For those interested in community statistics by state, USAToday has a fascinating graph reflecting census information and shifts.

[link]

According to this, Utah has one of the highest median incomes in the country, which I take to mean as "We have an assload of millionaires in this state."

Thanks Dana and Amy and P-C. I appreciate the speak-up.

I am actually impressed that Aims has been handling it so well.

Well, I've been here a long time and know that there are things that people get passionate about and teaching methods is one of those things. It's not necessarily personal.

I do want to say this about my sister, though: Sis is a young teacher - only in her third year - and maybe it wasn't the best way to handle the situation. She's still learning her ropes. But she's a damn good teacher. She's a favorite among not only her students, but the entire middle school and high school in her district. Kids clamour for her math classes. She's one of those people that teaching is just innate for. She's my idol in that respect. I hope to be half as good a teacher as she is.

I like the Safeway Select meals. The orange chicken especially tastes surprisingly good. The Eating Right meals aren't bad either.

Cool. Too bad there's not a Safeway near where I work.

Almost every chicken-based frozen dinner I've had has tasted like crap - the chicken ends up all rubbery when it comes out of the microwave. But I'll have to try the Safeway orange chicken, as normally I love orange chicken....

The Trader Joe's chicken burritos are also awesome.

As someone who works with students, I definitely see where Aims' sister was coming from and fully support it. I have had to have the "this is a professional communication" talk more than once with my students (who are in college), but the point is the same. FYI and OK are accepted common abbreviations. IDK is not. In fact, it took me a minute to figure out what it was.

Perhaps I am particularly sensitive to this issue because I had to deal with law students who had typos, grammatical errors and spacing issues in their papers, and would get upset when they lost 1/3 of their points because of it. If their teachers before had been harder on them about errors, I wouldn't have been dealing with that.

I fully support the action, although I would have given the student an opportunity to take a makeup quiz.

I do want to say this about my sister, though: Sis is a young teacher - only in her third year - and maybe it wasn't the best way to handle the situation. She's still learning her ropes. But she's a damn good teacher. She's a favorite among not only her students, but the entire middle school and high school in her district. Kids clamour for her math classes. She's one of those people that teaching is just innate for. She's my idol in that respect. I hope to be half as good a teacher as she is.

Pass Kat's method along to her and the Kristen Nun Method. I can only go by what you said, and by what you said, if I'd been that girl, I'd have been humiliated and in tears, even if she never mentioned my name. I also would have been stuck in WRONG ON THE INTERNET (or, you know AUTHORITY!) mode FOREVER as a result.

YHumilationMV, and I admit, I'm not a neurotypical student and a lack of clear expectations ahead of time screws me up big time. Like, I've been shaking since you posted it, remembering things from almost 25 years ago screws me up.

I found the songs to Commentary! The Musical and have started listening. "Suck it, I gave him fifteen" kills me.

Perhaps I am particularly sensitive to this issue because I had to deal with law students who had typos, grammatical errors and spacing issues in their papers, and would get upset when they lost 1/3 of their points because of it.

I am still bitter about a paper I wrote in eighth grade. The teacher gave three grades (that each counted as much as a test), one for content, one for spelling/grammar, and one for, I don't know, something else. I had a lot of footnotes, and I forgot to put a period at the end of each footnote.

So she took two points off.

Per period.

I got something like a 27 for spelling/grammar, which resulted in the first B I ever got on my report card. It was only a six-weeks grade, thankfully, but it still pissed me off that she didn't just take, say, ten points off for the mistake in general.

It was only a six-weeks grade, thankfully, but it still pissed me off that she didn't just take, say, ten points off for the mistake in general.

you never did it again, did you? In my experience, when you let students slide, they don't take the rules seriously, and it can take getting the smackdown to make them get their shit together.

This whole educational-style-and-goal discussion is just pissing me off.

I'm going to take a break from Natter - probably all of b.org - except for the BSG game for a while, because right now I just want to slap you all really, really hard.

The sanctimony here is thick enough to choke me.