Awwwwww!

Co-worker: Brings up the fact that 45 was in town yesterday, did I know?

Me: Rant affirming my awareness and expressing my degree of pleasure at his presence.

Co-worker: "I like him; he's funny."

Me: Tries to list facts and statistics for why that's WRONG.

Co-worker: Eyes glaze over, turns back to monitor. "He's never done anything to me."

Me: Point out that he's a well-off, middle-aged white dude. "He's not amusing; he's DANGEROUS."

Me: Return to my cubicle for some exciting *headdesk, headdesk*

Co-worker: Eyes glaze over, turns back to monitor. "He's never done anything to me."

What an asshat. Congrats on not punching him in the neck.

ION, an acquaintance is ranting on FB how, as a teacher, she can't support the students walking out today because they are choosing to miss out on instruction that is vital (VITAL!) to them becoming educated members of a democratic society.

Someone pointed out that what they're doing is *exactly* what it means to be members of a democratic society, and Acquaintance said "Not if they have to miss class to do it." Uh, WUT.

"Not if they have to miss class to do it."

Even if this were a valid point, most schools are supportive of students who walked out today, so nobody was missing anything. (Apparently teachers don't want to get shot either! Who knew??)

Even if this were a valid point, most schools are supportive of students who walked out today, so nobody was missing anything.

I did ask her what she thought of teachers/administrations that are supportive of the students that walked out, and she said "What I teach is so fast-paced that the students can't afford to miss 17 minutes of it." I want to ask what happens to kids that are out sick, but I'm just letting it go, because her statement is ridiculous enough to stand on its own. (Seriously, 17 precious minutes out of their entire high school career is going to torpedo their future success? Ain't nobody that good of a teacher, sweetie.)

Yeah, we had a walkout at my school today, and every teacher I talked to was totally supportive -- most of us walked out with the kids.

There was an interesting question raised, actually, in our middle school. Students had brought home permission slips for their parents to fill out if they were planning to walk out, both to gauge the numbers and also to get parents involved in the conversation, to provide an opening for students to talk to their parents about the walkout and what it means. Some parents decided not to fill out the permission slips because they felt that if their child had *permission* to walk out, then it wasn't really a protest. (In response, the middle school decided not to enforce the permission slip requirement.)

I think several of us wondered whether or not our support and participation ran the risk of sanitizing the protest. But on the other hand, most of us feel quite strongly about keeping guns out of schools and the need for better gun control, and it would have felt wrong and counterproductive to *not* do what we could to accommodate and support students who wanted to participate. (Yes, we are almost certainly the most liberal and progressive school in the Nashville area. There's a reason I wanted to work here!)

In the end, it was a pretty powerful moment: 17 minutes of silence, with only very brief remarks by a couple of HS students before and afterwards. I wouldn't have guessed that our students could stay silent for 17 minutes, but they did -- which I think speaks to how heavily this issue weighs on them.

I wondered that, too, Kate -- Sara's school was very much involved in planning and coordinating the walkout, to the point that it didn't seem student-led to me, which I didn't think was really fair. And I'm not sure how it went -- Sara is actually home with a sinus and ear infection, so.

I am glad that the district supported it -- very vocally -- though.

Interesting. I don't see students, typically, so I have no idea how all that is going around here. None of my coworkers have mentioned their kids walking out or not, but that doesn't mean much, I don't think.

Our "word of the month" is Collaboration, so we spent some time today discussing how we can collaborate better, etc. I guess I'm the only one cringing and thinking of Nazis. The rest of our Guiding Principles don't bother me, at least.

I talked about the walkout with Matilda this morning and was careful to make it clear that (a) she didn't need my permission and (b) she didn't need her teacher's permission. That was the point.

It's been a hot topic of discussion on the local parenting FB group - most are supportive of their high school students walking out, some were wary about safety concerns for elementary kids.