The Daily Grind: Sensitive Issue

The Daily Grind: Sensitive IssueI'm going to continue doing what I've always done, which is do the best I can to get to know students in a culturally diverse setting. Sometimes, because I think I know them reasonably well and fell that I can relax a bit, I slip up. I learn more each year about what I can and cannot say, but never cease to be amazed that no matter how careful I am with my vocabulary, somebody somewhere will take offense at some point, because, let's face it, we all have different perspectives and perceptions. I find that, to my surprise, my male colleagues get called to task far less frequently over the comments they make (intentionally or inadvertently) than I do. I've learned that even though my students stretch the rules and the confines of the English language to it's limits, I as a teacher, need to try to be unnaturally careful. Makes my head hurt some days. The one that got me this year was a parent of a very verbal young man in my 8th grade English class taking offence because I'd used the word "foolish" in reference to her darling's typical classroom antics! I's still going to keep trying to be a role model for my students, no matter their ethnicity or mine!

The Daily Grind: July 19th??

The Daily Grind: July 19th??I understand and am with you! I need a break during the summer worse than I need to do any of those school related things. I just came back from the beach AGAIN, and only came home because I am (as usual during the summer) going BROKE!!!!!

The Daily Grind: The Ten Most Annoying People on Staff

The Daily Grind: The Ten Most Annoying People on StaffI think the one you left off was the comedian who has so much time on his hands that he sees fit to use it to peruse and forward every wack, crass, off-color joke that ever came across a monitor to the entire staff several times a week

Dusting off Her Shoes

We were visiting relatives this summer when daughter came across a treasure trove. They say one man's trash is another man's treasure. My mother-in-law, always a very classy dresser, had a great wardrobe of business attire. She no longer works outside her home, most days preferring now a pair of jeans and some sneakers. My daughter, Lindsay, was always a flip flops and sneakers kind of girl, but this year she completed her first year at college and found a position in an office over the summer. She struggled to pull together the proper collection of attire without spending too much, so that she could make money over the summer to save for school next year. As she was digging around in the basement at grandma's one afternoon, I heard shrieks that sounded like she'd come across something alive where nothing should have been! My heart started to pound. The shrieks were followed, as usual, by her calls for my prompt attention. I found her in a dark corner of the basement, surrounded not by bugs, but by an assortment of high heeled shoes! "Did you have any idea that Grandma used to wear these shoes???" She had uncovered a secret, it seemed. She hadn't been around her grandmother much back when she used to drive off to the bank dressed to the nines each morning, but I remember it clearly. To my daughter's delight, there were high-heeled shoes in nearly every color of the rainbow, all in pretty nice shape. Gorgeous shoes that evoked for me memories of another time, another side of this older, gentler, more sentimental lady that I now know. It reminded me that there is so much more to people than meets the eye. When asked, my mother in law's response was, "Those old things? I've been trying to remember to give them away!" She gladly gave them to Lindsay, happy to know someone might wear them again. A couple of weeks later we were home, and off Lindsay went one morning wearing a fabulous pair of red heels. Lindsay looked very grown up to me that morning, and I had a sweet reminder of another lady who'd worn them at another time. We are all so connected, and the memories are so poignant.