Frequently Asked Questions
I try to ensure all the details folks could want are readily accessible for two main reasons: so there are no surprises in your educational experience and to save us all time/effort that could have been headed off with informational frontloading. Some is frivolous and others are poignant, all disorganized. If you have a question that was not addressed elsewhere, peruse here and contact me if not.
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**COVID-19 Policy**
I hope I can delete this soon, because I hate saying it. I am a double-med asthmatic. For 441 days, I watched 90% of the staff, students, and surrounding community do absolutely nothing to help ensure my survival, even actively threaten it, while I did everything right. We live in a very privileged community and everyone at SHS has had the opportunity for vaccination, plus alternative educational placement. That said, you and your family need to decide how much you care about protecting yourselves and others moving forward. I'm sorry I can't do more to protect you than our school policy allows. By administrator and school board directive, masks and vaccinations are not required anywhere in our district. |
How does being autistic affect your classroom?
Pros and cons, really. Topics I fixate on (like education and nerd games) are easy to analyze and convey, but interacting with others outside that context requires a lot of social scripting. I have to think things through that neurotypicals do automatically (eye contact, taking turns, tactful topics, "small talk"). Thus, my "filter" can be lacking and I say things I shouldn't. Never out of malice, just thoughts that caught an express trip out the mouth. In recent years I have transitioned towards what is called "unmasked" autism, where I embrace my neurological needs/differences and let everyone else battle their internalized ableism. Sensory seeking/avoidance means the lights in the front of my room are removed and there's a ban on strong smells. Hyperacusis means I have earplugs on me at all times and am likely not far from earmuffs or noise-cancelling headphones. I fidget or otherwise "stim" whenever I need to, which can be off-putting to some because most neurotypicals can't understand the harmless necessity of chest thudding or hand flapping. Most importantly, I have learned to just be me, regardless of others' opinions. I'm brutally honest and wish others were, too. It's amazing what we can accomplish when the unwritten rules of social niceties are discarded in favor of clear communication. |
What's your policy on phones or devices?
I open every semester with an anecdote about students being in a college classroom or workplace in just a few years, needing to balance social interaction, device use, and task management simultaneously. How do students learn appropriate use if teachers take them away? A student who wants to spend all of class on their phone will naturally do poorly. Choice made, result earned. Every year, I get those handful of students who chose poorly and get a grade one or two letters lower than they should have. I try to model appropriate use by allowing students, when not occupied and current tasks completed, the freedom to use devices as they see fit. If it's distracting others, then it gets put away. The one place this changes is during tests to discourage academic dishonesty. All phones and smart gear goes on the counter. No phone, no test. We also use phones for calculators or other tasks/tools in class. They're great when used appropriately! |
What do I need to do to join Game Club?
Uhmmmm... show up! We have no roster, activity fees, required meetings, or any other such formality. If the door is open and there's no class in-session, come get your game on! A former colleague described Game Club as "a place for square pegs to do square peg things." I'm very proud of how the introverts and loveable nerds of our school come together in a gaming community free of judgement. Jock, drama geek, scholar, lone wolf... it doesn't matter! Smacking zombies, shuffling cardboard, taxing your neighbors, and tossing a surface-to-trailer missile at your mortal enemy is a universal language. The best part of Game Club is that we exist outside of SDHSAA. As a generic Gathering, we are not held to the academic eligibility requirements. If you're failing a class, odds are you need a little decompression time. Game Club is open to anyone, any status, for as much or little time as they want. |
Politics in the classroom, yay or nay?
The classroom is political and anyone who says differently doesn't understand education or is lying to assert their politics. To be clear, taxes and industrial regulation are politics. Social welfare and infrastructure are politics. Accurate history, scientific fact, and human rights are NOT political, yet have been made the core tenet of political ideology in recent years. I will not shy away from quickly addressing a topic that strays from content if I feel it relevant to learning and growth. Many of the policy makers and media personalities decrying any specific thing in schools are the same arguing for very specific religious and ideological changes to those same environments. Teaching kids the skills to examine their world and history for accuracy, separate fact from propaganda/misinformation, and think critically as a 21st century citizen is, by definition, the purpose of an education. |
What are the seating/attendance policies?
People have a tendency to arrange themselves. How many of us have "our spot" in the parking lot? I let students sit where they want on any given day, assuming it doesn't result in disruption. As part of my "I treat you like an adult until you show me I can't" policy, I don't like telling kids what to do. A pair/group of students that simply won't stop talking and disrupts the class as a whole, however, will be separated. I also request that students scramble themselves up, sitting next to someone they don't normally socialize with, for assessments. Removing temptation, and all that. Attendance is as stated in the student handbook. 15min late, leaving early, or disappearing in the middle of class for 15+ minutes constitutes an absence. If the breakfast burrito backfires, just discretely say you had an emergency. |
What is your policy on familiarity with students?
I learned a long time ago that pretending at "professionalism" was simply not me. Kids can smell a fake and will respect someone who's "real" with them. In recent years, I've finally admitted that requiring "professional detachment and demeanor" was difficult because it was masking my neurodivergence for others' comfort. It's also ableist and outdated. I tell students up front that, so long as we're taking care of our course responsibilities, I'll goof around just as much as them. I love meme references and one-line burns. I will be 100% honest with kids on every topic, excluding amorous activity (no one wants to hear that), because they are young adults. They're curious and must learn to handle truths that might be uncomfortable or contradictory to their experience. I see zero problem with treating kids as equals, as long as they're up to the responsibility that comes with it. |
What if I'm not comfortable speaking up in class?
I have a PhD in social anxiety, so I understand that feeling. Remind is our class message app and I have that window up all day long. Even if it's during class, shoot me a text instead of using your voice and I'll see it next time I glance at the screen. This goes double for personal issues. If you need help with material and aren't comfortable asking for help personally or coming in while other students are around, ask and we can set up a 1v1 session. I'm also not someone to require students come to me. If you don't like me or I weird you out, then go to another teacher! I just want you to learn and don't care where from. |
What if I miss class?
One good thing to come of the pandemic is my practice of having all lessons livestreamed and automatically uploaded as VODs afterwards. If you miss class of fall behind for any reason, just go to my channel and watch! As covered in the Grading and Assessment page, I also know that, because math scaffolds, you have to do it eventually or be left in the dust. I often tell students who were absent for more than a day or two to put my stuff on the back-burner and handle everything else first. You have videos to catch up on whenever you are able. |
I'm sure more will follow...
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