#but I’m always amazed at how often kids do want to …. idk sink their teeth into something real

[itspileofgoodthings]

Well, I actually have the most mundane of questions, but it’s been so long since I’ve been in an English class that I feel like I’ve completely forgotten (and I’m curious how you do it): how do you go about reading a book as a class? Do you assign them the chapters to read at home and most of them actually do it? Or do you give them class time to read? Do you have the kids who try to spoil the rest of the book for the class? Basically, how does one teach a book in the year 2024?  😀

And do you have your students annotate inside their books? (I know the English teachers in my school require the students to do that, and I get why, but I inwardly shudder every time I see a student marking up a page.) 

Haha I love this question because I too am always asking myself how DOES one each a book in 2024?

It’s sort of a combination. I absolutely assign reading every night (almost) unless it’s Shakespeare or any play in which case we read it all in class. But for a novel there’s a couple chapters a night. I read aloud to them a lot too. Sometjmes I make them read aloud to the whole class, rotating kids who read. Sometimes I assign a chapter to be read in class silently with questions or quotes due at the end of the reading. Sometimes I put them in groups and make them read aloud to each other. There’s no one way that works for sure and of course ultimately I have no control over how much they read and I’m not naive enough to think that most of the reading assigned for homework doesn’t get skipped most of the time buuuuuut.

My bottom line is that I believe it’s my job to get excited about the actual text itself (easier for me in some cases than others but overall pretty easy because it does fill me with excitement) and then commit to taking them on the journey of the story with me. And my goal—that I’m sure I often don’t reach—is to make that experience so much more fun if you have actually read. And the way that I teach is pretty text heavy which is why I always make sure I’ve read the chapters for the day and am not just relying on my memory because the way I do it is just sort of absorbing it all up like a vacuum-cleaner, schwooooop, and then either pulling stuff out of the reading to look at directly or directing them to do the same thing. So the big thing that I have going for me, if any, is buy-in. Is getting kids excited about actually reading the actual text. I also speak often and passionately about the evils of sparknotes etc. not because they help kids get better grades or whatever but because they present you with the husk and shell of a story, stripped of all that makes it interesting, and that by reading that alone they’re reading something so dry and dull and are not achieving what I always want them to achieve —which is, have an Experience with the Literature.

Again, it never works perfectly by any stretch and there are so many ways I want to explore in my quest to get better at it but overall I think, at my very best, I can create this wave of energy and excitement in the story itself which is the most organic and ultimately most helpful way to get them to want to read.

Also no haha. I don’t let them annotate! Though occasionally kids DO of course. But sometimes they bring in their own copies in order to do that. The spoilers absolutely happen and are annoying but I sort of get by it by moving on very quickly and/or talking about how it’s often not the ending but how you get there that makes it interesting. Because that’s just true!

#gosh does this answer make sense #I am so passionate about doing it well and there are huge gaps in my teaching in terms of concrete stuff #but I am doing ….. Something in terms of bringing literature closer to them #and that’s what I want to do! #also love love love the bonus of getting to reread great works over and over until they start sinking into my brain #and I think (well I usually don’t think about it) but I think that the experience for them of watching me read it again #(and sometimes literally I won’t have time to read I need 10 minutes to finish this chapter and tell them to shut up) #(while I sit there and read it) #reminds them that I AM committed to doing the work with them. that I am actually doing it and that I want to! #and idk I think that is both a rarer experience and one that’s kind of underrated in terms of how much warmth it can create #because I have nothing in common with 16 year olds we couldn’t be friends in real life without it being very weird/possibly inappropriate #but in class we have a Thing to be friends about #we have a shared goal! and not just an arbitrary one but a deeply beautiful one #idk. there’s still a lot of boredom a lot of pushback a lot of disinterest #but I’m always amazed at how often kids do want to …. idk sink their teeth into something real #it’s REAL food for their minds. and the hunger for it is there even if they decide they’re too lazy to join the group #my goal is to —merely by the situation itself—make you feel left out of the fun if you refuse to do the work #so you can CHOOSE that but it’s less fun. it’s cold. it’s boring and it’s isolating #because refusing to do the work and insisting on being a little toad SHOULD come with natural social punishments in the form of exclusion #from the best kind of fun. it often does NOT. but yeah. I think I’m also getting better at shutting down toad behavior from adolescent male #this is where teaching co-Ed helps because there are some girls who are like ‘if you stop my learning I will kill you’ #not ENOUGH girls but some #ooooof this is a long answer but literally always on my mind #thank you for asking!!! also haha I assumed you were an English teacher yourself!

[geekybisexualwriter]

“I’m Glad You Kidnapped Me” (Five Hargreeves x genderneutral!reader)

Request: Can you do a Five Hargreeves x reader where Y/N and Five are friends and he finds out that Y/N’s mom is Cha Cha and kidnaps Y/N while they have Klaus. Y/N and Five become close and Cha Cha finds Five and almost drowns him and as Y/N is giving him mouth to mouth, he wakes up and they kiss. Thx 

Requested by: anon

(A/N: That was an amazing idea, anon! I hope I do it justice.)

(A/N #2: I accidentally deleted a different request, and I don’t remember much of it, so sorry if that was yours!)

(A/N #3: Sorry this took so long! I just started remote learning, and it is much harder than I thought it would be, and I have some family stuff to deal with as well(not getting into it). I’ll be updating as often as I can.)

Word count: 1672

Warnings: mention of kidnapping, slight fluff, waterboarding

Taglists: 

Permanent:  

@five-scoffee

@peepeeparkerr

@linthebinbag

5 x reader:

@sitherin-mxschief

@paradox-psychosis

Y/N sighs, staring out the window of the hotel room that they shared with Uncle Hazel and their mom. It was around midnight, and they were supposed to be sleeping so they could be on their A-game tomorrow to kill even more people. 

They hated it more than anything. They would do anything to be whisked away, to not have to deal with- 

And suddenly, they were knocked unconscious by a panting Five, standing over them with a baseball bat(idk how he got it). He picks them up and gets in a car that he stole, setting them down in the backseat with a smirk.

*THE NEXT DAY*

Y/N was sleeping soundly on the couch in the living room in the Academy when they wake up to yelling.

“What the hell, Five? You kidnapped a person!” A woman with long dark hair with blonde highlights glares at a boy who seemed to be around Y/N’s age.

“Yeah, that’s messed up man.” A man with short dark hair and piercing dark eyes shakes his head at a boy with a school uniform on.

“This can be used to our advantage! I now have a bargaining chip to use against Cha Cha!” The Boy (just accidentally did an homage to the comics. Nice.) says, tired of his siblings’ empathy.

“The ‘bargaining chip’ has a name and feelings, you know.” Y/N sits up and glares around at the group of adults and one boy, who all stare at them. “And one of the feelings that it’s feeling is anger.” 

“I don’t care about your feelings, but I do care about your name,” The Boy says, his patience clearly wearing thin(per usual). “What is it?”

“Like I’m telling you, you’re the person who kidnapped me,” Y/N says with a death glare at him. “I don’t trust you.”

The Boy growls but keeps his anger in check for a change. “Fine. I’ll tell you mine. I’m Five Hargreeves, and you are?”

“You’re Five Hargreeves? A boy?” Y/N chuckles. “Like I’m going to believe that. The real Five Hargreeves is like eighty.” 

“Fifty eight.” Five grumbles. 

“I really don’t care. Let me go.” 

“Not until your mom finds you. And then you can go back to her, but not until you give me information on what they’re going to do next.”

“Well, that sucks for you, because I’m not telling you anything,” Y/N says, a big smirk on her face. Of course, that feeling was only skin-deep, because she had no idea what they were going to do. They wouldn’t tell her anything, not that she was interested, although it would have been helpful right now.

“Oh, you will.” Five chuckles darkly. “Trust me.”

“I don’t.” Y/N snaps. 

Cha Cha wakes up at 5 am on the dot every morning, rising from her bed and looks to the place where she always first looked on a mission(which was pretty much constantly), her child’s bed, usually finding a sleeping Y/N, who would be normally snoring quietly. But this time, she found her worst nightmare.

Y/N was gone. 

Cha Cha’s eyes widen, and she runs from her bed to Y/N’s, tears running down her face. “No no no no no no…” she mutters to herself repeatedly. “HAZEL!” 

Hazel, the lazy one, slowly opened his eyes to look over at Cha Cha. “Hm?” he mumbles, barely registering anything, let alone tears. “What happ’n’d?” 

“They are nowhere to be found.” Cha Cha says quietly.

That sure woke him up. “Y/N?” 

Cha Cha nods, not having enough emotional energy to say a sarcastic remark about how obvious it was that it was Y/N. “And I think we know who it was.” She says, her voice filled to the brim with the perfect mix of anger and worry.

Five pours himself a cup of coffee, pleased with himself. “I should probably get them something to eat…” he mutters, going upstairs to some room that he had chosen for Y/N. And by chosen, he checked to make sure it didn’t belong to anyone else and shoved them in there. 

Y/N was sitting there, a million possibilities on how to escape flying through their head when they hear the door open and look up to see Five. “Oh. It’s you.”

Five rolls his eyes. “Yeah, no shit. I just came here to see what you are and aren’t allergic to.”

“Oh, so you won’t let me starve out! That’s a relief.”

“Yeah, so that you can live to give me information on your mom and her partner.”

“Oh, no way. Although, my opinion might be changed with my appetite…” 

Five studies their face for a moment and chuckles. “Absolutely not, you’ll just make me steal you stuff and then you’ll never tell me anything. Oldest trick in the book.”

Y/N sighs in fake defeat. “Aw, man! That was my entire plan, all foiled by you again, Hargreeves!” They laugh. 

Five laughs a bit too despite himself. “You’ll never defeat me, …?” He looks at them questioningly, realizing he still hadn’t gotten their name.

Y/N thinks for a moment. Well, they did like him, but not that much. Wait, did they just think that? “Robin.” They say, deciding that they would think about that more in-depth later(if your name is Robin, then just replace it with Casey). 

Five nods slowly. “You just gave me a fake name, didn’t you?” 

Y/N shakes their head. “Nope. Robin/Casey is my real name.”

“I don’t believe you, but that doesn’t matter right now. So, for real, what is it that you’re allergic to?”

Over the next few weeks, Y/N and Five became closer and closer. Unfortunately, so did Cha Cha and Hazel at finding out where Five Hargreeves was located.

Cha Cha smiles to herself in front of one of those big pinboards(like the one in the conspiracy theorist meme). “Finally…” she whispers. Hazel comes up next to her with a couple of cups of coffee. “Find ‘em?”

Cha Cha takes one of the cups and sips from it gleefully. “I sure did. Now let’s go kick some ass.”

Y/N grins, moving their scrabble piece to create the word ‘vivacious’ earning them twenty-one points and the game. “I win!”

Five glares at them. “You must have cheated somehow. I never lose.”

“Oh my gosh. You are SUCH a sore loser!” Y/N laughs harder shifting themselves into a better position on the living room floor. 

“I am not! I just don’t like losing!” He exclaims.

Y/N chuckles and starts to reset the pieces. “Another game?” 

Five was about to agree and vow to defeat them this time, but he was interrupted by a loud crash. 

“Y/N!” Cha Cha yells. “WE’RE HERE, HONEY!” she runs up to Y/N and gives her a quick hug and a kiss on the head. “Go to Hazel, he’s outside. I’ll deal with this… thing.” She looks over at Five in distaste and a deathly glare.

“No,” Y/N mutters, barely being heard as they glance at Five.

“What was that, sweetheart?”

“I said no,”(not relating to this whatsoever but if you’re a fan of Heathers the Musical, search up I Say No deleted song) Y/N says more clearly and meets her mothers’ eye line. “You are not going to kill him.”

“And why not, dearest?” Cha Cha mutters through gritted teeth.

“Because… of the Commissioner. She will ask questions about why he is dead, you know.” Y/N says, thankful they found another way other than admitting their feelings.

“So smart…” Cha Cha’s hand cups their cheek with a loving smile. “But quite frankly, I’d rather die than let you be trapped here.” Her hand drops down to the space where her gun was supposed to be. “Oh come on...” she mutters. “I forgot my own damn gun.”

Y/N’s eyes light up. Maybe then she wouldn’t kill Five! Best case scenario, Y/N leaves and Five’s okay. They’d rather stay here with him, but they’d take this over Five dying any day of the week.

Cha Cha’s eyes graze over the mansion. First thing you learn about as an assassin? Everything is a weapon. Her gaze captures the sink and her smirk starts to grow. Guess she would be doing this the old-fashioned way. 

With a smile, she grabs Five’s hair, thankful that he was a kid again and was easy to push around. And before either Five or Y/N could react, she drags him over to the sink and turns on the tap violently, sticking Five’s head under, waterboarding him. 

With wide eyes, Y/N rushes over to her mother and starts pulling Cha Cha’s arm yelling at her to stop. Five was turning blue and struggling to get out of her grasp. 

Finally, Cha Cha slips up and is pushed to the floor. She tries to get back up but is pushed down again by an angry Y/N. “Leave. Now.” Their voice shakes with anger. 

“Sk-” Cha Cha is cut off. 

“No. Leave right now.” 

Cha Cha sighs and gets up, walking out the door. “Come back to me when you’re ready to admit that Five Hargreeves is nothing but an assassin who kidnapped you!” She yells.

Y/N ignores her and gets to work, putting Five on the ground, giving him mouth to mouth and pumping his chest up and down.

“Come on…” she mutters, leaning down and doing it all over again.

Suddenly, Five starts coughing up water, the color slowly returning to his face. “Y-Y/N?”

Y/N nods, their eyes welling up with relief tears. “Yeah. It’s me.”

Five smiles and sits up slightly. “So, was that the only reason why you didn’t want me to die?”

They shake their head. “No… there was another reason.”

“Oh?” Five looks at them, not really believing that someone like them could love someone like him.

“I think I’m in love with you.” Y/N looks at him, smiling nervously.

“Well, I know I’m in love with you.” Five smiles back, leaning in to kiss them. 

Y/N grins and kisses him softly and then pulls away. “I’m so glad you kidnapped me.”

#five #five x reader #five hargreeves #five hargreeves x reader #five x reader imagine #The Umbrella Academy #the umbrella academy x reader #tua #fanfiction #x reader #number 5 #number 5 x reader #imagine #request

[lilypixels]

...............all of them.....?

It took me an hr to do this....🥲💀

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

Teacupsss

2. chocolate bars or lollipops?

Lollipops

3. bubblegum or cotton candy?

Uhhh cotton candy

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

Probably quiet and smart lol I did my school work and was friendly with everyone so I was a favorite and heard all the nice things 🙈

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

I kinda like bottles more but like the glass ones with the caps that could slice your fingers-

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear?

I’m for all but sports lol

7. earbuds or headphones?

Earbuds

8. movies or tv shows?

Shows cause I’m the type to watch an hr long episode vs hr long movie idk why but I’m rarely in mood for them

12. name of your favorite playlist?

Drop the beat (ie songs that are upbeat and I like most)

13. lanyard or key ring?

Hmm...I guess lanyard?

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

Skittles or twizzlers

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

I had lots I had to read in school but only ever finished a handful lol my favorite I think was maybe Macbeth? I would say Odyssey but I don’t think we read the full thing cause I remember being disappointed about something like that...

16. most comfortable position to sit in?

Sitting with my legs bent up in seat with me in some way

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes?

Converse and some nice but cheap sneakers from Walmart

18. ideal weather?

Not too hot, not too cold, mild like before/after a rain (most the time), idc if it’s raining or sunny but as long as temp is comfortable I’m fine

19. sleeping position?

On my side most often

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)?

Phone and notebook

21. obsession from childhood?

Oh gosh uhhh I guess my like of dolls maybe? Or obsession with anything ✨unexplained✨ like ghosts, aliens, cryptids, etc

22. role model?

Kim Namjoon lol just kidding (sorta)

23. strange habits?

Ok I know I have some and my friends would be more than happy to point them all out but hm let me think...idk if these count as habits but I’ll never place a mirror facing a bed (this is more superstitious I guess than habit,,,) I can’t stand my food touching, if I have a tray like in cafeteria I have a certain spot for everything and uh my mind just went blank-

24. favorite crystal?

Moonstone, lapis lazuli, and I feel obligated to say garnet cause it’s my birthstone

25. first song you remember hearing?

Circle of Life maybe who knows xD

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather?

Walk or clean,,I’m more active and about with warm/nice weather

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather?

...stay inside where it’s warm

28. five songs to describe you?

Not this again😭 uhhh idk you tell me ajdbd

29. best way to bond with you?

Indulge me when I go off about things I like or learn 😔✊ I know I’ll talk your ear off and I’m sorry but know I don’t often talk about these things with people so once I start it’s hard to stop,,and it makes me really happy when people do listen to me about these things and send me related items every so often or even look into it themselves to learn more 🥺

30. places that you find sacred?

For some reason this feels like a trick question...um cemeteries and anything with ages of history I guess

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names?

Oof do I really have a true outfit?? I have shoes for this which are just black platform sneakers I call stomping shoes

32. top five favorite vines?

I never,,,watched these,,,

33. most used phrase in your phone?

“Yes”...?

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head?

State Farm and McDonald’s, always

35. average time you fall asleep?

10-11...usually...

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing?

Uhhh that one with the ginger dude (I think it was someone’s yearbook photo??) I don’t remember much else about the meme but it was on ifunny, or whatever the app was, a lot

37. suitcase or duffel bag?

Suitcase

38. lemonade or tea?

Easy, tea

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie?

...neither

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school?

Dude these questions really testing my brain power here- for senior prank someone put cereal in some bathroom sinks I think

41. last person you texted?

My mom

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets?

I’m gonna say jacket since I wear those often

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket?

Hoodie or cardigan

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?

Fantasy

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in?

Usually whatever shirt I’m wearing that day and some pj/lounge pants 🤷

47. favorite type of cheese?

Mozzarella

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be?

I-what kind of question is this? How does one even answer this?

49. what saying or quote do you live by?

What comes around goes around lol (yes I’m a heavy believer of karma)

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have?

Lol who knows, probably something dumb me and my siblings were doing or something we watched cause there’s been plenty times of that xD

51. current stresses?

Homework vs free time e-e

52. favorite font?

I like the gothic looking ones but it’s usually not practical to use so idk

53. what is the current state of your hands?

My hands...? They’re fine ??

54. what did you learn from your first job?

How to care for babies and little kids, how to put on a diaper lol

56. favorite tradition?

I can’t remember a particular one off hand but I’m trying to start few new ones like decorating cookies for Halloween uwu

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome?

Uhhhhh like personally or...? Cause we’ve overcome homelessness before, um finishing assignments idk😭 oh maybe bullying?? That’s all I can think of since I still struggle with a lot,,

58. four talents you’re proud of having?

Alright let’s do thisss: creativity (mostly in writing sense), I can bake/cook, I have amazing organization skills and many work places have used that lol (bonus is I don’t mind, I actually really enjoy it, very peaceful), surprisingly good balance all things considered, I’m a quick learner

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be?

“I’m too tired for this.”

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be?

Good question good question🤔 I don’t think I’d last in any of them/have a terrible side character role so 💀

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

“Life’s too short to hold grudges.”

62. seven characters you relate to?

Dude this is gonna get embarrassing I can feel it🤠

Itaru, Iori, Sogo, Belle, Simeon (obey me), Nozaki (he’s clueless about romance irl and doesn’t know when someone has a crush on him yet can write romance well enough and yeah it’s me lol), and uhh Swindler/Ordinary Person in Akudama Drive (still can’t believe no one really has names in that anime but the way she gets wrapped in everything felt like something that’d happen to me lol)

63. five songs that would play in your club?

Like nightclub...? I’m skipping this ajdbd

64. favorite website from your childhood?

Probably the Barbie site, me and my sister played all the dress up games almost daily istg

65. any permanent scars?

Appendectomy scars and then looks like I have one on a toe but it’s possible it still might heal...

66. favorite flower(s)?

Nightshade, foxglove, baby’s breath, bellflowers, roses

67. good luck charms?

I don’t think I have any...

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried?

Lemon

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

Let me think...I read something once about flowers having ears(?) but like not ear ears just something about having a part that picks up sound waves

70. left or right handed?

Right

71. least favorite pattern?

Lolll animal print I think

72. worst subject?

Physics...the worst science

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen?

6...?

75. when did you lose your first tooth?

I don’t remember, it probably happened when i was 6. I do remember losing one of my front teeth during my birthday one year and I was happy since the tooth had been loose for some time xD

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)?

Chips I guess or just like fried in skillet

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill?

A succulent probably

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store?

Neither ew

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo?

They are both about equally terrible

80. earth tones or jewel tones?

Earth

81. fireflies or lightning bugs?

Fireflies

82. pc or console?

I am on pc side now

83. writing or drawing?

Writing

84. podcasts or talk radio?

Podcasts I guess

84. barbie or polly pocket?

Barbie

85. fairy tales or mythology?

Mythology, it’s too fun and chaotic lol

86. cookies or cupcakes?

Hm...cupcakes

87. your greatest fear?

Uh,,,I don’t have many fears but I guess one would be falling from a great height? So I would get scared of crossing a bridge and it collapsing or riding a plane and it falling easily

88. your greatest wish?

World peace🥲

89. who would you put before everyone else?

My mom maybe...?

90. luckiest mistake?

I honestly don’t remember but something I do remember is I out semicolon instead of period and turned out to be correct grammar lol

91. boxes or bags?

Boxes

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights?

Sunlight or fairy lights, I don’t require much either way and prefer more natural lighting

93. nicknames?

Lassie, twinkle toes, Ash, poody butt (by 3 yr old I sometimes watch and play with lol he means it affectionately; I call him monkey butt and it’s catching on slowly instead)

94. favorite season?

Starting to be fall just a little more but I like transition times most

95. favorite app on your phone?

Let’s go with twitter

96. desktop background?

It is a moriarty and gang pic

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized?

2: mine and my moms

98. favorite historical era?

Ooo tough one but I’ll say renaissance as some of the coolest things came from that time

#if there’s something messed up in this string of text #ignore it cause I’m not proofreading again ajdbd #I did not realize there were so many questions pls #asks #jade why 😔💜