Can someone explain AEM to me?

[Anonymous]

It’s great in theory. Awful in practice.

My favorite post ever on AEM was when one of the most outspoken characters had it pointed out to her that many/most AEM members don’t post because they don’t want to engage in that mess, and she accused them/us of unfairly limiting the dialogue.

That is AEM in a nutshell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My favorite post ever on AEM was when one of the most outspoken characters had it pointed out to her that many/most AEM members don’t post because they don’t want to engage in that mess, and she accused them/us of unfairly limiting the dialogue.

With great power comes great responsibility, but AEM doesn't have any more power than you give it, so the whole "You must participate fully" makes me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s great in theory. Awful in practice.

My favorite post ever on AEM was when one of the most outspoken characters had it pointed out to her that many/most AEM members don’t post because they don’t want to engage in that mess, and she accused them/us of unfairly limiting the dialogue.

That is AEM in a nutshell.

Lol. I don’t remember that one. My favorite was the DON’T BLOCK ME thesis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s great in theory. Awful in practice.

My favorite post ever on AEM was when one of the most outspoken characters had it pointed out to her that many/most AEM members don’t post because they don’t want to engage in that mess, and she accused them/us of unfairly limiting the dialogue.

That is AEM in a nutshell.

Lol. I don’t remember that one. My favorite was the DON’T BLOCK ME thesis.

I will sometimes see that a post has 25 comments, but when I click, I can only see 5-10. And a song wells in my heart as I realize that the people I found tedious enough to block are still out there, being tedious.

[Anonymous]

I've witnessed people have whole breakdowns online when APS didn't rule their way.

I hope most of the active posters are taking a break from AEM for the summer. For their own damn health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I indirectly know the creator as our kids went to the same school. This is in N Arlington, but I don't know where most AEM members or posters are from.

My understanding is that the creator did a lot of advocacy with APS on instructional issues. I think she was active in CCPTA. I know at one point she was fairly close with Nancy Van Doren- hosted fundraisers, etc.

At some point she started AEM- I think the intent was to provide a hub for people doing this type of advocacy work at different schools, to compare experiences and collaborate on common issues which may exist across different schools. I am guessing that is why someone would list her as an endorser on a campaign, as kind of a "community activist". At one point I thought she was going to run for SB.

Obviously it devolved over time. It's a shame, I think the creator had good intentions and it was a beneficial resource for a time, but I left in the past year when it became clear that the same 10 people were just posting and commenting on everything. As someone else said, it's not even that I disagree with them, the tone and sniping just negated any helpfulness the group ever had.

This is interesting, thanks. So it wasn't created with the intention of just complaining.

DP. The creator was active in task forces and standing committee, so it’s not surprising she has endorsement power.

She is friends with a lot of active posters, so that’s likely why she moderates so lightly.

But I do blame that group for the APS dumpster fire over the past year. If her or her silent partner had put the kibbosh on the APE vs SR flame wars, it may have prevented the vitriol thrown towards the rest of the community.

Yes, I couldn't agree more. And it's really sad. She once claimed she had no idea how to moderate some users but she could figure out how to moderate others [hint: usually those with opposing views] It really was too bad because on occasion someone does raise some real issues and there is real discussion at times but it gets deeply buried.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s great in theory. Awful in practice.

My favorite post ever on AEM was when one of the most outspoken characters had it pointed out to her that many/most AEM members don’t post because they don’t want to engage in that mess, and she accused them/us of unfairly limiting the dialogue.

That is AEM in a nutshell.

Lol. I don’t remember that one. My favorite was the DON’T BLOCK ME thesis.

This is actually quite important. People from SmartRestart block people so they can't get fact checked on the COVID misinformation/fear porn they're spreading to the community (and many of the teachers who follow AEM).

It's also full of bullying. The "moderator" is a power hungry joke who lets the "close the schools down forever" crowd run wild there and slam anyone who disagrees with them (i.e., the vast majority of the country). But she'd kick people off for criticizing healthy teachers (e.g., a mid-30s Yorktown teacher who posts on AEM) for taking non-ADA leaves of absence during an education staffing crisis.

Speaking of which, if a healthy teacher wanted to take a LOA, they should have been forbidden as there was a staffing crisis. APS could have done what Catholic schools and any other employer does in a time of staffing crisis - no LOAs, with the only other option to quit. So many kids got stuck with Zoom in a room because of the Arlington County government refusing to cross the teachers unions. But no - the "moderator" on AEM enforces censorship of what is such a common sense solution.

Thus, you can also thank AEM (and the "moderator") for contributing significantly to what appears APS' record of highest % unenrollment of a school district in the country. APS last year was a school district ran with the primary purpose to pay adults, not educate children. And parents (who could afford it) voted with their feet.

1.) Some APE members blocked people who didn't agree with them too. IIRC, I think the "Don't Block Me" post was a SR member complaining about APE members blocking her.
2.) If you wrote this diatribe on AEM, I would block you too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s great in theory. Awful in practice.

My favorite post ever on AEM was when one of the most outspoken characters had it pointed out to her that many/most AEM members don’t post because they don’t want to engage in that mess, and she accused them/us of unfairly limiting the dialogue.

That is AEM in a nutshell.

Lol. I don’t remember that one. My favorite was the DON’T BLOCK ME thesis.

This is actually quite important. People from SmartRestart block people so they can't get fact checked on the COVID misinformation/fear porn they're spreading to the community (and many of the teachers who follow AEM).

It's also full of bullying. The "moderator" is a power hungry joke who lets the "close the schools down forever" crowd run wild there and slam anyone who disagrees with them (i.e., the vast majority of the country). But she'd kick people off for criticizing healthy teachers (e.g., a mid-30s Yorktown teacher who posts on AEM) for taking non-ADA leaves of absence during an education staffing crisis.

Speaking of which, if a healthy teacher wanted to take a LOA, they should have been forbidden as there was a staffing crisis. APS could have done what Catholic schools and any other employer does in a time of staffing crisis - no LOAs, with the only other option to quit. So many kids got stuck with Zoom in a room because of the Arlington County government refusing to cross the teachers unions. But no - the "moderator" on AEM enforces censorship of what is such a common sense solution.

Thus, you can also thank AEM (and the "moderator") for contributing significantly to what appears APS' record of highest % unenrollment of a school district in the country. APS last year was a school district ran with the primary purpose to pay adults, not educate children. And parents (who could afford it) voted with their feet.

The moderator of AEM is so strange. She does act like the Rupert Murdoch of APS news, with the same caliber of bias in the posts and her posters as Fox News.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s great in theory. Awful in practice.

My favorite post ever on AEM was when one of the most outspoken characters had it pointed out to her that many/most AEM members don’t post because they don’t want to engage in that mess, and she accused them/us of unfairly limiting the dialogue.

That is AEM in a nutshell.

Lol. I don’t remember that one. My favorite was the DON’T BLOCK ME thesis.

This is actually quite important. People from SmartRestart block people so they can't get fact checked on the COVID misinformation/fear porn they're spreading to the community (and many of the teachers who follow AEM).

It's also full of bullying. The "moderator" is a power hungry joke who lets the "close the schools down forever" crowd run wild there and slam anyone who disagrees with them (i.e., the vast majority of the country). But she'd kick people off for criticizing healthy teachers (e.g., a mid-30s Yorktown teacher who posts on AEM) for taking non-ADA leaves of absence during an education staffing crisis.

Speaking of which, if a healthy teacher wanted to take a LOA, they should have been forbidden as there was a staffing crisis. APS could have done what Catholic schools and any other employer does in a time of staffing crisis - no LOAs, with the only other option to quit. So many kids got stuck with Zoom in a room because of the Arlington County government refusing to cross the teachers unions. But no - the "moderator" on AEM enforces censorship of what is such a common sense solution.

Thus, you can also thank AEM (and the "moderator") for contributing significantly to what appears APS' record of highest % unenrollment of a school district in the country. APS last year was a school district ran with the primary purpose to pay adults, not educate children. And parents (who could afford it) voted with their feet.

The moderator of AEM is so strange. She does act like the Rupert Murdoch of APS news, with the same caliber of bias in the posts and her posters as Fox News.

+1

From what I see, her entire life other than being a parent seems to be driven by being the moderator of that blog. Her life must be pretty boring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s great in theory. Awful in practice.

My favorite post ever on AEM was when one of the most outspoken characters had it pointed out to her that many/most AEM members don’t post because they don’t want to engage in that mess, and she accused them/us of unfairly limiting the dialogue.

That is AEM in a nutshell.

Lol. I don’t remember that one. My favorite was the DON’T BLOCK ME thesis.

This is actually quite important. People from SmartRestart block people so they can't get fact checked on the COVID misinformation/fear porn they're spreading to the community (and many of the teachers who follow AEM).

It's also full of bullying. The "moderator" is a power hungry joke who lets the "close the schools down forever" crowd run wild there and slam anyone who disagrees with them (i.e., the vast majority of the country). But she'd kick people off for criticizing healthy teachers (e.g., a mid-30s Yorktown teacher who posts on AEM) for taking non-ADA leaves of absence during an education staffing crisis.

Speaking of which, if a healthy teacher wanted to take a LOA, they should have been forbidden as there was a staffing crisis. APS could have done what Catholic schools and any other employer does in a time of staffing crisis - no LOAs, with the only other option to quit. So many kids got stuck with Zoom in a room because of the Arlington County government refusing to cross the teachers unions. But no - the "moderator" on AEM enforces censorship of what is such a common sense solution.

Thus, you can also thank AEM (and the "moderator") for contributing significantly to what appears APS' record of highest % unenrollment of a school district in the country. APS last year was a school district ran with the primary purpose to pay adults, not educate children. And parents (who could afford it) voted with their feet.

1.) Some APE members blocked people who didn't agree with them too. IIRC, I think the "Don't Block Me" post was a SR member complaining about APE members blocking her.
2.) If you wrote this diatribe on AEM, I would block you too.

+10000. It's been written before ad nauseam. I guess bro dad is so angry that he'll write it again in another thread.

Also thanks to AEM, we all know that both sides blocked each other. You would think that there would be peace in Arlington. Thanks, DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s great in theory. Awful in practice.

My favorite post ever on AEM was when one of the most outspoken characters had it pointed out to her that many/most AEM members don’t post because they don’t want to engage in that mess, and she accused them/us of unfairly limiting the dialogue.

That is AEM in a nutshell.

Lol. I don’t remember that one. My favorite was the DON’T BLOCK ME thesis.

This is actually quite important. People from SmartRestart block people so they can't get fact checked on the COVID misinformation/fear porn they're spreading to the community (and many of the teachers who follow AEM).

It's also full of bullying. The "moderator" is a power hungry joke who lets the "close the schools down forever" crowd run wild there and slam anyone who disagrees with them (i.e., the vast majority of the country). But she'd kick people off for criticizing healthy teachers (e.g., a mid-30s Yorktown teacher who posts on AEM) for taking non-ADA leaves of absence during an education staffing crisis.

Speaking of which, if a healthy teacher wanted to take a LOA, they should have been forbidden as there was a staffing crisis. APS could have done what Catholic schools and any other employer does in a time of staffing crisis - no LOAs, with the only other option to quit. So many kids got stuck with Zoom in a room because of the Arlington County government refusing to cross the teachers unions. But no - the "moderator" on AEM enforces censorship of what is such a common sense solution.

Thus, you can also thank AEM (and the "moderator") for contributing significantly to what appears APS' record of highest % unenrollment of a school district in the country. APS last year was a school district ran with the primary purpose to pay adults, not educate children. And parents (who could afford it) voted with their feet.

1.) Some APE members blocked people who didn't agree with them too. IIRC, I think the "Don't Block Me" post was a SR member complaining about APE members blocking her.
2.) If you wrote this diatribe on AEM, I would block you too.

+10000. It's been written before ad nauseam. I guess bro dad is so angry that he'll write it again in another thread.

Also thanks to AEM, we all know that both sides blocked each other. You would think that there would be peace in Arlington. Thanks, DCUM.

APE member here. We definitely weren't blocking people on AEM. The only reason most of us went on that horrible echo chamber was to fight misinformation from the typical SmartRestart folks. Most APE are now gone from AEM (the science is now clear that we were right, and SmartRestart was wrong).

Please be ready to hear about the unenrollment numbers ad nauseam going forward, including in the local and national press. The official ones will be coming out soon, and we already know from the little information released in May that they're going to be very bad (worse than San Francisco).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s great in theory. Awful in practice.

My favorite post ever on AEM was when one of the most outspoken characters had it pointed out to her that many/most AEM members don’t post because they don’t want to engage in that mess, and she accused them/us of unfairly limiting the dialogue.

That is AEM in a nutshell.

Lol. I don’t remember that one. My favorite was the DON’T BLOCK ME thesis.

This is actually quite important. People from SmartRestart block people so they can't get fact checked on the COVID misinformation/fear porn they're spreading to the community (and many of the teachers who follow AEM).

It's also full of bullying. The "moderator" is a power hungry joke who lets the "close the schools down forever" crowd run wild there and slam anyone who disagrees with them (i.e., the vast majority of the country). But she'd kick people off for criticizing healthy teachers (e.g., a mid-30s Yorktown teacher who posts on AEM) for taking non-ADA leaves of absence during an education staffing crisis.

Speaking of which, if a healthy teacher wanted to take a LOA, they should have been forbidden as there was a staffing crisis. APS could have done what Catholic schools and any other employer does in a time of staffing crisis - no LOAs, with the only other option to quit. So many kids got stuck with Zoom in a room because of the Arlington County government refusing to cross the teachers unions. But no - the "moderator" on AEM enforces censorship of what is such a common sense solution.

Thus, you can also thank AEM (and the "moderator") for contributing significantly to what appears APS' record of highest % unenrollment of a school district in the country. APS last year was a school district ran with the primary purpose to pay adults, not educate children. And parents (who could afford it) voted with their feet.

1.) Some APE members blocked people who didn't agree with them too. IIRC, I think the "Don't Block Me" post was a SR member complaining about APE members blocking her.
2.) If you wrote this diatribe on AEM, I would block you too.

+10000. It's been written before ad nauseam. I guess bro dad is so angry that he'll write it again in another thread.

Also thanks to AEM, we all know that both sides blocked each other. You would think that there would be peace in Arlington. Thanks, DCUM.

APE member here. We definitely weren't blocking people on AEM. The only reason most of us went on that horrible echo chamber was to fight misinformation from the typical SmartRestart folks. Most APE are now gone from AEM (the science is now clear that we were right, and SmartRestart was wrong).

Please be ready to hear about the unenrollment numbers ad nauseam going forward, including in the local and national press. The official ones will be coming out soon, and we already know from the little information released in May that they're going to be very bad (worse than San Francisco).

One of APE's most notorious members blocked anyone who didn't agree with her long, winding posts. I was blocked for a time. After she unblocked me after several months, I took the liberty of doing the same to her. Not hearing her ad hominem arguments was so, so worth it.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I've been told there were other APE members that were liberal in their blocking abilities. I don't particularly care. It's your feed, block who you want.

But don't pretend you're any better than the other side.

Maybe there will be mass unenrollment. What I'm hearing though is that many people are leaving their private schools to reenroll their kids in APS. Five days of school is back! Yay!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Maybe there will be mass unenrollment. What I'm hearing though is that many people are leaving their private schools to reenroll their kids in APS. Five days of school is back! Yay!

This is what will actually happen. When we are back to wildly overcrowded with no CIP plan the administration is going to be surprised and shocked. How could anyone have predicted such a thing?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s great in theory. Awful in practice.

My favorite post ever on AEM was when one of the most outspoken characters had it pointed out to her that many/most AEM members don’t post because they don’t want to engage in that mess, and she accused them/us of unfairly limiting the dialogue.

That is AEM in a nutshell.

Lol. I don’t remember that one. My favorite was the DON’T BLOCK ME thesis.

This is actually quite important. People from SmartRestart block people so they can't get fact checked on the COVID misinformation/fear porn they're spreading to the community (and many of the teachers who follow AEM).

It's also full of bullying. The "moderator" is a power hungry joke who lets the "close the schools down forever" crowd run wild there and slam anyone who disagrees with them (i.e., the vast majority of the country). But she'd kick people off for criticizing healthy teachers (e.g., a mid-30s Yorktown teacher who posts on AEM) for taking non-ADA leaves of absence during an education staffing crisis.

Speaking of which, if a healthy teacher wanted to take a LOA, they should have been forbidden as there was a staffing crisis. APS could have done what Catholic schools and any other employer does in a time of staffing crisis - no LOAs, with the only other option to quit. So many kids got stuck with Zoom in a room because of the Arlington County government refusing to cross the teachers unions. But no - the "moderator" on AEM enforces censorship of what is such a common sense solution.

Thus, you can also thank AEM (and the "moderator") for contributing significantly to what appears APS' record of highest % unenrollment of a school district in the country. APS last year was a school district ran with the primary purpose to pay adults, not educate children. And parents (who could afford it) voted with their feet.

1.) Some APE members blocked people who didn't agree with them too. IIRC, I think the "Don't Block Me" post was a SR member complaining about APE members blocking her.
2.) If you wrote this diatribe on AEM, I would block you too.

+10000. It's been written before ad nauseam. I guess bro dad is so angry that he'll write it again in another thread.

Also thanks to AEM, we all know that both sides blocked each other. You would think that there would be peace in Arlington. Thanks, DCUM.

APE member here. We definitely weren't blocking people on AEM. The only reason most of us went on that horrible echo chamber was to fight misinformation from the typical SmartRestart folks. Most APE are now gone from AEM (the science is now clear that we were right, and SmartRestart was wrong).

Please be ready to hear about the unenrollment numbers ad nauseam going forward, including in the local and national press. The official ones will be coming out soon, and we already know from the little information released in May that they're going to be very bad (worse than San Francisco).

One of APE's most notorious members blocked anyone who didn't agree with her long, winding posts. I was blocked for a time. After she unblocked me after several months, I took the liberty of doing the same to her. Not hearing her ad hominem arguments was so, so worth it.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I've been told there were other APE members that were liberal in their blocking abilities. I don't particularly care. It's your feed, block who you want.

But don't pretend you're any better than the other side.

Maybe there will be mass unenrollment. What I'm hearing though is that many people are leaving their private schools to reenroll their kids in APS. Five days of school is back! Yay!

I guess you have a horrible source then. APS already disclosed in early May that 2,000 of the 2,700 students that left are not coming back next year (300 of that 2,700 didn't respond to the survey and APS said you could also assume they were almost all not coming back). There were 3,500 total and they had not surveyed them all.

That of course didn't include people who couldn't get their kids out of APS this year (private schools were completely full by February) and didn't provide notice they were leaving until the end of school.
https://www.arlnow.com/2021/05/05/lower-enrollment-could-help-bail-aps-out-of-11m-deficit/

[Anonymous]

Of the kids I know of in DS' class, 2 went private last year. 1 is coming back, but 3 others are leaving. So that small sample suggests things could be much worse next year. We won't know until September I don't think.