Taking Down the Notes

Wednesday. Eighth grade English, co-taught. Seventh period.

I was in for Mr. S, the special ed teacher. Ms. R, the general ed teacher, was present, so the class proceeded as normal. And on this day, they were reading the play, The Diary of Anne Frank. 

(I have covered this class before, this year even.) 

Ms. R got them started. They were in the middle of Act 1, Scene 2. 

My job was to make sure the kiddos were following along. Which they were. So, I roamed around the back of the room, looking for issues. 

I knew Oscar was going to be an issue. 

Students had been assigned parts, so the reading went fairly smoothly. Mostly, the kiddos were following along and read when it was their turn. Occasionally a student would lose their place, but that's normal. 

Then, Ms. R would pause them to discuss what had just happened. There were nuances that the kiddos weren't picking up on as they don't tend to closely pay attention. So, Ms. R pointed out some of the conflict going on between Anne and her mother. She explained how Anne was more outgoing while her sister, Margot, was more reserved. And such.

While Ms. R was discussing, she reminded the kiddos that they were to be taking notes. 

They had sheets in front of them. There was a column entitled Plot. And a second column with Characterization, Conflict, and Setting. 

As Ms. R discussed how Anne was reacting to something, she pointed out that this was something that would work for Characterization. When she mentioned Anne getting upset at her mother, she pointed out that this was Conflict. And so on. 

Oscar? Yeah, not writing anything. 

I went over to point out that while Ms. R was talking, he should be taking notes. Problem: he had no pencil. 

I told him to ask Ms. R for one (as I don't normally carry supplies). I walked away. He got Ms. R's attention. They discussed something, but I could tell it was not about acquiring a pencil. Ms. R went back to instructing the class. 

At the next discussion point, I found Oscar had a pencil. But now his neighbor did not. She informed me that Oscar had taken her pencil. Oscar said he got the pencil from Ms. R. I watched them. Ms. R had not given Oscar a pencil. So, I made Oscar give the pencil back to his neighbor.

Oh, while Oscar had the pencil, did he write down any notes? Of course not. 

At the next break, Oscar did, in fact, ask Ms. R for a pencil, and she gave him one. So, I wandered over. Was Oscar writing notes? Of course not. 

Was the rest of the class taking down notes? Yes, mostly. There was one boy who wasn't. He claimed he was reading the play so he couldn't take down notes. And yet, when Ms. R would break to discuss, was he writing then? But he was in the minority. 

I stopped going over to check on Oscar. He wasn't trying. If he was just having trouble figuring out what to write, I could have helped him with that. But he was just playing.

Class over, and they left. I said something to Ms. R. Her response: just like every day. Yup. Oscar did this every day. 

Ms. R was a bit perplexed, though. She said that something happened in January. In January and February, Oscar was actually doing well. Attentive. Turning in work. She made him her student of the month for January. And then, sometime in March, he went back to this. 

Deep sigh. 

That Oscar did improve is good news. I wonder what made him revert. I wonder if he'll improve again. He's an eighth grader. He's bound to mature. Eventually. 

What would you guess Oscar's problem is? Do you prefer to write in pen or pencil?

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

Stair Guard

Last Tuesday was the first day of state testing. And I managed to catch an assignment. Woo-hoo! 

The past two years at this time of year, I had been on long term subbing assignments. Those years for the testing time I found a place to hide out. (The administration required staff to be on campus during testing. I used the time to grade and lesson plan. It was very useful.) But this year... 

As I was checking in for the day, the principal gave me an assignment for testing time. Tardiness has been an ongoing issue. And only certain grades were testing. (Those grades not testing didn't have to arrive at school until 10:30 AM.) Plus, some students like to roam the halls. 

Ms. C (the principal) asked me to position myself at the entrance to the school, and for the first ten minutes of the school day, shoo the kiddos to where they were supposed to go. After the ten minutes, I was to shoo all kiddos to the PE field where they would wait out testing time. 

(Students who weren't testing but showed up to school at the usual 8:30 AM time were sent to the PE field. Any testing students who were very late were too late to start the test and so were also sent to the PE field.)

Okay, then. 

(I couldn't just hide out in the classroom where I was to sub the day as there was a class of students testing in there. And for reasons, subs aren't allowed to proctor the tests.) 

The first ten minutes of the school day were brisk. Many late students. An assistant principal was there as well, so I really didn't have much to do. Then they locked the front gate, so the students who arrived had to enter through the main office. And I positioned myself by the stairs leading out of the main office (pictured above). 

And... 

There wasn't much to do, really. As the arriving students had to pass through the office, the office staff called for security. Security met them at the steps and drove them (in their golf carts) to the PE field. 

I maybe questioned five students who were roaming. There were other students on their way to or from the restroom. But mostly I sat on the stairs and read blogs. (I had brought my computer with me. I had a feeling it would be a boring job.) 

Mostly, I saw staff. When it came up in conversation, I explained what I was doing. I was "guarding the stairs". 

Stairs that didn't really need guarding. 

But hey, I was getting paid for it. 

And for those of you who were here for J-day, another example. The following picture was taken when I turned almost 180° from the above picture of the stairs. (That open door in the background is the classroom I was in this time last year for that eleventh grade English long term assignment.) 

What's the weirdest thing you ever got paid to do? What time did your high school start? 

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

Rage Over Reckless Destruction

A new book came out last week. It's called Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower’s Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded USAID. 

I've been trying to figure out what I wanted to write about today that had something to do with the letter R, and I came up blank. But then I remembered the game. For A to Z, my game is to write what I would normally write for the day and then try to figure out a title with the letter of the day. This week is proving to be troublesome. Although my Tuesday theme is on point (see graphic above). 

And this week it's that book. Because the damage those idiots did to the world at large is massive. They've been making the rounds publicizing the book: 

• Whistleblower says Trump officials thought USAID did 'just abortions,' asked for 'Barney-style' slides before gutting agency, per new book
• “Into the Wood Chipper”: Whistleblower’s Inside Story of DOGE Shredding USAID, 14 Million May Die

Check out the book if you're so inclined. And remember, the regime killed people just to "fix the deficit", and they didn't fix anything. 

Link for Amazon. Link for Bookshop.org (in case you don't do Amazon). 

No questions today. Just an open forum to rant if you are so inclined.

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

Questionable Quality

Now that eldest nephew's sweater is complete, it is time for me to start on my last project for last Christmas. (I mean, it's been in the planning stages since last summer. I even wrote about it. Once.) 

Yeah, I've been avoiding it. 

My sister-in-law requested a purple version of the eye sweater I made for her daughter. (This was my big project for 2024. This is the last post with links to all the posts I wrote about it.) 

And... I just don't wanna do it. There. I said it. 

I never felt fully comfortable with the eye sweater. Niece found a photo of what she wanted. I could not find a pattern to go with it. I found something close, but it didn't have the curve at the hem that Liv wanted. So, I faked it. And I hated faking it. 

Was it close? Did I get the right colors? Is that two rounds or three? Should I make this bigger? Does it need more of a curve? Does it need less of a curve? 

I still feel residual stress from the thing. 

And now I have to do it again. 

Only, this time, I'm basing it off the thing I made. Which I have the notes for. I wrote down what I did, just in case I had to replicate it. 

I found those notes a few months ago. And I put them someplace to find easily. And now I can't find them. (Although, I typed them out in 2024. And then in January I turned them into a note that I put on my phone. So, I do have them.) 

It's time to woman up and get this thing done. On Saturday (after two weeks of no knitting/crochet when I had time but just chose not to start) I pulled up the video (that I used to make the eye to start) and started crocheting. And... 

I don't like it. 

It's not coming out oval enough. It's curling. I'm going to redo it. 

That's maybe an hour of work, so no big loss. Getting the oval to oval isn't quite working out. But I need to start with an oval so that the hem curves. 

Deep sigh. 

For me, getting started is the hardest part. I have the yarn. I have a project bag. I started the oval. I can do this. 

Note: I know you all mean well and just want to encourage me, but "you can do it" or "it looks great" sort of thing in the comments is not going to encourage me at all. It's just going to make me feel worse. So, unless you want to trigger me, please avoid telling me how talented a crocheter I am. Because I am not. 

Now, how do I make this fit Q for A to Z? I have no idea. (That's kind of a theme this week.) I mean, you already know, but I don't. Yet. 

What color would you want this disaster of a sweater in? Have you ever had a project that you just did not want to do? What's the best Q-title you've done for A to Z? (My absolute favorite A to Z Q-post was "Quinceanera and Sweet Sixteen".) 

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

Palm Trees

Back in October, I was standing in line at a taco truck when the sky behind the palm trees just called to me: 

And that is all. 

Do you like palm trees? Do you have a favorite tree? Any good food trucks in your area?

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

Officially of the Assignment

The Friday before spring break. English 9. Eighth period. 

The assignment: come up with examples for various ideas expressed in Romeo & Juliet. Things like "Being an obedient, sheltered, and naive child," or "Love can be chaotic and dangerous". 

They were allowed to work together. Some interesting conversations occurred. (These kinds of days are so much fun. I roam the room and just listen. I only pop in to the conversation if they're saying something that is factually wrong or if they need a referee for their debate.) 

The last topic was "Unrequited love". 

Adrian told Bruce to write "yumeshipping" on his paper. Adrian spelled it out. Bruce didn't like this idea. "What is that?" He pushed back. He figured it wasn't appropriate. 

Me? I was curious. It sounded vaguely anime. I had a feeling it was probably on target. 

Adrian searched it up. Definition: the practice of shipping yourself (or an original character that represents you) with a canon* fictional character. (And "shipping" refers to the desire by followers of a fandom for two or more individuals, either real-life people or fictional characters, to be in a relationship, in case you haven't heard the term before.) 

So, uh, yeah, creating a "relationship" with a fictional character is probably the ultimate in unrequited love. Fictional characters definitely can't love you back.

I'd say Adrian understood the assignment. 

I assured Bruce that yeah, that was an excellent example. There was some concern that Ms. B wouldn't like the example. I've met Ms. B, and while fairly strict (she teaches freshmen, after all), she's a reasonable individual. Personally, I think she'd be tickled that her students came up with an example she'd never heard of. (I assume she's not into this sort of thing, but I could be wrong.) 

Adrian wrote it down. I didn't look that closely at Bruce's finished paper, so I don't know if he added it as well. 

They'll start reading the play after the break (which it now is). Ah, Shakespeare. 

Have you ever heard of yumeshipping before? (Or shipping? Or canon* characters?) Would you ever want to create art (drawings or fan fiction) of yourself with a fictional character? Who?

*Canon: Of the original or official story. A "canon character" is a character from some piece of other fiction, like Batman or Dracula or Colter Shaw from Tracker. 

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

Not a Newbie

The Thursday before spring break. Tenth grade English. Third period. 

The assignment: they were working on "independent projects". After some observation, my guess is those projects had to do with the book they were reading, Night by Elie Wiesel. 

I did my usual intro which I managed to finish just before the daily morning announcements. When the teacher leaves a vague lesson plan, that's because the kiddos have been working on this and should know what to do. So, I expected them to get to work. I opened the seating chart in the attendance software, and started to take roll... 

A boy walked in late. He sat in the corner. I went to mark him tardy, but he did not look anything like the picture of the boy in the seat. As I looked around and compared the live students to the seating chart photos, I noticed that the two bore no resemblance to each other. Um... 

"Why are you not in your assigned seats?" I asked the class at large. 

And suddenly, a third of the class remembered, "I don't sit here," and a minute of flurry ended with a live class that actually looked like the seating chart. 

What? Do they think I'm new? 

While some teachers' seating charts are out of date or they don't really enforce them, I knew Mr. C's chart was accurate (he said so) and that he did enforce it. 

I noted the attempt in the note, and I moved on. 

It was funny how the class was very laid-back and talkative right until I insisted on assigned seats. Then things got very, very quiet. Hopefully they got some work done, but sophomores. Some are still not quite focused on getting it done. 

Have you ever read Night? Did you sit next to your friends in school? Did you get your work done?

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