The Serial Thinker Blog

Diversity Training Labels Many People Bigots

All of the teachers in my district are required to participate in various professional development modules, one of them being diversity training. I did this module today and it defined bigotry as, "Stubborn or complete intolerance of any creed, opinion, or belief that differs from one's own."

By this definition I, and I suspect that at least some of you, are bigots. I admit to being stubbornly and completely intolerant of racism, homophobia, and sexism. I am fully opposed to belief systems that foster oppression, violence against innocents, and discrimination. I stand firmly against against opinions that would limit freedom and economic opportunity for the citizens of our country. These represent just a fraction of the opinions that I hold about issues that impact all of our lives. I am not flexible when it comes to opposing cruelty to children or animals. I refuse to embrace ideologies that allow acid to be thrown into the faces of women, that promote female genital mutilation as a cultural practice, or support honor killings. 

If such stubbornness and intolerance makes me a bigot, then it's a badge that I will wear proudly.

I've Only Ever Been An American

While I could reasonably claim several hyphens, I eschew them because they are much less a part of who I am than my identity as an American. These days it seems that hyphens separate us into our various tribes, some with overlapping allegiances, others at complete odds. In my grandparents' generation, the title 'American' was a symbol of pride, of accomplishment, of status in their homelands. They were very proudly members of their ethnic, religious, and social communities, but all without hyphenation. I am an American. I am a Christian. I am Filipino. I am Caucasian. All separate, all united. No hyphens needed. 

Six Word Memoir Feature

Several years ago, I was recognized on the Six Word Memoir Site as the Memoirist of the Month. Here is a link to the profile. 

 

Six Additional Sixers (With Backstories)

Bureaucracies: Insatiable consumers of busy work

++++++++++

She told me she'd prefer assault

I was told by a community member that she'd rather be assaulted than to have someone with a gun help her out.

++++++++++

His program iterates German swear words

On today's programming quiz, one of the questions asks the students to create text that appears in random places on the screen in random colors when the mouse is pressed. My 6WM is what one of my first period students programmed. Welcome to middle school.

++++++++++

Special needs kids aren't photo props

For politicians or educational potentates.

++++++++++

"Teacher, I cheated and I won."

After the potentate's visit, one of my students, "E", was doing mazes with his student mentor during choice time. "E" is pretty high functioning, so he wanted to race his mentor to see who could solve the mazes the fastest. If he saw his mentor moving ahead of him with the solution, he would ignore the barriers in the maze and draw his line directly to the end of the maze. When he got there he would call out gleefully, "Teacher... I cheated and I won." That was an hour and a half ago and I'm still chortling about it.

+++++++++++

Her body language said it all

An educational potentate visited my school this morning and she happened to stop in to my special needs technology class. OH MY GOSH..... she was so uncomfortable. She stood in the corner and made her body as small as she possibly could as she asked stilted questions about the class and the kids. She really couldn't extricate herself from here fast enough.

On her way out I wanted to shout, "It doesn't rub off".

Six Word Memoir #3140

I've only ever been an American

While I could reasonably claim several hyphens, I eschew them because they are much less a part of who I am than my identity as an American. These days it seems that the hyphens separate us into our various tribes, some with overlapping allegiances, others at complete odds. In my grandparents' generation, the title 'American' was a symbol of pride, of accomplishment, of status in their homelands. They were very proudly members of their ethnic, religious, and social communities, but all without hyphenation. I am an American. I am a Christian. I am Filipino. I am Caucasian. All separate, all united. No hyphens needed.