Allison Gentle
@allisongentle.bsky.social
Teacher, PhD student in Literacy, interested in ways to enable all children to become literate. Also interested in politics. I was a wide reader before I started graduate studies. Mother of two wonderful adults.
What is really wrong with education in my opinion is the 30% of students it consistently fails to teach literacy to effectively. It’s not a crisis, it’s a persistent reality, it’s wrong & it’s unnecessary. We have stratified societies that we feed with stratified literacy abilities. Betts was right.
May 31, 2025 at 2:00 PM
What is really wrong with education in my opinion is the 30% of students it consistently fails to teach literacy to effectively. It’s not a crisis, it’s a persistent reality, it’s wrong & it’s unnecessary. We have stratified societies that we feed with stratified literacy abilities. Betts was right.
Such an important conversation, still! There are people who care enough about minority children to want to help them achieve in school, but then say the solution is for families to abandon their cultural ways of raising their children & raise them more like middle class white families raise theirs.
May 16, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Such an important conversation, still! There are people who care enough about minority children to want to help them achieve in school, but then say the solution is for families to abandon their cultural ways of raising their children & raise them more like middle class white families raise theirs.
Go the Quakers! Always at the forefront of spiritually fueled social activism, from Emancipation to disrupting Trumpism. Godspeed.
January 29, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Go the Quakers! Always at the forefront of spiritually fueled social activism, from Emancipation to disrupting Trumpism. Godspeed.
As a teacher, I sometimes say “motivation is everything” and then wonder if I am exaggerating. I don’t think so. When children really want to learn something, they are phenomenally teachable. When they are deeply focused on learning, behaviour isn’t an issue. And that energy is contagious.
January 29, 2025 at 2:08 PM
As a teacher, I sometimes say “motivation is everything” and then wonder if I am exaggerating. I don’t think so. When children really want to learn something, they are phenomenally teachable. When they are deeply focused on learning, behaviour isn’t an issue. And that energy is contagious.
If you want something clearly explained, ask a teacher. The dystopian vision of Project 2025 for the systematic neglect of education for children with disabilities is morally horrific. Read it and weep.
January 29, 2025 at 2:00 PM
If you want something clearly explained, ask a teacher. The dystopian vision of Project 2025 for the systematic neglect of education for children with disabilities is morally horrific. Read it and weep.
The whole mentality of compulsory voting works against even conservatives trying that. They do love to shift electoral boundaries though.
January 26, 2025 at 11:32 PM
The whole mentality of compulsory voting works against even conservatives trying that. They do love to shift electoral boundaries though.
Fair point. In Australia we get a fine in the mail if we didn’t vote. And our elections are held on Saturdays, which makes it easier for most voters.
January 26, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Fair point. In Australia we get a fine in the mail if we didn’t vote. And our elections are held on Saturdays, which makes it easier for most voters.
It might have made a difference to the 36% of people who didn’t bother showing up to vote.
January 26, 2025 at 1:23 PM
It might have made a difference to the 36% of people who didn’t bother showing up to vote.
Yes, that’s all most of us can do. It’s hard to find the detachment to just observe. But there are people of principle who will meet the moment like Bishop Budde did. Maybe we have to put our faith in them, and the value of morality that we haven’t all forgotten.
January 25, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Yes, that’s all most of us can do. It’s hard to find the detachment to just observe. But there are people of principle who will meet the moment like Bishop Budde did. Maybe we have to put our faith in them, and the value of morality that we haven’t all forgotten.
The people most affected by it are the ones who don’t know what it is.
January 25, 2025 at 2:53 PM
The people most affected by it are the ones who don’t know what it is.
I don’t know what they’re thinking now or what they were thinking then. I sent my postal vote from Australia. The post office clerk said it would cost $45 to make sure it arrived on time. I paid it. He looked surprised. I said “It’s Trump!” I wish everyone valued their vote.
January 25, 2025 at 2:50 PM
I don’t know what they’re thinking now or what they were thinking then. I sent my postal vote from Australia. The post office clerk said it would cost $45 to make sure it arrived on time. I paid it. He looked surprised. I said “It’s Trump!” I wish everyone valued their vote.
We’re going to start saying he’s from New Zealand.
January 25, 2025 at 8:54 AM
We’re going to start saying he’s from New Zealand.
Undereducated, no critical literacy skills, vulnerable to propaganda. I’m more annoyed with the 36% who didn’t vote at all.
January 25, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Undereducated, no critical literacy skills, vulnerable to propaganda. I’m more annoyed with the 36% who didn’t vote at all.
This is so depressing. The biggest voting bloc is can’t be bothered.
January 25, 2025 at 8:25 AM
This is so depressing. The biggest voting bloc is can’t be bothered.
I hope those inspectors general are getting good advice and that they take the tough option to stand up for the rule of law. It’s important.
January 25, 2025 at 8:13 AM
I hope those inspectors general are getting good advice and that they take the tough option to stand up for the rule of law. It’s important.
You mean the military under the leadership of an unqualified alcoholic Trump loyalist?
January 25, 2025 at 8:04 AM
You mean the military under the leadership of an unqualified alcoholic Trump loyalist?
To be fair, it was only 32%
January 25, 2025 at 7:45 AM
To be fair, it was only 32%
He’s suffering from the real Trump Derangement Syndrome.
January 24, 2025 at 2:17 AM
He’s suffering from the real Trump Derangement Syndrome.
He put his head down and did the job, trusted he’d be judged by his results. But it seems about half of the people prefer someone who sits up all night making empty boasts on social media. Kamala promised care, respect, kindness; about 50% prefer callous, disdainful cruelty. It’s depressing.
January 11, 2025 at 5:07 AM
He put his head down and did the job, trusted he’d be judged by his results. But it seems about half of the people prefer someone who sits up all night making empty boasts on social media. Kamala promised care, respect, kindness; about 50% prefer callous, disdainful cruelty. It’s depressing.
Last time I would wake up every morning and look at my phone to see what chaos he’d unleashed with a 4am tweet.
January 9, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Last time I would wake up every morning and look at my phone to see what chaos he’d unleashed with a 4am tweet.
And 5-figure medical bills
January 3, 2025 at 1:17 PM
And 5-figure medical bills
Disability law needs to be elevated to the standards of any other law, with accountability and consequences for those who break it. How can that happen?
December 21, 2024 at 8:16 PM
Disability law needs to be elevated to the standards of any other law, with accountability and consequences for those who break it. How can that happen?
The faces of unprincipled ambition
December 5, 2024 at 10:34 PM
The faces of unprincipled ambition
Crisis management strategy no. 13.
December 4, 2024 at 2:04 PM
Crisis management strategy no. 13.