Support NeoGAF

[Jebusman]

“I always tell the boys, ‘You’re going to have a turn’ — and I’m like, ‘Yeah, when hell freezes over’ in my head,” Keller told the Bainbridge Island Review. “I tell them, ‘You’ll have a turn’ because I don’t want them to feel bad.”

She is a horrible fucking person.

 

[KingBroly]

She doesn't sound like a very good teacher.

 

[Htown]

There's a half dozen better ways you could encourage girls to play with Legos without fucking over the boys.

 

[Mailbox]

Morons like this give progressivism a terrible name. How about you TALK to the girls about building and see if any of them are willing to bite?

That or you could just have a proper rotational system where you have subsets of students play with specific things each day of the week, or something. Maybe a combination. Maybe even do something related to Lego as an activity. Jeez.

 

[Scrooged]

Jesus Christ what is wrong with people these days?

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

She doesn't get it at all. She's like a GAF poster in real life.

 

[cDNA]

What a stupid solution, why she didn't set up a specific time to play with lego only, and remove the other toys during that period, there could be many creative solution to the problem and she chooses the most controversial, I guess she did not play with enough lego as a child.
Finally Lego are not the only way to stimulate children to learn.

 

[EthanC]

Instead of resorting to being a lying asshole, just buy enough Legos for all. What an idiot.

 

[pantsmith]

Isn't the solution to just force everyone to play with Legos? hah

 

[andycapps]

Wait... How in the hell is banning boys from playing with Legos while allowing the girls to play with them, gender equality?

Seems like she feels like fucking over the development of these boys is helping out overall gender equality in society. Twisted sense of authority and justice.

 

[Price Dalton]

That or you could just have a proper rotational system where you have subsets of students play with specific things each day of the week, or something. Maybe a combination. Maybe even do something related to Lego as an activity. Jeez.

Or maybe just let the kids choose what to play with.

 

[Alx]

There's a half dozen better ways you could encourage girls to play with Legos without fucking over the boys.

First one would be to encourage boys and girls to play with Legos together. I spent a lot of time building stuff with my little sister as a kid.

 

[Akuun]

Legos are gender specific? I thought everyone liked lego.

If you wanted people to play with legos then buy more fucking lego sets so that one group doesn't feel excluded because some group of kids always gets them during playtime.

 

[Timeaisis]

The teacher says that Lego play helps with development acceleration and math skills

Which boys clearly don't need.

Why doesn't she just stock nothing but Legos if she thinks dolls are so pointless?

Because that would make too much sense.

 

[Permanently A]

A kindergarten teacher should understand the definition of equity, right?

 

[Poodlestrike]

Well that's super not fucking cool.

I mean, I could see it if there was a real problem with boys hoarding the legos and not letting the girls use them, but shit, if the girls don't want to play with legos they don't want to play with legos.

 

[DragonSworne]

You could just buy another damn set of legos and say one set is for boys and another is for girls. So both genders have equal access and then let the kids decide what they want to play with. What she's doing is stupid.

This is a bad idea. Separating toys based on gender is BAD.

You are going to have a situation where the girl legos won't be played with and reinforce negative female stereotypes. And if a boy then decides he wants to play with the girl legos because no one is using them, he'll be ostracized for playing with "girl" legos.

 

[Thelonelykoopa]

Why is it people when trying to do the right thing does it in a completely wrong and absurd way?

 

[Kinyou]

She doesn't get it at all. She's like a GAF poster in real life.

That's a parody thread of this one

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1128710

 

[Pizoxuat]

This person isn't listed in the staff directory of the elementary school she claims to teach for.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Why not just keep some Lego for the girls to play with (if they want) and have some Lego for the boys to play with? Or have times when the boys are allowed certain toys, and then times when the girls are allowed certain toys? Why stunt the boys' growth and motor skills in order to allow the girls a chance to develop? This is not equality; I don't think she understands the term.

 

[timetokill]

Dreadful approach. How about stocking only gender-neutral, creative toys (including LEGO) and getting rid of the dolls entirely?

I don't see why dolls can't be gender neutral or creative. I played with both legos and dolls (sometimes AT THE SAME TIME) when I was a kid. Who cares?

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

That's a parody thread of this one

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1128710

His other responses told me he's just as confused as this woman.

 

[psylah]

Block tumblr access on their network.

 

[Tubobutts]

Why is it people when trying to do the right thing does it in a completely wrong and absurd way?

Because people are dumb.

 

[Trojita]

Why is it people when trying to do the right thing does it in a completely wrong and absurd way?

A lot of people do the right thing in the right way every day. They don't make the news.

 

[Christopher]

now it's getting out of hand....

 

[Orbis Tabula]

This person isn't listed in the staff directory of the elementary school she claims to teach for.

Well that's certainly interesting.

 

[KingBroly]

This person isn't listed in the staff directory of the elementary school she claims to teach for.

So she's a sub?

 

[ScatheZombie]

Keller says she started doing this because boys were flocking to the colorful blocks during their “free choice” playtime, while girls tended to play with dolls or crayons. Keller hopes by blocking use of the toys for boys that female students may be encouraged to play with them.

The teacher says that Lego play helps with development acceleration and math skills, while dolls offer little challenge or opportunity for growth.

She first used pink and purple Legos to try to attract the girl students to play with the toys, but she found this ineffective.

If your kindergarten age child is selecting a toy that falls within their stereotypical gender role, it is probably because that's what they like to play with rather than some underlying oppressive expression from the social patriarchy.

 

[JDSN]

Should have given toy irons to the boys.

 

[Savitar]

I don't believe she's doing this exactly for gender equality at all.

 

[Robin64]

Promoting gender equality by not allowing one gender to do something. Okay.

 

[mdubs]

You could just buy another damn set of legos and say one set is for boys and another is for girls. So both genders have equal access and then let the kids decide what they want to play with. What she's doing is stupid.

The common sense solution

 

[DrGonzo615]

You never go full Tumblr...

 

[shinobi602]

You're doing it wrong lady.

 

[Malvolio]

Pay teachers a ridiculously low wage and this is the type of person you attract.

 

[Abounder]

What a dumb bigot.

 

[DragonSworne]

So she's a sub?

http://www.k12.wa.us/certification/TeacherMain.aspx

She might be getting her certificate still. Teachers can still teach without a certificate I believe (up to a certain period of course).

 

[womp]

I need to stop visiting off topic....all it does is enrage me.

How is this even a 'thing'? Leave the kids alone.

 

[perfectchaos007]

She's trying to force the reversal of gender norms and that's just not right. You can't promote gender equity by suppressing one of the genders. This woman has an agenda that's being executed in the worst way

 

[benicillin]

She's a bad teacher, but now we have to deal with all the bullshit blaming this on "gender equality" and "social justice" instead of just the fact that she's a shitty teacher.

 

[Poodlestrike]

This person isn't listed in the staff directory of the elementary school she claims to teach for.

Weirdly, I found a reference to her in the search directory.

http://www.bisd303.org//site/default.aspx?PageType=6&SiteID=13&SearchString=Karen Keller

Might be that they took her out after the story started to blow?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/karen-keller-bans-boys-legos_564f5009e4b0879a5b0abc9e

Called it!

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Unfortunately this doesn't surprise me after having worked in public schools the last few years. I honestly can only think of a handful of teachers I've met who I would considered qualified to teach my children (assuming, god forbid, when I have children).

 

[Zornack]

This person isn't listed in the staff directory of the elementary school she claims to teach for.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/karen-keller-bans-boys-legos_564f5009e4b0879a5b0abc9e

Keller’s name is no longer present on Captain Johnston Blakely Elementarys’ staff website due to an influx of inquiries.

School denies this was going on, paper stands by that she told them this was going on.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Pay teachers a ridiculously low wage and this is the type of person you attract.

The real story here.

 

[Tertullian]

Gotta learn those useful STEM skills, like sticking pieces of plastic together, not this useless "caring for another precious human life" bullshit.

 

[KingBroly]

http://www.k12.wa.us/certification/TeacherMain.aspx

She might be getting her certificate still. Teachers can still teach without a certificate (up to a certain period of course).

huh. Weird.

 

[Drencrom]

Karen Keller doesn’t allow male students to play with the blocks in order to encourage use among females.

What the...? That doesn't work.

“I had to do the ‘girls only Lego club’ to boost it more,” Keller said. “Boys get ongoing practice and girls are shut out of those activities, which just kills me. Until girls get it into their system that building is cool, building is ‘what I want to do’ — I want to protect that.”

Why not just get rid of all the other toys and have sessions when you force all the girls into playing with Lego and get them to "appreciate" building stuff against their will if this is your goal?

This is so dumb and non-pedagogical I don't understand how this woman became a teacher in the first place.

This especially just comes off as sadistic and downright mean, disgusting.

“I always tell the boys, ‘You’re going to have a turn’ — and I’m like, ‘Yeah, when hell freezes over’ in my head

 

[Trojita]

This person isn't listed in the staff directory of the elementary school she claims to teach for.

That isn't definitive. They have 400 students according to their website, which that meagre list of staff wouldn't be able to handle. Likely they don't update the staff area often.