Not Quite a Cat

After last week, this week was positively boring. In a good way. But I'm still getting over a cold, so I didn't make too much progress on the cat pillow...

Does it kind of look like a cat yet? I don't think it looks like a cat yet. (Those two slits will be where the ears are attached. Later.)

But I've now gotten to the point where I don't think I'll have enough yarn to complete the thing. And I can't buy new yarn.

I decided on this project as a way to get rid of the blanket yarn I still had on hand. So, buying yarn would defeat the purpose. The plan was to use a different color, anyway. I just decided that I would start with a different color here, and then use the remaining gray more towards the bottom.

This may turn out really cute. Or, it could end up looking ridiculous. Whatever. The point is to use up yarn, so I'm going to use up yarn. 

But I will have to buy polyfill. Sigh. 

And since I've now started the cat pillow series, it's time to include the previous posts at the bottom. As there is only one: 

• Yarn Under my Fingers

The Get-Out-of-the-Test-Free Card

Thursday. Sophomore math. Third period.

I had been in the class since Tuesday as the teacher had some foot injury that meant he couldn't put any weight on it. I was supposed to start Monday, but I stayed home with a cold. 

On Tuesday, the students got the study guide for Thursday's test. (Block schedule. The classes meet every other day.) They had some time to work on it, and then Mr. Y, the co-teacher, went over the problems so the students knew how to do them. (They were studying solving quadratic equations.) 

Then Wednesday happened. (If you haven't seen yesterday's post, you might want to check it out.) 

As first period ended and third period began, I was not surprised at the arrival of the principal, an assistant principal, and three counselors. Because, you see, the student had been in this class, and their passing would be very noticeable. 

(The student sat in the back of the room, so maybe some of them wouldn't have noticed. But one tends to at least have a passing acquaintance with the students in one's classes.)

I mean, this is when it would hit you, if you didn't have the student in another class before this. And three girls huddled in the middle of the room, one bawling while two others held her. Mr. Y found the tissue and made sure to distribute it. 

The principal talked about where the students could go for support. There's a whole system in place currently. The others said a few words. And then, when none of the students had anything to say, they left. 

Test time? Nah. Mr. Y wasn't going to make them take a test. Not now. 

While some of the students weren't close with the student who was now gone, some were. And, it just wasn't the day for it. 

Many of the students spent the period on their phones. Some talked. Some cried. I assume some were avoiding thinking about it. I understand. 

After class, Mr. Y wondered about when he'd give the test. I advocated for just cancelling it for them. (All the other classes took it.) Giving it the next week would throw third period off the same schedule as the rest of the classes. They'd be a day behind. 

(And, it was hard for Mr. Y as well. The previous class he sat with the student and talked to them for a bit. Later, before I left school on Tuesday, Mr. Y told me the student seemed off that day.)

Ultimately, Mr. Y will discuss this with Mr. R (the teacher I was subbing for), and they'll make that decision. (It'll hit Mr. R hard, too. All the teachers who had that student are feeling this.) 

It's such a weird time. I think missing one test won't make all that much difference in the grand scheme of things. 

That Day

It was the end of second period. An announcement came over the PA. Administration needed the staff to meet in the gym during snack. While technically that included me, I figured I really didn't need to be there as subs tend to be exempt from these sorts of things, so I headed to the restroom instead. I was sure I'd hear about whatever it was later. 

I had just gotten back from the restroom when the in-class phone rang. It was the secretary, and I just knew what she was going to ask. The fourth period she wanted me to cover was choir, not too far from the room I was in for the day. The bell was just about to ring, so I headed over. 

And here's where this all makes a very hard left turn...

As security let the class in, Mr. C, the band teacher next door, clued me in to the issue. Ms. C, the choir teacher (no relation--different C-name), was on campus. That announcement? It had to do with the death of a student. 

And it hit the choir teacher hard. 

Mr. C texted the choir teacher for plans, and he got the class started. They had a competition coming up the following weekend, and they needed to do a run-through. Better if the teacher is there, but the student leaders know enough to get something accomplished when a sub is there.

(Think Glee when I say "performance". Singing. Dancing. Contemporary radio hits music. I've covered the choir class before, but not lately. The current choir teacher replaced the choir teacher who retired last year.) 

The students hadn't been informed of the death yet. They were going to do it in waves. Just as soon as they got the counselors in place. 

The class got set up. The girls warmed up. (All-girl choir.) They got into position. They started working on blocking. 

I sat and watched. It hit differently when I knew what was coming. 

Then the phone rang. I was to send two students to the library. The notifications were starting. 

I sent the girls on their way. 

They were curious as to being sent to the library. (When students get called out of class, they are never called to the library. Attendance office, usually. Sometimes counselor's office. Maybe health office. Or front office.) But they went. 

Then security showed up with another list. Another five students headed to the library. 

After those girls left, an email went out school-wide. Student wasn't named, but the student's passing was announced. 

The remaining choir girls started doing some figuring. The student must have been involved in the school musical as the choir girls already gone had all been in the musical. As had their teacher (been involved in staging it). 

They managed a run-through of their show. This was a little weird as all their soloists were in the library. But, the backup gets rehearsed alone quite a bit, so they were able to do it. 

They had just finished a full run through (which took about 20 minutes) when Ms. C returned to the class. She knew that the girls had already heard. I let her know that while they had heard much of it, they did not know the student's name. 

Ms. C provided it. 

And that's when I realized I knew who the student was. 

It was the end of class, and several of the students were in tears. Some had returned from the library. They were processing. Naturally. 

I headed back to the class I was in for the day. And the day prior, and the day following. 

During sixth period (statistics), I had a couple students I recognized from period four. One did not make it to sixth from fourth period. She had been one to be summoned to the library. I was not surprised to not see her in class. 

While the statistics students didn't do their work (I was warned they've got senioritis and weren't going to be very productive), I perused the online attendance for the class. The school is on a block schedule, and we were on the even day. 

I took the attendance back a day. Looked at third period. Then I took the attendance to the next day and looked at third period. 

Yup. They had removed the student from the attendance. They wouldn't be in class the next day. I had seen them the day before. In class. 

I... Yeah. This might hit me harder than I thought it would. (There's more story here, but this post is long enough.) 

The Stranger

Tuesday. Sophomore math, period five. 

I had been scheduled to cover the full week, but I called out sick on Monday. I wasn't feeling 100% on Tuesday, but I was feeling a whole lot better. (And if I don't work, I don't get paid, so...)

It was a co-taught math class, and they were due to have a test the next class period (block schedule, so that was Thursday), so they were working on a study guide. I started off by passing out the study guide. 

This is a pretty simple procedure. At the front of each row, I hand the student enough copies for them and the students behind them. They pass them back. The only thing that complicates the procedure is when a kiddo at the front of a row is not paying attention. 

At the fourth row, a kiddo wasn't paying attention. Joaquin. He was completely turned around, talking to someone cattycorner to him. 

I waved the papers. Nothing. I said something to get his attention. He turned... 

"I don't talk to strangers." 

Um...

As I explained that he didn't need to talk to me to take the assignment from me, his neighbors pointed out that he needed to take the papers so they could get their work. 

Sigh. Some kiddos...

Joaquin was on stage, and the rest of the class was his audience. Or so he thought. 

And me, a stranger? Well, yeah, sort of. 

But, considering the situation, not so much. I was clearly the substitute teacher. At this point in his schooling career, this cannot be the first time he's encountered one of us. And his usual co-teacher was there, not doing anything to get rid of me. 

Too logical, I suppose. The other students had no issue with me. (Many of them knew me from previous classes.) 

(Joaquin was absent the following Thursday for the test. The rest of the class seemed rather happy about this. His audience? Not as entertained as he thinks they are.) 

Call Your Reps

Last week I advocated for us all to call our representatives as an action we can take to push back against this regime. And some of you responded that your Democratic reps were safe; you didn't need to advocate. 

Um...

So, Adam Schiff is one of my senators. And, he's not been fighting the good fight here. Too many of our senators seem to think they're the minority party in a democracy. They don't realize they're the opposition party under an authoritarian regime. 

We're not there yet? You did hear about ICE disappearing a green card holder, didn't you? 

Court orders are just pieces of paper. Will the regime ignore them? 

And the Dems are acting as if the guardrails still exist. That there will be fair elections in two years or four. If we have no governmental infrastructure left, these elections (if they happen) will be meaningless. 

Now's the time to remind our reps that they're supposed to be advocating for us. They need to fight absolutely everything. This regime gets nothing from the opposition. 

Are your reps voting to help the regime? Yell at them. Are they holding the line? Call to offer your support. Some of them are folding out of fear. If their constituents are blowing up their phone lines to say thanks, they might keep fighting the good fight. 

There are congressional watchers who are listing who is voting for what, and I have to yell at my Democratic senators for upholding things they should not be. 

(Full disclosure: I haven't been. Most of what I'm writing is to get me started calling my reps to yell at them, too. I'm happy when they're doing what I want, but they're not doing what I want nearly enough.) 

There are a couple good places to help you (and me) get started on this, with scripts. (I need scripts.) 

• 5 Calls: has scripts that you can pick and lists your reps so you can call them directly. 
• Common Cause: Find Your Representative (in case you don't know)
• Indivisible: has some ways in which you can help.

And an image I found online:

Yarn Under my Fingers

Last week was a doozy. (See this week's Thursday and Friday posts when they appear.) But I managed to pull out a project I started a while ago...

...that I haven't written about before. Fancy that. 

Well, it's not like there's much to say about it. My Ravelry projects page tells me I started it in October. Then I set it aside and kind of forgot about it. 

I had this thought about the blanket yarn I had acquired. I made a couple blankets out of it, but I had some excess, and I wasn't sure what to do with it. Then I got the bright idea to make a stuffed something out of it. I went online and found a pattern I liked. I printed out the pattern, and I got a few rounds done. And then I set it aside and got busy with other things. 

A week or so ago I remembered it. I pulled it out. And on Saturday I got a few more rounds done. 

It doesn't look like anything yet. 

It's pretty big as the yarn is thick. 

If you can see the holes there, those will become ears. It's going to be a cat pillow. (See the link for how the finished item is supposed to look.) 

I'm not even sure if I'm going to have enough gray yarn (although I have other colors, so this cat might end up being striped). But this isn't for anyone but me. Just to see if I can. 

And hey, I got some stitches made this week. Considering everything, that's quite the accomplishment. (It was a week! And somehow I ended up right in the middle of it.) 

Keeping an Eye on Him

Last Friday was my last day in the special ed math/history class. It was also assembly day. Ugh. 

Third period. This is the same group I wrote about yesterday. 

First, I passed out leis to the kiddos who had made the honor roll last semester (had a GPA of 3.0 or higher). That was basically the whole class except for the two students who managed to disappear on the way to the counselors the previous class. 

Before we left, I questioned Elian on what had happened. I mean, it wasn't like it was a distance, but somehow he disappeared. He hemmed and hawed, but he didn't have a great reason for vanishing. I pointed out that he missed his chance to register for classes. He said he'd already done it. 

We headed out to the gym for the dreaded assembly. But this time, I was going to keep an eye on Elian. (The girl who disappeared the previous day was absent.) 

And I did, up until we were almost at the gym. My mind wandered, and I took my eye off Elian. And he was gone.

Crap!

I backtracked, looking around. I was just about to talk to one of the security personnel when Elian appeared. Phew. 

They weren't letting us into the gym yet. I knew where Elian was, but the rest of the class wasn't in sight. Ms. S said she'd seen them, but she didn't see them anymore. 

Me: "Yeah, but I trust them."

And sure enough, when we finally got let into the gym and found the section where the sophomores were supposed to sit, the entire rest of the class was sitting there, together. 

My trust wasn't misplaced. 

Elian? I'm not sure where he got to, but I did see him enter the gym. So, at least he was nominally where he was supposed to be. 

After the assembly, the rest of the class got back to the classroom in a timely manner. Elian? He took his time, but he eventually returned. 

It's too bad my time with them was over. I had just gotten to the point where Elian was on my radar. Although, considering how many days he had been absent, that might not have been much of a consequence for Elian.