and la luna’s when she didn’t. for the most part, it was just barb and little barb (as she was known the devil’s disciples and most locals), and they grew up more like sisters than mother and daughter. her mother was her best friend, except when she wasn’t.

barbie was only thirteen when her father died, though it had been a good year since the last time she saw him, during a time when relations between the devil’s disciples and wicked wolves were especially violent. dying in a violent shootout, the president at the time told her that he died whispering barbie’s name, but she finds that hard to believe. of course she was devastated that her father had died, but it felt more like the death of an uncle or distant cousin than one half of the couple that brought her to life.

things were a little different after her father’s death. her mother was still a part-time party girl, relying on her daughter as her only confidant, but she got a little more paranoid. she wasn’t worried about the club, or the gang, so much, it was just the world in general. one moment, big barb was carefree, the next she was obsessively checking the windows were still locked. barbie never grew up with a very rosy view of the disciple’s, but it was confusing how her mother could go from loving them deeply to hating them even more over the course of a day. it wasn’t an easy time to live in charming, but barbie grew to fear everyone, not just gang violence.

it was only a few short years before she got to high school after her dad died, and barbie mostly kept to herself. she was embarrassed over her mother’s public antics, scared of being hurt, and was one of the few black girls in school; all a recipe for an introverted, shy teenager. though she had loose ties to the disciples through her father, she was a chronic good girl, and that carried throughout her college years. she saw what alcohol did to her mother, knew how her father died, she wanted to stay as far away from the seedy underbelly of charming as she possibly could.

not too far, though. she stayed at home during her college education, commuting to fresno for school. desperately she wanted to leave charming, but she feared what would happen to her mother if no one was around to rein her in. completing a bachelor’s degree in communications at fresno pacific university, a major she chose simply because it could lead to many different careers, she found herself unemployed back in her mother’s house after graduation.

barbie landed in the mayor’s office by accident—not literally, but she was searching job listings in the fresno/charming area and came across one for a file clerk at the charming mayor’s office. hired after one interview, she really only intended to be there until she found something better, but slowly she started getting promoted until she was finally in the actual office. working as the mayor’s secretary for the past five years, barbie is incredibly content with her job. for now, at least, she’s absolutely fine where she is. (secretly, she hopes to be the mayor one day. not now, but maybe one day.)

before she had a vaguely cordial relationship with the disciples, and disapproved of the wolves, but since working in the mayor’s office, she’s grown to heavily dislike both. she wants charming to be a nice place to live, but it wasn’t ever that nice to begin with, was it? as far as either crew or gang knows, she’s neutral.

has a very bubbly personality, but it’s mostly just a front. she feels like she can never be angry because her mother relied on her so much as a child and it’s carried over into adulthood. also has major trust issues because of her relationship with her parents, grew up thinking that anyone that was talking to her just wanted something from her. doesn’t have a lot of friends, or at least she doesn’t have a lot of close friends. mostly hangs out with coworkers or fellow i-don’t-want-to-talk-about-my-trauma-ever-so-let’s-talk-about-real-housewives-of-nyc people.

moved into her own apartment, but frequently goes to her mother’s house to check on her/have dinner. and by frequently i mean like six times a week. doesn’t drink more than a glass of wine if she is going to drink, so most people think she’s really boring (she kinda is lol, but we love her).

you either know her as barbie or little barb, never just barb (please call me barbie, barb is my mom’s name. yes she named me after herself.) or barbara. sometimes will answer to babs.

kiiiiind of judgmental, oops. doesn’t think crew or gang members are inherently bad people but it’s more like ooh no baby what is you doing.jpg sort of thing. distrusting but incredibly lonely, whomp whomp. a big fan of passive aggressive smiles. kinda... fake, but in like an innocent way.

wanted stuffs:

childhood friends: barbie grew up in charming, so if ur muse is a lifelong local, they probably know barbie! she’s very shy but super nice, kinda kept to herself growing up, but very ride-or-die until you do something she thinks is Wrong and Amoral.

a best friend: c’mon. this girl needs a bestie, a least one person for her to feel close to and share her real emotions with. except a lot of stopping by ur place of work to go out to lunch and random gifts because Gifts Are Her Love Language.

exes: though barbie is super like... not forthcoming with her emotions, she’s very bubbly and like come the fuck on, she’s a smoke show. i’m imagining someone that really liked her but found her forced cheery attitude annoying and she refused to meaningfully commit because she was scared of the feelings.

childhood enemy: someone that didn’t like barbie growing up, for any reason (except racism obviously lmao). they could’ve been a fellow club brat or maybe they just thought she was weak bc she was so quiet and shy when they were kids. who knows! i just like antagonistic relationships!

a roommate: she moved out of her mom’s house years ago and has a good government job but she still needs help to pay the rent!! ideally they could be really good friends or maybe they were strangers that have to learn to live together and they’re constantly getting annoyed with each other for like, leaving the bathroom fan on or something. i figure this connection would be with another woman, but it doesn’t have to be!

a surrogate little sister (or bro, or sibling): barbie grew up an only child, but she’s got lots of Big Sister Energy. i’m thinking this will be a connection for someone younger that’s in need of some sisterly guidance, or perhaps a fellow club brat that’s more integrated into the crew/grew up to join and barbie’s like i don’t approve of your choices but i’m here 4 u.

um honestly i could go on forever but i don’t want this to be super long, so message me on here or discord (wanda’s loving boy#1003) if you want to plot!! :)

changing priorities.

With the quarantine in place, I got to move back home with my parents and I’ve spent around 2.5 months here in LA staying at home. 

Accomplishments:

> Kristy and I started a IG for dancing! We’ve been consistently uploading our dancing videos (solo/duo) on it and I have to say I’ve improved a lot in the past few months just learning from Steezy. First video was kinda cringe, but that was a stepping stone for me enjoying dancing so much! 

> Stepped away from the gym life (working out 6 times a week + vball/ball/reffing). Feels honestly kinda refreshing to not make the gym your life and to just go out walking/running an just breathing fresh air and feeling the sun hit your face is pure bliss. (I ran 3 miles the other day whooo!)

> I got a promotion from work and my stocks are doing hella well. My personal finances be looking kinda litttt. Been educating myself on stocks too and bought a stock not given to me from Twilio LOL (And this is prob the most money I’ve seen in my bank account since the beginning of college).

> Spending more time with family (nice to see my family so much since being away from them for almost 2 years!)

> Built a gaming PC (holy shiiiit)! I JUST DID THAT (well some of it, had to find a computer genius to help me out with it LOL). I might start a stream but that commitment of streaming for hours on end really detracts me away from it. (dunno about this one)

> Ev’s Bootcamp! My friends started to work out with me and it feels so nice to teach/coach a class - definitely such a rewarding experience for me (which motivates me more to be a teacher/coach when I’m older)

> Developed a closer relationship with a coworker during a breakup. Having someone who went through the same thing as you or going through the same thing as you is such a comforting thing to realize. 

Struggles:

> Socializing with people: my love language is quality time and doing something/hobby together. I often find myself struggling to respond to people (as usual LOL) because I’m just soooo bad at maintaining relationships online. If you’re not on my mind all the time, I sometimes find it super hard to maintain contact. 

> Playing too much league of legends LOL (don’t know if it’s a bad thing or not), but I’ve started this event called ‘Quarantine League’ and it’s such a huge outlet for my social - ness

> Realizing I was lying to myself for a few months thinking that a friendship with him was reasonable. I didn’t realize that it brought so much sadness to me during our time as ‘friends’. I’ve totally cut him off for a month, and now we’re good. Just starting fresh (like any other friend) and having it develop slowly is probably the best way to go about it for me right now. 

Things to look forward to:

> TRAVELING... definitely after this quarantine is over I’m going to take PTO and go travel the world before I settle down and buy a house for sureeee and utilizing my weekends to go on little trips to experience the world. I can be cheap through the weekdays but save up for these little trips!

> Organized sports (volleyball tournaments), going back to the gym (missing those communities of people that share the same hobby as I do

> Going out: I will definitely take up the opportunity to go out more, go bar hopping, go clubbing, doing some crazy shit, hiking, camping (whatever it is)

> Seeing my friends and hanging out with them in-person and being stupid.

What I took for granted:

> My freedom, I mean I abused it to all extensions of going out, doing shit, and not having enough time for anything else. I guess what I took for granted was not slowing down and not getting some parts of my life in shape. 

> Not getting my personal finances in check. 

> Not responding to people fast enough (but that’s always a problem with me XD)

How my life has changed? 

> Being at home a lot now has made me slow down on my pace of life and really actively think about what I did before this quarantine. I would have to say that I’m pretty proud of myself for doing so much & pushing myself. 

What I learned? 

> I like sitting at home and also going out at the same time. I love doing mundane shit now like looking at the birds at the park. I appreciate the 2 hours long walks/jogs.

> I love my friends and family a lot. 

> It’s easy for me to distance myself when I choose to be introverted. I tend to not reach out or respond to people but sometimes it makes me feel lonely. It’s not that people don’t love me or not want to hang out with me, I just prioritize people differently. 

> It’s okay to distant yourself and create boundaries for yourself especially if you are in a place of hurt / depression. It’s okay to recognize that and dwell in it until you feel better. Patience/love for yourself is so important and it’s unhealthy sometimes to force yourself to feel a certain way because of pride/wanting to be a bigger person. Sometimes space + time is all you need.

> There are lot of sensitive people in this world and I need to recognize that more. Practice empathy! 

I just realized that I honest probably actually like math a lot, like I could probably easily sit and do math worksheets for fun

In a context where I don’t need to worry about getting good grades, because getting bad grades could jeapordize my scholarship, I think I could do really well with math

Especially because I was always good at “softer” maths like probability and statistics and stuff like various methods of voting or ways of dividing a cake or whatnot...like I don’t remember what that latter type is called but the last math class I ever took was that kind and I nailed it to the wall, I was a genius in the class while everyone else was struggling. Same thing with algebra, the only reason I got a B+ in college algebra was because the departmental final fucked me. I had like a 98 in the class before the final.

It’s so frustrating to look back on my education because I feel like I was really robbed...like I feel like math was one of those subjects where if you weren’t immediately good at it or if you needed more than a little extra help you were just written off as being “bad at math”

Like no! I was great at math, I loved math. I just sucked at taking math tests, especially because one of my biggest problems with math tests had always been sitting down, looking at the questions, and panicking because it didn’t look anything like what I’d been studying from the book and my notes.

Like I swear to god I would spend entire exam periods looking at questions that made no fucking sense according to what we’d been taught, and in retrospect I’m wondering if it’s because my professors didn’t know how to Fucking write clearly.

Even calculus started to make sense!!! Even calculus was interesting once I started knowing what I was doing, I just had a really shitty teacher who didn’t know how to teach or test

It’s SO weird that we live in this culture that shoves STEM down our throats day in and day out and you’d think that that would lend itself to more help for people who struggle with it but no, weirdly enough it feels like STEM culture promotes this cutthroat “if you don’t understand it now you never will” mindset

Idk man I’m just really mad and also sad and I feel kinda robbed because I genuinely do think I like math and I think a lot of us like math we just had horrible experiences in school

Bi Visibility is important

Bisexuality is frequently overlooked in our culture, and all too often perceived negatively, either as someone who’s faking, or someone who isn’t really queer. However, bisexuality is just as valid as being gay, or trans, or ace. Bisexuals deserve to be more visible in our society, and more accepted by our community, regardless of the gender of their partners.

- K

Name: Jessie

Age: 24

Sexuality: Bisexual

Location: Newtown

Occupation/area of study: Studying Primary Education at the University of Sydney and president of the Queer Society at University of Sydney (Shades)

I identify as either bi, or pansexual,depending on who I’m talking to, and how they see bi and pan. I know that some people see pan as problematic because it originates in bisexuality as a way to be more inclusive of trans and non binary people, but also that bisexuality explicitly includes trans and non binary people anyway. I understand both points of view on the bi/pan debate, but arguing about the semantics doesn’t really interest me. Safe to say that I can find myself attracted to people at any point on the gender spectrum.

This is my second year as the president of shades(University of Sydney Queer Society), I’m graduating at the end of this years so I won’t be doing that anymore… Unless I do another degree, or PHD! *laughs* no, I’m definitely going to be teaching for a year or two before I come back to do any other study.

Being president of Shades just sort of fell into my hands when my friend finished uni. I had no idea what I was doing but just persisted because I really didn’t want Shades to die. It’s a very important society, especially for first year queers just coming out and having their first experience both at uni, and expressing their sexuality for the first time. Shades can be just a great experience for people to just come and be social, and be themselves.

When I was nineteenI was diagnosed with an eating disorder and went into hospital for a period of time. That whole part of my life was very long and awful, but my fashion also went through a really drastic change through every part of it.In the initial stages of it, when I’d lostan incredible amount of weight, I started buying all of these really tiny, tight clothes. But when my disorder became more about bingeing, I became very ashamed of my body, and would try to buy clothes that would hide it. But because I’m low key obsessed with looking cute, I had this mindset of “no! I must still look cute! Whilst also trying to hide my body!” So I went through this phase of long, flowing hippy skirts, with patterned throw overs. It was very personally necessary at the time, but I’ve definitely moved out of that phase. I kept the really cute ones though. One thing that has always stayed with me is just a little touch of punk creeping through to all of my aesthetics. Even now, going into teaching and needing to dress in a professional, “teacher” way, I’m very adamant about still being very me. For example, I refuse to get rid of, or hide my septum piercing because it’s such an integral part of my identity.

If my ex boyfriend ever reads this, I don’t think he’ll care, because he was very much around for it and knew what was going on. But he and I had what was very much an up and down, very toxic relationship. He cheated on me a bunch of times, and I didn’t cheat on him physically, but I definitely cheated on him emotionally with a girl in my high school. I think having feelings for her made me realise that I wasn’t straight. I went to an all girls high school and there were like two gays in our cohort, and I was wondering to myself “Do I just have a crush on them because I know that they’re gay? Okay.. but not everyone else in my cohort has a crush on them, and they’re offended by the fact that she has crushes on other people, but not only am I not offended by it, but I’m kinda into it?” which made me realise that yeah… girls… We never did anything physically though, my boyfriend and I were together until I was eighteen, and I don’t think I actually experimented with my sexuality until I was about nineteen.

I don’t think that my sexuality has had an impact on my way of presenting myself, but it’s hard because that was all close to the time that I was dealing with my eating disorder as well. I think a big part of my recovery was tied in with the fact that queer people generally don’t give to much of a shit about how other people perceive the way that they dress. It was a huge shift for me, queer people care about the way that they dress, but not what the general population thinks, and so much of my eating disorder was tied up in worry about what other people would think of me, and how I looked, so when I came to terms with my sexuality it also made dressing so much easier. I let go of other peoples perceptions of my body, and how I moved through the world because queerness is so liberating in that way so… It did… I made a mistake, coming to terms with my sexuality very much did shift the way that I dress.

Ithink that stereotypes within the lgbt community are still relevant, but that they’re much less relevant now that there’s so much more of an umbrella, and in think that people these days are far less likely to put themselves into a little box. I feel that they are necessary, especially in the beginnings of finding out about queerness and sexuality, because everyone wants to belong to something, and I think that stereotypesabout how to dress and present yourself help people to identify themselves, and be a part of something greater. Like a lot of people on your blog have said, it’s like a sign, or signifier to other people that are a part of that to let them know that we’re all queer together. I’m a bit biased, because I live in the inner west, but I feel that these days I go around Newtown and I have no idea if someone’s queer or not, because that very liberated, queer way of dressing has just spread everywhere, and has also let straight people feel that sense of liberation. Deviation from the norm (conservative, mainstream cishet presentation) is very important in queer history, because it has always been a bit of “going against the man” and rejecting the system.

There is a narrower understanding of queerness in media, which is why I feel it is so important, if you know anyone who is coming to terms with their gender or sexuality, to point them towards youtubers or people who are not very “in a box” about what sexuality and queerness is, because I think that it’s pretty normal when coming to terms with your sexuality to put it into the more known boxes before you kind of unravel what your own sexuality really is. It’s a good start, but I think it would be even better if we had more representations in the media of trans and non-binary people. Bisexuals even, you still don’t see many bi people in media, or if you do, it’s very sexualised and male gaze-y. Which isn’t helpful for young people coming to terms with their sexuality because it can kind of lead them to put themselves in a more narrow box, which can hurt them later on as they aren’t aware of these different ways to be. Going into teaching, I plan to be pushing as much as I can for a lot more stories where characters are not gender conforming, because the more opportunities that young people have when they’re younger to come to terms with their own gender and sexuality, the more they can avoid problems with mental health later on down the line.

For our generation, I feel that the internet has been extremely influential. Queerness in general feels so normalised in areas of the internet which is so crucial to me, and others for coming to terms with their sexuality. Things like Youtube are huge now, and I feel that queer representation on Youtube is growing and growing now, which can be a great resource.

I think that bisexuals in heterosexual relationships are so important, but from my own experience, I feel that their heterosexual partners can feel an urge to squash that part of their identity, which makes me so sad. On the other hand, I know many bisexual people who then take the tack of compensating for their heterosexual relationship by becoming activists to make their identity as a queer person still feel relevant. For myself, I’m in a heterosexual relationship, but it doesn’t do anything to change the fact that I’m still bisexual. I did have a small crisis about my queerness early on, being the president of a queer society in a straight relationship, but now I see myself as a fairly important bisexual person, on a pretty big platform, promoting bi visibility and reminding people that bisexuals in heterosexual relationships are still a part of the lgbt community, especially now that my partner is passing more and more frequently, I’m just seen as a straight person. Two of my bosses at work are dating, both female, and since being with Jess, I cant find a way to drop into conversation with them that I’m also queer with it also feeling like a casual thing, rather than jumping up and down shouting “me too!”

full gallery on facebook

follow us on instagram

please contact us if you would like to be involved

parkjin headcanons!!

ur honestly both in awe at how ur in a relationship with each other because neither of u give urselves enough credit !!!! u r both sweethearts and visual gods

hyunjin: “wow ur so cute i cant believe ur dating me” parker: “no!! thats me @ u” god: “p l e a s e ur both cute babies and u deserve each other”

i digress

this bb is friends with some clingy ass mofos !!! like daehwi !!! ur getting the hugs u deserve and u will get no complaints from him abt ur affections either because hes just sitting their with you like o//w//o

dont believe this boys dangerous stage presence he is a softie through and through he will get you flowers and chocolates and everything you could possibly imagine !!! angel baby sweetie pie ur pumpy umpy umpkin !!!

he would absolutely love dancing with you !! he loves ur passion and drive to perform and is always willing to practice with u even when hes tired :( bb boy !! hes much nicer than chan tho lol but hes still a pretty strict teacher so expect some dramatic improvement under him

(also whenever you pull off a move properly he gives u a sweet s m o o c h so it encourages you to do even better for more opportunities to kiss ur bf)

bc hes an idol !! yall cant go out publicly for dates all the time so a typical date is yall goofing off at home, watching movies and shows on netflix, a romantic dinner if yall have the energy but generally takeout, blasting music and dancing around, etc etc he just loves being with you

but when its been a while he will absolutely take you out on cute dates!! sometimes cute elaborate picnics, sometimes a spontaneous trip around the city at night, but always without a fail fun and exciting, especially with your boyfie by ur side :^)

also initially he is SO shy with you !! like remember how shy he was around jinyoung ??? during the survival show??? multiply that by a MILLION this boy was so shy he blushed the deepest shade of red just by h*lding ur h*nd !!! he gains more confidence as the relationship progresses but pls be easy on this bb boys heart

also (wiggles eyebrows) yall can have some spicy kisses !! some intense makeout sessions !! but nothing further lol he is a SHY BOY and also very much 18 he is awkward and is not abt that life rn lol

like ur gonna be shocked at the duality because at the beginning of the relationship hes like “c-can i h*ld ur h*nd? and ur like “how did u censor that out loud” but now hes like “makeout with me” and ur like bitch WHAT but also okay lol

this boy is a solid eight inches taller than you lol if you think he wont even lightly tease you about the height difference you are wrong !! ur just chillin and hes like “hey :) hows the weather down there” and ur like “i will END you” and he blows a kiss ur direction and ur like “okay maybe not ur kinda cute. but comment on my height again and u will receive no mercy”

DUDE he is at the perfect height where he can rest his chin on ur head!! and give u forehead kisses !!!! he just loves u so much man !!! sure kissing u on the lips is great and all but kissing ur forehead?? CUTE

also so many of his shirts and hoodies disappeared and he was like ?????????? what !!! and then he saw you just DROWNING in his hoodie because he too loves oversized stuff and hes like. im fine with this (he takes photos and sets them as his home and lockscreen when they arent promoting) (this boy is GOOD at not getting caught)

dude when the Boiis found out u two were dating they LOST IT !!! interrogated then welcomed !! hyunjin was exposed by them a lot lol they exposed ALL the juicy stories and u were like :^)

dont worry tho ya girl laramie exposed u in kind so then hyunjin was like :^)

truly a bonding experience for the both of you

yall are both visual gods so sometimes u both will just. try on even the most ridiculous outfits and have a fashion show in the living room of ur technically shared apartment

yall take photos on ur phones in a super exaggerated manner in order to mimic the paparazzi and photographers and shout encouragements like “YES KING GET THAT BREAD” and “OH YES WORK IT”

willing to nerd out with you at a l l times !!!

oh my god him sleeping over when he can when hes not promoting and u waking up to him spooning u and just. big cuddle hours: activated

soft kisses before jokingly going “u have morning breath” and just the resounding GROAN before he threatens to leave u cold in the bed and ur like no wait-

hes trying to be frugal with his money as he hasnt been an idol for that long but he definitely buys you gifts from time to time when hes reminded of u

“babe i got this red panda plushie for u” (insert parkers unintelligible  shrieking here)

hes not the most jealous boyfriend actually !! he trusts you a lot and is okay with you being friends with whomever u please but sometimes he sees u fangiring over his seniors or smth and hes like >:( im a good performer too love me !!!! pls !! he just wants ur love smooch his cheeks and ull be good

also to get him flustered? peck his cheeks or (gasp) his NOSE he gets so flustered bc its so innocent but so intimate at the same time so he just gets so RED and stutters and ur just like :^) ah how the turn tables

this boy is a ROMANTIC through and through hes not old fashioned but he likes doing cheesy things like opening the door for you, giving you flowers, pulling out the chair for you, etc etc

he just wants to LOOOOOOOOOOVE you !!!!!

he doesnt go for too many pet names but babe and princess are what he leans towards !!

he practices his english on u and u practice ur korean on him (hint, ur better at korean than he is at english)

but he tries so hard and hes so cute !!! his english is so cute!! appreciate this baby pl s

him: “my hands are big so i can hold the world” u: “worm?” him: (holds ur cheeks) u: (choked) “w-worm?”

u guys r so cheesy but its so cute !! he just wants whats best for you

also you guys are no strangers to having deep and highly emotional talks because ur both very empathetic and vulnerable people

youve talked about ur insecurities and so has he!!! uve also both confronted the whole “ur not dating me because of my visuals/because im an idol right” and ur like “um?? no ur a sweetheart and a dedicated boii and performer and-” and then u go on a half hour long rant about all the things u love abt him and hes just like :’) i love you

whenever hes away for one reason or another, esp stuff like tours, he leaves a bunch of his clothes that smell like him so you wont feel as lonely !!! because the sad reality is is that on tours when hes not on stage hes practicing practicing practicing so keeping in touch is kinda hard

but he does his best !! he sends letters and text messages and voice messages and everything !! and when he can he facetimes you !!

we have ALL seen the boys instagram he will take a burst of 10000000 selfies on ur phone, plague u with the “ur icloud storage is almost full” messages, and it takes u 12239632485 years to delete them all (after making sure they are safely backed up into ur google photos)

yall are SO CUTE and take so many couple photos !!! yall are that iconic couple and u generally post these on ur super exclusive finsta but sometimes u sneak in a blurry pic of him on ur main or even a censored pic of him and ur like “do u ever just have the cutest sweetest (and hottest but hush) boyf in the world to flex on the broke bitches who hate u” and hyunjin is like BABE and ur like :^) 

lowkey sometimes u get jealous of jinyoung bc this boii loves and respects him so much and ur like “What Does He Have That I Do Not” and hyunjin is like “a successful career as an idol” and ur like “define successful” and he GASPS

jokesjokes lol yall playfully argue with each other a lot but if any of u go too far its pretty obvious bc u get quieter and he just. emotionally withdraws and u can see it in his eyes and ur both like OH NO BABE i didnt mean to hurt you im sorry !! and ull have a quick convo with multiple apologies and then ur BACK TO BUSINESS

OMG DUDE HOW YALL MET WAS SO CUTE

so basically he was out with !! the boiis at this cute coffee shop that is never crowded so its safe for them to just relax without having seven masks on lol

and the u !! come in with laramie like :( dude school SUCKS and laramie like nods her head intently like yes indeed

and this boy is struck with LOVE like ur . so cute. and tiny. and cute. and ur venting so passionately about how the education system does Not Meet The Needs of students and hes like. her passion. i love it

and u havent noticed him but oh man the boiis have and they are RUTHLESS bc hes so shy but theyre like GIVE HER UR NUMBER COWARD

and after an overwhelming amount of encouragements and some mild bullying (and laramie going to the bathroom because this dumb bitch spilled a lil bit of tea on her shorts and shes LIVID) and this boy approaches u and ur now love stricken

bc hes so CUTE !!! and its clear hes a lil nervous bc hes blushing uwuwuwuwuwuwu but he said !! he really admires ur passion and he thinks ur really cute and hes sorry if this is creepy but could i get ur number and ur like yes. pls. i love you (jokesjokes u dont profess ur love immediately but DAMN were u close to)

u and hyunjin all blushie and excited and the boiis are LOSING it and laramie comes back like “hey fellas whatd i miss-”

anyways yall are THAT power couple who love each other and are super devoted!! and have an amazing time with each other and DAMN ppl say love is dead but clearly they havent met yall

@daffodwlw read this and weep tears of love, coward

Thoughts on Teaching Yoga for Low/No Cost?

Does anyone here teach (or want to teach) yoga with the understanding that they're unlikely to make a full-time career of it? I kinda assumed that was the case for most individuals, but reading some of the conversations lately is making me reconsider that assumption. I'm currently in YTT with the aim to make teaching a supplement to my day job. I don't expect to make a living as a teacher for a few reasons:

Money is a very real barrier to those who might benefit the most from yoga, and some of us want to teach to those individuals.

The more people who try a yoga class, the more a person here or there might stick with it and make it part of their everyday life - leading to more studio members, workshop attendees, etc.

Representation is important, and I'm hoping that people on the fence about trying yoga might be inspired to give it a go if they see someone like themselves.

I 100% agree that as yoga teachers, we should be life-long students and engaging in continuing education. However, to promote oneself as a yoga teacher has the same level of qualifications from a workshop, a months-long class, or even a well-known but non-accredited program and charge as much as a someone with a graduate degree+ in Physical Therapy, Kinesiology, Clinical Psychology, etc. doesn't quite link up in my mind? It's one thing to have a professional degree that is supplemented by yoga - or even to make yoga the focus of your practice! - but to claim that they're the same feels disingenuous, especially when someone's insurance might cover the latter and not the former. And 100X fold if you're working with vulnerable communities. (Note, this is also my discomfort with how Pilates is promoted and how Pilates students are charged.)

I'd really love to hear your thoughts, so I can see the conversation from multiple sides! Is there space for well-paid, career yoga teachers as well as those of us who aren't as focused on that aspect? Or do you see non-career yoga teachers as drinking their fill + from the well of possible paying students?

submitted by /u/AvocadoChiweenie [link] [comments] from yoga https://ift.tt/3wt2r32

Larry Fanfic Reading List

Or Brûlant 

Or the one where Harry is the new ballet teacher, despite him being younger than everyone in his class, and Louis is less than impressed by his inescapable talent. They sort themselves out eventually.

6 Weeks

When Harry takes the afternoon shift at the cafe, he meets a boy who drinks a lot of tea and never remembers his umbrella.

Carried Away Like Butterflies

It was probably a huge mistake for Louis to let his former One Night Stand move into his spare room, especially when said One Night Stand doesn't seem to remember him.

Now You Know Me ( For Your Eyes Only)

au where harry and Louis are solo artists and they’re not exactly friends per se but they’re friendly, know each other from industry parties and things like that and there’s always been this weird unspoken sexual tension between them and Louis’ always kinda confused bc isn’t harry the biggest ladies’ man in the industry?? and one day harry asks Louis to collab with him and of course Louis says yes even tho he’s kinda surprised and harry plays the song for him and Louis is completely blown away by how beautiful it is and it’s a love song and he’s like damn whoever this is about is lucky as fuck bc it’s clearly written from personal experience so they spend all this time together recording and it’s super bittersweet bc they click right away and it takes Louis about three seconds to realize he has a huge fucking crush on harry but on the other hand harry clearly had someone in mind when he wrote the song so the last day of recording comes and Louis’ like “thanks for having me on the song” and harry just shrugs and is like “well it just seemed fitting bc the song is about you”

Looking Through You

Just as Louis and Liam were starting out in the music industry, writing and producing for up and coming artists, a fateful meeting with new pop singer Harry Styles changes everything. Four years later, just as Harry is set to embark on his next world tour, a drunken confession causes a rift between once inseparable friends. As Harry tries to make sense of his feelings for Louis, he begins writing his next album to express them as it may be the only way to break through the walls that Louis has built between them.

Chasing Empty Seats

The year is 1934 and Harry Styles was to inherent the largest tobacco firm in the south. His parents have picked out the “perfect” girl for him to marry and he has the privilege of receiving the highest education possible. The problem was, Harry hadn’t realized he didn’t actually want any part of that future until he met a mechanic named, Louis Tomlinson.

When It’s Late At Night

Louis has zero interest in an ex-boybander turned solo artist when his appearance on the show gets announced, but that's exactly who he gets stuck with when Harry Styles shows up at the Late Late show to promote the release of his debut album. For an entire fucking week.

Heaven’s Just Begun 

Harry is wholly convinced he's quite literally a sad excuse for a young adult, but this doesn't seem to stop the "boy next door" from developing the world's biggest crush on him.

Do Not Go Gentle

A Grey’s Anatomy AU where tensions are high, Harry and Louis are hooking up in secret, and no one has time for love. Or do they?

Galileo

Louis was captain of the state championship high school soccer team. Harry was that gorgeous, scarf-wearing, long-limbed British kid in his art class. They weren't supposed to be friends.

But somewhere along the line, Louis Tomlinson opened the locked mystery that was Harry Styles.

Freeze This Moment in a Frame and Stay Like This

Harry (not so) secretly crushes on the cute footie player and fills pages with sketches of him.

Nothing Please Me More Than You

Or...the one where Louis is a barista and Harry is the hot dude that comes in every day and does nothing except sit in the corner, writing in his notebook, all day long. But what Louis learns when he sneaks a peek inside the notebook changes everything.

Little White Lies

"I lied when I got my job.

I told them I had a kid so I could leave early 'to pick him up from day care', to take him to doctors appointments and occasionally miss a day 'when he's sick'. Long story short – I'm in too deep. I didn't think this through.

Looking to rent a kid for bring your child to work day. Must be a boy aged 4 to 6 with curly hair who plays soccer, essentially he has to look like the stock photo in the frame on my desk. Also must be artistic as the macaroni noodle drawings I made seem a little advanced for someone his age. He also needs to respond to 'my Little Picasso' as that's what my spouse and I call him. Also I will pay extra for someone willing to play the role of my spouse when dropping him off. His name is James, he's named after his grandpa and he's a defense attorney who often brings his work home.

You know what, just message me for the details, serious inquiries only. H."

Yell “Penis” For Password

Harry moves in to a new flat, and upon checking the wifi access, happens to find one demanding a very peculiar set of instructions. He makes the decision to follow them, which leads to a very interesting series of events.

There was a Reason I Collided With You

AU where Louis and Harry are neighbors who meet in the elevator of their apartment one morning and it becomes a routine for them. Louis pines a lot. Then one day, Harry doesn't show up at the elevator like he usually does, and well, Louis might panic.

You Lost Your Shoes as it Started to Rain

harry works in an american bakery but he doesn't know what scones are and he somehow meets a British boy named Louis.

Sugar

“I hope our paths will ‘croissant’ again.”

There’s a little smiley face drawn next to the words, and it’s ridiculous, Louis knows, but he can’t help the swell of butterflies that he feels as he reads over the words once more. An odd fellow indeed, he thinks.

A moment later he shakes his head and collects himself, because he really does need to get home; he’s sure that Harry is probably watching him from behind the counter, all sweet, smug smiles and pink cheeks. And if he’s being honest, he’s not entirely sure he won’t toss his groceries into the trash and walk straight back into the bakery if he doesn’t leave now, so… he really does need to get going.

Before he goes on his way, though, he plucks the note from the top of the container and carefully tucks it inside of his wallet to protect it from the rain.

That’s how it begins.

Hearts Don’t Break Around Here

Or: the one in which Harry's having his big movie debut and Louis sings on it's soundtrack.

The Boys of Summer

Harry is in love with Louis and would have given anything to be his partner for the end of term literature assignment. Louis is the only kid in the class who can get away with anything, and all he wants is the attention of the pretty boy with the curls across the room. Featuring lots of banter, pining, flirting, and Fionn as an unwilling Cupid.

The Pink Album

Or, a love seven years in the making, inspired by Harry's debut album.

If its Me You’re Looking For

Louis has a bad habit of getting drunk before he confesses--or maybe it's the other way around. AU. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

A collection of Larry Fanfics the I plan on reading lol.

updated: 08/27/2017

The Types as Educators

ESTJ - Teacher classic, may teach just about anything anywhere in the education system. May have a reputation for strictness among younger students but generally you can get along with them & they actually want you to suceed. Generally good teachers but unpleasant examles may hold personal grudges. 

ESFJ - Especially frequent in nursery & elementary school. Animated, enthusiastic & Motivated teacher, likes to animate kids to do creative group activities & makes sure the weaker students don’t get left behind. Probably a favorite of extroverted students. 

ISFJ - The quintessential ‘nice’ teacher, popular with younger kids. Explains things patiently & simply but still knows how to make things sound interesting & stirring curiosity, so may be good at striking a balance between kids of different aptitude levels.  

ISTJ - Quite frequent among both highschool teachers & professors. Music,  biology, sometimes PE. Cool to listen to, reasonable authority figures & full of interesting anecdotes, but not so cool to write exams with because they expect everyone to have total word-for-word recall. Think their field is very important & will always notice (& death glare) if you eat in class, even the nice ones.

ISFP - Often Art, Music or PE teachers. Seem to actually like it & practice modern forms of it in their life not just classical ones & have opinions - for example they’ll play guitar all the time or sport homemade earrings. If you’re a sensor there’s a good chance you had fun in their classes. 

ISTP - Kinda rarer, but occasionally found as PE or science teachers. They’re chill in temperament but do insist that their area be done properly & may not always be aware wether the students are following. Naturalistic Intelligence(TM). 

ESFP - Not often a classical instituational teacher, more likely to lead a workshop or course which has more room for promotion & personality - anything from life coaching, sales,  graphic design or even business or engineering. 

ESTP - Probably prefers a workshop format too. If they’re a professor they are likely an engineer; In any case they will likely not be too formal & have a hands-on, business application do-your-own idea approach no dry theory at all. Will be popular with the more self-startery students. 

INTP - There’s a surprising amount of INTP professors, most of which are inert subtypes and specialists, though the contact subtypes are found in interdisciplinary fields & will crack Ne jokes in class. Theoretically inclined, will just scribble/mumble away at the blackboard. Tell you how pretty/cool the current topic is. 

INFP - Funny, clever & engaging storytellers & good mentors, at times found in the humanities from highschool up. Maybe not the best at classroom noise control. Knows how school can suck. 

ENFP - Oddly underrepresented in school, perhaps because organization isn’t really their thing. Might prefer a workshop format. There’s some in nurseries & some leading research groups, not just in the humanities they’re quite diverse, surprisingly abundant in the life sciences. Enthusiastic & good communicators but they can totally whip our that Tert Te if some kid needs disciplining. 

ENTP - Very memorable. Love em or hate em you never forget an ENTP teacher. Full of little knows facts about their field & funny to listen to, but they kinda play to the students who really like the topic more than the ones who need the points. 

INTJ - Standarts(TM). Expects you to do some amount of work but also has valuable stuff to teach you if you’re interested in the class. Knows a gifted student when they see one. Will teach you the value of heuristics & methology. In humanities more often than you’d think. 

ENTJ - Not your average math professor. Often in the same fields as their INTP brethren but they come in in dress shirts & have well organized websites & actually legible scripts. Expect you to figure out modern/relevant software & applications. 

ENFJ - All over the humanities, but also frequent enough in schools. Kooky clothes. Cultivate a nurturing/friendly personal rapport with students, at times sharing stories. Interested in discussing current & relevant issues, but like their sensor cousins, they look after weaker students.   Their intelligent sholarly manner makes the occasional inferior Ti brainfarts all the more jarring. 

INFJ - Hipster. Like ISFPs, they have clear opinions on their subjects and like ENFPs they’re more versatile than you’d think, but they’re more likely to be sophisticated specialists & enlighten the students about issues more to do with their own present lives & society than the “accepted classics” that a Si person may teach.  Flat out doesn’t believe in grades. 

Conclusion: All types have lessons to teach us but as a general rule it may do good that not everyone can [dominant, auxillary & demonstrative] as well as you can XD

To End The Year, A Mini-Magpie With A Mini Mystery.

Has mega-fraudster Craig Gore skipped Australia? And if so, why hasnt this been reported in the media especially since he is supposed to have made a midnight flit the very day after a judge refused to allow him to leave? In other matters, one has to admit that the Townsville Bulletin is consistent it has ended the year as it started, continuing its weekly Olympic-standard shambles. And Mongrel the Barrister has left us lawyer Mark Donnelly, the man who inspired a much loved Magpie character has passed away. and our final visit to Trumpistan for 2018. But first Its hard to keep a good man down, and our fav toonist Bentley is nothing if not a good man. Even in the holiday season, he casts his jaundiced eye over the news, and brings us a different and rib-tickling perspective. This week, he was much taken as most of us were with the drone drama at Gatwick Airport in the UK. A professional drone was reported in the airports approach and departure air space, and thousands of travellers were stuck when the whole shebang was shut down for a couple of days while the wallopers tried to go hi-tech and trace the source of the bastardry. Its not fully sorted yet, but Bentley thinks the drone may have already met its fate.

Why Arent All The Gore-y Details Available?

Will ye no come back agin, laddie? Now to our mini-mystery. On December 19, this report appeared in the Courier Mail. Judge denies disgraced former rich-lister Craig Gore request to travel overseas Vanessa Marsh, The Courier-Mail December 20, 2018 2:21pm A DISGRACED former rich-lister accused of ripping off almost $800,000 from investors has broken down in court after a judge refused his request to leave the country to visit family. Lawyers for alleged fraudster Craig Gore today launched an application in the Queensland District Court, seeking for the former businessmans bail conditions to be altered to allow him to travel to Sweden to visit his wife and children. But Judge Paul Smith denied the request, saying Gore faced a long time in prison if convicted and there was a real risk he would not return to Australia to face trial. Gore is facing 12 charges of fraud over allegations he swindled about $800,000 from self-managed super fund investors in 2013-14. He also faces three charges of managing companies while disqualified. Now that seems pretty definitive and eminently sensible. But The Magpie was informed two days later, by a regular contact and mate who has always been on the money in the past, that Gore went back to court the next day on another application, and had his passport returned so he could be with his family in Sweden at Christmas. He was to return in three months to face trial and possibility of a lengthy striped suntan. The Pies contact says Gore was on a flight out of Brisbane that night at 11pm, accompanied by a lawyer (that was apparently part of the arrangement) who will return with certain paperwork. Gore will be expected to make his own way back to face his fate in March. Yeah, right. Now all that is as it may be, BUT THIS SPECTACULAR REVERSAL OF A JUDGES IMPLACABLE DECISION HAS BEEN NEITHER EXPLAINED OR APPEARED IN THE MEDIA. Well, not that The Magpie can find, after days of searching to verify. If it is true, there will be a hell of a lot of very pissed off people Gores victims and the tireless investigators who nailed him who know just how long are the odds that we will ever see this shyster again. Shades of Skase!! Perhaps we will never know how this came about if it did come about because there will be a lofty judicial silence of unaccountability if he is a no show but surely the second hearing was an open court? Hard to fathom why it wasnt reported. Mongrel The Barrister Is No More The Magpies good mate Mark Sludge Donnelly the man who partially inspired the popular Magpie character Mongrel the Barrister, died in his family home in Cairns last weekend. It is fair to say that Mark was my best mate in the halcyon days of Portraits Bar in the Exchange Hotel all through the Noughties, the years when I was reporting court matters for the Bulletin. We were part of a memorable and disparate group, the bar crowded with our marvellously mixed group every Thursday, Friday and sometimes Saturday nights. (The fondly remembered Portraits became Poseurs Bar in the newspaper column and then in this blog.) Mark was universally known as Sludge, which he happily answered to, but never fully explained, even to me, its origins apparently it had something to do with a memorable comment from a lecturer or senior teacher suggesting Marks behaviour at that time some comparable to something from the bottom of a pond. Sludge was one of the wittiest people Ive known, and his memory was nothing short of astounding, not just for quoting legal precedents but in all things, particularly pop music. He always commandeered the music machine at parties, and was a pretty good DJ. He also had an eye for a well turned ankle, and his way of getting ladies to talk about themselves endeared him to more than one. Like many a member of the Portraits push, Mark liked a drink, and some believed he was a bit too enthusiastic in this direction. But I would say that rather than having a battle with the bottle, he just had frequent skirmishes with it, as we all did and any excess rarely affected his work at the other more sedate bar, where he often shone. Mark left Townsville when his father died, to live with his mother in the family home in Cairns. He didnt practice in Cairns, and went into virtual retirement, which was plagued by ill health for some time. He returned to Townsville annually for his birthday, but I lost touch in the past few years, for which I feel a bit miserable now. Sludge is now undoubtedly arguing the finer points about the Laws of Entry with St Peter for that is certainly where this witty, soft-hearted old friend of mine now is because we all know God loves a larrikin. Mark was 62. They Really Dont Understand Language at The Astonisher, Do They? And they even get the wrong WORD for a headlines. Even when theyre trying to make a pun, which kinda depends on the right word, yes? But we got a headline quoting some bizoid saying Townsville is bracing for a great 2018. Bracing for? Ahem. Youve managed to say EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what you meant. Heres the dictionary definition of bracing. verb[withobject] prepare (someone or oneself) forsomethingdifficult or unpleasant:both stations arebracingthemselvesforjoblosses|policeare braced fora trafficnightmare. So although this paper goes through life like a bouncing Hari Krishna whos visited the medicine cabinet once too often, giving us totally unquestioning, unexamined glop about our economy (usually from someone with a vested interest), it seem to have inadvertently hit on the truth here. However, the most tedious aspect of the paper of late is the dreary attempts at humour in headlines, particularly about crime, a subject no one in Townsville with the exception of you folks in Flinders Street, finds the least bit funny. AND EVEN THEN, LANGUAGE FAILS YOU let alone a sharp sense of humour.Take this major front page fail on Thursday.

Swindler? My dear headline writer, stay with me on this and read slowly, feel free to move your lips as you must. Now lets see, a swindler is someone who fiddles some unsuspecting victim out of something. That person would be called a fiddler, and if hidden in a ceiling, could be described as ta da a Fiddler In The Roof. You see, this would then coincide with the hit musical of the same name oh, how we would have all fallen about, clutching our sides in mirth, and holding your superior wit in such esteem!!! But swindler? Now weve just got a headache from smacking our foreheads yet again. And this one in simply NOT TRUE. This online

The actual number of people who said (or may have said, who knows, its probably a fiddled fantasy anyway) was 55% of the 700 or so people who responded to a totally uncontrolled survey. If there area 220,000 potential readers (ha! you wish) in the circulation area, the percentage is not even .5 of one percent. But we all know that the on-line edition is sloppy, so the paper itself will temper the outlandish claims, wont it? Errr no.

This is simply lying, and treating people like morons. And still they wonder But barely have we swallowed our anger before we start scratching our heads over weird genuinely weird stories like this, which would suggest that English isnt TEL boss Patricia OCallaghans first language, or she was suffering mild sunstroke when she was penned the media release from which the story was transcribed.

This story is selective twaddle certainly straight off an unedited media release from the Dudley Do Nothings, meaningless twaddle in which Ms OCallaghan specialises. It has often been said of her that she has the gift of the gab, and aint that the truth, just about all of what she has to say, in The Pies experience, is just that meaningless gabble that sounds good until it is more thoughtfully examined. Like this: The Museum of Underwater Art, located within the heart of The Great Barrier Reef, is a proposal based on the works of international sculpture and underwater artist Jason deCaires Taylor. Whats that bit located in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef? Has there been a Krakatoa-like geographic shift we havent noticed? The Underwater Museum, one of several planned along the coast, will be, at last report, just of Maggy Island, the GBR is a at least an hour or more away by fast cat . But in it goes to the story, with a newbie cub reporter just churning out this PR bumf. But wait, theres more. We then get this prize piece of meaningless gabble from the top executive charged with attracting and promoting tourism to Townsville: Its a project that is going to enhance the Great Barrier Reef experience and also educate visitors on how we manage and live with the reef everyday Ms OCallaghan said. That is absolute poppycock that is totally meaningless. And We? Bloody WE? FFS, girl, get a bloody grip. Insulting, uppity tripe from Ms OCallaghan and lazy, presumably unsupervised reporting (read: select all, copy and paste) by a very uncurious junior reporter (read: stenographer). Really, a monkey using scrabble board wouldve made more sense. The clusterfuck continues no wonder were so deep in the shit. Other matters As if golf didnt already have enough hazards.

Words of Wisdom From Two Funny Men

Frankie Boyle The cleverest quote of the week comes from the Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle in the Guardian. But first, his preamble touched a chord for The Magpie, who can vouch for it when Mr Boyle writes: The plight of the satirist, such as it is, is a compulsion to look at the grimmest, most important thing they can think of, and then for reasons that probably wouldnt survive a really good therapist, try to make it funny. To try to address the iniquities of their society, the satirist must manufacture some hope that what theyre doing might make a difference, then type it all up and send it off somewhere before they remember that it never does. Looking back over the events of this year is a bit like holding a doll for a therapist and pointing to where the bad man hurt you. Mr Boyles point is a universal one, which can be shared by Townsvilleans looking back over the past shambolic year. But his prize quote is so subtle, that you may have to think about for a while The Pie roared after a few seconds. The murder ofJamal Khashoggiby Saudi Arabia is another very difficult subject to find the lighter side of, unless someone in the Ecuadorean embassy has clipped the story out and stuck it to the fridge. (Sigh) Dear Mystified of Mysterton, it means that the Ecuadoreans might be giving their Wikileaks guest Julian Assange a hint.

Dave Barry The other funnyman worth a quote is the inimitable Dave Barry , the American columnist who talks about Florida the way The Magpie talks about Townsville only he is far funnier, proof being that The Magpie pinches more of his lines (many) than he does of The Magpies (none). This was his challenge to a graduating class, but it can just as well apply to the year 2019. How are you, Class, going to respond when the Clock-Radio of Challenge emits the Irritating Buzz of Opportunity? Are you going to roll over and hit the Snooze Button of Complacency? Or are you going to wake up and, after performing the Bodily Functions of Preparedness, boldly grasp the Toothbrush of Tomorrow? And no matter what you do in the coming year, make sure youre always politically correct, so no snowflakes will melt before your harsh words.

And So To This Week In Trumpistan First, compare Trump as Commander In Chief of real US soldiers, on his surprise visit to Iraq

Guess whos wondering if she packed the shampoo? with this.

And now to our final gallery of the year about the man Frankie Boyle described as this troll-doll King Lear, who looks like something youd pick off a baking tray after cooking pizza above it.

And Finally How The Hell ? The Pie has been occasionally upbraided for the use of naughty words in this blog well, one word in particular. He is aware that it can be confronting, but it is the other F word Frustration that compels him to sometimes resort to other for emphasis. Anyway, so what, if its good enough for Sesame Street, its good enough for The Pie. .. So that was the year that was, and what a rip-snorter we have coming up. Turns out this edition wasnt so mini after all. Comments run throughout the holiday break 24/7, so you dont have to wait to have your say. And the New Year will look even rosier for the old bird if you think the Nest is worth a small donation to keep it neat and tidy. The how to donate button is below. HAPPY NEW YEAR, YALL. http://www.townsvillemagpie.com.au/to-end-the-year-a-mini-magpie-with-a-mini-mystery/

Kind of a weird question, but how do you have such a thirst for education/knowledge? I like learning, don't get me wrong, but I've yet to find a system/establishment that I enjoy. I feel kinda shitty about it tbh, like something is broken? If that makes sense.

You should absolutely not feel shitty about that. I dunno what country you reside in, but if you're in America especially, learning is not treated right by the people in charge of promoting it. Everyone has different forms of intelligence and hence different methods of learning and unfortunately (at least in America) education tends to be punched down into a small mold that not everyone fits into. In general, the people in charge of education (again, at least in America) are interested in producing generic neurotypical-passing workers that know how to do what they're told efficiently, even if it means cutting corners (i.e. learning the test instead of the actual material). So disillusionment with education and learning is not a surprising response from people who don't fit in whatever mold the learning system they know is trying to cram them into. Until about late 7th grade I hated school and hated learning for these very reasons. I was different from the image of the good child student the teachers wanted and I hated their hateful authority over me. I think I finally got tired of being treated like I was stupid sometime in 7th grade for struggling with math and in general not wanting to do school work. I decided I WOULD find a way to fit into that mold.

And I did. For a long while. I was known as the smartest person in my class. I won the "brainiac" class favorite in my senior yearbook. I took all the AP science courses. I went to a regional science and math school center for half the day senior year but worked as a lab tech for my AP bio teacher so I could make up bio labs I missed because I was at the other school during the lab. And during all of that I was doing several extracurriculars. All of this was out of spite towards those that made me feel stupid as a kid.

The thing is?

I was miserable.

I cried all the time. I had serious mental health issues and I think putting that pressure on myself just exacerbated them, even if I didn't realize it. Even if I was telling myself I loved to learn.

It wasn't until college when I started learning things I actually thought was worth the suffering. Learning physics, REAL physics, set something off in me. I got more miserable towards the end of college, for complicated reasons. I felt scrutinized again by a specific professor and it threw me into a terrible depression and made my last 3 or so semesters of college just... terrible. Hard to live with, even. But I had already made the decision I wanted to keep pursuing physics. By then I had questions about the universe that i demanded answers to. I think that goal got me through the end of undergrad. There was something about the things I was learning about that made the end game seem worth all the turmoil.

Now that I'm in graduate school, I'm surrounded by people who genuinely respect me and see my worth as a scientist and well... as a person. My research advisors teach me exciting things, the difference now is that they are kind to me. That's not to say that none of the professors I had in undergrad were kind to me; many of them were. But I was disrespected in undergrad and that isn't something that goes away. I've been treated with nothing but respect in graduate school. So I would say at this time of my life my thirst for knowledge you're asking about is at a peak, because I'm learning really amazing things about the very makeup of our universe but I'm also in a loving, respectful environment that wants me to learn and wants to celebrate my learning with me. And THAT is what has made absolutely all of the difference in how I feel about learning as a whole.

Grit in the Classroom

Laila Sanguras on episode 183 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Laila Sanguras, author of Grit in the Classroom, defines grit, shares the misinformation about grit, and talks about developing it in our students.

Today’s Sponsor: WriQ from Texthelp is a new FREE Add-on for Google Docs that helps teachers easily assess student writing and track progress over time by automatically scoring students’ spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors. It also incorporates rubrics so teachers can provide meaningful, qualitative feedback to encourage the writing journey.

This handy free Google Docs add-on tracks things like: time spent writing, spelling-grammar-and punctuation error rates and pulls it into a clear graphical view in your teacher dashboard. To learn more about Wriq go to http://ift.tt/2y91EpU

Listen Now

  Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

Below is an enhanced transcript, modified for your reading pleasure. For guests and hyperlinks to resources, scroll down.

***

Enhanced Transcript

Grit in the Classroom

Shownotes: http://ift.tt/2zeHYU2

From Audio 183-Laila-Sangura

Vicki: Today we are talking with Laila Sanguras about Grit in the Classroom.She has a book by the same name and subtitled Building Perseverance for Excellence in today’s classroom. Now, Laila, grit is a term that is used a lot. And some might say it’s overused. But how do you define grit?

The Definition of Grit

Laila: So grit is a combination of passion and perseverance. Most of the time when we think about grit we think about stick-to-it-ness. So, someone sticks to a certain thing, they don’t give up, they just keep working and pushing. Which is definitely the perseverance part.

But what is also really important to keep in mind is the passion. If you think about facing an obstacle it’s the passion that gets you to recognize and then overcome that obstacle. Without the passion or the why behind the direction you are likely to give up. So the two are really important to keep in mind and to focus on in the classroom.

Vicki: And I’ve lived and know this. I remember my first day at Georgia Tech somebody accused me of being at Georgia Tech to get my MRS degree. And it made me very angry. And my motto became, ”I may not be smarter but I can work harder.“ And I guess in some ways would that be grit?

Laila: Yes. Cause you have the determination to prove people wrong. So that was your passion and your why. And really one of the great things Angela Duckworth is a psychologist who has made Grit much more of a well-known term.

See: Angela Duckworth’s TED Talk on Grit that started the movement

  And she has done a lot of research and has found that effort counts twice in someone’s success. So, if you think about, you have your ability, your natural talents, that we all come to the table with but it’s the effort that if you think about an equation – effort is squared in that equation with the outcome being achievement or success. So, one of the great and powerful things about grit is that if we’re focusing on the effort, the passion and perseverance, then we can really have a great impact on our students‘ achievement and success and the outcome. We can’t control how they come to us but we can absolutely control what they do when they get into our classrooms. Motivate them so they continue to set high goals for themselves.

Vicki: Have you ever seen the term grit misused and it kinda made you groan?

Is the term grit misused?

Laila: Yes, well actually I’ve seen I think what it’s troublesome about it is that people want a magic key or some solution that’s going to solve all of our problems. And that doesn’t exist. Teaching is a very complicated endeavor. So, the critiques that I’ve seen about grit are that it doesn’t solve the problem.

So what happens when you have a student who really comes from a difficult home and comes to us with all these challenges. We can’t just use this method of instilling passion and perseverance in that child to help them be successful. Really, we can, it’s just going to take some other things in addition to that, just like we would normally. I think my main problem with the critiques of grit are that they are too narrowly focused on that this is going to fix everything. If we just do these things then everything’s gonna be okay. But it is much more complicated than that.

How do we build perseverance in our classrooms?

Vicki: So, how do we build perseverance in the classroom? How can we use the language to help kids who struggle because sometimes in the Google Generation, if they can’t find it in one quick search some kids want to give up.

Laila: Right. It really comes from purposeful practice. So, creating and it also comes from celebrating and looking at failure as a data point rather than a descriptor of yourself. For example, I work with a lot of students who really struggle with their identities. If they were always seen as the girl who was really good at math and then all of a sudden she struggles. She didn’t really know who she was anymore. And so, by thinking and teaching her that her identity isn’t wrapped up in just this ability or this test score, it really is more about what you do when you struggle and you fail and you overcome that obstacle. She’s going to be more successful. I think if we can get our students to see that and also parents will see that.

We don’t want to celebrate failure and talk about it like a good thing. But it is what it is. You accomplish this, which may be short of the goal. But we are going to now figure out and problem solve to get you to the next level. It’s sort of this constant moving system of towards the highest level of achievement that a student can reach.

Vicki: Life is full of problems and sometimes when you have a great big problem, you have a great big opportunity to write an amazing story with your life. Because we all have problems, right?

This definition of grit by a student of mine is a great one.

How to view problems

Laila: Right. And I think in my experience schools understand the necessity for perseverance. And this need for designing learning experiences that challenge students. We support and scaffold them to be successful. But I think we have fallen short on the passion side somewhat because we need to spend more time really focusing on curiosity and interest so that we can get students to get closer to that why.

For example, you may not think that … I did not like science. I went through most of my schooling thinking science was just about me checking off these boxes and getting through the class so I wouldn’t have to take that class anymore. I would have been better served if my teachers had at least piqued my curiosity in some way. I think if we can design our classrooms where we are constantly curious. T

hinking like three and four-year-olds, how they just have tons and tons of questions about everything. We sorta of teach that out of our students as they get older. Combine that with technology .. and if they’re not doing something on their phones and getting friends to respond to a text or a Snapchat then they think they are bored. Their minds shut down until they wait for the next prompt. We have to reteach them to notice … to explore the wonder in the world. So they can make those connections between themselves and content they don’t necessarily like all that much.

Vicki: As we finish up, Laila, could you give us a thirty-second pep talk to motivate us to really help build grit in our students?

How we can get motivated to promote grit in our students

Laila: Yes. So our students, we want to set high expectations for them. And we can …they will do whatever we ask of them as long as we do two things. We show them that we know what we’re doing and we do. And if we don’t, we will research and we’ll study and we’ll learn before they do.

And then the other thing is that we care about them. And we care about them being successful. We want them to achieve and do great things beyond our classroom walls. I think it comes down to those two things. Knowing what we’re doing and visibly caring about our students and instilling hope in them.

Vicki: And grit is a tricky thing. You can’t say just have grit. You have to …First of all as a teacher, you have to have it yourself. If you’re impatiently saying, have grit, then you might not be having it yourself as a teacher. This is not an easy topic … this is not a quick fix. But it is an indicator of success to learn how to persevere.

Especially because we all have those days we struggle, we all have those days where we feel like we want to quit whether we’re a teacher or we’re a student. The book is Grit in the Classroom and the author is Laila Sanguras. We’ll link to it in the show notes. As you think about your week, think about teaching that persistence and that passion.

Bio as submitted

The author of Grit in the Classroom: Building Perseverance for Excellence in Today’s Students, Laila is driven to inspire, energize, and empower teachers.

Blog: And Still We Teach

Twitter: @LailaSanguras

    Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.) This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post Grit in the Classroom appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

Grit in the Classroom published first on http://ift.tt/2xx6Oyq

Grit in the Classroom

Laila Sanguras on episode 183 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Laila Sanguras, author of Grit in the Classroom, defines grit, shares the misinformation about grit, and talks about developing it in our students.

Today’s Sponsor: WriQ from Texthelp is a new FREE Add-on for Google Docs that helps teachers easily assess student writing and track progress over time by automatically scoring students’ spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors. It also incorporates rubrics so teachers can provide meaningful, qualitative feedback to encourage the writing journey.

This handy free Google Docs add-on tracks things like: time spent writing, spelling-grammar-and punctuation error rates and pulls it into a clear graphical view in your teacher dashboard. To learn more about Wriq go to http://ift.tt/2y91EpU

Listen Now

  Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

Below is an enhanced transcript, modified for your reading pleasure. For guests and hyperlinks to resources, scroll down.

***

Enhanced Transcript

Grit in the Classroom

Shownotes: http://ift.tt/2zeHYU2

From Audio 183-Laila-Sangura

Vicki: Today we are talking with Laila Sanguras about Grit in the Classroom.She has a book by the same name and subtitled Building Perseverance for Excellence in today’s classroom. Now, Laila, grit is a term that is used a lot. And some might say it’s overused. But how do you define grit?

The Definition of Grit

Laila: So grit is a combination of passion and perseverance. Most of the time when we think about grit we think about stick-to-it-ness. So, someone sticks to a certain thing, they don’t give up, they just keep working and pushing. Which is definitely the perseverance part.

But what is also really important to keep in mind is the passion. If you think about facing an obstacle it’s the passion that gets you to recognize and then overcome that obstacle. Without the passion or the why behind the direction you are likely to give up. So the two are really important to keep in mind and to focus on in the classroom.

Vicki: And I’ve lived and know this. I remember my first day at Georgia Tech somebody accused me of being at Georgia Tech to get my MRS degree. And it made me very angry. And my motto became, ”I may not be smarter but I can work harder.“ And I guess in some ways would that be grit?

Laila: Yes. Cause you have the determination to prove people wrong. So that was your passion and your why. And really one of the great things Angela Duckworth is a psychologist who has made Grit much more of a well-known term.

See: Angela Duckworth’s TED Talk on Grit that started the movement

  And she has done a lot of research and has found that effort counts twice in someone’s success. So, if you think about, you have your ability, your natural talents, that we all come to the table with but it’s the effort that if you think about an equation – effort is squared in that equation with the outcome being achievement or success. So, one of the great and powerful things about grit is that if we’re focusing on the effort, the passion and perseverance, then we can really have a great impact on our students‘ achievement and success and the outcome. We can’t control how they come to us but we can absolutely control what they do when they get into our classrooms. Motivate them so they continue to set high goals for themselves.

Vicki: Have you ever seen the term grit misused and it kinda made you groan?

Is the term grit misused?

Laila: Yes, well actually I’ve seen I think what it’s troublesome about it is that people want a magic key or some solution that’s going to solve all of our problems. And that doesn’t exist. Teaching is a very complicated endeavor. So, the critiques that I’ve seen about grit are that it doesn’t solve the problem.

So what happens when you have a student who really comes from a difficult home and comes to us with all these challenges. We can’t just use this method of instilling passion and perseverance in that child to help them be successful. Really, we can, it’s just going to take some other things in addition to that, just like we would normally. I think my main problem with the critiques of grit are that they are too narrowly focused on that this is going to fix everything. If we just do these things then everything’s gonna be okay. But it is much more complicated than that.

How do we build perseverance in our classrooms?

Vicki: So, how do we build perseverance in the classroom? How can we use the language to help kids who struggle because sometimes in the Google Generation, if they can’t find it in one quick search some kids want to give up.

Laila: Right. It really comes from purposeful practice. So, creating and it also comes from celebrating and looking at failure as a data point rather than a descriptor of yourself. For example, I work with a lot of students who really struggle with their identities. If they were always seen as the girl who was really good at math and then all of a sudden she struggles. She didn’t really know who she was anymore. And so, by thinking and teaching her that her identity isn’t wrapped up in just this ability or this test score, it really is more about what you do when you struggle and you fail and you overcome that obstacle. She’s going to be more successful. I think if we can get our students to see that and also parents will see that.

We don’t want to celebrate failure and talk about it like a good thing. But it is what it is. You accomplish this, which may be short of the goal. But we are going to now figure out and problem solve to get you to the next level. It’s sort of this constant moving system of towards the highest level of achievement that a student can reach.

Vicki: Life is full of problems and sometimes when you have a great big problem, you have a great big opportunity to write an amazing story with your life. Because we all have problems, right?

This definition of grit by a student of mine is a great one.

How to view problems

Laila: Right. And I think in my experience schools understand the necessity for perseverance. And this need for designing learning experiences that challenge students. We support and scaffold them to be successful. But I think we have fallen short on the passion side somewhat because we need to spend more time really focusing on curiosity and interest so that we can get students to get closer to that why.

For example, you may not think that … I did not like science. I went through most of my schooling thinking science was just about me checking off these boxes and getting through the class so I wouldn’t have to take that class anymore. I would have been better served if my teachers had at least piqued my curiosity in some way. I think if we can design our classrooms where we are constantly curious. T

hinking like three and four-year-olds, how they just have tons and tons of questions about everything. We sorta of teach that out of our students as they get older. Combine that with technology .. and if they’re not doing something on their phones and getting friends to respond to a text or a Snapchat then they think they are bored. Their minds shut down until they wait for the next prompt. We have to reteach them to notice … to explore the wonder in the world. So they can make those connections between themselves and content they don’t necessarily like all that much.

Vicki: As we finish up, Laila, could you give us a thirty-second pep talk to motivate us to really help build grit in our students?

How we can get motivated to promote grit in our students

Laila: Yes. So our students, we want to set high expectations for them. And we can …they will do whatever we ask of them as long as we do two things. We show them that we know what we’re doing and we do. And if we don’t, we will research and we’ll study and we’ll learn before they do.

And then the other thing is that we care about them. And we care about them being successful. We want them to achieve and do great things beyond our classroom walls. I think it comes down to those two things. Knowing what we’re doing and visibly caring about our students and instilling hope in them.

Vicki: And grit is a tricky thing. You can’t say just have grit. You have to …First of all as a teacher, you have to have it yourself. If you’re impatiently saying, have grit, then you might not be having it yourself as a teacher. This is not an easy topic … this is not a quick fix. But it is an indicator of success to learn how to persevere.

Especially because we all have those days we struggle, we all have those days where we feel like we want to quit whether we’re a teacher or we’re a student. The book is Grit in the Classroom and the author is Laila Sanguras. We’ll link to it in the show notes. As you think about your week, think about teaching that persistence and that passion.

Bio as submitted

The author of Grit in the Classroom: Building Perseverance for Excellence in Today’s Students, Laila is driven to inspire, energize, and empower teachers.

Blog: And Still We Teach

Twitter: @LailaSanguras

    Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.) This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post Grit in the Classroom appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

Grit in the Classroom published first on http://ift.tt/2yTzsdq