kfwyre's recent activity
-
Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of March 8 in ~games
-
Comment on Why do I almost never catch colds anymore? in ~health
kfwyre LinkGiven the consistency, it’s possible you were experiencing allergies instead of colds. (This is coming from someone who gets to play the fun game of “Is It Allergies, a Cold, or COVID?” pretty...Before COVID, I recall that I very regularly had some kind of minor cold – it felt like it was about 50% of the time, realistically let's say maybe 20%?
Given the consistency, it’s possible you were experiencing allergies instead of colds.
(This is coming from someone who gets to play the fun game of “Is It Allergies, a Cold, or COVID?” pretty much constantly.)
-
Comment on Survey reveals almost 50% of California teachers may quit teaching soon in ~life
kfwyre (edited )Link ParentI can co-sign on each and every one of these. Let your wife know she is not alone. The second point in particular is a doozy. The primary stakeholders of education have shifted from the students...I can co-sign on each and every one of these. Let your wife know she is not alone.
The second point in particular is a doozy. The primary stakeholders of education have shifted from the students themselves to their teachers. It’s to the point where many kids do not care at all about failing, but the teacher is genuinely worried, because the responsibility for that will fall on the teacher and not the student. This is completely upside down.
Also the third point is incisive and extremely well-worded. I’ve never seen it summarized before so clearly. I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve been in where parents expect me to go far above and beyond my duties, essentially expecting me to be a personal private tutor for their child as well as the parents’ own personal secretary, all while not meeting the bare minimum themselves (e.g. not even bothering to checking their student’s grades in our online portal).
The worst part is that I end up looking like the bad guy for maintaining reasonable boundaries, because all anyone ever has to do is pull the “you’re refusing to help a child!” card to make me look like the jerk in the situation. I have to maintain professionalism when faced with this accusation, but parents can say and do whatever they like and don’t hold themselves to even close to the same standard.
It’s genuinely sad that the same pattern is happening across countries.
-
Comment on Survey reveals almost 50% of California teachers may quit teaching soon in ~life
kfwyre LinkA deeper look at what teacher attrition data says about Charlotte area school districts I thought this was a good companion article. It’s focused on North Carolina, not California, but teacher...A deeper look at what teacher attrition data says about Charlotte area school districts
Teacher attrition — a measurement of teachers who leave North Carolina public schools entirely — ticked up from 9.88% to 10.11%, but state officials said this fraction-of-a-percentage-point increase was not large enough to be meaningful.
So, about that 10.11% attrition rate. That number alone doesn’t tell the whole story.
First, that number’s a statewide average — and it masks a lot of variability.
“Individual districts’ experience with this measure will vary greatly. Many of our districts have very low attrition, many have very high attrition,” Tomberlin said.
If you look at the workbook for this data, you can see that school districts' attrition rates vary from 4.3% to 26.5%. That range is even greater when you include teachers who leave one school district to go to another North Carolina school district — a measure that doesn’t say much about teachers leaving the profession, but that highlights the challenges individual school districts might be facing in terms of retaining teachers. By that measure, attrition rates vary from 6.5% to 40.8%.
I thought this was a good companion article.
It’s focused on North Carolina, not California, but teacher retention is a nationwide issue so it’s still relevant.
-
Comment on Bookmark management for non-technical people? in ~tech
kfwyre Link ParentYeah, anything that un-lists a list would be good. If you think about someone with hundreds of bookmarks, if they’re presented in a single column, then moving something from near the top to near...Yeah, anything that un-lists a list would be good. If you think about someone with hundreds of bookmarks, if they’re presented in a single column, then moving something from near the top to near the bottom is a huge ordeal. If that same list is broken into three or four columns, however, doing the same move isn’t nearly as bad, and the user has a better overview of what’s all there.
In terms of missing features, start.me comes the closest to what I want right now. The pain points I have with it are:
As previously mentioned, it doesn’t sync with my browser bookmarks, which would be a nice quality of life feature.
Additionally, it has to load the page each time, which isn’t a huge issue, but it does mean that it lacks some “snappiness.” If the extension could save a purely local version of the page, instead of pulling from the Internet each time, it would take out a small bit of lag whenever I use it.
-
Comment on Survey reveals almost 50% of California teachers may quit teaching soon in ~life
kfwyre Link ParentThere’s been a big shift towards making grades solely indicative of mastery of standards, meaning that explicitly including things like conduct and participation in a student’s grade for a class...There’s been a big shift towards making grades solely indicative of mastery of standards, meaning that explicitly including things like conduct and participation in a student’s grade for a class is considered bad form.
It is unlikely that grading in that manner would be supported, and the teacher would likely be asked to change their policy.
(This is to say nothing of widespread grade inflation and social promotion which would make a possible failing grade relatively meaningless to the student anyway.)
-
Comment on Survey reveals almost 50% of California teachers may quit teaching soon in ~life
kfwyre (edited )Link ParentWe cannot take and keep phones. Legally, they have to be returned to the student since they are personal property. Also it’s unlikely that a student who chooses not to follow the directive about...We cannot take and keep phones. Legally, they have to be returned to the student since they are personal property.
Also it’s unlikely that a student who chooses not to follow the directive about phones in class would then comply with a directive to hand over their phone.
-
Comment on Survey reveals almost 50% of California teachers may quit teaching soon in ~life
kfwyre (edited )Link ParentIndividual teachers can ban cellphones, but it’s largely ineffective. If it’s happening on a per-class basis, that means the students will already have their phones on them to use in classes where...Individual teachers can ban cellphones, but it’s largely ineffective.
If it’s happening on a per-class basis, that means the students will already have their phones on them to use in classes where they’re not banned (as opposed to in their lockers, or a Yonder pouch or whatnot). This makes being on it a much more immediate need for the students (consider how it would feel to be in class and get a whole bunch of notifications all at once).
It also fundamentally puts the teacher in an adversarial role regarding cellphones, and they’ll have to spend a non-negligible amount of capital with the students to overcome that. Students are far more likely to see that that teacher in particular as a problem for banning phones, because plenty of other teachers don’t. Whereas if it’s consistent policy across settings, no one teacher has the burden of having to be the stick in the mud for not allowing phones (nor can a teacher gain easy but counterproductive goodwill for letting kids go on their phones).
It also puts a significant enforcement burden on the teacher. Teachers want to be seen as helpful and supportive of kids, not wardens constantly tamping down on “bad” behaviors. Kids want the same thing, but an inconsistent policy on something as high-leverage and omnipresent as phones will create an atmosphere that pushes everyone towards the latter.
Even if a teacher decides to roll with all of this though and still ban phones (which many have done, myself included), it’ll still likely be ineffective unless they’re directly supported by their administrators. Some students WILL use their phones anyway despite a ban, which means that eventually repeat instances will get piped into the schoolwide discipline system. If the administrators aren’t willing to discipline kids for phone violations in that class, then the kids will learn that they don’t have to follow the rule anyway. This once again compromises a big part of the teacher-student relationship and undermines any part of the educational benefit that the phone ban was intended to help with in the first place (and then some).
Setting school or district-wide policies is a way of making the policy itself, rather than individual teachers, be the “enemy” for the students (who of course would like to be on their phones all day, even if it isn’t healthy for their education or development). This goes a long way in helping to establish a better baseline for teacher-student relationships as well as learning in general. We know phones are distracting and apps and platforms are using every psychological trick to get kids’ attention, so if we half-step on measures to address this, we’re essentially ceding ground to those forces instead of helping kids break free from them.
-
Comment on Colossal Game Adventure Schedule: April - September 2026 in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentThanks for the sale notifications! I already had the 2004 Pirates! but I picked up the other two.Thanks for the sale notifications! I already had the 2004 Pirates! but I picked up the other two.
-
Comment on Bookmark management for non-technical people? in ~tech
kfwyre Link ParentNested folders could match the structure of what I get out of start.me, and that's how I had things before, so you're right on the money there. I think what makes the difference is having them all...Nested folders could match the structure of what I get out of start.me, and that's how I had things before, so you're right on the money there.
I think what makes the difference is having them all laid out visually instead of hiding in menus. It's kind of like the difference between spreading a bunch of papers across a tabletop, rather than having them in a stack, if that makes sense. I like being able to have the broader overview of everything, and it makes organizing them a lot easier.
-
Comment on Colossal Game Adventure Schedule: April - September 2026 in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentThis looks very promising -- thanks! Right now I keep getting an error when trying to post: Could not create paste: server error or not responding But I'll try again later.This looks very promising -- thanks!
Right now I keep getting an error when trying to post:
Could not create paste: server error or not respondingBut I'll try again later.
-
Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of March 1 in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentI already have an Index. I do not need a Frame. I already have an Index. I do not need a Frame. I already have an Index. I do not need a Frame. I already have an Index. I do not need a Frame. I...I already have an Index. I do not need a Frame.
I already have an Index. I do not need a Frame.
I already have an Index. I do not need a Frame.
I already have an Index. I do not need a Frame.
I already have an Index. I do not need a Frame. -
Comment on Colossal Game Adventure Schedule: April - September 2026 in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentA genuine love for the game makes for the best type of hosting! I’ll pencil you in for now.A genuine love for the game makes for the best type of hosting!
I’ll pencil you in for now.
-
Comment on Colossal Game Adventure Schedule: April - September 2026 in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentI honestly just randomized the list and slotted them in, so it’s entirely flexible. Looking at game lengths, our two longest are Lufia II and A Link to the Past, and those are back to back, so...I honestly just randomized the list and slotted them in, so it’s entirely flexible.
Looking at game lengths, our two longest are Lufia II and A Link to the Past, and those are back to back, so maybe we swap Pirates and Lufia to mix things up a bit more?
(Pinging @zod000 to get their thoughts on this as well.)
-
Comment on Colossal Game Adventure Schedule: April - September 2026 in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentYou’re absolutely right about Maniac Mansion. Fixed! Also, no annoyance here. In fact, I appreciate you saving me from some pretty sloppy mistakes of mine. Thanks for your eye for detail and...You’re absolutely right about Maniac Mansion. Fixed!
Also, no annoyance here. In fact, I appreciate you saving me from some pretty sloppy mistakes of mine. Thanks for your eye for detail and putting in the time and effort to vet everything.
-
Comment on Survey reveals almost 50% of California teachers may quit teaching soon in ~life
kfwyre LinkNearly half of California teachers who were surveyed plan to retire or quit in the next 10 years. Nationwide, an estimated 35% of teachers plan to leave the profession in the next decade, Kurtz said.
The findings are similar to a survey released in January by the California Teachers Association. It found that while a majority of teachers are satisfied with their job, 40% are considering leaving education within the next few years — nearly half for financial reasons.
Teacher morale is increasingly important as states continue to struggle with teacher shortages, especially in hard-to-fill jobs like special education, science, technology, math, engineering and bilingual education.
Teachers listed improved student behavior as the second most important factor for improving teacher morale. Three-quarters of elementary school teachers, 61% of middle school teachers and 54% of high school teachers surveyed said student behavior is getting worse.
Discipline problems were the result of a perfect storm of factors that worsened when students lost socialization during the pandemic and when schools shifted to restorative justice models of discipline that weren’t always communicated well to teachers or implemented with the necessary resources, Kurtz said.
More than half of the teachers who took the survey said improving student behavior would boost their morale. They called for restrictions on students’ use of cellphones and other personal devices, tougher consequences for students who misbehave, limits on parents’ ability to undermine those consequences and instruction for parents on teaching their children to behave in school.
-
Survey reveals almost 50% of California teachers may quit teaching soon
43 votes -
Comment on He thought it was a routine US Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in. Now his family fears he’ll be deported. in ~lgbt
kfwyre LinkHis family described it as a routine check-in with ICE for Ludovic Mbock, a 38-year-old regional video gaming champion who came to the U.S. from Cameroon legally as a teen and built a life in Oxon Hill.
But Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore arrested him two weeks ago and sent him to detention facilities in Louisiana and Georgia. Mbock’s lawyer and family fear he will soon be deported back to Cameroon, where he will not be safe.
“He’s an openly gay person. He won’t be able to survive in Cameroon,” said Mbock’s lawyer, Edward Neufville.
Cameroon punishes same-sex activity with fines and prison sentences of up to five years. Mbock also has no family in Cameroon, said his sister, Diane Sohna, who was born in the U.S.
In the past, the federal government was reluctant to send immigrants to countries with laws that threaten LGBTQIA+ people, but that changed under Trump, who in his second term embarked on a campaign of mass deportations. Campaigning on the issue, he promised to deport “the worse of the worst.”
-
He thought it was a routine US Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in. Now his family fears he’ll be deported.
8 votes -
Comment on Colossal Game Adventure Schedule: April - September 2026 in ~games
kfwyre LinkI think it says a lot about how good our game list is that looking at the eliminated games kind of hurts because there are a LOT of great titles in there. I do think that we're ripe for...I think it says a lot about how good our game list is that looking at the eliminated games kind of hurts because there are a LOT of great titles in there.
I do think that we're ripe for re-nominations in the future though, so I don't want people to think of an eliminated game as "gone forever" but more as "not in this round."
Also, I think it's safe to say that the Lobbying Topic was a success: three of the five games endorsed ended up winning, and the other two advanced. Of course, this could be mixing up cause and effect and maybe people were just supporting popular games in the first place, but I have a hard time believing that Space Rogue would have made it to the top without @vili's outstanding writeup
and the $100 they Venmoed me.CGA has been one of my favorite things over the past months, and I look forward to it continuing. It's fun to dive into these old games together, and it's great to read everyone's different perspectives on them.
BOOMEROAD and NOTTOLOT are both free to keep and are getting removed from Steam at the end of the month.
I’ve only played BOOMEROAD and it’s fun — throw boomerangs to create paths.
It’s more of a tech demo than a full-fledged game, but from what I remember when these released, they’re deliberately small games made by Bandai Namco teams as a way of getting devs used to the engine and development tools (I can’t find a source on this though, so take it with a grain of salt).
Interestingly enough, DORONKO WANKO, a single player puppy Splatoon-like, isn’t getting removed, despite it being released in the same batch as the other two. Perhaps because it became enough of a sleeper hit that it was worth it for them to release paid cosmetic DLC for it?
If you’re in Japan, there are also four other games getting delisted from that region. From what I’ve read, there’s no way to get or play these on non-Japanese Steam accounts.