Teaching students how to add fractions can be a real struggle. A big part of this is that we tend to get conceptually complicated about what fractions are. And a big part of this is because fractions can be conceptually complicated. I teach Algebra II. (For an elementary teachers reading this, though, hold on: I’m not…
Author: Clio
Options, not Preferences
This morning I saw a tweet that implied that cis people who use “(he/they)” or “(she/they)” in their email signatures but who present in a way that matches their gender are being opportunistic. One reply referred to it as virtue signaling, and another mocked someone who said their pronoun is “she” but that neutral pronouns…
On the bread and circuses of “Squid Game”
So, last week, we watched Squid Game. Spoiler alert: Non-specific reference to the ending below. Let me get this out of the way: The program was very well written. I didn’t really find the themes particularly original. The very idea of “bread and circuses” goes back thousands of years, and a glossy production (estimated budget…
The Worst Poems
the worst poemis the poem left unwrittenheld so close to the chest that it suffocatesbefore it can whisper its truth the second worst poemis written from complianceits voice restricted by the demandsof someone else’s rules poems are butterfliespoems are demonspoems are the soul reaching outscreamingcooingdemandingrequestingexisting do not kill the butterfliesdo not silence the demonslet them…
The Cycle Must Be Broken
i am from a long line of oppressors who built this countrywith bricks and glass carved (but not by themselves)from the mountains and the seasides of a stolen land i am from a suffocating fear of god not from fire and brimstonebut from the quiet and righteous disdain of “we’re better than you are” i…
Your Portrait
i painted your portraitin words on paper,in measured beatsdrawn taut acrossa bland white canvas it didn’t look like you:you cannot be held so easilyin words;the flesh of treesdenies your complexity and so, resigned,i colored in the edgesi connected the lettersi scratched away the details and when i leaned back and squintedi realized the face i…
On “the” National Anthem
A certain libertarian white rich man on HBO thinks there should only be one National Anthem. He’s okay with getting rid of the current one, but we all have to agree on the replacement. The idea of one National Anthem, included in his argument, is founded on the idea that there is one USA. Except…
Mother
you didn’t care when i was merely sad you only cared when i was holding the gun and you didn’t know who i was planning to shoot Clio 09.21.21
speak words of kindness
speak words of kindness to yourselfyour heart will hear youyour heart will heal you the child inside your mindhas been hidingfrom the shouting and the shaming they don’t want to be scaredthey don’t want to be scarredthey want to feel the warmth of love they’re the one you’re scoldingwhen you’re scolding yourselfand they burrow in…
On Pre-Emptive Shame
While I understand the distinction between shame and guilt being between “how I am” vs “what I did”, I feel like this misses what is for me a major component of shame. Shame is often pre-emptive: I feel ashamed of things I want to do, before I’ve even done them. I fear mockery and ostracism….