Weekly News Thread Assignments 2022

[carey]

Excellent news Carey!

It’s great to read that everything is coming together, after some really rough patches. I hope you get your certification and keep on the good work with those kids.

Thanks man. I'm a few years away from turning 50 and I just felt like I had not done anything to impact the world. So I decided to go to work helping kids. I'll say that the system is so broken and these kids have more challenges than you'll ever imagine. One of my students legitimately just returned to my class after spending 2 weeks in jail. Last week I had to lock kids in my classroom during transition twice because of full on fist fights in the hallway right outside my door. One involved one of my students so she'll miss a week of school as a result. So I'm constantly having kids miss chunks of time for stuff like this. I don't know how they are expected to succeed on the same level as say my own kids who go to an advanced studies academy in the parish right next door. My son for example could have graduated at the end of his junior year and scored in the 30s on his ACT. Literally all his friends got above 30. That's just what's expected at his school. Where I am teaching it's a win if you can get a kid to score 18+. I want to do my part in helping the kids do better. Unfortunately I'm only one person and can only impact their math scores.

[carey]

Thanks for sharing Carey…. Perspective is everything and getting to live in a situation that challenges your norms can be super humbling. Very cool that you’re finding you place there and the kids like you. No pay can substitute the feeling you get when kids genuinely like you, that’s awesome. What did the neuropathy come from?

I forget that new people may not know but I was in a car accident on I-10 between Phx and Tucson when I was a sophomore at UofA back in the mid '90s. I broke my back at L4/L5 and am paralyzed below the waist on my left side, mostly below the knee. They said at first I'd likely never walk again but gradually got feeling/movement back on my right side. Unfortunately it left me with often debilitating pain. Pins & needles and then sometimes bouts of stabbing pain in my left foot. Well a new medication came out that eliminates the constant pins & needles. I swear it's like a miracle but it's expensive with a capital E. So all I need to do is try to limit the bouts of sharp pain and I can do that by keeping good eating & sleeping habits as well as not overdoing it when I am fatigued. So I'm not up and about as most teachers but the way I teach is I use an iPad and IPencil and cast to my macbook that's plugged into a huge display. So I can set up anywhere in the classroom and teach. A lot of times I just perch on an empty desk in the middle of the class.

[Kryptonic]

Thanks for sharing Carey…. Perspective is everything and getting to live in a situation that challenges your norms can be super humbling. Very cool that you’re finding you place there and the kids like you. No pay can substitute the feeling you get when kids genuinely like you, that’s awesome. What did the neuropathy come from?

I forget that new people may not know but I was in a car accident on I-10 between Phx and Tucson when I was a sophomore at UofA back in the mid '90s. I broke my back at L4/L5 and am paralyzed below the waist on my left side, mostly below the knee. They said at first I'd likely never walk again but gradually got feeling/movement back on my right side. Unfortunately it left me with often debilitating pain. Pins & needles and then sometimes bouts of stabbing pain in my left foot. Well a new medication came out that eliminates the constant pins & needles. I swear it's like a miracle but it's expensive with a capital E. So all I need to do is try to limit the bouts of sharp pain and I can do that by keeping good eating & sleeping habits as well as not overdoing it when I am fatigued. So I'm not up and about as most teachers but the way I teach is I use an iPad and IPencil and cast to my macbook that's plugged into a huge display. So I can set up anywhere in the classroom and teach. A lot of times I just perch on an empty desk in the middle of the class.

Can I ask what med helped? I’ve been on disability since 2014 and still having a hell of a time managing my pain.

[Kryptonic]

Seriously… kudos on your recovery.

[Mori Chu]

Great to hear from you, carey. What you're doing is amazing and makes such a difference. No pressure about weekly threads, but of course if you want to participate and would enjoy it, you are more than welcome to do so.

In terms of League Pass, if anybody can send me a link to how to do a gift sub, I would be happy to sponsor carey's League Pass sub for next year.

[carey]

Great to hear from you, carey. What you're doing is amazing and makes such a difference. No pressure about weekly threads, but of course if you want to participate and would enjoy it, you are more than welcome to do so.

In terms of League Pass, if anybody can send me a link to how to do a gift sub, I would be happy to sponsor carey's League Pass sub for next year.

Mori is the best. You guys don't know this but Mori offered several times to help me when things were tough over the years. Just a solid all around dude, but I know you guys already know that about him.

[JeremyG]

Glad to hear you've been doing better, Carey! My dad is a retired math teacher. He taught at GCU for awhile (Suns legend Horacio Llamas was in at least one of his classes IIRC). Unfortunately, he's dealing with stage four cancer now, but one of the newer drugs he's taking has improved his numbers significantly, so we're hoping for the best.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

Excellent news Carey!

It’s great to read that everything is coming together, after some really rough patches. I hope you get your certification and keep on the good work with those kids.

Thanks man. I'm a few years away from turning 50 and I just felt like I had not done anything to impact the world. So I decided to go to work helping kids. I'll say that the system is so broken and these kids have more challenges than you'll ever imagine. One of my students legitimately just returned to my class after spending 2 weeks in jail. Last week I had to lock kids in my classroom during transition twice because of full on fist fights in the hallway right outside my door. One involved one of my students so she'll miss a week of school as a result. So I'm constantly having kids miss chunks of time for stuff like this. I don't know how they are expected to succeed on the same level as say my own kids who go to an advanced studies academy in the parish right next door. My son for example could have graduated at the end of his junior year and scored in the 30s on his ACT. Literally all his friends got above 30. That's just what's expected at his school. Where I am teaching it's a win if you can get a kid to score 18+. I want to do my part in helping the kids do better. Unfortunately I'm only one person and can only impact their math scores.

I got you at some level, as my job requires me to give lectures and interviews, mostly on the topic of the importance of democracy development. It takes all the way up from elementary school to post grad students and adults. Sometimes it feels like talking to a wall, but more often than not, a few of the attendees takes home some growing on the matter. And that’s my goal, to do more than it would be on my absence, even if I would love to reach them all.

So I could tell you, for the frustrating it can be, you are indeed making a difference, because you are breaking the ZERO, that some of your students get in terms of attention, quality education and specially, on terms of a system operating on full-mode-ignoring them. You are creating an 18 score that would have been a 10 without you, granted that not for everyone, but that should not be your goal. You are saving more than one life, I assure you that, keep it going.

Kudos to you for taking that road. Looking forward to see you starring your own movie

[Superbone]

Glad to hear you've been doing better, Carey! My dad is a retired math teacher. He taught at GCU for awhile (Suns legend Horacio Llamas was in at least one of his classes IIRC). Unfortunately, he's dealing with stage four cancer now, but one of the newer drugs he's taking has improved his numbers significantly, so we're hoping for the best.

Really sorry to hear about your dad, Jeremy. Hang tough and enjoy your time with him.

[Kryptonic]

Glad to hear you've been doing better, Carey! My dad is a retired math teacher. He taught at GCU for awhile (Suns legend Horacio Llamas was in at least one of his classes IIRC). Unfortunately, he's dealing with stage four cancer now, but one of the newer drugs he's taking has improved his numbers significantly, so we're hoping for the best.

Sorry to hear about your dad Jeremy…. I just lost my mom to pancreatic cancer July 20th. I lost my dad 10 years ago to COPD. I was super super close to both my parents and can only imagine the hell you’re going through. I’ll keep your dad in my prayers.

[TOO]

Glad to hear you've been doing better, Carey! My dad is a retired math teacher. He taught at GCU for awhile (Suns legend Horacio Llamas was in at least one of his classes IIRC). Unfortunately, he's dealing with stage four cancer now, but one of the newer drugs he's taking has improved his numbers significantly, so we're hoping for the best.

Sorry to hear about your dad Jeremy…. I just lost my mom to pancreatic cancer July 20th. I lost my dad 10 years ago to COPD. I was super super close to both my parents and can only imagine the hell you’re going through. I’ll keep your dad in my prayers.

Pancreatic cancer got my mom 2 years ago, stupid pancreas.

[Kryptonic]

Glad to hear you've been doing better, Carey! My dad is a retired math teacher. He taught at GCU for awhile (Suns legend Horacio Llamas was in at least one of his classes IIRC). Unfortunately, he's dealing with stage four cancer now, but one of the newer drugs he's taking has improved his numbers significantly, so we're hoping for the best.

Sorry to hear about your dad Jeremy…. I just lost my mom to pancreatic cancer July 20th. I lost my dad 10 years ago to COPD. I was super super close to both my parents and can only imagine the hell you’re going through. I’ll keep your dad in my prayers.

Pancreatic cancer got my mom 2 years ago, stupid pancreas.

Sorry for your loss TOO…. Even 2 years ago I know it can still be hard.

[TOO]

Glad to hear you've been doing better, Carey! My dad is a retired math teacher. He taught at GCU for awhile (Suns legend Horacio Llamas was in at least one of his classes IIRC). Unfortunately, he's dealing with stage four cancer now, but one of the newer drugs he's taking has improved his numbers significantly, so we're hoping for the best.

Sorry to hear about your dad Jeremy…. I just lost my mom to pancreatic cancer July 20th. I lost my dad 10 years ago to COPD. I was super super close to both my parents and can only imagine the hell you’re going through. I’ll keep your dad in my prayers.

Pancreatic cancer got my mom 2 years ago, stupid pancreas.

Sorry for your loss TOO…. Even 2 years ago I know it can still be hard.

Thanks. It was the cap to an absurd amount of life stressors that have totally ruined me physically and mentally. What a 3 year run that was.

[Superbone]

Wow. So many of us have lost parents. I lost my dad in 2014 to Parkinson's and Lewy body dimensia. He wasn't the same for the last five years of his life. Another reason I retired on the early side.

[virtual9mm]

Thanks for sharing Carey…. Perspective is everything and getting to live in a situation that challenges your norms can be super humbling. Very cool that you’re finding you place there and the kids like you. No pay can substitute the feeling you get when kids genuinely like you, that’s awesome. What did the neuropathy come from?

I forget that new people may not know but I was in a car accident on I-10 between Phx and Tucson when I was a sophomore at UofA back in the mid '90s. I broke my back at L4/L5 and am paralyzed below the waist on my left side, mostly below the knee. They said at first I'd likely never walk again but gradually got feeling/movement back on my right side. Unfortunately it left me with often debilitating pain. Pins & needles and then sometimes bouts of stabbing pain in my left foot. Well a new medication came out that eliminates the constant pins & needles. I swear it's like a miracle but it's expensive with a capital E. So all I need to do is try to limit the bouts of sharp pain and I can do that by keeping good eating & sleeping habits as well as not overdoing it when I am fatigued. So I'm not up and about as most teachers but the way I teach is I use an iPad and IPencil and cast to my macbook that's plugged into a huge display. So I can set up anywhere in the classroom and teach. A lot of times I just perch on an empty desk in the middle of the class.

Thank you for sharing. I had not known. Kudos on your recovery.

I also spend many hours teaching per week, albeit in less challenging environments, and it's really cool that you can use iPads like you are doing.

[virtual9mm]

Glad to hear you've been doing better, Carey! My dad is a retired math teacher. He taught at GCU for awhile (Suns legend Horacio Llamas was in at least one of his classes IIRC). Unfortunately, he's dealing with stage four cancer now, but one of the newer drugs he's taking has improved his numbers significantly, so we're hoping for the best.

My father got diagnosed with stage 3 cancer in early August, and we were able to get him on immunotherapy almost immediately. 3 weeks later, it had eradicated the cancer to undetectable levels although they are recommending surgery just in case there are any remnants. The new drugs are amazing in many cases (if it is not working, talk the doc into a cocktail of two or more drugs, this is what the clinical trials are looking into with the non-mutant cancers and the numbers i saw were promising) and I wish your father all the best of luck.

To those folks who lost loved ones to cancer, my condolences to you and your folks.

[Kryptonic]

Glad to hear you've been doing better, Carey! My dad is a retired math teacher. He taught at GCU for awhile (Suns legend Horacio Llamas was in at least one of his classes IIRC). Unfortunately, he's dealing with stage four cancer now, but one of the newer drugs he's taking has improved his numbers significantly, so we're hoping for the best.

Sorry to hear about your dad Jeremy…. I just lost my mom to pancreatic cancer July 20th. I lost my dad 10 years ago to COPD. I was super super close to both my parents and can only imagine the hell you’re going through. I’ll keep your dad in my prayers.

Pancreatic cancer got my mom 2 years ago, stupid pancreas.

Sorry for your loss TOO…. Even 2 years ago I know it can still be hard.

Thanks. It was the cap to an absurd amount of life stressors that have totally ruined me physically and mentally. What a 3 year run that was.

I can only imagine…. Your mom fought for 3 years?! What a bad ass. I always thought my mom would out live me and it creeped up on her…. She fought like a bad ass for 14 months but man is it brutal.

[TOO]

Sorry to hear about your dad Jeremy…. I just lost my mom to pancreatic cancer July 20th. I lost my dad 10 years ago to COPD. I was super super close to both my parents and can only imagine the hell you’re going through. I’ll keep your dad in my prayers.

Pancreatic cancer got my mom 2 years ago, stupid pancreas.

Sorry for your loss TOO…. Even 2 years ago I know it can still be hard.

Thanks. It was the cap to an absurd amount of life stressors that have totally ruined me physically and mentally. What a 3 year run that was.

I can only imagine…. Your mom fought for 3 years?! What a bad ass. I always thought my mom would out live me and it creeped up on her…. She fought like a bad ass for 14 months but man is it brutal.

Oh no, she lasted about 2 weeks after diagnosis. It was just the end of a run of awful luck.

[carey]

Glad to hear you've been doing better, Carey! My dad is a retired math teacher. He taught at GCU for awhile (Suns legend Horacio Llamas was in at least one of his classes IIRC). Unfortunately, he's dealing with stage four cancer now, but one of the newer drugs he's taking has improved his numbers significantly, so we're hoping for the best.

Sorry to hear about your dad Jeremy…. I just lost my mom to pancreatic cancer July 20th. I lost my dad 10 years ago to COPD. I was super super close to both my parents and can only imagine the hell you’re going through. I’ll keep your dad in my prayers.

Pancreatic cancer got my mom 2 years ago, stupid pancreas.

Got my dad 5 years ago. There's a couple different kinds and he supposedly had the "good" kind meaning he had a shot. Too much drinking over too many years was the deciding factor unfortunately.

So yeah, sorry to hear about your father, Jeremy. I know what it's like to deal with this.

[carey]

Sorry for your loss TOO…. Even 2 years ago I know it can still be hard.

I finally stopped picking up my phone to text my dad when the Saints did something stupid about a year ago. So it took about 4 years for it to really sink in.