Private Tutor

Going into the weekend, I had nothing booked for Monday, so I was glad when something popped up Sunday evening. Then, Monday morning I got a call from the sub desk asking if I could switch from that assignment to the alternative education center. Sure, why not? 

I was told that I would have one seventh grade student. I'm used to going with the flow when it comes to that school, so I figured all would be explained when I got there. 

Basically, this seventh grade boy, Walter, was being isolated from the other students for reasons, so he had his very own teacher. But, that third teacher at the school had taken a new position at a new school, so they were getting various subs to watch Walter. I was sub number five. Although, I was the last sub as they were planning to move Walter back with the other students the next day.

With that kind of build up, you'd think that working with Walter would have been difficult. It wasn't. Of course, my bar is low as there was no throwing of chairs...

We started with science, and I managed to find a plate tectonic simulation, and Walter enjoyed playing with that. (That was where he was in the science textbook.) Then we switched over to math.

Walter knew how to do the math. He finished it very quickly. And then I checked his answers. Um, nope. 

So, I made him slow down, and we did it together. 

At some point, I pointed out that his arithmetic was off. We were adding together two odd numbers, so our answer should be even. 

And that's when I found out Walter didn't know the difference between odd and even. 

It's always interesting to find gaps in a student's knowledge. That was one I wasn't expecting. I took the time to explain. Did Walter grasp it? I have no idea. He rejected the idea that five wasn't an even number for a while. I hope this lesson comes up again to reinforce the concept, but I have no idea if it will. At least Walter accepted that I might know what I was talking about.

After lunch, we rounded out the day with art and reading. For art class, I found a how-to video. This one:

(It was Halloween week. I decided to go with the season.)

Walter wasn't having it. He wanted to trace something easy. I urged him to give it a try. Finally he found a step by step video of something else and did that. 

(It's a middle school thing. They want things perfect. I push for them to allow themselves to make mistakes.)

And then finally, we were at the last hour of the day. He'd been reading The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and was on the last three chapters. Knowing this was his last day solo, I pushed to finish the book. Walter said he was only reading one chapter a day. 

Eventually, we did get to the finish. I don't know if Walter appreciated this, but at least we finished something in his time in a class solo. 

That's the thing about subbing. Every day is different, and I never know what I may step into. This could have been such a difficult day, but it wasn't, really. I hope Walter is doing well with the other kiddos at the school. One of these days, I might even get a chance to see for myself. 

Down with the Electoral College

What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder. 

On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news. 

Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

Ah, election day. The day I am reminded how little my vote in California matters on the national level. (Which sucks, frankly. We're the most populous state. We have a huge economy that financially benefits the country as a whole. But in national elections, we're figuratively sneered at.) 

Did you know there's already a plan in place to get around the Electoral College? It's called the National Popular Vote, and unsurprisingly, California is on board. Is your state?

What if we got enough states on board to do away with the Electoral College?

Knit Your Phone a Pyramid

I finally did it. I finally got that video I'd meant to get uploaded uploaded. 

A few years ago I decided that I wanted to create a YouTube channel of me making various of my yarny projects. But, I have no real video-making skills. Well, the best way to learn something is to do it, even if I do it badly, so I began.

(My brother has been kind enough to do the editing, so at least they're put together well.)

Summer 2023 I had some time to make some videos. Three of them. The first two were uploaded over this past summer. And the third is here, now. 

What am I making? I call it the tablet buddy (you can purchase the pattern either on Etsy or on Ravelry). It's a thing to prop up your cell phone, your ereader, or your tablet. They look like this:

At least, this is like the one I made on camera. This is the small size. The phone can be leaned against the pyramid, and there's a line of bobbles to keep it from sliding down. 

Anyway, here's the video:

It is an hour and thirteen minutes long, so I don't expect anyone to watch the thing all the way through (unless you plan on making one of these). 

The next thing I need to do is to create a good title image as none of my videos have one right now. Little by little I'm getting this channel up and running. (I have started shooting a new video, but at the rate I'm going, it'll be a while before I get it finished, let alone uploaded.)

Running Late

It was Friday morning, and I was having a Friday Late. 

But I wasn't too concerned. It was already going to be an odd day. I had gotten an email the prior day about how the teacher I was scheduled to cover wasn't going to need me all day, so they had modified my schedule so I'd be roving rather than covering one class. 

(Yeah, so Ms. M had seniors, and Senior Seminar--a day when all the seniors do a thing together out of class--got moved to this particular Friday. Ms. M only had one period of sophomores. I love roving days, so the switch wasn't going to bother me.)

I left home at the usual time, but I got on campus about ten minutes later than normal. Then, while checking in for the day, I took some time to talk to the secretary. Stuff about the roving day. The schedule she had emailed me had been altered as two of the teachers no longer needed me, but a third did. 

By the time I left the office to head to the classroom, the warning bell had rung. (Usually I have ten to fifteen minutes before the school day starts to get set up.) And I had to get from the main office to the back of the school. I had time, but I was going to have a crowd of students waiting.

Only, I did not. Weird.

I got to the classroom a good two minutes (at least) after the warning bell, and there were no students in sight. 

Uh oh. Did I make a mistake? Was I at the correct room for the period? 

I double checked my book. Yup, I was in the right place.

I opened the door. I almost went in to put my bag down when a student arrived. And then another. Whew. They were just cutting it close.

When the bell rang to start class, I had seventeen students. Out of thirty-four. Over the first twenty or so minutes of class, eight more students arrived. (Yeah, they've got a tardy problem at the school. Which is funny as the school day now starts at 8:30 AM. Before 2020, school started at 7:30 AM.) 

Well, at least they weren't waiting on me. And I was there before the bell.

There's just something about Fridays...

Famous

Thursday. Criminalistics. 

It was passing period, so I was stationed at the door, greeting students as they entered. A boy entered, then he came back out. He asked if he could go to the restroom.

This is not a notable occurrence. This happens daily. What was notable was how he asked me, calling me by my name. 

I had not written my name up on the board. (The board was covered by a screen. There was no place for me to put my name.) 

It always startles me when they know my name. Considering how many long terms I've done in the past couple years, and considering how many of the students I did recognize in the classes, it was not out of the question that I had had him in class before. Or that he knew who I was.

But it still, I feel like they don't know who I am.

They know who I am. 

Not a bad thing, really. 

Distracted Boys

Wednesday. Middle school "success". 

Success is a class strongly suggested for a certain type of student--the kind of student who isn't doing so well in school. It's an elective, and while the classes tend to be smaller, they also tend to have more of the kind of student who is more likely to act out. 

But, luckily, on this day, the class had guest speakers. 

The schools now have a thing called a wellness center. It's a place where students who need a mental break can go. The two speakers were from the school's wellness center, and apparently they meet with the class regularly. So, the kiddos were used to them.

Once I had taken roll, I let the guest speakers take over. I sat down and wrote up my notes from the previous group. (The rest of the day I had seventh grade math.) 

Only, I couldn't tune out completely. I noticed a couple boys in the back of the room, not engaging with the lesson. Uh oh...

I chose proximity as my method of classroom control. I went over and sat right behind them.

Jefferson asked to use the bathroom. 

So, now it was only me and Orson. By my presence, I got Orson to put away his cell phone. But he was still bored. So, he pulled out a jar or something and managed to get a clump of some white substance with the consistency of lotion on his desk. 

All the while, the guest speakers were discussing active listening. There were video clips. They were asking the students to identify what the speakers were doing and whether they were active listening well. They were giving out raffle tickets for any response: correct or not. 

Orson, however, was now determined to clean up the mess on his desk. He started by using tissue, which was inadequate to the task. I told him to get paper towels, which luckily the teacher had on the other side of the room. He got up and brought back one paper towel.

So, Orson had to get up multiple times (rather than bringing back enough paper towels to complete the task in one go). During one of these trips, Orson noticed that his raffle tickets had been destroyed in the gloop. He asked me for more. Well, it wasn't my lesson.

So, Orson asked one of the guest speakers to replace his tickets. She said no. (And I managed to keep the smile off my face.) 

Around this time, Jefferson returned from the bathroom. And he wanted to know what he had missed. But I'm of the mind that if one needed the bathroom in the middle of a lesson, it is on that student to figure out what was missed while he was gone. So, I wasn't going to catch him up (not that he was paying attention before he left, anyway). 

Finally, Orson got his mess cleaned up. And Jefferson settled back into his seat. My proximity wasn't helping settle either of them. Sigh. 

The guest speakers finished their presentation, so it was time for the raffle. They drew five names. Guess who was one of the names? (It wasn't Orson as his raffle tickets were destroyed.) 

Ms. M wasn't terribly surprised by the names left in my note to her. She's pretty strict, so I imagine Jefferson and Orson might not like the consequences of their inattention.

Financial Interest in the Outcome

What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder. 

On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news. 

Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

This month I have fallen into a "what if?" mini theme: the U.S. election. And today is no different. 

Are you sick of the political ads yet? In California, we are inundated with ads for and against the various propositions on the ballot. They get old quick.

While one of these ads was on in the background, I had a weird thought. I wondered how much money the ones who funded the ad would lose if the vote went the other way. (I can't remember which proposition it was for and whether they were for or against it.) Because, seriously. Why else spend so much money to get these ads to play all the freaking time?

And that leads me to this week's "what if?"...

What if they were required to disclose in political ads how much money the funder of said ad would gain if the vote goes their way? (Or, conversely, what if they were required to disclose how much money they would lose if the vote went against them?)