#notes from public school

[notesfrompublicschool-blog]

Notes from Public School (2023-2024) - Day 41

I am not a dancer.

Ask anyone who knows me well.

When I dance, I look like one of the Peanuts gang weebling and wobbling around Schroeder’s piano.

I am a ‘try’er, though.

It’s quite humorous to watch me dance.

It’s also kind of endearing.

That’s why the fourth graders at my school and the firemen and firewoman at the Berea fire station laughed so deeply and hugged me so tenderly today.

We were on a field trip at the fire station.

In the middle of learning about fire safety, we had a dance break.

As the music started, the students around me started yelling, “Go Mr. Barton! Go!”

To humor them, I stood up and started weebling and wobbling on the bleachers.

Then it happened.

A firemen stood in front of me.

No, he didn’t say, “Stop dancing right now!”

He said, “Follow me.”

I did.

He led me down to the asphalt in front of the bleachers and in front of EVERYBODY.

Guess what?

I danced!

My weebling and wobbling acted like a magnet that drew the kids from the bleachers.

Suddenly they were all around me.

They were really dancing!

You should’ve seen them whip and nae nae.

It was amazing.

It was fun.

As a teacher and a writer, I often weeble and wobble.

I am a ‘try’er.

That means something, you know.

And by trying I show I care.

And by caring I have the privilege to change a life.

And by changing a life I have the opportunity to change the world.

So come weeble and wobble with me.

Come change the world with me.

I’d love to see you dance.

[teachandwrite-blog]

Notes from public school (2023-2024) - Day 45

I don’t know about you, but I love symbols.

One of my favorite symbols is Apple Computers apple with a missing bite.

I also love Harry Potter’s lightning bolt on his forehead.

The symbol I chose for myself is a humble pencil.

Nothing fancy.

Just a reliable, old Ticonderoga #2 pencil with a slightly used eraser.

It represents the best of who I am as a writer and a teacher.

Reliable.

Erasing mistakes and trying again.

Writing. Rewriting. Writing. Rewriting. Sharpening. Writing again.

Yep, that’s me.

Do you have a symbol?

What is it?

Why did you choose it?

I’d love to know.

This afternoon, as I was cleaning up my classroom and preparing to go to the YMCA for my afternoon swim, I found a symbol in an unlikely place.

It was tucked behind the top of the little American flag I display that we use when we say the pledge of allegiance every morning.

There behind the top of the little flag was an origami butterfly.

I immediately knew who made it.

I immediately knew who put it there.

It was one of my students from last year.

She is from Honduras.

She speaks Spanish at home and English at school, and I marvel at the intelligence it takes to be bilingual and live with one foot in one world and one foot in another world.

I’ll always remember her because she had a learning disability and could barely read.

During the year, though, she fell in love with Manga art and books.

She worked so hard to understand the words in the books that she basically taught herself to read.

And to draw Manga art.

And to fold paper into astonishing origami figures.

During the last weeks of school, when we were spending hour upon hour taking high stakes standardized reading tests in the classroom, she taped a little prayer to the corner of her Chromebook.

“Please, God,” it read, “I don’t want to fail.”

I had so much hope in my heart for her.

And she didn’t fail.

I took a picture of her origami butterfly on top of the American flag beside a poster with the famous words from Maya Angelou’s poem And Still I Rise.

It’s my symbol for her.

It represents the best of who she is.

How would you describe that symbol.

I’d love to know.

You know what?

I hope in my heart of hearts that that symbol represents the best of America for her.

[deoidesign]

Doing master studies the only way I know how: Stealing them and making them my guys.

(Barberini Faun)

(The Fallen Angel - Alexandre Cabanel)

(Covent Garden - William Bruce Ellis Rankin)

[forgetme-eternally-blissfully]

“So, babysitting?”

Alberu follows after the delinquent. From the record the vice-principal gave him access to, Cale frequently drinks alcohol, he often gets himself into a lot of fights, and he barely passed his classes at the end of the grading period. The teachers never call on him in class, girls and boys avoid him alike, and he is- supposedly- completely intolerable.

Which is why Alberu Crossman, who’s only a little older yet infinitely more mature has been assigned by the principal (his father) to get the troublemaker under thumb. Cale's father is quite wealthy, actually, and since there isn't much known about the successor to the Henituse family... it'd be bad if he had to be expelled.

Cale scowled. “Yes, babysitting, your highness. Please, leave if you must,” He jeers at Alberu, but internally he thinks, 'No, really. Please leave.' Otherwise, he might get caught in the act.

Of not actually being Cale.

Roksu aims a sour expression at Alberu, who returns it with a more flowery one. Acting as his twin for the day had been easy enough, mainly because being trash is great!- until Alberu Crossman strolled into his lunch period and introduced himself.

He is even following him out of the school to his job. Well, this job is Roksu’s and not Cale’s, but because he can’t ditch work nor can he get glib-tongued Alberu off his tail-

Well shit.

Thankfully, the kids call him hyung. Except Raon, who calls him human. Hopefully Alberu doesn’t look into it too much. If everything goes right, Alberu Crossman will be Cale's problem to deal with tomorrow. As it should have been.

“I didn’t know you liked kids, Cale,” Alberu smiles charmingly, walking side by side with Roksu. “Can you introduce me?” Roksu struggles to not put on his own disarming smile out of spite, instead plastering on a classic Cale Sneer™. It fits on his face perfectly, like he’s playing a character in a play.

They enter the building and ‘Cale’ guides Alberu to a colorful playroom, decked out in toys and a fountain of running water as the centerpiece (A gift from his father, who is still upset that Roksu doesn't visit more often). There’s a tray of fruits and oatmeal on the small table in the corner of the room, except not a soul to be seen. Picking up a bowl of oatmeal and finding the ceramic to still be hot, Roksu almost smiles.

Alberu frowns. Where are the kids he's supposed to babysit?

Roksu tells the empty air, "Come on out."

Three children appear out of nowhere in front of them.

“Hyung!”

“Human! You’re back!”

“Hyung, nya.” On examines Alberu some more.

All of the kids had been revealed the moment that Roksu spoke, as Raon unveiled the invisibility on them.

Raon runs up and grabs Roksu’s hand, who places it on his head, rubbing the black hair comfortingly. “Mm.” Raon beams at the affection.

“Raon, On, Hong,” they each look up at him at the call of their names. “This is Alberu Crossman, he is doing a report on my trashy behavior. Don’t be rude."

All three children become hostile immediately. “He isn't trash!”

On observes Alberu with an intense glare. Raon shifts under Roksu’s hand, his deep blue eyes glinting with magic. Roksu positions him away from the older teen’s view. Raon grips onto Roksu’s pant leg with a vengeance. Hong stares openly, offensive.

Alberu smiles at them.

"I'm visiting with Cale Hyung for today, nice to meet you."

Hong gasps suddenly.

“He-!” On gives her brother a look, and he clamps his hands over his mouth. Alberu feels a deep curiosity, as if something isn’t quite as it seems.

Roksu sighs. It’s going to be a long hour.

At the midway point, Alberu has easily disarmed the children. They look fascinated at the magic he shows them, while Roksu can only rub a palm over Raon’s shoulder as a warning to keep his dragon magic under control. He's still just a child that wants to brag. Everything is going well.

Bang!

“Hey Roksu! How was-“ Cale bursts through the door, bright red hair equipped with a shit-eating grin, wearing clothes far less fancy than his usual. He tenses up, frozen in place when he spots Alberu on the floor, politely sitting "crisscross applesauce" with the children. Roksu narrows a withering glare at his twin.

“… Roksu?”

Alberu looks at ‘Cale,’ sitting next to him, the one he's spent the entire day with, who is trying to send what must be the real Cale into the sun with his eyes.

“Ha… ha?” Cale winces. Roksu wipes his expression from his face.

“Cale-hyung, run! That’s the human’s bad look!” Alberu’s eyes widen as he watches the confirmed real Cale bolt back into the hallway and out of the front door. Alberu whips his head back toward the stranger behind him, who is a perfect replica of the Cale who ran like Hell. Cale has an identical twin?? Since when? Why doesn't he go to school?

Roksu levels an emotionless gaze at Alberu. “Hello, your highness. Don’t mind me.”

Alberu can only watch in astonishment as this stranger walks out of the playroom, with a smooth and deadly gait as he hunts down his twin like a predator would to prey. He recalls the look 'Roksu' gave him and it sends a shiver down the principal’s son’s spine. That gaze held secrets.

Something about this stranger is even more interesting than the sudden appearance of a twin.

On walks up to him, sitting down in his lap and looking into his eyes. “Roksu-hyung will be back soon, nya!” Hong bounds over and sits next to his sister, grinning widely. Raon huffs and looks at the door. He wants his human to come back.

[vulpinesaint]

turns out that getting on higher meds and then fucking. finishing college. will do wonders for you

[interstellar-elf]

I'm pretty sure you could draw a straight line from the 1980's Satanic Panic to the creation of Project 2025, but I'm also convinced if Ronald Reagan was not president during the 80s, then the actual spread of the Satanic Panic would not have been as big as it eventually was.

[pickaropoprocks]

Day 47!! Chiikawa!!

[britneyshakespeare]

sometimes i read some people's literary analysis and i'm like geez, at times this can be quite gushy and sentimental... but then i look in the mirror and i'm like well. i'm really rather gooey myself

[apotelesmaa]

Ok explaining the 6 different versions of the vocaloids by just going “yeah they’re my distant cousins” (kaito) or “yeah there’s 5 other ppl who look exactly like me and have my name (does not elaborate)” (Luka) is the funniest possible route they could have possibly taken

[notesfrompublicschool-blog]

Notes from Public School (2023-2024) - Day 48

In the community around my school, families are from Mexico, Central America and South America.

I love them.

By that I mean this.

We stand side-by-side and heart to heart.

We take care of each other.

We are a part of each other’s lives.

We listen to each other’s stories.

I am because we are.

We are because I am.

This ‘being’ and ‘listening’ helps

us understand each other more clearly and deeply.

When I browse a story about immigration on social media, hear an interview with demagogic, xenophobic politician on NPR, or read a journalist who immersed herself in the journeys of migrants, I close my eyes and see the faces of the students who fill my life with their lives each and every day.

When I hear the words ‘immigration’ and ‘immigrants,’ I see Maria and Hilcias and Brisya and Patrick.

When I hear the phrase ‘migratory road,’ I remember the stories they tell me about their journeys from their home countries to Greenville, S.C.

This seeing and hearing and remembering is of monumental importance to the way I understand my immigrant neighbors around me.

It’s why I wear a button that says “No human is illegal” on the lanyard of my school ID.

It’s why I reach out to the SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center to offer my gifts and talents to their work with immigrant families.

It’s why I read read ‘lots of books and write ‘lots of stories about migrants and immigration.

In the poem below, I hope you’ll see and hear some of the people I’ve seen and heard.

I hope you’ll carry them, carry them in your heart.

the things they carry

now

on

the land

migrants live

with holes in the floors

cracks in the walls, leaks in the roofs,

broken apart from years upon years of people

moving in, moving out, broken apart by owners using money for things other than repairs

yet held together by people like my abuelo and mamí, who will move into a used place, scrub the floors and walls with soap and water

repair broken parts with things they carry with them, patch them with grit, common sense and love

[teachandwrite-blog]

Notes from public school (2023-2024) - Day 15

I’m helping my 4th graders write memoirs.

Today we made time lines.

We started each timeline with our birth years.

(My students were AMAZED that I was born in the ancient year 1966!)

We each placed three memories on those time lines.

Then we asked three questions about those memories -

1) What happened?

2) Why did we choose that memory?

3) How did the event that made that memory change us?

One of the memories I wrote on my time line was about my mom and a birthday cake.

Each year, in the days leading up to our birthdays, mom would ask, “What kind of cake would you like?”

I almost always chose a strawberry pound cake.

It was one of mom’s specialties.

I still smile when I think about a strawberry pound cake with birthday candles on it.

On my tenth birthday, though, I answered, “I’d like a purple Furman cake.”

I was turning ten.

I was in my last month of 4th grade.

I was going to go to Furman basketball camp that summer.

I loved Furman basketball.

(Btw, Furman beat UNC and NC State that year in the North South Doubleheader in Charlotte, NC! I still remember the headline in the Greenville News after those wins. Purple Lightning Strikes Twice In Charlotte)

Truthfully, though, I didn’t think mom could make a purple Furman cake.

I mean, who ever heard of a purple cake with purple icing?

I was just kidding.

But on the day of my birthday, mom said, “Close your eyes!”

And when I opened them, low and behold, there was a purple Furman cake in front of me.

I was thunderstruck.

My friends couldn’t believe it.

Neither could I.

That’s why I chose to write that memory on my time line.

It was the moment I knew my mom had super powers!

It was one of many moments I knew my mom loved me.

I can’t wait to read my students’ memory stories!

I’m sure they’ll strike me with the same purple lightning that struck me when I was their age all those years ago.

[ialpiriel]

Showed my mom the paper copies of UWTS tonight and she looked it up on Amazon and then we had this conversation

[vulpinesaint]

it is a truth universally acknowledged that if you raise your child catholic they will turn out fucked up and strange. there are many ways in which this end can be achieved but rest assured no matter what path your child follows in life they'll always be weird about god

[oneofthosecrazycatladies]

Okay so we have this huge problem with forgetting about everything that’s happened by the time the next election rolls around so I’d like to keep a running list of things as they’re happening to help remind us when the 2026 midterms roll around. And please add to this if I’ve missed anything.

January 2025:

Donald Trump pardoned 1500 people who participated in the insurrection of January 6th, including those who violently assaulted and nearly killed police officers.

Donald Trump has declared that trans and non-binary people don’t exist.

Donald Trump is working towards firing everyone in the government who isn’t loyal to him.

Donald Trump has effectively fired everyone who he claims is an “illegal DEI hire” …whatever that means

Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization

Congress are trying to pass the Laken Riley Act to, effectively, round up every immigrant in the country, including LEGAL immigrants

Donald Trump removed caps on prescription drug prices.

Donald Trump wants to withhold federal aid to help combat the LA wildfires and help the thousands of people who have been displaced and lost their homes.

The Department of Justice has put a hold on all civil rights cases.

Donald Trump has cut off aid to Ukraine.

Laken Riley Act has been passed by Congress and is awaiting being signed into law by the President. Here’s the breakdown of the votes: House Senate

Donald Trump purged a dozen inspectors general from the federal government and intends to replace them all with people loyal to him.

Pete Hegseth has been confirmed as Secretary of Defense. Here’s the breakdown of how the Senate voted. Note, it was a 50-50 tie that JD Vance had to break.

Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on Colombia after the Colombian government turned away two airplanes carrying migrants. Columbia has retaliated by imposing a 25% tariff of its own on US goods.

Donald Trump has also issued a travel ban for Colombian citizens and revoked visas from Colombian migrants coming to the US.

Donald Trump has now backed off the tariffs and other threats against Colombia. Note for future reference: this comes just hours after Trump made the threat in the first place and he and the Colombian president got into a big fight on social media.

Nearly 1,000 migrants were arrested mostly in Chicago on January 26th by ICE and ICE has been told to meet a quota of 75 migrant arrests every day.

Donald Trump rescinded an anti-discrimination executive order from Lyndon B. Johnson

Donald Trump signed an executive order banning trans people from serving in the military and also ordered that people who were discharged for refusing to get mandatory vaccines be reinstated.

Donald Trump has frozen all federal grants to institutions.

After pressure from state governments, activist groups, and the general public, the White House has rolled back some of the freezes on federal funding.

Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN) has proposed a change to the 22nd Amendment to allow Donald Trump, specifically, to serve a third term.

Donald Trump is trying to fire all federal employees who don’t want to return to the office (work-from-home saves the federal government millions of taxpayer dollars in overhead). He also sent an email to federal employees saying that if they’re not loyal to him, they’ll be investigated.

Donald Trump has signed the Laken Riley Act into law.

Donald Trump has said he doesn’t think Palestinians should be allowed to return to Gaza but instead should be sent to Egypt and Jordan.

Native Americans have been targeted by ICE raids.

Donald Trump has ordered undocumented immigrants to be sent to Guantanamo Bay

Donald Trump signed an executive order to expand federal funding for school choice programs. [x]

Donald Trump signed an executive order saying that he will deport visa-holding students who protest against Israel. [x]

Donald Trump has blamed DEI for the plane crash that killed 67 people in Washington D. C. [x]

Donald Trump signed an executive order that schools should no longer teach about racism and discrimination. And that schools should only teach history that is “patriotic” [x]

Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna wants to add Donald Trump’s face to Mount Rushmore. [x]

Trump’s Department of Education has called book bans a hoax. [x]

The Department of Justice has barred certain news outlets from receiving information from the Pentagon. [x]

The Trump administration has fired multiple FBI officials who investigated the January 6th insurrection. [x]

February-May 2025

I’ll keep adding to this list as new things come up and, again, please feel free to add anything I’ve missed. I know that in this world of constant news it’s easy to forget, so let’s give our future selves a little help!

[unforth]

Everything feels awful right now but it isn't really. We still don't officially have a winner, but regardless of how the presidential election ends up, I wanted to take a minute and find what lights I can in the 3 a.m. darkness. Here's what I know:

* Kentucky overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to undermine the public education system by offering private school vouchers:

* Delaware has elected a transgender woman to the House of Representatives, the first out trans person of any gender ever elected to congress:

* For the first time in history, two Black women will be serving in the senate at the same time, and they are only the fourth and fifth Black women ever elected to the senate:

* New York State has passed a constitutional amendment enshrining the rights of pregnant people (including the right to an abortion), LGBTQIA+ people, the disabled, immigrants regardless of legal status, and other at-risk groups:

* Democrat Josh Stein has beaten self-avowed Nazi Mark Robinson to become governor of North Carolina:

That's everything I know off the top of my head. It's not many bright spots, but it's not zero. I'm going to try to find more and I'll add them to the post. It's the only thing I can think of to do that isn't sobbing and throwing up or looking up Canadian immigration rules.

If you know more good news, I encourage you to add it in reblogs.

[emjaydoubleyou]

this post is fearmongering. the results of this study are concerning and should definitely be a matter of public discussion, but this is certainly not the conclusion the researchers came to.

the point of the study was to assess the risks of exposure to toxic metals- something one of the co-authors notes are “ubiquitous” fwiw- via menstrual products. Their research confirmed that these metals are indeed present in tampons, but no further conclusions are drawn. it is possible the metal entered into the cotton from the soil, which is a well-known phenomenon; cotton is so good at lifting heavy metals that it has actually been suggested as a part of the solution for revitalizing polluted ground.

the authors conclude with an acknowledgement that the study should be repeated- their sample size was 60 tampons- and a suggestion that further testing ought to be done to indicate whether or not these metals can even leech out of the tampon in the first place, let alone whether or not such leeching could occur at levels deleterious to human health.

there is, in fact, a body of research- too small, for sure, but much larger than this single study- indicating that long-term proper tampon use has no observable negative impact on health. i am grateful and thrilled that more research is being done and i hope that this study is the first of many on this line of questioning, but i am really frustrated at this post and the response it got.

obviously, if this study alters your approach to menstrual health, more power to you. consumers should be informed-risk-takers, and menstrual health is double-obviously a very personal choice. but it definitely wasn't the researchers concluding that you ought to “avoid using tampons at all cost," only this tumblr user did. the lead author of the paper, in fact, specifically says that she hopes people do NOT panic about the results.

(the notes of the post were disappointing. people affirming that they knew they were right to be suspicious of tampons all along, or even recommending alternatives that actually have very little to no research regarding the safety of long-term use, etc. it’s a different conversation, but categorical distrust of tampons is old-school misogyny. you certainly shouldn't wear them if you don’t want to, but there is nothing inherently scary or wrong about them, and people who prefer them are not being reckless or crass.)

((if you're really worried about exposure to heavy metals, you may want to turn a critical eye to fast fashion, as an aside))