Arranging Chairs

Tuesday. Eighth grade history. Second period. 

It was finals week, but the eighth graders were done. I was to take roll and then escort them to the gym. So, that's what I did. 

Many of the eighth grade kiddos I had taught at the beginning of their seventh grade year in that science class. (And if you click on that link, the Mr. F I reference in the post is the teacher I was subbing for on this day.) It was kind of a full-circle moment for me. I liked getting just a small taste of the end of their middle school career as I had gotten the small taste of the beginning. 

Anyway, we were there to start promotion practice. Mr. S (yes, the same Mr. S as from the linked post) was getting them in the order they were to enter the gym for their actual promotion. And that took a while. 

Me and the other eighth grade teachers (who know who I am and knew that Mr. F was out) helped arrange chairs. Yes, chairs. They were all seated in the wrong arrangement, so as Mr. S called them up, they brought the folding chair they were sitting on, and those got put in the correct arrangement. 

Tedious. 

But that's how these things go. I didn't get to see any practice as the bell rang for the next period, and I had seventh graders, so I had to go back. 

The seventh graders (it was a leadership class) were making candy leis for the eighth grade promotion. I had been in this situation before, too. They were to make at least twenty. They made twenty. 

And then, the eighth graders returned to class for the last class of the day. To do nothing. Sigh. 

But I knew what I signed up for when I took that assignment. I am appreciated, though. Mr. F replied to my email about the day with, "With all the chaos of the day, I was really happy to see your name covering my class." 

Signing Shirts

Monday of the last week of school. Eighth grade English, co-taught. Fourth period. 

The eighth graders were done. Their grades had been submitted the prior Friday. Eighth grade promotion activities started Tuesday. So, the lesson for the day was a streamed movie. 

As it was a co-taught class, Ms. R was there. (I was subbing for the special ed teacher.) And she was really done with them. She wasn't going to permit them to sit next to their friends, but she was going to permit them to sign yearbooks. 

After going over the agenda for the rest of the week (she made sure to stress that the quicker they followed directions on Tuesday, the quicker they could be done with promotion practice), she put on the movie. 

A boy pulled out a red Sharpie...

The kiddos are not allowed to bring Sharpies to school. The kiddos have not made good choices with regards to where they write with that permanent ink marker. 

Ms. R, exasperated, reminded the kiddos that she had spent a lot of time at the beginning of the year warning them about having Sharpies at school. She was not in the mood to deal with it, though, so she told the boy to put it away. 

He explained that he brought it so that people could autograph his shirt. 

Okay, I might need to back up here a bit. It was tradition in my elementary school, and likely many of the elementary schools in the area, that on the last day of school, the sixth graders got to wear a white t-shirt that everyone could sign. I still have mine. Someplace. 

He was in a white t-shirt. In fact, there was a good portion of the class that were in white t-shirts that had various writings on them. (This is the first time I've seen it in the middle school.) Okay, then... 

So, people were signing shirts. A few of them had yearbooks, but more had shirts. (They were complaining about the price of the full-color, hardcover yearbooks. Their yearbooks were much nicer than my junior high yearbooks were.) 

I mean, it is a Title I school. I'm sure some couldn't afford the yearbooks. 

The Tantrum

He's a toddler, and we're placating a toddler. How did we get here? 

You probably already saw the infamous Meet the Press interview where he stormed out. In case you haven't: 

Or, if you're like me and can't listen to his voice, you can find a quick overview here. 

Watching the Increases

Where I'm at:

After I saw you last week, I ripped back a bunch of rounds from this: 

And then I redid them with a different increase system. As you can see, the top image lies flat. Which is want I wanted.

I don't know if you can see that the last round of the top image is curling inward. Last night, when I got to about there, I had to rip back a round as it was starting the wavy of the second image. I crocheted that round again but without increases. 

Because I don't have a pattern I'm working off of, I'm just keeping an eye on the piece as I complete each round. If it's starting to ruffle, then I have to rip back. That curl for an even round is okay as it'll flatten in the next round when I do more increases. 

I've made progress. And it's going so much quicker now that I'm not just staring at it wondering how to start. I've even started wondering about how I'm going to make it sweater-shaped eventually. But that's a ways off at the moment. 

For now, my next round will be an increase every sixth stitch. An increase is when I crochet two double crochets into the same stitch. As long as that lies flat, I'll continue the increase system I've been using.

I've been keeping notes as I will have to make another just like this for the front/back (not sure which side this one is going to be when it's all said and done). 

Suddenly I'm not so reluctant about the sweater. 

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins

Graduation Season

Friday. Integrated math two, honors. (Read: advanced freshmen and sophomores.) 

They weren't actually having a final the next week. They were taking a quiz on the latest unit. (No cumulative final. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.) They had review work on it. (Factoring and solving quadratic equations.) 

Ah, but it was the last Friday of the school year, and it was the day of the senior farewell assembly. (Their teacher was the advisor for the senior class, ever since they started at the school. So, she was involved in doing all the graduation things, hence why she was out of class.) We had activities that were going to interrupt class (not that anyone truly minded). 

Towards the middle of the period, we all stopped and stood outside as the seniors in their caps and gowns walked the campus. They've been doing this for several years, and I've been present for it several times. In previous years the kiddos weren't all that enthused about this, but this year these students had friends in the senior class, so the seniors stopped and gave hugs or fist bumps. 

(I recognized many faces. Several from various long terms I did last year and the year before that.) 

After the seniors walked the campus, we all went to the gym for the assembly. I had not gotten to go to one of these before, and it was emotional. Mostly for the staff. I'm sure some of the seniors were upset, though. As the festivities started, one girl ran for the restroom. One of the senior teachers followed her to make sure she was okay. 

I warn the kiddos that this is going to happen. Throughout the year I tell the seniors that it's going to go fast, and they're going to feel it when it happens. They don't believe me. Well, some of them believe me. 

After the assembly, we went back to class, but I had the next period group. Back to work... 

Although, the seniors were wandering campus. In their caps and gowns. It's a good reminder to the underclassmen that this is what they're working towards. 

The last day of school was yesterday. Next week's posts will wrap up the school year with my last working days. And the week after, before summer schedule goes into effect, I'll do my annual stats post for the classes I worked this school year.

Finishing Up, Part 2

Friday. Middle school leadership. They were creating "mission statements". 

(The success classes a couple weeks ago were doing a similar assignment.)

I was to remind the eighth graders that this was their final and it was due that day. Their grades were due by 4:30 PM. I mean, some of them could probably afford a zero, but their grade would take at least a letter grade hit, I assume. 

(The seventh graders still had a week, but I don't think their teacher really wanted to grade the assignment twice.) 

And the kiddos? Pretty much worked on the assignment. This was a leadership class, after all. Student government. There are GPA requirements, besides the fact that a kiddo has to be pretty motivated to choose to run for an office and serve the year doing all the various activities that go along with that. 

Today is the actual last day of school. Whew. Made it another year. 

Finishing Up

Tuesday. The penultimate week of school. I managed to catch an English class for seniors. 

Their finals had been the previous week. Their grades were due the prior Friday. They were effectively done. 

Not quite half the class showed up. For the first class. For the second, it was more like a third were present. 

There was no actual lesson plan. "They can play games." The teacher had some board games left out. 

The first class played the games. The second class, well, there were maybe ten of them. 

Three students came up to me to ask if they could hang out in their photography class. Any other day, I'd hesitate. But seniors? Now? No problem. 

I didn't even blink when a random student asked if he could hang out in this class. (His friend was in the class. They spent the period chatting.) 

Then that same student asked if he and his friend could "wander" campus. 

And that's where I had to draw the line. 

While the seniors were done, the rest of the students were not. Some teachers might have been doing early finals. (The finals week schedule is not great, so some teachers start or just do the whole final early.) And if they weren't doing early finals, they were preparing for finals or doing actual school work. 

I could not permit roaming students. 

The student understood. He sat back down and continued talking to his friend. 

I do love the easy days.