I’ve taught the Iliad for over a decade, I’m literally a teacher, and I can even spell ‘Iliad’, and yet my first instinct when reading someone’s opinions about it is not to drop a comment explaining what it is, who ‘wrote’ it, and what that person’s intention truly was.
Agh. <the state of Twitter>
The first thing I do when I am teaching the Iliad is talk about what we know, what we think we know, and what we don’t know about Homer:
We know -
- 0
We think we know -
- the name Homer is a person, possibly male, possibly blind, possibly from Ionia, c.8th/9th C BCE.
- composed the Iliad and Odyssey and Hymns
We don’t know -
- if ‘Homer’ was a real person or a word meaning singer/teller of these stories
- which poem came first
- whether the more historical-sounding events of these stories actually happened, though there is evidence for a similar, much shorter, siege at Troy.
And then I get out a timeline, with suggested dates for the ‘Trojan war’ and Iliad and Odyssey’s estimated composition date and point out the 500ish years between those dates. And then I ask my class to name an event that happened 500 years ago.
They normally can’t or they say ‘Camelot’, because my students are 13-15yo and I’ve sprung this on them. Then I point out the Spanish Armada and Qu. Elizabeth I and Shakespeare were around then. And then I ask how they know about these things, and we talk about historical record.
And how if you don’t have historical record to know the past, you’re relying on shared memory, and how that’s communicated through oral tradition, and how oral tradition can serve a second purpose of entertainment, and how entertainment needs exciting characteristics.
And we list the features of the epic poems of the Iliad and Odyssey: gods, monsters, heroes, massive wars, duels to the death, detailed descriptions of what armour everyone is wearing as they put it on. (Kind of like a Marvel movie in fact.)
And then we look at how long the poems are and think about how they might have been communicated: over several days, when people would have had time to listen, so at a long festival perhaps, when they’re not working. As a diversion.
And then I tell them my old and possibly a bit tortured simile of ‘The Pearl of Myth’:
(Here’s a video of The Pearl of Myth with me talking it through in a calming voice: https://youtu.be/YEqFIibMEyo?sub_confirmation=1
And after all that, I hand a student at the front a secret sentence written on a piece of paper, and ask them to whisper it to the person next to them, and for that person to whisper it to the next, and so on. You’ve all played that game.
And of course the sentence is always rather different at the end than it was at the start, especially if it had Proper nouns in it (which tend to come out mangled). And someone’s often purposely changed it, ‘to be funny’.
And we talk about how this is a very loose metaphor for how stories and memory can change over time, and even historical record if it’s not copied correctly (I used to sidebar them about how and why Boudicca used to be known as ‘Boadicea’ but they just know the former now, because Horrible Histories exists and is awesome)
And after all that, I remind them that what we’re about to read has been translated from Ancient Greek, which was not exactly the language it was first written down in, and now we’re reading it in English.
And that’s how my teenaged students know NOT TO TAKE THE ILIAD AS FACT.
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why do adults always assume that their students are afraid to speak up , YES i will argue with you 1 on 1 because idgaf , YES i will be convinced im right just because your an authority figure , if your wrong IM GONNA CORRECT YOU , like how dare you get me in trouble for trying to get my disabled friends computer so she didn ’ t have to wheel over to the computers ? ? hello what ? KILL YOURSELF MISS CHRISTIAN
You’ve mentioned before that you’re an English teacher, and I was wondering if you’d be willing to speak a bit on how you became one (education? certifications?) and what it’s like for you teaching while living with DID.
The reason I ask is, I’m a senior in high school and I’ll be going to college in the fall. I’m really worried because I have so many alters who all want different things for my life. But in general, I’m drawn to teaching and many of my alters are okay with the idea of pursuing this as a career - especially if I can teach English, which has always been my best subject (I’m in the US).
I’m really scared about entering the adult world, and want to be as prepared as possible for this shift. Hearing from a system who followed the career path I’m considering would be really amazing!
If this ask bothers you or if you’re not comfortable answering it, I totally understand. Thank you for your time and consideration!
- Freya
Hey!!! Sorry I missed this ask -- I hardly use this blog and actually plan on deleting it soon. Just need to get around to reblogging the important posts.
But this is an important one, and I really want to respond here, in the hopes that you'll see it.
I'm an English teacher for 6th grade in the US, and I can say that, without a doubt, college was harder than being a teacher is currently. Do not let your experiences in college stop you from your goal. The professors will not be kind to you, especially if you don't know what's happening to you.
I'm going to pop this under a cut because boy howdy I am rambling.
In terms of college and working to become a teacher with DID:
Firstly, and most importantly: Scheduling. You will need to be completely on top of scheduling out your few years of college. You don't need to be perfect, mind you, but please be aware of what classes are required and when you will take them. My college fucked me over on this. The reason it's so vital is because most education programs in the US are 5 year programs -- 4 years of college, and a 5th year of one semester of a "practicum" (an unpaid internship at a school). During your practicum, you're not supposed to take any extra classes. I was taking 3 classes on top of my practicum to stay under 5 years. Don't do this. Either bite the bullet and do that extra 5th year of schooling, or plan accordingly so you don't get stuck the same way I did.
Now that that's out of the way:
DID definitely impacted my ability to study for things. It really helped having someone else holding me accountable; my partner, my roommate for 3 of my 4 years of college, really helped me out and basically did the education degree alongside me in spirit. If you can, find someone else to help you study.
That someone else should not be a fellow education major. This is because almost all of them will drop out by the time you graduate. That's a sorry truth, unfortunately. In my Junior Literature class of 6 students in my junior year, only 3 moved on with their degree; in my senior year, I was the only one who moved on. This is because college is fucking grueling, and everyone dropped out, thinking teaching would be harder (I'll get to that).
Don't try to overcome your disorder in college. Don't try to heal or recover while going through classes. Try to survive. You do not need to focus on recovery immediately, and it is a BAD idea to pile that much on your shoulders while in college and while teaching. Try to maintain and survive as best as you can. Recovery is a process and it will work on its own as you go through.
You can absolutely bullshit your way through an English degree, easy. It's not hard. Especially if you start writing about fanfiction in Lit 101 -- or at least, in my experience, that got me far. If you know you'd good at English, I would highly recommend it, esp if you're good at School English.
For your other classes, you'll likely have to do gen ed credits. Be creative and have fun. To fulfill my math credits, I took programming and "mathematical excursions" (you do fun shit with math and learn to pay for a house -- it was incredible). To fulfill science credits, I took Astronomy as a night class and got to look through a telescope during a night class for an A. It was awesome. (Well, ok, that class sucked, but you get the point).
DON'T OVERSTACK YOUR CREDITS. I wouldn't go above 18 credits per semester. I usually did around 16, and the minimum we could do was 12. Don't go minimum, but do not overstack. Again, scheduling, don't overschedule yourself.
You'll take a form of practicum each year more than likely. This will be where you go to a school and teach for a bit, and then you'll go do homework about what you taught. In your first year or two, you won't be doing almost any of the teaching; you'll shadow a mentor teacher who will show you how to do the thing. This is honestly so beneficial, but...
TAKE NOTES. For fucks sake, the memory part of DID fucking destroyed me in college, and notes would improve everything. Take double notes, honestly -- physical notes while in the school, and digital notes once you get home.
GET ENOUGH SLEEP. DID leads to insomnia so frequently. Start trying to keep good sleeping habits now, because it WILL get worse as college goes on. Do NOT do what I did and try to survive on 3 hours of sleep a night. It is not sustainable and you will catch every single disease these kids transfer onto people, I swear to god.
The Dean of Students will actually help. A lot. Please go to them if you're struggling. If you can't go, then send someone you trust to advocate for you. In my senior year when everything was going to shit with my mentor teacher (she was a horrible woman) and the admin at school were shitty to me (again, a horrible woman in charge), my partner went to the Dean and advocated for me. That mentor teacher was forced to retire from the school the next year, and my admin had to extend my semester by 3 days to give me a better practicum with someone who could actually do their fucking job. Do not feel scared to advocate.
Please. Please, if you remember nothing, remember this: do not listen to your coworkers in your final practicum. Don't listen to what they say about you becoming a teacher. These people are jaded assholes who, in my experience, want nothing more than to bomb the school. I wish I was kidding, but genuinely, so many of them are horrifically jaded and don't want to be there, ESPECIALLY when your practicum starts (which almost always coincides with state testing schedules). Teaching is awesome, genuinely, so long as you enjoy it.
And lastly for the college aspect: It gets easier. It really does. College was absolute hell for me up through senior year. This was because not only was I doing full coursework (ouch), but I was also starting to really understand and process bits of my trauma (yikes) and I was still with my abusers (yikes). This makes it so, so much harder, in so many ways. And I still did it. And now, here I am to live and tell the tale, and now that I am a teacher?
This shit is so much more forgiving. I have slipped up so fucking much, but as long as you do your best and mean well, your bosses will fucking adore you. They desperately need warm bodies in the room to help make sure the kids don't set fire to each other, and you are certainly going to fit the job description if you give a single shit.
Be open about some of your issues, but not all. I'm very open at work that I suffer from a disorder that leads to amnesia, but I'm careful about how I do this. "I actually have an issue that leads to a lot of forgetfulness, so if it's possible that you could send me a reminder of that meeting, I'd appreciate it." That's all I needed, and now we have a group calendar and my coworker has forgiven me numerous times for missing something.
Your mistakes as a system are completely seen as just. Normal Ass Human Mistakes. Forgot a meeting? Happens to everyone. Broke down crying in front of the kids? Shit fam, the teacher across the hallway walked out last week, you're doing remarkably just because you stayed.
The kids can fuck you up. Genuinely. They WILL trigger you. You WILL get memories of your childhood and it WILL hurt. And you will get through them with patience, time, and understanding. It'll be okay. Please, work hard on reminding yourself that these kids are not actively malicious. They do not understand your perspective.
To that note, almost every single teacher I know has a therapist. It is not a shocker to be in therapy. Most teachers need it. If you don't have one, I highly recommend getting one, if just to bitch about your coworkers with someone who will nod and say, "You deserved better than that, you're right."
Most of teaching is paperwork and meetings. Like genuinely, it's kind of ridiculous. We have meetings every Monday and Thursday, with occasional meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. It's a LOT of meetings, and everything needs documented.
Work life balance. Please have one. This is when you start working on not bringing work home.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUIZZES ARE OKAY. GENUINELY. I was so firmly against them as a student in college -- "that doesn't test genuine knowledge!" Neither does school. Please save yourself the hours of grading and do a few multiple choice quizzes. In some counties the system you use will autograde them.
God I could talk about this for hours on end. I'm really genuinely happy to answer so many questions about this. If you want to know anything specific, feel free to ask. I'm also over on @circular-bircular and plan to use that as my main system blog, so you can ask me more questions there if you want.
Man, I hate the mentality among some of my coworkers in this county that just using the right teaching strategy will somehow make things better.
A person at a planning meeting today was talking about how she was trying so many teaching methods already, but nothing was working. Her class was unruly, constantly talking, and treating her with no respect. She talked about how she’d tried rewards, proximity, challenges and competition, collaboration, yada yada yada.
I get it. I was like that too. I tried everything, and seemingly none of the teaching tricks worked. And another teacher jumped on it and was like. “Oh, have you tried changing the seating?” Yes. “Have you tried rewarding the entire table, rather than the individual kid?” Well, no, but I tried individual rewards, and they had no interest. Maybe I’ll try group rewards???? “It worked for me!”
I sighed. Because if they aren’t reward driven, they won’t be reward driven, regardless of the format you put it in.
I finally chimed in and explained my own struggles, and how I overcame them. “I had a class like that — disrespectful, didn’t care, constantly talking over me. I fought and fought and fought, trying everything to get them to care. And they didn’t. And at the end of the year, I asked them, what can I do to not fail my kids next year like I failed you? And they were shocked, because they’d had no idea what they did got to me.”
These are 11 year olds. They don’t get it! They don’t know you’re a human being unless you show them. I started being more open about my trauma. I started being more casual about my personal life. I started talking about my partner, and the games I play and fandoms I write for. THAT is what ended up working.
So I told her, “You can’t change their behavior. You can only encourage good ones. Right now, it feels like you’re putting this all on yourself, when it’s not on you — it’s on them. Make sure they know the effect it’s having on you, and let them know you’re not at your best at the moment because of it. Don’t feel bad for struggling to have patience with them, because you’re allowed to struggle, same as them.”
Another teacher nodded. He smiled and said, “that’s great. You should try that strategy, and hey, you can also try-“
And he told her all about competitions between grade level classes.
My method wasn’t a “strategy.” It was being human. It was teaching these 11 year olds that people are human around them. But teachers are so focused on finding that Trick That Works, that Strategy That Solved The Problem, that they don’t realize that teaching isn’t about strategies and learning practices. It’s about being a person, and letting the kids be people, and making sure they have the tools to BE those people later on.
I have gotten the opportunity to be the Safe Queer Adult for several teens while substituting at a high school and it has been the most incredible experience. I am beyond thankful for each and every exhausting moment and I need to vent some positivity.
I am so grateful for the two closeted-ish trans kiddos who anxiously shared their information in whispers after hearing me say "You can call me Miss or Mister, I don't care." and now regularly swing by my room just to hear their actual names/pronouns used with joy. And I'm grateful for the 14 year old lesbian (who will absolutely build her future wife a she-shed from scratch someday) who heard me say "my girlfriend" and immediately stopped fucking around in class and started turning in assignments/chatting with me at my desk/asking her more studious friends for help focusing. I'm even grateful for the conservative boy who started thinking about how his words impact other people after I said one of his offhanded homophobic comments really hurt my feelings - cause he spends every morning before school in my room chatting even though I'm not his teacher. He hadn't known I was queer until that moment, but other students did, and the awkward silence must have made him think.
Cause I'm the Cool Substitute. The one who will work with you about extensions and let you have test corrections without jumping through extra hoops. I know from living through both sides of the relationship that respecting kids and showing them patience is the best and fastest way to ensure empathetic, confident adults.
They know how dearly I treasure each nervously extended phone screen covered with prom dress pinterest ideas and transitional haircut options. They can rely on how hype I will get over their 3-second "new haircut glamour pose" when they walk into class. It costs me nothing to give an exhausted athlete a 1 day extension on his project after 2 consecutive basketball games. Kindness goes so far, but especially with kids, and I hope this little rant can reach some people who need to see it.
To quote Dr. Chuck Tingle, "The inertia of all things is toward love."
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As I write lesson plans, the more I consider getting certified in a subject other than English. Trying to teach kids how to write a multi paragraph essay by spring when half of them can’t write a paragraph, and at least a fourth of them can’t write a complete sentence, is so frustrating because it reflects on MY teaching when test scores suck. They keep shoving data trainings at us thinking it’ll save test scores. I’m like… we KNOW how to access and interpret the fucking scores. Give us training as to how we can teach these skills better because something clearly isn’t working at our school or any of our feeder elementary schools. 💀💀
Sometimes being an autistic teacher is fantastic. Routine, regular socialization that surrounds my hyper focus’s, it’s varied enough while still being comfortable most of the time, you kick ass at the job in the eyes of students at least because boy you like your subject area.
Then you have the lows like being hunted for sport by your neurotypical peaked in high school and wanted to relive it types. For some reason they are usually English teachers?
Sensory hell is all around you in the halls which are loud as all hell and muggy and usually smell strongly of funk and weed. Your classroom is a somewhat refuge but usually it’s loud and dirty and things are constantly being moved or changed and you’re trying to accomplish tasks and help students while also ignoring the *change* in your things you’ll need to fix in the five minutes you get to pee between classes when they want you to stand outside your door. You will get a nasty gram email for not being out there enough if you have the misfortune of needing to reset your room often or pee frequently. Did I mention how LOUD IT IS. With the occasional even louder interruption of a drill or a random long winded intercom message.
Your students love you but FUCK your coworkers rarely get on with you. Even the ones who do are clear that they find you odd and your methods unorthodox so there’s always that little edge of a taste of judgement. Wait until you try to write or respond to an email. That’s a whole word puzzle of a situation.
There have only been a handful of times in my 7-year teaching career that a student made me so instantaneously Furious that I honestly thought I was going to lose control and either say or do something I would regret. The first time was 4 years ago.
I told a fifth grade boy to sit down and he looked me right in the eye and with a snide voice said
"OK, BOOMER!"
The other two times were today. For the last two weeks we have been building up to what I'm hoping is going to be a giant mural over native americans. We first learned about the Native American tribes in Texas. Over the course of 2 days I showed them videos of murals in cities like New York and Philadelphia so they could see what really great murals look like. I explained that whatever they had to draw had to be large. This week we introduced the research component. We gave them a brochure to fill out about their tribe where they had to answer all kinds of questions and draw pictures. Today was the second day of that and as I was giving them more pointers about Google I pulled up art from each of the tribes.
I reminded them that when they were done researching they could start planning a rough draft of their mural on a page of blank white paper and then transfer that over into a giant piece of paper.
The first thing I heard when I told themm this today was
"What's a mural?"
As they researched today I pulled up some recent pow wows on YouTube and played them. I heard several kids be extremely surprised because they thought Indians were make believe or something. They kept saying "oh wow I didn't realize they were real!" " those are real people there ?" "I didn't know they still existed!" "where are they at?"
So then a few kids finished up so I told them to starr a rough draft of what they wanted to put on their part of the mural. Three kids brought me the most absolute random drawings in the world. Trying not to be disparaging I asked them "Can you tell me what this picture has to do with your tribe?"
They pouted and exclaimed "You didn't tell us the pictures had to be about INDIANS!!"
