Ava's Kitchen leaves a bit to be desired in the customer service department.
Toddlers can be a handful, but they're also the absolute best, with their tiny little adorableness, their burgeoning vocabulary, and their slowly evolving understanding of the world. Their imaginations are something else, and spending time in a wee one's world is always an unpredictable treat. Being the parent of a toddler is a unique joy that only lasts for a fleeting season, so you have to take full advantage of it while you can. And one dad has clearly done just that.
Christopher Kyle is father to Ava, who at 18 months old treated her dad to a meal at her sit-down restaurant. Only according to Kyle, the service left much to be desired. In a post on Instagram, Kyle shared a photo of Ava in her play kitchen while he sat waiting for his food in a tiny chair at a tiny table.
The father/customer wrote:
"So I tried to support another Black Owned Business for lunch today. It's called Ava's Kitchen, just opened end of April. It's a very clean establishment, but whewww let me tell you about this owner.
First off, I asked why there are balloons on my chair, and it's not my birthday? She talm'bout, mind yah business; those are Mommy's.
I been waiting on my order to get done for 45 minutes, and I'm the only customer here. She was making good progress at first, then she stopped for 20 minutes to go watch Paw Patrol.
Paw Patrol Dog GIF by Xbox Giphy
Overall the customer service could be better, but the cook is a cutie; so I'll give her another chance. Let's not give up on Black businesses so fast after one mistake. 💕"
People absolutely loved this dad's humor and clearly stellar parenting skills. Anyone who has sat through a tea party—or any activity with the wee ones—knows that for all of its cuteness, toddler play is an exercise in patience and endurance.
Upworthy shared Kyle's story on our Instagram page and our readers did not disappoint.
Some played right along with the game:
"Starting a restaurant is tough.. give her a chance ❤️❤️"
"I mean, she started a restaurant during a global pandemic, give her a break 😂"
"Is she taking reservations?"
Fans of Paw Patrol had some words:
"Paw Patrol is a must watch so 🤷🏾♀️😂"
"I died at Paw Patrol 🤣🤣🤣 that's my show though. I don't have kids I just watch it just because lmao."
"Paw Patrol break is mandatory. Too cute! ♥️"
Others just gushed over the entire scene:
"Love EVERYTHING about this!! The adorable owner, the customer's humor and the incredible love."
"That's the cutest restaurant owner I've ever seen. The dad's face is priceless! 😂👍❤️"
"LoL the story is funny & beautiful!!! This warms my heart!! This babygirl will grow up to have such a healthy look at men (in any capacity) as long as she & her Daddy keep such a beautiful bond!! Happy Father's Day (early) Keep encouraging her to do her thing and her confidence will continue to soar!! I just love this!! 😍😍😍"
Since that post went viral, Ava and her dad have had some other creative adventures, including building things at Home Depot's free kids weekend workshop:
Will Ava be a restaurant owner, a carpenter, or something totally different when she grows up? Who knows, but with her dad's support, no doubt she'll build success wherever she ends up.
This article originally appeared five years ago and has been updated.
Emily E. Smith is no ordinary teacher.
Fifth-grade teacher Emily E. Smith is not your ordinary teacher. She founded The Hive Society — a classroom that's all about inspiring children to learn more about their world ... and themselves — by interacting with literature and current events. Students watch TED talks, read Rolling Stone, and analyze infographics.
She even has a long-distance running club to encourage students to take care of their minds and bodies. Smith is such an awesome teacher, in fact, that she recently received the 2015 Donald H. Graves Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Writing.
It had always been her dream to work with children in urban areas, so when Smith started teaching, she hit the ground running. She had her students making podcasts, and they had in-depth discussions about their readings on a cozy carpet.
Teaching in a racially and ethnically diverse world. Photo by John Pike. Used with permission.
But in her acceptance speech for her award, she made it clear that it took a turning point in her career before she really got it:
"Things changed for me the day when, during a classroom discussion, one of my kids bluntly told me I "couldn't understand because I was a white lady." I had to agree with him. I sat there and tried to speak openly about how I could never fully understand and went home and cried, because my children knew about white privilege before I did. The closest I could ever come was empathy."
Smith knew that just acknowledging her white privilege wasn't enough.
She wanted to move beyond just empathy and find a way to take some real action that would make a difference for her students.
She kept the same innovative and engaging teaching methods, but she totally revamped her curriculum to include works by people who looked like her students. She also carved out more time to discuss issues that her students were facing, such as xenophobia and racism.
And that effort? Absolutely worth it.
As she said in her acceptance speech:
"We studied the works of Sandra Cisneros, Pam Munoz Ryan, and Gary Soto, with the intertwined Spanish language and Latino culture — so fluent and deep in the memories of my kids that I saw light in their eyes I had never seen before."
The changes Smith made in her classroom make a whole lot of sense. And they're easy enough for teachers everywhere to make:
— They studied the work of historical Latino figures, with some of the original Spanish language included. Many children of color are growing up in bilingual households. In 2007, 55.4 million Americans 5 years of age and older spoke a language other than English at home.
— They analyzed the vision of America that great writers of color sought to create. And her students realized that our country still isn't quite living up to its ideals. Despite progress toward racial equality with the end of laws that enforced slavery or segregation, we still have a long way to go. Black people still fare worse than white people when it comes to things like wealth, unfair arrests, and health.
— They read excerpts from contemporary writers of color, like Ta-Nehisi Coates who writes about race. Her students are reading and learning from a diverse group of writers. No small thing when they live in a society that overwhelmingly gives more attention to white male writers (and where the number of employees of color in the newspaper industry stagnates at a paltry 12%).
— They read about the Syrian crisis, and many students wrote about journeys across the border in their family history for class. The opportunity particularly struck one student; the assignment touched him so much that he cried. He never had a teacher honor the journey his family made. And he was proud of his heritage for the first time ever. "One child cried," Smith shared, "and told me he never had a teacher who honored the journey his family took to the United States. He told me he was not ashamed anymore, but instead proud of the sacrifice his parents made for him."
Opportunities like this will only increase as the number of children from immigrant families is steadily increasing. As of 2013, almost 17.4 million children under 18 have at least one immigrant parent.
Smith now identifies not just as an English teacher, but as a social justice teacher.
Smith's successful shift in her teaching is an example for teachers everywhere, especially as our schools become increasingly ethnically and racially diverse. About 80% of American teachers are white. But as of last year, the majority of K-12 students in public schools are now children of color.
As America's demographics change, we need to work on creating work that reflects the experiences that our students relate to. And a more diverse curriculum isn't just important for students of color. It's vital for everyone.
As Smith put it, "We, the teachers, are responsible for instilling empathy and understanding in the hearts of all kids. We are responsible for the future of this country."
This article originally appeared nine years ago.
Boomers will knock. Loudly. At all hours.
There's no doubt that there are contrasts between the generations, as baby boomers, Gen X, millennials and Gen Z see and experience the world quite differently. While generation gaps have always existed, the tech age has widened those gaps in big ways, which sometimes creates challenges but often results in hilarity.
For instance, watching a Gen Zer try to figure out how to use a rotary phone is pure entertainment. The way emojis are used and interpreted varies vastly by age, making for some chuckle-worthy communication mishaps. Slang terms can be hard to keep up with the older you get, but they can also be manipulated by savvy elders to great comedic effect.
Riz W Sign GIF Giphy
And now, comedian Jake Lambert is comparing how the different generations arrive at someone's house in a viral video that's been viewed more than 12 million times.
"You've basically got boomers who will turn up completely unannounced any time from about 7:00 in the morning and they will knock on your door just slightly louder than the police using a battering ram carrying out a house raid," Lambert begins.
"And then you've got Gen X. They would have made the plans well in advance, and they would've also checked in a couple of days before just to make sure the plans are definitely still happening," he goes on. "You see, Gen X is the forgotten generation and they're so scarred by this title they would've assumed that you'd forgotten not only about the plans but about their very existence."
"Millennials will have hoped that the plans would've been canceled. There's no reason that a millennial will ever actually want to come to your house," he continues. "They will arrive late, but they will text you to let you know they're on their way, just as they're about to get into the shower. And a millennial will never knock on your door. You'll just get a text either saying 'here' or 'outside,' and that's your cue to go and let them in."
"Similarly, Gen Z will never actually knock," he concludes. "But the chances are they won't have to, as they would have been documenting the entire journey from their house to yours, maybe even on Facetime using this angle [camera facing directly up at the chin] as they go along for some reason. Either that or they'll just send a picture of your front door or a selfie of them outside it. And again, just like the millennial, that's your cue to go and rescue them from the outside world."
Gen Z will send a selfie from outside your house as an indicator that they've arrived. Photo credit: Canva
People feel alternately seen, attacked and validated by Lambert's assessments, with the most common response being "accurate."
"I‘m a millennial, my husband GenX. Scarily accurate! 😂"
"Described this millennial to a T."
"This is surprisingly accurate 😂 I laughed slightly louder than the police using a battering ram…"
"Sooo accurate…guilty of the lateness and ‘here’ text 🙃"
"I must admit I'm a millennial. But knocking on the door feels so aggressive, uknow? 😅😇"
"Millennial texting to say almost there but just started getting dressed to go out. Why do we do this? It's not intentional, at least not for me."
"Honestly your observations are just brilliant! GenX-er here!"
"The Gen Z angle omg. 😂😂"
Naturally there are some people who don't resonate with their generation's description, but there are exceptions to every rule and some people will never fit a stereotype. However, judging by the wave of affirmative responses, Lambert has nailed the generational generalities across the board—and done so in a way that allows us all to laugh at ourselves.
You can follow Jake Lambert on Instagram.
This article originally appeared last year.
A school assignment asked for 3 "good" reasons for slavery.
Back in 2018, a fourth grader's school assignment was so shocking that it took the Internet by storm. Every news outlet from ABC7 to HuffPost to CNN reported on the incident, in which a homework assignment asked students to list three "good" reasons for slavery. Yeah, you read that right.
The assignment was given to fourth graders at Our Redeemer Lutheran School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and also asked for three "bad" reasons for slavery. The absurd and offensive assignment was brought to the public's attention when one fourth grader's mom shared a photo of the homework sheet on Facebook, asking, 'Does anyone else find my 4th grader's homework offensive? 
"
Now, it's not uncommon for parents to puzzle over their kids' homework. Sometimes, it's just been too long since they've done long division for them to be of any help. Or teaching methods have just changed too dramatically since they were in school. And other times, kids bring home something truly inexplicable.
For mom Trameka Brown-Berry, looking over her 4th-grade son Jerome's homework made her jaw hit the floor.
The school assignment was intended to spark debate and discussion—but isn't that part of the problem? The shockingly offensive assignment deserved to be thrown in the trash. But young Jerome dutifully filled it out anyway and his response was pretty much perfect:
In the section reserved for "good reasons," Jerome wrote, "I feel there is no good reason for slavery that's why I did not write."
We're a country founded on freedom of speech and debating ideas, which often leads us into situations where "both sides" are represented. But it can only go so far. There's no meaningful dialogue to be had about the perceived merits of stripping human beings of their basic living rights. No one is required to make an effort to "understand the other side" when the other side is bigoted and hateful.
In a follow-up post, Brown-Berry writes that the school has since apologized for the assignment and committed to offering better diversity and sensitivity training for its teachers.
Trameka's follow-up post.Via Upworthy.
But what's done is done, and the incident illuminates the remarkable racial inequalities that still exist in our country. After all, Brown-Berry said to WCTI ABC News12, "You wouldn't ask someone to list three good reasons for rape or three good reasons for the Holocaust."
At the very end of the assignment, Jerome brought it home with a bang: "I am proud to be black because we are strong and brave..."
GIF by Hello All Giphy
Good for Jerome for shutting down the thoughtless assignment with strength and amazing eloquence, and for being brave enough tell the truth: there are no good reasons for history's most heinous acts. The sooner the world acknowledges that, the sooner we can heal and restore.
This article originally appeared seven years ago. It has been updated.
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Professor Richard Quinn catches his students cheating.
A 2010 video of a business professor at the University of Central Florida standing up against cheating in his classroom has resurfaced on Instagram, and it’s worth sharing for those who’ve never heard the story. The professor’s stern warning to students about the dangers of cheating is so memorable that it’s been highlighted on the American Rhetoric historic speech database. It’s also notable for the unique approach he took to outing the cheaters: come forward and admit you cheated, or face dire consequences if we find out you did.
In November of 2010, Professor Richard Quinn addressed his students in a videotaped lecture, where he noted that the test scores "were a grade and a half higher than [they had] ever had run before,” he said. This led him to believe that someone had circulated the test among his 600 students. “This is, as some of you out there know, because some of you out there are also in possession of this, is the complete test bank for the midterm exam," Quinn said.
A test bank is a set of questions created by a textbook publisher for professors to use in creating quizzes, exams, and assessments.
What is the University of Central Florida cheating scandal?
(The entire speech is available at the end of the story.)
In his speech to his class Quinn lays it out simply: “During the course of Monday, the lab instructors basically took a look at the data, started receiving emails from students who were concerned and upset that classmates had been bragging to them, that they had advanced copies of the exam, and that they aced the exam because they had all the answers ahead of time."
Quinn then told the students that he knew about a third, or 200, of them had cheated, and gave a list to the dean’s office, claiming to be 95% certain. He also threw out all the scores, and a retest would be administered. "To say I'm disappointed is beyond comprehension," he said. "Physically ill, absolutely disgusted, disillusioned, trying to figure out what the last 20 years were all about."
Quinn gave the cheaters two options
“So, here's the deal. If you participated in this, you have a choice. You can sit back in silence and hope your name doesn't get caught in the net, which is very quickly closing around the participants; or you can, individually, quietly, one-by-one, anonymously if you wish, to the rest of your classmates, identify yourself to your lab instructor,” Quinn said." And, providing you complete a four-hour ethics course being offered by the folks over in Academic Affairs, any permanent record of this will be wiped from your transcripts. There'll be no further action taken.” But those who don’t turn themselves in and get caught face punishment, including expulsion, from Academic Affairs.
A group of students studying.via Canva/Photos
Some students complained that they didn’t know they were cheating when fellow students provided them with the information. “If the professor neither sent nor mentioned it, and it went to only some of the students—not to the whole class list (and not from the professor or a teaching assistant)—I would think they should have questioned its legitimacy,” Teddi Fishman, director of the International Center for Academic Integrity at Clemson University, told UCF.
How did students react to Quinn's ultimatum?
After Quinn’s ultimatum, what did the students do? According to the University of Central Florida, around 200 students from Quinn’s class turned themselves in, admitting to cheating on the test—the same number that he predicted. Fifteen students, believed to have cheated, did not turn themselves in and faced disciplinary action from the Academic Affairs office.
The video is making its rounds again because of the great way that Quinn makes his case in front of his students. It’s like a procedural crime show you’d see on TV where a detective methodically figures out who the killer is, while staring them in the face. But on a deeper level, you can see the pain in his heart, the betrayal he felt from the people he was trying to help: his students. The video shows that he is an educator who cares deeply not only about how his students perform academically but also about who they grow to be as individuals.
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