End of School Year Review

To end the school year, I have two annual posts. First is "Graduation Daydream", and second is this one, where I tally up all the different assignments I had this year.

(This post can be a bit dry, so I understand if you skip it.)

There were 178 school days this year. I worked 131 of them. This is slightly up from last year. Of those days, I covered teachers without prep periods on 27 of those days, and on 37 other days I was asked to cover another class on the teacher's prep.

I worked both the first day of school and the last day of school. This is unusual. Usually I may work one or the other. Sometimes neither. But both?

I covered 83 days in high school classes, 32 days in middle school classes, and only 17 days at the continuation high school (although I did get to cover that school for 6 days during August). That's an all time low for the continuation high school, but there were extenuating circumstances that curbed my continuation high school days.

The highlights:

• English: 31 days
• 12th grade English: 12 of those days
• Science: 27 days
• Physics: 5 days
• Social Studies: 16 days
• Math: 53 days
• Algebra 1: 31 days
• Geometry: 19 days (although some of those days were for teachers that taught both algebra 1 and geometry)
• Calculus: 3 periods (that teacher only taught one period of calculus, so those days were also math analysis and algebra 2)
• Special Ed: 19 days (and 7 extra periods)
• Severely Handicapped: 10 extra periods 
• (This is way up from previous years.)
• Misc: 11 days
• Art: 3 days
• Photography: 1 day
• Testing proctor: 3 days
• Opportunity: 4 days

I only covered one period of band all year (woot!) and didn't cover choir once. I also didn't cover any specific computer classes (although computers were used in some of the other classes) or business classes. Strange.

And now the summer blogging schedule is officially underway...

Role Playing

It's Thursday, so it's time for my my weekly random question...

I saw this article in io9 last week. It has links to four of these. Here's one to give you a taste and entice you go click on the link...



And that got me thinking...

What if fantasy worlds had some sort of role playing games? Would the players be the nerds of the realm...or the leaders?

Graduation Daydream

In what has now become an annual tradition on LoG, it's time to repost my graduation daydream. Several years ago now, I was subbing a class on the last day of school... Actually, I think I told that story better the first time.

Anyway, this is the daydream I had, and I think it's apropos for this time of year...

It starts with a stage filled with teens in caps and gowns. A graduation ceremony. The new graduates look over the audience filled with proud parents. They're excited. They've finally finished school, and they're looking forward to the next phase of their lives.

The new graduates exit at the side of the stage. They hug each other. Many are in tears. They meet up with parents, take pictures, and gradually leave the area.

The stage is empty, but not for long.

Off to the other side of the stage is another group of students a year younger than those who just exited. They climb the stairs and claim the stage for themselves.

The new senior class surveys its domain. Some look in corners. Others go to the edge of the stage and peer out at the audience. Many are cheering, fist pumping, and bouncing up and down. Two boys run at each other and bump chests. They have arrived.

While the new senior class celebrates, the area just off the stage that was just vacated starts to fill. This group looks around in awe and wonder. A few look up the steps, itching to join the new seniors. Several look out over the line that stretches out behind them. It's a long line and it seems to disappear into the horizon.

As each group moves up to the next position, they look over their new surroundings. The new freshman class, however, is so busy celebrating and laughing at the group just below them that they don't notice how trashed their new position is. Then again, their old spot in the line wasn't much better.

The newest middle schoolers carefully take up their new position. They are all wide-eyed wonder. The more adventurous pull their peers along. They take their time looking around, acclimating to their new position in line. There's a demarcation behind them, and they thought they'd never get beyond that border. Now that they are, they're not sure what they're going to do next.

Each elementary grade moves up one. As the former kindergartners take their first grade spot (and make themselves right at home), an empty spot is left at the end of the line. But like all the other spots in line, this one doesn't remain empty for long.

Off in the distance, family groups start to arrive. The parents push their little ones into their spot in line. Some of these children run to take over their spot. Others cling. The families stand there, watching their little ones for some time, not sure what to do next.

One mother shakes her head as she watches her little one acclimate to the line. "They grow up so fast," she says.

Nearby, various people are on their way out of the area. One woman hears the kindergartner's mother, so she turns to her and says, "You have no idea." The woman looks off into the distance where her graduate is off with friends.

"You have no idea," the woman repeats.

School ended for us last week. How's your summer going?

Lost and Found

Last week was the last week of school. And this year I actually picked up some days. Amazing.

On Tuesday, I only had periods 1 & 2. It was finals week. They were on a block schedule. But these classes took their finals the prior week, so the class was pretty much done.

Jacob was not happy to see me. It wasn't me especially that he didn't like. He just really needed to see his teacher.

See, back in December, Mr. D confiscated a set of Uno cards from Jacob. And Jacob wanted them back.

We searched the room for them, but we were unable to find them. I gave Jacob Mr. D's email address so he could get in touch with him (every teacher's district email address is similarly constructed, and this address is readily available to the parents) and I let him know that Mr. D would be back on the last day of school. While Jacob wouldn't have to attend Mr. D's class, he would be on campus and could touch base with him then.

Towards the end of 2nd period, a senior came by to return some things to Mr. D. And she had a book to return to a student in 4th period. (If we weren't on a block schedule, it would have been 4th period and she would have seen him.) So, I put a Post-It note on the book and labeled it "James: period 4" so I wouldn't forget to return the book.

Sure enough, on Wednesday I remembered the book. James gave me the strangest look when I handed it to him. I explained that the senior girl had found it in her backpack and wanted to get it back to him.

James then explained his reaction. He had just paid for that book. (It was a library copy of The Catcher in the Rye.) He thought it was lost.

The other students urged him to return it anyway. Maybe the library would give him his money back. And as we weren't actually doing anything in class, I gave James permission to go right then.

James returned 20 minutes later. Yes, they would issue him a refund. In a couple days. Well, that's better than being out the cash, right?

On Wednesday I learned that Mr. D needed Thursday off as well. So, Jacob was not pleased to see me again bright and early before school Thursday morning. We did another search of the room.

Mr. D had never responded to the student's email. Sigh. I guess he was busy with other things.

Mr. D had left me a cell phone number. So, I texted him. (I don't like to bother teachers when they're out, but this seemed like the thing to do considering the circumstances.) Jacob went to his 5th & 6th period classes. I got a text back sometime during 6th period (which I didn't see until after school--I keep my cell phone put away during class time).

I located the Uno cards. They were under the sink, under a dust bunny. Ick. Ah well.

Jacob returned after school, and I had something to return to him. He was very happy. (Apparently, he had a "vintage" set of cards. From the '80s.)

It's nice when I can return things to their rightful owners.

World Cup Bargaining

10th grade world history. They were to watch a video on 9/11. (Note: They were about 3-years-old in 2001. Feel old? I sure do!)

They wanted to watch the World Cup matches instead.

Apparently, other teachers had the games on in their classrooms. (Well, it's the end of the year. Some teachers are pretty much done.)

Period 4 tried to convince me to turn on the game instead of showing the video. They did the usual wheedling. They didn't really need to see the video on 9/11 (even though they have no memories of that day). When I reminded them that their teacher wouldn't be pleased, they told me that I didn't have to tell her.

(Even though they wouldn't have the notes that she was requiring of them. And I wouldn't have a time that we left off to give her as she said she'd finish the video with them the following week. Like she wouldn't notice.)

The class went according to lesson plan. The video was pretty grim. (But well done. By National Geographic. Actually, I just found the first half hour of it on YouTube, if you're interested.) But once they knew I wasn't going to back down, they fell into line easily.

I considered putting the bargaining in the note. Normally, I'd mention something like this. For color if nothing else. It is kind of funny.

But I kind of knew how their teacher would react. And considering that they were well-behaved the rest of the period, I didn't feel it necessary to get them into that kind of trouble.

It was a few years ago, now. I was subbing for this same teacher. One girl had some teenage issue. (She wasn't going to tell me what it was, but she was in tears.) Her friend wanted to help. The two sat outside that period.

It's rare, but these things sometimes happen. I let the teacher know that they were both out of class (so she wouldn't penalize them for not having a paper in the pile of collected work). And I thought nothing more of it.

Some time later, I encountered the consoler in a different class. She told me she had been punished for the incident. Because her teacher believed her and her friend to have been lying to me.

I felt awful. If I had known it would get her into trouble... I told her that. She said she didn't blame me. This teacher is strict. (An excellent teacher. Well-behaved classes. Well thought out lesson plans.)

Yeah, I didn't see the point in getting that class into hot water. So, I left that detail out.

I guess I did actually not tell their teacher something.

Boring Evil

It's Thursday, so it's time for my my weekly random question...

So, I was perusing Facebook like I do from time to time, and one of my friends linked to this:



(Yeah, it's a bit long. I'll wait...)

This stuff is important, but that's not why I'm posting it. (I hope you saw it somewhere else by now. If not, you really should take a look.) You may have noticed that it's Thursday. And it's time for one of my questions. This one comes from the video.

John Oliver said (and I'm paraphrasing): If you want to do something evil, make sure to bury it in something boring.

And that got me thinking.

What if politicians made government boring precisely so that we wouldn't pay attention? (Then again, this might already be true.)

Champion Librarian?

It was a very bizarre day. We had the farewell assembly for the seniors. The schedule was all askew (to accommodate that farewell assembly), and the school was a bit unsettled. (This happened the same day as the class described in yesterday's post.)

But as per normal, I was asked to cover an extra period that day.

I opened the door to the classroom, and I ran smack dab into a ping pong table. Where the teacher and the librarian were playing.

It took a minute for the teacher to remember that he had a meeting to get to (he wasn't sure why I was there initially), but the two men kept playing. The librarian won. And the teacher got ready to go to his meeting.

I was directed to a seat. There were four students in the class. (More were enrolled, but the rest of them were seniors. After the assembly, the seniors were off on their end-of-year activities. The seniors are effectively done for the remainder of the school year, and they won't be in class again.) The students all had seats--strewn about the corners and edges of the room. And they were actually working.

I learned that there is an end-of-year staff ping pong tournament. There were brackets taped to the classroom door and everything. The librarian was the two-time defending champion. And the government teacher was up next.

But he hadn't arrived yet.

They tried calling him. On the phone. But he wasn't picking up. Someone wondered about his class--to be reminded that he taught a senior class. The students were gone. But his classroom was about five doors down, so the librarian stuck his head out and called. But still nothing.

They decided he got 15 minutes before he forfeited.

As soon as they set the timer, the government teacher arrived. Followed shortly by the head janitor.

The librarian defeated both easily. He's on his way to a third championship. But the other bracket needed to be decided, so they were done. They all left us.

And the kids continued working (they were doing makeups for stuff they hadn't completed yet).

Yep, it's the end of year crazies...

Not Quite the Lesson Plan

It was a very bizarre day. We had the farewell assembly for the seniors. The schedule was all askew (to accommodate that farewell assembly), and the school was a bit unsettled.

The class was AP physics. Almost half the class was missing because they were seniors. (After the farewell assembly, the seniors were done. They won't be in class again.)

Their teacher left a video or "go to YouTube and look up Vsauce..."

So, I went to YouTube, looked up Vsauce, and the students directed me to click on something else. Vsauce3.

Which is not Vsauce. But it's the end of the year. And it didn't look inappropriate. Sure, the topics were video game related, but it's not like we were doing any physics...

Some of the videos we watched:














If you checked any of those out, you might notice something. Not physics related? Um, no. Not really. They are very physics related.

The Pokemon one? They're talking terminal velocities and acceleration due to gravity. The Superman one discussed the speed of light and how hard a punch like that would be.

So, I guess we were kind of on task. Sort of. Even though they were done.

I wonder if they realized how much physics they were seeing. I bet they did.

End of Year Analogies

School is not quite out yet. We go later than even some of the districts nearby. Our last day is June 19th, but as I write these posts a week in advance, there will be one more week of subbing stories before I go into official summer mode.

(Summer mode? I have a summer mode? Why, yes, I do. It's my "official schedule", although I don't usually post five days a week. More like three.)

In what looks like my last day at the continuation high school for this school year (I have three days scheduled next week, and none of them are at the continuation high school. And the continuation high school gets out two days before the other schools), the English class had an assignment on analogies.

You know, those things that say "_____ is to _____ as _____ is to _____".

The direction was to do them together. I had a key. But I didn't always agree with the key.

1. Thread is to rope as worm is to _____.

What would you put in that blank? (I'll give you all a chance to answer these before I post the answers in the comment thread in a day or so.)

2. Fish is to aquarium as bird is to _____.
3. Shovel is to dirt as fork is to _____.
4. Kind is to helpful as happy is to _____.

I want to see if you get what the key said. Because that's not what I thought when I saw these. #4 especially.

But the kids had a little fun with these, too...

5. Sky is to blue as grass is to _____.

One kid said "yellow". I don't know, to be funny, I guess. But this is California. We are in a drought. It is coming into summer. Yellow grass? I can see it.

Then the one that got them all in a lather...

6. Braid is to hair as weave is to _____.

Because to them a weave is something that goes in hair. I had to explain that weave means something else, too.

English class can be so much fun.

Testing Ambience

I really, really wish 8th grade teachers wouldn't leave tests as part of their lesson plan. (Many times it doesn't go well.) Especially when the teacher admits that her classes aren't all that cooperative generally.

It was 6th period (naturally). For the most part the kiddos settled in. But there were these two boys...

Dallas and Andrew would not sit still. One of them told me he hadn't been in class for a couple days, so he couldn't take the test. The other was looking for any excuse to goof off.

Once we were under testing conditions (and this takes a bit of time, especially with 8th graders), I went about organizing the mess left over from 5th period. And things were going pretty well until Andrew started acting like he was the bass line in a rap song.

I gave him my stare. He settled. Then started up again.

Really?

I pulled out a referral form. Wrote: "Making beats sounds during a test". Handed it to him.

"I'm not Andrew. I'm Dallas."

Of course. Because Andrew and Dallas switched seats early on and were pretending to be one another.

Easy enough fix. Then Dallas told me (disrupting the testing class further, because he wasn't quiet about this): "That's a new one."

Yeah, new for me, too.

I got the class to settle by pulling out another referral form and asking the class who wanted to go next. Andrew volunteered. I said no, and we got back to it.

Then Andrew started making drops sounds. Most of the time when a student does this, he hides it from me. Not Andrew. So, out he went.

Things settled nicely after that.

Ah, the end of the year. So much fun.

Indie Writers Monthly Question

It's Thursday, which means it's the day I ask one of my what if questions. But Briane Pagel wanted a shot at it this week (and to tell you about IWM), so take it away, Briane...

The JuneRific IWM Blogtacular Marathon Of Made Up Words Blog Tour continues! IWM, for the acronymically challenged, stands for "Indie Writers Monthly" and is a blog and magazine put out by 5 great speculative fiction writers, offering you tips on writing and publishing and more.

This is part THREE of this modestly-titled tour, which presents to you

This is a hand, waving "hi!" Don't be shy. Wave back!

ALL THE REASONS YOU SHOULD BE READING

INDIE WRITERS MONTHLY

THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY FACT-BASED

AND IN NO WAY EXAGGERATED

SO YOU CAN'T SUE US PROBABLY.

Part 1 appeared on Sizzling Hot YA Books, and told how reading IWM will teach you how to time travel.

Part 2 appeared on lit, a place for stories, and told how reading IWM will give you super powers.

Part 3 WAS going to tell you where to find the Lost Dutchman's magic gold mine, but Liz reserves Thursdays for the big questions around here, and I love Liz's big questions, so I volunteered to ask my OWN big question, which won't be anywhere near as good as Liz's, because Liz'a always make me think of gods and robots and stuff. But I'll try.

The #3 Reason to Read IWM: We bring your imaginary childhood friends back to life!

As you all probably know, there was a flap this week when Slate magazine published an "essay" by a "writer" who in a blatantly annoying attempt to get publicity -- which is why I'm not linking to it, as we shouldn't encourage people like her-- in which this 'writer' said adults should be embarrassed to read YA books.

I don't read much YA. It's not really my thing. But I have read some (including the Harry Potter books, which we are required by law to mention whenever YA comes up)(the way we have to mention 50 Shades whenever adult literature comes up) and I still read things that would probably fall broadly into the category of "adults shouldn't read that," if you're going to be one of those annoying jerks who thinks telling other people what to read is a way to live your life.  Like comic books, which I read from time to time.

The entire Internet has already exposed this 'writer' for what she is-- annoying, pretentious, and wrong, so I won't elaborate more.  Read what you want. No reading is bad reading, as everything you read exercises your imagination and whets your appetite for more reading. When we start judging what people read, we make them embarrassed of it and turn reading into a chore. Who wants that?

So to rekindle the love of YA you might have forgotten or been book-shamed into ignoring, here's the big question:

Which characters from YA books you read do you wish were real, and why?

Hey, there's still a couple of days left to enter a time-travel story in our anthology! Win money! Enter by June 15, or if you really need a bit more time just ask!  Details here.

IWM is also a magazine: the June issue ("June Bugs") is on sale for just $0.99 on Amazon, and features three great short stories plus tips on coming up with titles, plus MORE! Get it here.

For me, I'm going to pick one that's maybe a bit obscure.  The first one that popped to mind when I thought of this question was a kid named "Roger," from the book The Boy Who Could Make Himself Disappear.

The book is by a guy named "Kin Platt," and I looked Platt up on Wikipedia today after going to find the book again.  Platt wrote radio comedies in the 30s, then Disney cartoons, and then worked on a movie written by Robert Benchley (who is one of my favorite authors, and is almost completely forgotten, but that's for another day.)  He then wrote comic books, and after a stint in the Army in World War II, he created a character called "Supermouse."  He wrote comic strips and then went on to write (in the 60s) for Hanna-Barbera cartoons like The Jetsons, which was another favorite of mine when I was young. He wrote YA books starting in 1961, mixing it with what were called "mysteries" that he wrote under pseudonyms -- mysteries like this:

"More innocent time" indeed.

His last book was published posthumously in 2005.  I never knew all that about the author, or even who the author was, but I never forgot his book The Boy Who Could Make Himself  Disappear.

It was about a kid named "Roger" whose parents had a rough divorce and who weren't very close with him.  A childhood accident had left Roger with a speech impediment, and he couldn't pronounce his own name: he said it "Wajah," and I've never forgotten that.  It's stuck with me for 35 or so years.  Roger's dad is an absentee and his mom is abusive and he ends up wandering around New York nearly having a nervous breakdown until he learns to cope with the help of a speech therapist and some friends.  It's It's like the anti Catcher In The Rye, in that Disappear didn't suck and wasn't overrated.

I read Disappear probably when I was 10, 11, and I've never forgotten the basics of the story or the parts that moved me, even though I've never gone back and read the book again.  Roger has stuck with me all my life, almost like a kid I actually knew. 

And so I pick Roger as the kid that I wish was real, and here's why.  I went to my 10-year high school reunion and none of the others, because of the few high school friends I wanted to see again, most didn't come back and in the end, we didn't have all that much in common anymore; in high school we'd all been friends but now we were lawyers and professors and ex-soldiers and whatnot, with kids or not, divorces or not, but lives that have grown apart.  The only connection we had was back in high school, and we had some fun talking about those old times.  I didn't, after that, have any real desire to see those guys again, although I do check in now and then just to see how they're doing.

Roger is like that for me.  He was one of the first characters in a book that I cared about.  Later on would come Luke Skywalker (who I wanted to be) and Bilbo Baggins (who I thought was amazingly brave) and Benjie and Ezzie from The 18th Emergency (who taught me not to hold my thumbs in my fist when I get in a fight) and Arthur Dent and more characters I liked or remembered or learned from as I read anything I could get my hands on.  But Roger was the first character I can ever remember really being affected by.  I would sit and think how hard it would be to not say your name, to have a dad that wasn't around or a mean mom, to be lost in New York.  He really connected with me.

If it wasn't for Roger and how his story cut through me, I might not have grown to love reading so much. Roger's story taught me that stories can stick with people their whole life and make them think. It's not surprising that I didn't even know 'til today that the author wrote other books or stuff. It wasn't the author that mattered to 10-year-old me.  It was Roger and his story.  He was my first book-friend.  And that's why I picked him.  Like my high school friends, I wouldn't necessarily need to meet him or hang out with him.  I'd just like to know he turned out all right.

Briane Pagel, and a waterfall. (Guess which is which!)

You should bookmark Indie Writers Monthly.  Click here to go to the site.

And like I said, our June issue is on sale on Amazon for just $0.99 -- a bargain at 10 times the price! Well, not really, but it's a bargain at THIS price. Click here for that.

And there's still time to enter a story in our time travel anthology contest! Win prizes! Details here. (And if you need a bit of extension on the deadline, just ask. We're nice folk.) (Also, get it? Still time?)

Tear Jerker

It was an 11th grade special ed English class. They were reading Of Mice and Men. Or, actually, their teacher was reading it aloud to them.

The lesson plan called for the instructional aide to read the last chapter. When she stumbled over a couple words, telling the class she wasn't used to reading aloud, I got the hint that the teacher usually did the reading. So, I asked if she would prefer it if I read the last chapter to them.

I don't know if I've ever actually read that chapter before. I've been in classes that were studying it, so I knew what was coming.

I read. They sort of followed along. And most of them knew what was coming as well.

Perhaps it was the anticipation. Perhaps I was just overly tired. But I felt myself tearing up. And I tried to hold it in.

I did an admirable job... for a while. And then I lost it.

The instructional aide had to jump in and finish the chapter for them while I went in search of a tissue. And hoped my makeup wasn't running.

How embarrassing.

I don't cry in front of classes. They can do their worst to me. I hold on to it until I'm alone in the room or at home by myself. But this time I just couldn't hold it together.

Ah well...

Naming Names

It's been a while, but I finally got back to the continuation high school. It's June, so the senior classes are pretty barren. That's a good thing. It means most of those students managed to get all their credits and graduate.

But the English class still had an assignment.

They were writing essays on Greek gods or goddesses. (The teacher assigned topics by drawing names.) The students were all on the computers either doing some research or typing up their papers. For the most part they were on task, with the occasional foray into shoe or soccer sites.

Fifth period. One boy was clearly not researching Prometheus. A video with a guy in a taxi? Yeah, I don't think so.

He pulled up his essay. He pulled up a research website. So, I walked away.

But I kept my eye on him.

Soon enough, the website looked more like entertainment than research. Although, it was in a smaller window. That he had moved so that his body blocked most of it.

Yeah, that doesn't look suspicious.

I went over to investigate. Suddenly, that smaller box was Wikipedia.

Yeah, right. (Enough of the mini window was visible to me that I knew it wasn't Wikipedia when I got up and began to walk over.)

Later, the boy approached me. Could he use the restroom?

Sure, I'll write that pass. Name...?

And that is how I knew what to call him in my note to his teacher.

(Oh sure, I could have found his name through other means. But this just made it that much easier.)

Resistance

I'm not terribly good with names. That is, I'm not terribly good at coming up with a student's name when I see him somewhere. But give me a list of student names and a room full of students, and it jogs something.

I scanned the seating chart quickly as I took roll. I noted the seat was empty, but I remembered Aaron. And he was sitting on the other side of the room.

It was a class of seniors. They're about two weeks from graduation.

Aaron informed me I was reading the seating chart wrong. He said it was upside down or backwards or something. Funny, the rest of the students were where they should have been. Only Aaron's spot was wrong?

No matter. I let it slide rather than arguing. I made a quick note of this, also catching that the teacher had a note about Aaron's non-compliance with his instructions. Besides, the lesson was a silent one, so Aaron would have to work that period.

Aaron was the last to settle down and get to work. But he was the first one done. (I skimmed his essay. It was kind of weak.)

At least he's gained enough maturity not to disturb the other students. Either that, or the others were just ignoring him.

Hated

It's Thursday, so it's time for my my weekly random question...

I've got villains on the brain. I just went and saw Maleficent. And the other morning the DJs on a radio station were discussing the ten most hated men in America...

What if you were suddenly reviled by those around you? How would you react?

Out of Focus?

The 7th graders had a test. It was a simple grammar thing--they had to identify the subject and the verb in various sentences. It didn't take them the whole period.

Then I was to put the key under the document camera and project it onto the board so the students could correct it.

Document cameras and projectors have become pretty standard in classrooms nowadays. I know how to turn the things on and diagnose most problems. So, when it came time to do the corrections, I didn't anticipate any problems.

The projector turned on. The document camera worked. But what got projected onto the board was a white blob. I tried to focus the document camera. Turned it off and back on. Tried to make the thing bigger. But no matter what I did, words did not appear on the screen.

(As I sit here and type this two days after the event, it now occurs to me that I didn't check to make sure the projector was in focus. *facepalm*)

Students came over to help, but they were as flummoxed as me.

After five minutes of this, I decided that the best way to do this was the old-fashioned way. By reading out the answers.

Ah well. At least it got done.

The Smell

This is not the thing you want to see on the whiteboard when you get into class in the morning:

Although, it did make for an entertaining day. Some periods the sophomores saw it right away. Other periods they didn't notice it until we'd been in class for a half hour. At least, that's when someone announced it loudly and pointed to it.

I figured that the students had some idea what a "cat cave" was. One girl explained it like she knew exactly what the teacher was talking about. It had to do with feral cats and burrows. (We were in the middle of campus, so I would have thought a cat problem would have been taken care of by the administration.)

Only after one of the neighboring teachers stopped by and noticed the note did I learn what a "cat cave" was.

Our classroom was at the end of a building. Jutting off at a right angle from our building was another building that contained one classroom. A science classroom. More specifically, an anatomy and physiology class.

Currently, they're dissecting. Cats.

Next door to us is their storage room.

On the bright side, I did not notice any foul odors. Although, I was in there all day. Later periods made mention that the room did smell.

At least I was only there for one day.