Taylor Mali - What Teachers Make

 

What Teachers Make, or
Objection Overruled, or
If things don't work out, you can always go to law school

He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn
from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"
He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about
teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.
I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests
that it's also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.
"I mean, you're a teacher, Taylor," he says.
"Be honest. What do you make?"
And I wish he hadn't done that
(asked me to be honest)
because, you see, I have a policy
about honesty and ass-kicking:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question.
Why won't I let you get a drink of water?
Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
I hope I haven't called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.
Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?"
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.
I make parents see their children for who they are
and what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely
beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?

Educators, represent!

Steven Pinker on Language and Thought

Qué cosa el lenguaje. 

Las metáforas de tiempo y espacio nos sirven para navegar en el mundo de las ideas. También, la ambigüedad del lenguaje tiene la función de negociar las relaciones interpersonales a la vez de comunicar algo. Bueno, ésto en inglés.

Sesame Street

Sunny day
Sweepin' the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet

Can you tell me how to get,
How to get to Sesame Street

Come and play
Everything's A-OK
Friendly neighbors there
That's where we meet

Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street

Cultural responsibility

I was on the BART reading Guns, Germs, and Steel when it came to me: It's not native peoples' faults that they couldn't develop the tools they needed to defend themselves from the Europeans. 


Power struggles are visible in human history. Some societies took to big ships, sailed across the ocean and conquered other societies using guns and diseases brought about by close contact with domestic animals. These inequalities are still present.

To truly have an egalitarian society, the dominant culture has the responsibility to learn about the not-dominant cultures. It wasn't the native peoples' fault that they couldn't develop the tools they needed to defend themselves from conquest and subjugation. It wasn't their responsibility to because what would happen to them wasn't built in their narrative until after the fact. The conquest wasn't fair.

However, the conquest is still happening on a subconscious and psychic level. The scars are still there, and we see them with a disproportionate amount of minorities in impoverished communities with a lack of social opportunities. As a member of the dominating group, I think that the advantages given to us, the "Europeans" would mean that we should take responsibility for the "conquered people" and learn about their ways of life and educate them in a way that's culturally relevant.

Tlahtolli unleashed

Nunca había pensado en la influencia que tiene este blog sobre mi vida. Me dí cuenta de que los varios cuadernos que tengo son más que nada una manifestación física del contenido de éste blog llamado Tlahtolli. Me dí cuenta más o menos hace una hora cuando cenaba espárragos, quiche y ensalada con aderezo de pera y champaña. Pensé en los programitas que he bajado ultimamente y si en verdad eran necesarios. Pensé también en las horas que ultimamente he dedicado a mantener la apariencia del blog. (Después de uno o dos años sin actividad se le acumuló el polvo). Luego no se qué y que mis cuadernos y ¡zas! me cayó el veinte. Gracias a Dios todo lo que he escrito se ha almacenado bien bien para seguirle dando vida a Tlahtolli.

La tierra con un aro

Gracias a la dramática aparición de los aros, los navegantes árabes pudieron aprovechar fácilmente de la guía celeste. En sus viajes de reconocimiento encontraron que algunos pueblos perecieron debido al congelamiento repentino provocado por la gran sombra del aro. Otras sociedades aprovecharon de la visibilidad nocturna para invadir a pueblos vecinos. En fin, resumieron, se despertó a una nueva sociedad nocturna en todas partes del mundo.

Don't eat what you see on TV

Skip James - Crow Jane