Excellent, Mrs. Oliphant!!!! So glad you changed your avatar!

Sephirah, your compliments always make me blush, internally, at the very least!

Quote from: Emma1017 on April 12, 2025, 05:16:13 PMSephirah, your compliments always make me blush, internally, at the very least!

Good. <3

Also, Emma, I think if more kids around the world had teachers like you, there'd be a lot more engaged young people. Thank you for seeing it as an opportunity, not a chore. I think you're amazing.

Quote from: Emma1017 on April 12, 2025, 05:16:13 PMExcellent, Mrs. Oliphant!!!! So glad you changed your avatar!

You were my inspiration, Emma! Well, that and buying a new dress.

Thank you, Sephirah, and back at you!!!  I wouldn't be where I am without the incredible emotional support you unselfishly give to me and so many of us!

Mrs. Oliphant, shopping for a new dress will always perk up the day!

On Thursday, I had a double period, and the kids were done early and bored, so I invited them up to draw their favorite cartoon characters on the large white boards to kill the class time left.  Three of them really got into it, and I was impressed.

One student who has been really quiet every time I have him in class (hood is always pulled up) suddenly opened up to me as he was drawing on the board.  When he was done, he didn't have a phone, so I asked him if he wanted a photo and I would give him a copy.  I printed it on photo print paper, trimmed it like a baseball card, and gave it to him the next day....now he wants to draw in every class I have him in.

Who knows, this could be a collectable someday:

Quote from: Emma1017 on April 13, 2025, 07:43:13 AMI printed it on photo print paper, trimmed it like a baseball card, and gave it to him the next day....now he wants to draw in every class I have him in.

Right through my career I was coming up against people who'd made it into adulthood with no experience of praise (often only the opposite) and whose self-esteem was unmeasurable because of that. You did some good that day.

Thank you Tanya. That meant a lot to me.❤️

Quote from: Emma1017 on April 13, 2025, 08:36:04 PMThank you Tanya. That meant a lot to me.❤️

You've reminded me about one time I worked for a guy who was nice but broadly uncomfortable in interactions with people. One thing he knew was he should motivate people by praising them for good stuff they'd done, but he was so focussed (technically he one of the best people I ever worked with) he'd often let stuff float past him, like you'd been on a crash team three times that morning with 100% resus success, and then there'd be a moment when you saw him think, 'Wait, I haven't issued my daily praise!'

And he'd randomly select something to praise you for. On one occasion, it was dropping a blind. He had me spellbound often and eventually I worked out what it was made him the way he was, which some people might like to take a guess at? But random though the praise from him could be, he was good to work with, because you kinda knew he would have issued praise for the really good stuff you'd done if only he hadn't been distracted by what he was concentrating on.

But well targeted praise like the one you dropped puts you in the big hitter league, because fewer people do it than should. Use it strategically enough and you can turn children around and give them a confidence and security they never had.

Thank you again Tanya. 

We can all appreciate the pain that being a member of the LGBTQ community can cause, especially for a teenager.  I am trying to navigate each child.  It's worth the slow, careful walk through their emotional mind fields.    Their positive responses are so worth it.

Emma,

Enjoy each day as it comes, and we hope our youth have the same.
There are many struggles in life.  We deal with them.

It is nice to have pleasant times and memories.  Make it so!

Chrissy

This is tragically sad:

"The UK Supreme Court rules that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex."

But that goes against the human rights ruling so TBH wont stand up in court. It was brought about by "female rights activists" Looks like I will have to get my Gender recognition certificate when I can afford it. 

What would that cost?

Letter from surgery team was £50 3 years ago, letter from my doc might be free but then there is the cost of certificate . Another £50?

Is it even an option given the court rulings the last few days?

Quote from: D'Amalie on April 17, 2025, 01:36:12 PMIs it even an option given the court rulings the last few days?

Yes the status of the GRC remains unchanged and believe it or not, it only costs £6 to apply.

All they did was define "sex" as a legal meaning so nothing to be to worried about. Anti brigade have blown it up to mean something else and the "news" papers have as well.

That's pretty balanced, Davina. If anyone is curious to know why you're right, I spent the last couple of days reading the Supreme Court judgment and the three acts it deals with and wrote this post to sum up what a gender recognition certificate means in the UK. Which in England and Wales is what it always has done.

Tanya, thank you for writing about the court's ruling.  I hated seeing all those nasty TERFs celebrating in the newspapers.

I hope that the courts rule on the difference between biological sex and gender.  Animals do not understand the human concept of gender in the way humans do. They recognize biological differences (sex) but not the social and cultural interpretations of gender.

Humans see the world in tangibles and intangibles.  I would like to courts to define what is "love", and who is the true "God" next.

Quote from: Emma1017 on April 19, 2025, 08:53:58 AMI hated seeing all those nasty TERFs celebrating in the newspapers.

I don't see or hear crowds (outside a few groups I'm sure you can imagine) celebrating on the streets, because most people in the UK don't understand or even care what the argument was about. It's more a case of the newspapers giving a platform for sanctimonious outrage, the way they are so inclined to do!

That makes the opposition groups look more numerous than they really are.

Emma,

Have a wonderful weekend!


Chrissy