Text for Help

When Ms. A left for her maternity leave in February, she shared her online lesson plan calendar with both me and Ms. S (the sub before me). I saved the link someplace handy, and I didn't glance at it again. Until I started the long-term assignment. 

On the first day I was in class, I noted the pacing of the teaching of The Great Gatsby for the eleventh grade classes. I noted that the ninth grade class would be reading Of Mice and Men starting that week. (I've taught both these books before, so I was prepared.) 

However, the tenth grade class had nothing listed to do. Well, the first days I was there they were finishing up an argumentative essay, but for my second week, there was nothing in the plans. A big, fat blank. 

Um...

I didn't even know what Ms. A had intended for them. With the other classes, if something wasn't filled in, I could easily figure out how to fill some time as I had a topic on which to base things on. But not so for the tenth graders. Were they going to read a book? Were we going to do grammar lessons? A writing assignment? I had no clue.

Ms. A sent me a text saying she'd fill in the tenth grade plans. But she was cutting it pretty close. I mean, she's at home with a newborn and a toddler. I don't expect her to work. But I do need some guidance as to what to assign the kiddos. 

Then, Tuesday morning, a lesson plan appeared. Whew. Since my first block is planning time, I clicked on the links to get things set up for the day. Only, the links said I did not have access. Sigh.

But she had texted me to let me know to text her questions I had. So, I texted that I needed access to the material. Her response: "Oops. Geez." 

It's always the obvious things that slip through the cracks. 

Now I know what our unit is on. Short stories. So, now I have a topic with which to work. Yay! 

(We were reading "The Interlopers". I had not read it before, so it was new to all of us.) 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter

Simple Sabotage Field Manual

I can't keep up. 

I write my blog posts ahead of time. I am writing this on Thursday the 17th. And what I'm mad about right now (the human trafficking to an El Salvador prison) probably won't be what I'm mad about when this post goes live. 

So, in the spirit of "what to do", I'm finally going to share some things I found that I kept meaning to share, but before I did I got distracted by the outrage of the day. 

First is the Simple Sabotage Field Manual. It's on Project Gutenberg, which is a website of ebooks that are all in the public domain. (Do a little look-see around there if you're looking for a classic book and you have an ereader.) A description of the book: 

Office of Strategic Services is a historical publication written during the early 1940s, amid World War II. This manual acts as a guide for ordinary civilians to conduct simple acts of sabotage against enemy operations without the need for specialized training or equipment. Its main topic revolves around promoting small, accessible forms of resistance that could collectively disrupt the enemy's war effort.

 You know, in case you might have use for information like this. 

The other thing I wanted to share was stickers. (I almost titled the post "Stickers" today.) It's a small way to protest things, especially if you have a printer. You can print various messages on stickers or flyers or post-it notes and leave them around town for others to see. If you wanted to do that sort of thing.

I found this idea on BlueSky, and I searched for a good summary of it. But alas, the person who was talking about it started a thread of various stickers that one could use, but it's not in any organized format. Let me know if you are unable to see the thread. (I might figure out a way to list some of these at some point, but it won't be today.) 

I found a couple articles that I think I've already linked to previously (as they are from February), but just in case I haven't: 

• Thirty lonely but beautiful actions you can take right now which probably won't magically catalyze a mass movement against Trump but that are still wildly important
• Soon, there will be a spark

And finally, I'm hearing rumblings of another national day of protest on May 1st. May Day. If you're a protesting kind of person. 

Stay safe. And remember we're all in this together. 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter 

Rawr: Or Redoing the Dragon

Okay, so I was going through my old posts to give the review of this particular project when I stumbled across a previous title. Rawr. And I just couldn't not. It's R day, after all. (I mean, "Redoing the Dragon" is not a bad title, but Rawr? Come on!)

Right, so this is a project that I've been working on for a couple years now. And all it is is a swatch. 

Originally, I had bought the pattern (because how could I not?) and tried it out. So, since then I've had this knitted piece just sitting around with no thing to be. I decided to make another, and then I'll put the two pieces together. Only, the third try hasn't gone as smoothly as the first two. 

Last week I finally pulled it out again. And I made some progress: 

The last time I worked on this, I got to here: 

Progress. 

We'll see if I get any further this week. It could happen. (But I'm back at work this week, so less time.) 

In review, I pulled this out a while ago, got it almost completed, and then I had to rip it almost all the way out and start over. There were some glaring errors that I could not fix any other way. (I tried, but I made more of a mess.) But before I could really get to it, I got distracted by other projects. 

It's been sitting around, just waiting for me to give it some attention again. Fingers crossed. Maybe I'll get it done this time. Maybe. 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter

Quotes from '80s Movies Quiz

Normally during A to Z on Saturdays I'll post a random picture. But Q. 

While working on yesterday's post, I found a website called Quizly, and then it just seemed obvious. Not a Friday, but why not another random quiz? Very Q. 

So, I searched a bit and found:

Popular '80s Movie Quotes

Because of course I did. 

As with yesterday's, just skip the sign up and click on "take me to my results" under the other boxes. This one does require some knowledge, but if you're of an age where you went to the movies in the 1980s, then you've got this one. 

I managed 23 out of 24 questions, a 95%. 

The one I missed? Yeah, I never saw that movie. But most of the others were pretty obvious. Good luck. And let me know how you did in the comments. 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter

Planet Personality Quiz

It's Friday of spring break week, so that means it's random quiz day. (My subbing stories will return next week.) I went on an internet search, and I found...

What Planet Am I?

There are a bunch of questions, but they're choose what you prefer questions, so not hard. And then I got: 

Mercury

You have a lot to say, so friends think of you as a chatty, but a wise friend. Your ability to carry conversations make you a great person to make a connection with. Your curiosity may be annoying to some but you enjoy asking questions, so you don't care what people think.

Yup, not me at all. Completely off. No one who knows me would call me "chatty". The opposite of that, actually. 

Ah well. 

So, try it out and let me know what planet you got in the comments. (You don't have to sign up for the site. Just skip to your results.) And let me know if they pegged you correctly or they were as off as they were with me. 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter

Old O Posts

It is spring break. And as per my usual "rules", I'm saving my subbing stories from last week for next week (when I'm back to work), and today I'm on my "summer schedule". Which means Thursday 13. 

Plus, it's April. And the A to Z Challenge. So, what to post that incorporates today's letter, O? Last year I had the genius idea of finding some old D posts (spring break Thursday fell on D day last year), so why not? 

As I found out last year, it won't take me all that long to find enough posts. So, where to start looking? I went to a random number generator, put in the years possible for my blog (2007-2024) and got back 2014. Okay, then. Let's see what I can find...

1. Only One, April 17, 2014

Ah, a prior A to Z post, back when I did my "what if?" day on Thursday. Back when I was doing "what if?" posts. This doesn't bode well that I didn't get an O post until A to Z. This may take more years than I thought. 

2. Old School Horror, May 13, 2014

Spoiler: the horror is the teacher had a chalkboard. Mr. T is still teaching in that same classroom with that same chalkboard. (His room is a time capsule of '80s artefacts. It feels so weird typing that as many of the things in his classroom are things I remember using in the '80s.) Although, I heard through the grapevine that he might be retiring the end of this year. 

3. Out of Focus?, June 3, 2014

A technical difficulties post. Where I attempted to project something to the kiddos and couldn't get it in focus. As I write this post, the co-teacher is using a document camera (like in this old post) to go over notes with the kiddos. Although, using the document camera is falling out of favor because one can do a digital whiteboard that gets projected to the in class big screen TV. Things change, but slowly. 

4. Ongoing, July 7, 2014

A roundup post of some crocheted (and one knitted) projects. I reference my niece's 13th birthday party. She's now 23. Wow, how time flies.

5. Outburst, July 8, 2014

Two O posts in a row! And I was worried about getting enough O posts for my list. This was a repost from March 3, 2008, back when I did reposts on Tuesdays. Some kiddos decided to test me and got a referral. Because 8th graders never change. 

6. Occupational Hazard, September 4, 2014

Oh, I'm so glad this one popped up. It's one of my favorites. It's a repost from May 29, 2009, where I whine about having to watch the first 50 minutes of The Outsiders five times. Because sub. And teachers (used to) always leave videos for the sub. 

7. Oblivious, December 26, 2014

Where I sent a student out of class for blatantly being on his phone in class. Cell phone use has only gotten worse since this.

8. Out of the Box, February 10, 2015

Well, I couldn't get all the O posts out of one year, so I'll keep going from here. This is a "what if?" post. 

9. Optical Illusions, April 17, 2015

Another A to Z post (does O day always fall on April 17th?), this one a Friday. The quiz (it was a Friday, so I posted a random online quiz) is now gone.😞

10. Oblivious, August 26, 2015

This is a different post than #7, but "oblivious" is such a great word to describe the students at the continuation high school sometimes. This oblivious student was playing a game rather than doing his math, and he did not notice me when I approached. 

11. One Song, September 22, 2015

Another "what if?". 

12. One World, October 13, 2015

And another "what if?". 

13. Other Uses, November 30, 2015

And I end this list with a knitting post. The knitted letters that I've been ending my A to Z posts with were made as gift card holders, and this post talks about the time a customer at the farmer's market I used to do asked for me to make one as a car fob holder. 

Wow, this has been an interesting trip down memory lane via the blog. How things have changed (and not changed). 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter

Nerd Librarian

It's spring break, so I am holding my subbing posts for the week I return to school. That means today is video day (by my self-imposed schedule), or rather What to Watch Wednesday.  

I was at a loss as to what to post about today until I saw an email from one of the librarians in the school district. He has a little YouTube channel. When I noticed that his channel is called "The Nerd Librarian", I realized I had my N. His latest episode is "The AI Episode". 

Yes, that is the librarian at one of the schools I sub at. He's even made the blog before. The English/journalism teacher appearing with him I have yet to sub for, although I have subbed in his classroom (for the teacher that had the room prior to him) and I have subbed for his neighbors. It's just a matter of time. 

The video is about twenty minutes long. I hope you enjoy it. 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter