That may be so, but my biggest issue with her singing is that she tries too damn hard. When performing live, she loses any sense of a song's dynamics because she's singing so loud and so hard from start to finish.

I have a student who apologizes for absolutely everything. She is so sweet, but any time she stops by after school for help (she's an English learner) she apologizes profusely for taking up my time, or worst of all, for not understanding something. It breaks my heart that she feels like she has to apologize for…

I met several online friends when I was a teenager. We were all Pirates of Caribbean fanfic writers and had all been reviewing one another's stories and having threaded discussions for over a year, and someone finally suggested a get together when one of the ships from the film made an appearance at a local port. I…

I recall being about 200 lbs and going to a new GYN in my new town I had just moved to. The first thing she said to me was that I should lose weight because heavy people look so much older. I have such a pretty face, why age it? I remember thinking, WTF. I never went back to her practice.

I find your choice of words ("accommodate") to be rather off-putting. You make it sound as if clothing the plus sized is an onerous obligation that is a burden to all "regular" sized people. And you furthermore seem to suggest that by making functional, attractive plus size clothes available more people will be…

LAUSD pays over 12 months? When you think about it, it is actually better for teachers because there is no two month dry spell during summer. That said, there is no freaking way that withholding summer pay if you are laid off is legal. Contact your local union rep. I seriously find that hard to swallow. And if it is…

They may be turning MA folks away when it comes to hiring, but CA state law is that you have 5 years from getting your initial teaching credential to get your masters, or they take your credential away. True story. So the fact of the matter is, they may hire only BA teachers for now, but come 5 years, they will have a…

"Is it worth it, teachers of the United States? Is the light bulb flashing over the head of a kid...reward enough for your labors...?"

Well said.

I love my ring too. So much simpler than pills. I would invariably always forget one throughout the month, the ring is so awesomely "set it and forget it." The only bad thing is that my hubs says it feels weird during sex, so I have to be SUPER diligent to put it back in right after sex. I have forgotten it on the…

Seconded. She is just awful. I mean truly, truly awful. I love Baz Lurhmann's Romeo and Juliet and she just freaking ruins every scene she's in!

Mr. Rayrays and I have pretty much agreed to the exact same thing.

As a former rebellious teenager and current high school teacher, having 16 year old boobies and inner thighs in your face is a distraction, period. I am a female, straight, married educator, and I find it quite distracting when students come to class in coochie cutters so small I can practically see labia or wearing…

I just learned that a student of mine is pregnant. It breaks my heart. I'd like to think that if our school had some comprehensive sex ed, or allowed teachers and counselors to discuss reproductive choices with students without risk of being fired, this might not have happened.

My husband and I were shopping in the kitchen aisle of a local department store when we overheard a nearby mother and teenage daughter discussing things the daughter would need for her freshman college dorm room. The mother began to examine a manual can opener when the daughter exclaimed, "But I only know how to use…

THIS. All of THIS.

Can we give this guy a freaking medal?

The iambic pentameter is off. #Englishteachergripe

My girls threw me the best bachelorette party I could ask for. Drunk arts and crafts at my friend's apartment followed by enormous drinks and a burlesque show at a West Hollywood restaurant/bar (Hamburger Mary's). It wasn't an exclusively gay bar, but it was a gay area of town, so it was a wonderfully mixed crowd of…

As a current English teacher, I have never enjoyed Gatsby. I hated Gatsby in HS. Reread it in college and still didn't find much pleasure in it. Revisited it in graduate school, and I STILL didn't get what all the hullabaloo is about. The symbolism is ridiculously heavy handed and I find none of the characters…