More from the same source:

Rather than anxiously waving your hand around and wondering if you’ll be called on, if you would like to participate, signal to me in some way (a gesture, a dance move, a traditional hand-in-the-air, meaningful eye contact, etc.) and I will add you to the list.

Yeah, a dance move. Because all non-white students are into dancing. Maybe they can also bounce their basketballs because they must all be into athletics, too. 

There are personal, cultural, learning, and social reasons people don’t speak up in class.  Students of color and women of all races, introverts, the non-conventional thinkers, those from poor previous educational backgrounds, returning or “nontraditional students,” and those from cultures where speaking out is considered rude not participatory are all likely to be silent in a class where collaboration by difference is not structured as a principle of pedagogy and organization and design. 

This is absolutely not true. African American students, returning and mature students, and working class students are my best participators, both in Spanish and English. I think the quoted person speaks from stereotypes and not from any real experience. She decided these students must be silent, shy victims and is squeezing them into this role because it’s convenient and enjoyable. 

Students from disadvantaged backgrounds often have lacunae in their knowledge and need remediation. That’s a real problem. The ease and the joy with which they participate definitely isn’t. 

“Women of all races.” Really? You’ve had a black or a Hispanic woman in your class and she sat in the corner, completely quiet? And this kept happening for years? I’ve been teaching for a while but I can’t imagine this happening. Black or Hispanic women are a gift from God to every teacher because of how well they participate. What you need to be doing to force them into silence is a total mystery.

So what, Skype is dead? It’s all Google Hangouts now?

I did notice that Skype was barely functioning but I don’t use it often enough to care. How do people find out that it’s time to move on? 

After George W. Bush’s first term, Democrats decided to counter his militaristic rhetoric with with a candidate who was also militarized. John Kerry started his acceptance speech at the DNC with a military salute and “blah blah reporting for service.” In the end, it was his military record that was used to sink him. 

You never take the battle to the territory your opponent had chosen. Instead, you need to stake your own territory. A fight that is fought on somebody else’s terms is likely to be lost. 

This is why I hope that the Democrats will not repeat this mistake and won’t run an entertainment figure in 2020. Especially since they seem inclined to run a woman. A female clown will always lose to a male clown. 

Harassment is not when a guy makes a romantic advance. It’s when he hears a no and refuses to accept it. 

There’s nothing evil, immoral, or wrong about approaching a person and expressing admiration and / or interest. What is immoral and wrong is insisting after a person makes it clear she is not interested. 

It’s normal for people to want to meet other people, including for romantic purposes. It’s normal to find somebody attractive and want to express your admiration. What’s not normal is failing to understand and accept that the interest might not be mutual. It’s the ones who keep insisting, moaning, begging, and droning on like broken robots that I hate. 

The edited volume I wrote an article for over the summer fell through because most contributors still haven’t submitted their pieces and haven’t indicated when or if they will. The due date was August 1. I don’t mind it for myself because the article is good and I’ll simply send it out to a journal today. But I remembered the names of the organizers and the participants and guess how likely I am to collaborate with any of them in the future. 

I always plan to finish everything at least two weeks (and usually a month) before a deadline in case I have an emergency or a major obligation pops up. To fail to submit a piece I committed myself for and not even get in touch with the editors to explain what happened is behavior I will never comprehend. 

I wonder how these colleagues respond to students who do this kind of thing in class. 

When something shocking or super important happens to you that you want to share with people, do you

1. Grab your phone and begin dialing.

2. Send texts. 

3. Send emails. 

4. Post on Facebook.

5. Tweet. 

6. Open Snapchat (whatever that is).

7. Find people and tell them in person. 

8. Another option.

I’ll text and then post on the blog. 

Some dumb fucker who worked in a stupid HR department wrote an article that begins with “Women are a human resources nightmare.” There is nothing worse in any business than HR departments. Of course, in academia we also have Diversity offices and those are even worse. So we are doubly screwed. 

Klara opened one of her Dr Seuss books that she’s only had for a week on the page that says,”In the house and on the street”, pointed to the words and recited, “In the house and on the street.” It was very scary. She can also recite the words to itsy-bitsy spider and twinkle twinkle little star. She obviously doesn’t understand all of the words. She memorizes them by ear. 

I thought the music teacher was trying to be nice when she said Klara was musical but now I’m thinking it might be true. I need to get her a book of children’s poetry.