The bajillion stories in the comments about horrible experiences with math just reinforce the fact that I’ve made the right career choice.

I became an elementary teacher as a second career specifically because so many elementary teachers are absolutely terrible at teaching math. (Mostly because they don’t actually understand the math that they’re teaching. In my university cohort, almost 50% of my classmates failed the math entrance exam the first time. There was nothing more complex than 5th grade math on that test.)

Students should be allowed to use the strategies that work for them, and they should definitely never be punished for knowing math from higher grade levels.

If a student in my class knows something more advanced, I will challenge them to use grade-level-appropriate strategies to prove that their answers are correct. And if they demonstrate that they can do both, I’ll give them more advanced work to help them grow.

American Atheists is an organization that will happily take dues and send you a membership card in return.

A cursory search for “liquid trees micro algae” led me here: https://liquidtrees.org/urban-solutions

Even with ideal light conditions, there’s still more to consider.

I lived in Louisville for many years. It’s fairly green as cities go. In older parts of the city, trees had been planted between the streets and sidewalks … definitely a long time ago, maybe 30 to 50 years? Maybe longer?

Every spring, we lost a number of those trees to thunderstorms. Enough rain, followed by strong winds, would topple multiple trees. Every single one that I saw had a root ball that was exactly the size of the opening where it had been planted, so maybe two square meters and maybe a meter or two deep. (For those keeping score at home, that’s not enough root volume to support a full-sized tree.)

So we’d lose those lovely trees and on a good day, we’d lose the use of the street for a while. On a bad day, someone would lose a car or a chunk of their house.

“Just plant more trees in the middle of the city” is not the brilliant fix that many people seem to think it is.

The author of the article also doesn’t think it’s just the DEI thing.

Patterns or not, though, we’ve embroidered this on our throw pillows, and you should, too: Correlation is not causation.

There are definitely elements of Christianity that mimic Greco-Roman (and other, older) mystery religions. Down to celebrating their deity’s birth at the same time and commemorating his death and rebirth by having followers share bread and wine.

My favorite theory of the origin of Christianity is that it was a Jewish attempt to mimic the mystery religions that were popular at the beginning of the Common Era.

My childhood bestie’s dad was one of the only bald men in our church. He pulled out this story every time anyone in our youth group mentioned it.

My family was super meat-centric for all holidays except Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Any meal where it’s physically possible to barbecue, we would. And a family barbecue meant hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, pork steaks, and beef steaks – one of each per person, plus a couple of extras. Sides were German-style slaw and potato salad. Buns were not included, but my grandma would always put a stack of white bread on the table (she was the only person who ever ate it).

When I started dating my husband and took him to a family holiday, he was shocked by the fact that my whole family was eating hamburgers and hot dogs with flatware instead of on buns. And he was actually sad at the lack of side dishes.

When I went to one of his family barbecues, I was sad that there was just one hamburger per person (already on a soggy bun) and a ton of weird casseroles.

Trump definitely won’t attack Russia. Vladimir Putin is his bestie.

I think Putin is uncomfortable with a NATO country in that strategic position, so he has manipulated Trump into thinking that it would be a good “real estate deal” for the US to take it over.

Where’s an entmoot when you need one?

Thanks. I’ve been on my own for a long time now. I’m glad that I’m still far enough from retirement that my accounts should have plenty of time to bounce back before I need to rely on them.

I really feel for the retirees who voted against this who are finding that their finances are not as stable as they should have been.

Also that Vicodin addiction is mostly fine. Mostly.

This is a mistake that many people will make, and it will be decades before they realize what they’ve done.

I teach elementary school. While most of the things I’m accountable for on paper are academic, most of my actual time is spent helping my students understand how to be functional humans. Problem-solving skills. Interpersonal skills. Self-control. Empathy. Self-esteem. In early grades, motor skills like how to hold a pencil or use scissors.

When we put a whole generation of kids in computerized AI schools (because it’s not really an “if” any more), we will see a huge effect in the real world, but probably not until after they graduate and have to start dealing with people in different work environments. And by then, we’ll be totally screwed.

Of course, the 1% will still have their kids in real schools with real teachers, because they already know that the very products they tout to the masses are actually detrimental to child development.

I saw a similar issue on a product where the Spanish wording obviously came from a computer translation.

“Made in Turkey” was written as “Hecho en pavo.”

Pavo is Spanish for turkey, the animal. Turquía is Spanish for Turkey, the country. A human, even a non-fluent speaker such as myself, would never make that mistake.

My mom retired last year. She also voted for Trump. She made her bed …

I remember a time when the United States actually took a break from reporting on elections instead of manufacturing hype for four solid years between major elections.

The current political media landscape is exhausting, and I’m so sorry to everyone who is young enough to think that constant election projections are “normal.”

I found this part surprising:

He has also established himself as a wellness guru.

Do you also think that saying “Happy Holidays” somehow excludes Christians?

Increasing the size of your umbrella doesn’t discriminate against the people who are already under it. It simply invites more people to join them.

I agree with you one hundred percent.

But I also know a decent amount about the failure of literacy education in the US in the past 20+ years, so I’m not surprised that many people in the younger generations prefer video. For too many of them, reading is a chore.

Hell, I know plenty of people in my own generation who will tell you they haven’t read a novel since high school like it’s a point of pride.