Acting Like Middle Schoolers

Wednesday. Twelfth grade English. First period. 

Seniors. What could go wrong?

They were starting Hamlet, and we were doing some preliminary work with a Shakespearean sonnet. I had been running late that morning, and so I hadn't had much time to peruse the lesson plans, so I gave the directions very, very badly. 

This isn't the first time I've given directions badly, though. The problem was, the class wasn't exactly trying. Getting them to pay attention to the instructions and then getting them to work wasn't going well. And, I had a co-teacher (who I've worked with before) who is in the class all the time. They weren't listening to her, either. 

For the last fifteen or so minutes of class, they were to start listening to the play. Ms. S had left a CD and a boombox with which to play it. The boombox was plugged into the in-ceiling speakers. Technology I could manage. 

But, not so much. I put in the CD. Pressed play. And I got no sound. 

I turned up the volume. I switched the inputs. I stopped and restarted the CD. Nothing.

The class? Went wild. 

So, while I was dealing with the technology, the class was getting louder and louder, and someone threw a pen at us. (It missed. It hit the teacher's desk, but it did not strike either of us.) 

Ms. K was livid. They were acting like middle schoolers. Seriously, I expect that behavior from a middle school group, but from seniors? Yeah, no. 

I finally got the CD working. (I had to turn the boombox off and turn it back on. Then it all worked.) The class? Not listening to Act 1, scene 1 of the play. 

Ms. K wanted to know who threw the pen. (From experience I know I won't find out who it was. Many times the teacher can figure it out later.) The class mocked her for not being a real teacher. (Which was ridiculous. She's the special ed teacher in the co-taught class. She knows her stuff and has been teaching for many years. They seem to think she's an aide or something, which is also not fair to aides.) 

Ms. K? Held them in at snack. 

They were not happy. Also not happy? Ms. S. When I saw her the next day, let's just say first period is now in a world of hurt. And she was closing in on the pen thrower. 

Covering senior classes is supposed to be a cake day. Not so much with them. But, I had sophomores for the rest of the day, and they were lovely. 

Enjoying the Cooler Weather

Tuesday. Tenth grade chemistry. Second period. 

After 100℉ (38℃) temps the previous week, our weather fell off a cliff, and on Tuesday we were forecast to have a high of 72℉ (22℃). Ah, bliss. 

When I walked into the classroom, the thermostat (which was off) read 64℉ (18℃). And it was perfect. Just a bit chilly, but once the kiddos arrived, the room would warm up. 

The kiddos were not as cooperative as I would have liked. There was a table of girls who were having way too much fun. They had an assignment, but they "finished" it way too quickly. 

One of those girls, early in the period, mentioned the temperature of the room. "It's cold in here."

Me: "Yes. Isn't it glorious?"

Because it was. I was comfortable for the first time in months. I didn't have sweat dripping down my back first thing in the morning. 

The girl didn't see my point. She urged me to turn on the heat. 

Heat? Hell, no. 

I'm not insane. When we get to the colder months and I walk into a classroom and the thermostat reads 54℉ (12℃), the first thing I do is turn on the heat. But 64℉? 

By the time the girl complained, the thermostat was well above that. It was 70℉ (21℃) by the end of the period. (I did turn on the a/c after that, but mostly to blow air to keep the temperature there. It'd climb quickly and get very stuffy if I didn't.) 

It wasn't like the girl was dressed wrong. She was in long sleeves and jeans. And it wasn't that cold. But I suppose we had been so warm for so long that it felt positively frigid by comparison. 

The next day I had a similar argument with a senior girl. When she complained of the cold, I pointed out that it was forecast to get into the 90s (30s in Celsius) in a couple days. She said that was way too hot. 

Yup. Agreed. So, let's enjoy the cool while we have it. A blissful two days. 

Election Season

I ran across this article last week that's a filling out of a long BlueSky thread chain. I thought it was interesting, so I'm sharing: 

What Happens When Fascists Realize They Might Lose?: The attack on Ilhan Omar’s home, the desperation of an unpopular fascist administration, and the long fight ahead.

But my big project for the week was to look at my ballot and get my voting done. I'm in California, and they mailed our ballots to us at the beginning of the month. There are many propositions to go through, plus there are a bunch of judicial races that I always have to look up. Oh, and we're voting for a new governor. 

Anyway, you'll be happy to know that I got that done, got my ballot filled out, and I got it sent back in. (As of this writing it hasn't made it to where it gets counted, but I got notification that it's in the system and on the way.) 

If you're in the LA area, I found an interesting voter's guide that explained all those persnickety judicial races that I never know who to vote for in. It also explained in plain English what those ballot propositions were actually about. So I could make up my own mind. (They had the way they were urging us to vote, but they explained their reasoning, which helped.) 

I guess this week's post is about voting. Make sure to vote in this midterm election (if you are in the US). If we can flip the House and flip the Senate, we can urge those officials to put a stop to the shenanigans that the regime is getting up to. These are the checks we need for all the awful things they're doing. 

Just for fun, a little ad for CA-34 that's kinda fun. (I have no skin in this race as I'm in CA-41.) 

And this one from Mississippi: 

Make sure to vote. 

No Progress

I did no knitting or crocheting last week. But this post needs a pic, so here are the slippers...

Last week I mentioned how I had finished filming all the clips I needed for the video I made as a how-to-knit these slippers. It was just a matter of waiting for my brother to put them together. 

My brother returned the edit the next day. 

Now I need to sit and watch the 40-minute video to make sure there are no other changes to make. 

But with work and this little cold I caught, I did not have the time or energy to do that. (I expected it to be a while before my brother had time to edit together the video. Nope. He managed to squeeze it in.) 

I'll get to it. Eventually. I'm writing this on Saturday at about 7 PM. My day? I got up, had breakfast, and then I slept for four hours. I feel so much better after that little nap, but I'm not quite all the way well yet. 

(I blame the flu shot. I was a little tired, but fine, and then I got my flu shot on Wednesday. Thursday? Full-blown cold.) 

Anyway, the video is in progress. It'll be done. Soon. Just not quite this soon. 

Playing It Safe

I do not know if you heard about the heat wave in southern California, so let me just mention how horribly hot it was last week. 100℉ (that's about 38℃) highs. But, by Thursday things had cooled off to a balmy high of 90℉ (32℃). 

When I ran into Ms. G on Wednesday (when I ended up covering her co-teacher on my prep period), I asked her about the room switch, and she informed me that her air conditioning wasn't working. Uh oh. I was booked to cover her class the next day. This was horrible news.

But we were not in her classroom. The room we were in was used only for first and second periods, and then it was vacant the rest of the day. Knowing this, I made sure Sherry (the sub secretary) checked me out a key to that room. 

Thursday. Eighth grade math.

I arrived at Ms. G's actual classroom. She had written in the lesson plan that the a/c worked a bit, but it had been giving up later in the day. I turned on the a/c and hoped for the best. At the end of second period (they're on a block schedule, and this was an even day) the a/c was still blowing cool air. So, good. 

But, do I hope the a/c will hold out, or do I go to the room where it's a sure thing? If the a/c went out mid-period, we could move (as I had the other room's key, too), but moving eighth graders in the middle of a period? 

After they all arrived in the usual room, I walked the class over to the other room. And things went rather well. (Ms. G's co-teacher was also out--same meeting--so it was a two-sub day.)

Sixth period was the prep period, and I had been asked to cover a different class. For eighth period, Ms. C and I agreed to meet in Ms. G's usual room and walk the kiddos over like we had fourth period. 

(There was a note on the door for anyone looking for us during class time, but leaving a note on the door and hoping the kiddos would arrive in the correct classroom on time? Or at all? I don't trust eighth graders to do this.) 

Ms. C and I arrived during passing period, and the classroom was cool. The a/c was working? 

I mean, it hadn't had to work so hard keeping a classroom full of kiddos cool. The day wasn't as hot as earlier in the week. Maybe it would hold out? 

Ms. C and I conferred. Do we risk it? I had left my stuff in the other classroom, but one of us could have gone and gotten that if we were staying. 

We decided to leave it up to the class. We took a vote. They were pretty evenly divided, but going won by two votes. 

At the end of the day I had to return papers and such to Ms. G's actual classroom. The a/c? Still blowing cool air. 

Would it have held out? Was it now working? I can't be sure. I can be sure that I won't want to cover Ms. G's class again until the weather cools off. Whenever that is. 

(It's supposed to rain this week. When you read this it might be cooler. It might be wet. And we might get hot days after this. The joys of SoCal in October.) 

Home Base

Wednesday. Special ed math. (I was covering Ms. L, who at this point I know rather well.) 

First period was co-taught with Mr. J, who was also out. He had left a test. I took the special ed kiddos next door to the math learning center so they could do their test. 

{My big drama for the period was when one kiddo made a dramatic entrance about halfway through the test. He was supposed to be with me, but he remained behind, not sure why. I called names of who was going. One reason the kiddos take tests separately is because the special ed kiddos are allowed to use their notes on the tests--it's one of their accommodations. So, when the other sub caught him using his notes, he understandably called the student on it. 

Apparently Mr. J lets him remain as Mr. J knows who is allowed the notes and who is not. But subs. So, the student got sent to me, and he was not happy about it. 

I know how Mr. J will react to this. Something similar happened last year. Mr. J has told the kiddos that they can follow the sub's instructions for the day. They're old enough to go with the flow for one day. But sophomores. They get touchy about things.}

Then third period was Mr. L's conference period. (The school is on a block schedule. This was the odd day.) I remained in the learning center as that's where Ms. L's desk was located. I was just settling in for a little break (opening Feedly and getting ready to read through the day's blogs) when I got a call from the sub secretary, Sherry. Could I cover a third period? Deep sigh. 

I packed up my stuff and headed out. When I got to Ms. G's temporary classroom [her a/c wasn't working, and last week our temps hovered around 100℉ (that's about 38℃)], I learned that the lesson was for them to take a test. And the co-teacher I was covering was to take the special ed students to another classroom so they could test in a quieter setting. Guess where. 

So, we hiked back to the learning center. 

I plopped my stuff back on Ms. L's desk, and I watched the kiddos take their test. (Things went smoothly.)

If I had known I was going to spend two periods in the same room back-to-back, I would have set up a more comfortable spot to observe from. But some days kind of take you by surprise. (The rest of the day I was in different classrooms.) 

The Competition

Monday. Tenth grade English. Co-taught. 

The kiddos had some questions to answer from their reading of "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe, and then they were to begin reading the articles for their district writing essay (that they do once a quarter). And other than the kiddo in period eight who thought that that was the perfect time to blow up balloons and make balloon animals for everyone, the students spent their time making progress on their assignments. 

It's early October (at least, this day was), and while I had been scrambling for assignments, August and September were mostly filled with working days. While I was booked for most of last week, that was the extent of my bookings. The rest of October and November (and December and after) were completely blank. 

But this is when the jobs start popping up. 

I was seated, watching the kiddos work, when I got an alert on my watch. New job. I grabbed for it. Missed. Damn.

Then another job popped up. This one I caught. 

I looked over at my co-teacher for the day. Mr. H. The usual co-teacher was also out at the meeting (or whatever) that had taken Mr. E, so it was us two subs. Mr. H has been a sub about as long I have been, and we get along. We've both been trying to keep busy working. So, when I realized that someone (likely Allie) was putting in gigs, I let him know jobs were being input. 

Then another gig popped up. I grabbed for it. Missed. 

I turned to Mr. H. "Did you get it?" Nope. 

He got an alert that I did not get. (I heard his phone alert.) He grabbed for it. I think he missed it, but I'm not sure. 

Why didn't I get that alert? It could be that it was on a day I already had a job, or it could be that it was taken before it got to me. No matter. 

We both kept looking. Not much was input for a while. Or, at least I didn't get alerted. 

The class was working quietly. My computer alerted. I grabbed, and I got it! "Yes!" I probably shouldn't have said that out loud, but it just slipped out. 

Mr. H? He was still trying. 

At the end of the day I had picked up three assignments. During the rest of the week several jobs came up for grabs, and while I would have liked to have gotten more of them, I got a fair number. 

As of this writing, I have at least one gig booked for each week of the next six weeks (two weeks with one, three weeks with two, and one week with three), and a teacher reached out to let me know he'd be out for December and could I cover his classes? 

So, I'm working. Mr. H? He's working, too. Hopefully more days will pop up. I mean, it's likely. People get sick. Things happen. It'll be fine. 

At least I've got some things coming up that are already booked.