An interesting assignment for the teachers and schools using Privilege Bingo. Can you make a Bingo for the FCPS Leadership Team?

Anonymous wrote:@10:07, interesting ramblings. The only flaw to your activity is paid days off. Teachers & school staff only work 194 days and their salary is based on 194 days. Any "traditional" work days (e.g. for a person that doesn't work at a school would normally be expected to work) that a teacher doesn't work b/c kids are not in school (think particular days of winter break, spring break, the day before Thanksgiving, etc.) are not paid. Take a teacher's salary, divide it by 194, and that's the daily rate. If the non-school days were paid vacation days, then their salary would be X% higher.

The only paid days "off" are sick/personal leave (and snow days, when they occur), of which a teacher gets X amount per year. 12 month employees, like principals, get 26 or so days of annual leave, b/c their contracts are longer (the 12 month thing)--they work many more days in their contract and get paid accordingly.

Anonymous wrote:This will not be received well I presume. And I am not dissing teachers, I was one for more than 20 years. Also, I imagine the bingo board in this assignment was developed somewhere in a central office and not by a classroom teacher.

But I imagine most teachers would object, or take offense, if required to complete an identify you work privilege bingo board prior to some professional development and the squares included some of the following when asked to identify your work privilege…and then consider your privilege before examining your career versus work situations for other….

• Starting salary 15k or more above the US median income of $34,642 (according the the social security administration)
• 8-10 weeks off during June, July, and August (or simply a 194 annual contract)
• Two paid weeks off during the winter holidays
• One paid week off the week prior to Easter
• Three paid days off surrounding Thanksgiving
• Paid time off for many snowy days
• 12 additional days of paid leave for sickness or personal leave
• Premium health care plans
• Government-funded (partially) pensions
• Full retirement benefits beginning as early as age 55
• 15% tuition discount towards advanced degrees in VA public universities
• Dedicated week for professional appreciation
• Tenure or continuing-contract rights/protection after three years of employment
• Access to free gym-wellness classes
• Free will preparation through the EAS program
• Union/Association availability and representation
• Free, voluntary, classes available online and in person in a variety of areas through eLearnIT and the like.
• Free parking

I know this list is somewhat ridiculous and misleading (part of the point), and when ending with free parking you can see I was running out of ideas, but there are more. How privileged was I as a teacher? Did I appreciate it as I should? How should that make me feel if my student’s parent has fewer boxes they can check? What should I do about that? How should I alter my perception of them and how I treat them, or the child who parents check all of these boxes and many I cannot? Should I resent those who check more, feel guilty if I check more?

I don’t know, just rambling at this point. This just came to mind and thinking out loud.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those who ask "so what if privileged kids are made to realize they are privileged?" what do you say to the underprivileged kids who are made to realize they have far fewer privileges than their peers? What do you do with that information? What do teachers do to follow through on that so students aren't left feeling less than and disadvantaged? What good comes from that? How is that good for a student's sense of well being?

The short answer: they already know. To your second point, teachers/schools can't do a damn thing about that. Society as a whole would need to address housing discrimination, employment inequities, higher-ed disparities, etc. etc. etc. To solve this particular societal issue, one can't lay it at the feet of teachers/schools and say "fix it". The inequities are a complex issue, one that schools can't solve by themselves, if at all.

Oh, I realize they already know. On their own, I don't see how these exercises do anything but make things worse and make kids feel uncomfortable - and I'm not talking about the more privileged kids. These lessons are fraught with pitfalls and unintended consequences. That's why I don't believe they belong in K-12 classrooms.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those who ask "so what if privileged kids are made to realize they are privileged?" what do you say to the underprivileged kids who are made to realize they have far fewer privileges than their peers? What do you do with that information? What do teachers do to follow through on that so students aren't left feeling less than and disadvantaged? What good comes from that? How is that good for a student's sense of well being?

The short answer: they already know. To your second point, teachers/schools can't do a damn thing about that. Society as a whole would need to address housing discrimination, employment inequities, higher-ed disparities, etc. etc. etc. To solve this particular societal issue, one can't lay it at the feet of teachers/schools and say "fix it". The inequities are a complex issue, one that schools can't solve by themselves, if at all.

Anonymous wrote:To those who ask "so what if privileged kids are made to realize they are privileged?" what do you say to the underprivileged kids who are made to realize they have far fewer privileges than their peers? What do you do with that information? What do teachers do to follow through on that so students aren't left feeling less than and disadvantaged? What good comes from that? How is that good for a student's sense of well being?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I think of bingo, I think of old while people sitting around during a time of leisure. Now that I think about it, probably old white people who feel safe around police and eaning a gevernment funded pension, maybe even retired military. Maybe not the corret vessel for the exercise? Maybe it is just me? I will have to explore my bias as I ponder this some more.

This is stereotyping--and racist.

Anonymous wrote:When I think of bingo, I think of old while people sitting around during a time of leisure. Now that I think about it, probably old white people who feel safe around police and eaning a gevernment funded pension, maybe even retired military. Maybe not the corret vessel for the exercise? Maybe it is just me? I will have to explore my bias as I ponder this some more.

Anonymous wrote:I would be very interested in seeing this lesson plan. Still don't know what Tyson means by "author." Was it something the kids were supposed to read or was it the "author" of the Bingo? Too bad that a good reporter cannot get this information.

Anonymous wrote:Actually, crashing and burning is not uncommon for highly and profoundly gifted people.

The successful people usually fall into the much brighter than average category, not the gifted category.

That is why gifted programs were created and why they fall under the umbrella of special ed.

It also says a lot about someone's character when they become gleeful about a young adult's failure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:White fragility at its best, it’s very easy to trigger them

Exactly. Try even *implying* that it isn’t a privilege to be white or that people shouldn’t be pitied for not being so lucky and see what happens!

Well it's a privilege to be white in that you don't have to score as high as the asian kids to get into TJ. Even bigger privilege to be a POC I guess. Or does that not count?