Zoinks!

1st period government. Seniors. It was day 3 of All the President's Men (of 4 days). They had 30 questions to answer. Surprisingly, they had finally settled into the movie and I think some of them were actually enjoying it.

2nd period geography. Freshmen. A boy walked into class and freaked. So, I had to investigate.

There was a condom on the floor.

Great! Just what I need!

It was open but unused. But try telling a 14-year-old that.

I removed it to the trash can. And eventually the class moved on. (They had a movie of their own.)

But I'm left with a head-scratcher. What senior opened a condom and left it on the floor? To what purpose?

Obviously, I did not see the incident. But the only thing that I can think of is that a group of them reacted to something that was not on screen. It got loud in one small area for a minute. That attracted my attention. I shushed them. But whatever riled them up was not more than what I had been shushing them about for three days. So, I felt no need to investigate. (I wish I had.)

The next day I asked them why they wanted to sabotage me with the freshmen. Why would they leave trash on the floor? I didn't say what. And the boys who sat nearest the spot looked at me as if they had no idea what I was talking about. Or they had really practiced their innocent expressions. (My money is on the latter.)

"Why would I whip out a condom in class?"

This came from a boy two rows over. Interesting. I hadn't said condom. And now he's volunteering his innocence?

All of that went into the note. Maybe their teacher can figure out who did what and why.

Okay, give me your best guess. Why did they open a condom in class? The more elaborate, the better. Because their explanations can get a bit long-winded.

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

Z is available for the giveaway.
Enter today. Giveaway is closing...

Yelled At

6th period. Adam walked in and claimed a dry erase marker. Cleared a spot on the white board and started to write up an apology. "I'm so sorry, Sarah..."

As he was doing this, he explained. Sarah had not spoken to him all day. And he had no idea why. So, he had spent the entire day apologizing to her, to no avail.

In the midst of this, Sarah walked in. Saw what Adam was doing. And it made her madder.

Adam left. (He wasn't enrolled in this government class.)

* * *

"Get your hands off me!" Followed by a smack on the arm.  

It was the end of period 5. The students were filing out. And Samantha just lit into Jacob. 

Jacob acted perplexed. He told anyone who would listen (including me) that he had done nothing wrong. He had bumped into Samantha. Shoved by someone behind him. He then apologized for bumping into her. And that's when she let him have it.  

Now, normally I would believe Jacob. But Jacob was of the crew who had spent the period chillin' in the back of the classroom, acting as if he had nothing to do but hang with his guys. And talk. And laugh. (They were supposed to be watching the movie and answering questions that went along with it.)  

So, I have a feeling that there was a bit more to that interaction than what Jacob says.

* * *

The next day Sarah and Adam walked into 6th period arm in arm. All was forgiven? 

"Adam, why was she mad at you?"

Adam still had no idea. She wouldn't tell him. She said as much...

"Will you at least tell me?" I asked.

I admit, I was curious.  

She explained that Adam wanted to go to prom in a muscle car, and she didn't think that was appropriate. But upon further consideration, she realized she wasn't letting him make any prom decisions, so she'd let him have that one.  

Um, okay...

Did you spend weeks planning your prom experience? Did you go to your prom? Would you have asked Sarah for all the details, too? 

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

Y is available for the giveaway.
Have you entered? Friday's the last day to enter.

Xenogenesis

At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)

What if you could create how your children look? Would you make them look like you? Would you make them look completely different? 

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

This letter available for the giveaway

Watching Movies

When I got the assignment the week prior, the sub caller said that the teacher wanted to talk to me. So, I called him. And I learned that the government class would be watching All the President's Men for much of the week while he was out. Score!

I like this movie. I thought it would be a lovely treat for the 12th graders.

(The teacher wanted to let me know that I'd need to use the DVD player that automatically bleeps out the inappropriate school language. I've used this type of player before, so that wasn't going to be an issue.)

So, on Monday I let them know what we'd be doing. I passed out the movie questions (like 30 of them, to make sure that the students watched the movie). And I got us started.

And I spent the rest of the week (well, we finished about 20 minutes into the period on Thursday) fighting them. Sigh.

I tried everything. I explained what was going on in the movie. I stood over them. I called out when various questions' answers were showing on screen. I turned up the volume.

But no. They would not let themselves get sucked into the movie. Why? "There aren't enough explosions."

It was a very long week.

Have you seen All the President's Men? What's a movie you enjoyed that your friends and/or family didn't?

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

W is available for the giveaway.
Giveaway is open for one more week! Make sure to enter.

Variegated Blues

A while ago, I introduced the regular readers of this blog to my EOS Lip Balm Holders.

I even published the pattern (for those of you who crochet).

The suggestion was made to make it in a variegated yarn. So, since today is V day, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to show you how those came out...

I think they turned out rather well.

Less than a week left. How are you keeping up with the A to Z Challenge? Ready for it to be over? Found any good blogs we should know about? 

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

Yes, V is available for the giveaway.
Have you entered? It's open through the A to Z.

Ubaldo*

Last week I covered the visually impaired classes for two days. One of the students is mostly mainstreamed, and she only joins us for 6th period. Another student is only with us for half the day as she takes regular classes the rest of the day. One student has a one-to-one aide who she spends most of her time with.

I spent most of the two days with Ubaldo.

Ubaldo has a kind of gangster vibe going. He acts tough. But he's struggling.

Each period was a different topic. We went through his English assignment, and then he had time to answer some questions. We went through the geography chapter, and then he had questions to do. Same for government. Same for economics.

He had braille copies of the books and assignments. I had print copies, so I knew what his braille copies said. He would get frustrated that he couldn't find answers. I would give him hints to help him figure out where those answers were.

Things went pretty well, but because he took so much time in finding answers, by 6th period, he had quite a bit of work to finish up. And since he had not done his homework from earlier in the week, that work was really piling up.

6th period on my last day, Ubaldo went through what he needed to get done with the help of an aide. Which did he want to do: the easier work or the harder work? (I can make arguments for either, depending.) Get more done or get the harder government assignment out of the way? They decided, and I focused on the student in math.

Suddenly, Ubaldo exploded. He stormed out of the room, hitting the doorframe on the way out. And pounding on the wall once he was outside.

His aide explained that he has a tendency to act out, but they've been trying to curb him of that habit.

Well, he saved the explosion for the end of the second day. So, pretty good all in all.

*Not his real name. I never use the students' real names here. They are minors, after all.

Do you know how to read braille? If you could, would you learn? We're almost done with the Challenge--are you ready for it to be over? 

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

U is available.
Have you entered the giveaway?
Only one more week!

Team Teaching

...is my new favorite assignment.

I mentioned yesterday that it was a special ed week. It seems like all the special ed teachers now have at least one period a day where they team teach with a general ed teacher. So, two days last week I got to go and "help" another teacher for a period.

10th grade English. They were reading To Kill a Mockingbird, too. But rather than listening to it, this teacher had a whole other thing going. They read on their own for a while. Then they did an activity related to the reading.

My job was to "help as needed". But it was one of those days where I wasn't needed much. So, I got to observe another teacher at work. It was cool.

The other team teaching period was a different day. This time it was 7th grade English. The class had been state testing all week, so they were having an "easy" day. They were doing preliminary work before they were going to write a short story.

I had a bit more to do this period as the students had several things they had to complete. And 7th graders being 7th graders needed more hovering to stay on task. But again, I got to do quite a bit of observing. It's fascinating to watch teachers work.

The students don't behave this well for the sub.

What's your favorite thing about your job? Have you entered the giveaway yet? 

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

Sorry, T not available for the giveaway.
But many other great letters are.

Special Ed. Week

From time to time, I get themes going. I may hit a bunch of English classes. Or all 10th grade classes. Last week, I did all special ed classes.

It was just kind of how things worked out.

One day of middle school English. One day of 9th and 10th grade English. And two days of classes for visually impaired students.

10th grade English is in their To Kill a Mockingbird unit. They were listening to the beginning of the book. (And the classroom speakers actually worked!)

I so enjoy that book. I looked forward to sitting back and listening to the story...

Yeah, not so much. One boy told me he knew the story already. He knew so much he could complete the assigned worksheet without having to listen. (It was a page where they were to describe each of the characters.)

Fine, then. Go ahead and do it.

Nope. He and his neighbors were in play mode. I hovered. I moved students. They stayed mostly quiet, but they were definitely not paying attention.

The boy told me his worksheet was done. Funny, I saw him put away a blank worksheet. So, I told him to pull it out and show me. Which he refused to do.

At least the 9th graders were really into their book. The Outsiders.

The next day I was in the visually impaired class. One of the students in the 10th grade English class is blind, so her aide was there the next day. She told me that they were no longer listening to the book. They were required to read it on their own.

Well, it's not like they were listening, anyway.

What's your favorite school-assigned book? Do you enjoy listening to stories read, or do you prefer to read them on your own?

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

S is available for the giveaway.
(Giveaway still open. Make sure to enter.)

Remarkable Resemblance

At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)

What if that guy that looks exactly like that old friend of yours (not a doppelganger, but the resemblance is remarkable) is another version of your friend? 

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

This letter available for the giveaway

Quote Me

7th grade special ed English. They had a really easy assignment. Or, at least I thought it was easy.

It was an assignment on capitalization. There were a dozen or so sentences with no capitals, and the students had to identify where the capitals were to go. So, they indicated the first word of each sentence and figured they were done with it.

And then they went crazy.

Well, that took way too short a time. So, I picked up one of their papers and perused it. And started counting.

"You missed 24 capitals. Find them."

As I went to each student and counted, I could see them wince. The higher the numbers went, the more they looked at me like, "I couldn't have missed that many." Well, yeah, they did.

They had missed names. Places. Nationalities.

Half the sentences contained quotes. And every single one of them missed capitalizing the first words of those.

This would have been a great opportunity to take the time and go over the capitalization rules with them. Unfortunately, I was using all my energy just trying to keep them under some semblance of control. And failing.

I was so glad to see the end of that day.

How's your day going? What's the best thing that's happened to you today? Have you entered my giveaway? (The more entries I get, the more winners there'll be...)

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

Q is available for the giveaway.

Pokeball

I got this idea in my head. I don't know where it came from. But was I was making another of my EOS Lip Balm Holders, it occurred to me that I could make one that looks like a Pokemon Pokeball.

I'm not a fan of Pokemon. I only am aware of its existence as I was working in the toy store when they first came out. But it was an idea that wouldn't let go.

So, I did a little math. Consulted pics online. Came up with a prototype. Was not satisfied with how it came out. Did a little plotting and planning. And let it sit for a couple months (at least).

Then, last Saturday I had an epiphany. Use a button. And the thing was complete.

And a picture for scale...

Have you ever had a strange idea that wouldn't let you go? Are you a fan of Pokemon?

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

This letter available for the giveaway.
Have you entered the giveaway? It's still open...

Optical Illusions

Time for a fun quiz. This one is all about optical illusions. See how you do... (The image should link back to the quiz. If not, it's here: http://www.quizified.in/can-these-optical-illusions-fool-you/)

So, how'd you do?

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

Sorry, O not available for the giveaway

Ninja, You Trippin'

Last week was spring break. Since I write my posts a week in advance, that means that this week I'm kind of short on topics. So, time for the summer schedule, which means today is #ThrowbackThursday. This post originally appeared December 9, 2008. 

There were a lot of new faces at the continuation high school today. I heard the office staff talking about how they had booted a bunch of the "super seniors" (5th year seniors) in the past couple days, so that's probably why. Now I have new names to learn.

A knot of students were having the usual sort of conversations that they tend to have when I'm there. Unfortunately, most of the time their sentences are laced with profanity. I try to curb it as much as I can, so when they started using that racial epitaph that starts with "N", I made my displeasure known.

The boys had known me for some time, so they complied with my request. They used "ninja" instead.

The first boy then explains to another student: "It's like saying 'close the front door'."

Well, the phrase he was looking for was "shut the front door". They say that instead of shut the f*** up. The other students knew this and called the boy on his mistake. But he denied using "close" instead of "shut". I was waiting for the conversation to get heated, but it didn't. They quickly moved on to other topics.

Ninja? Well, at least it's a step in the right direction.

Do you participate in #ThrowbackThursday? Have you ever used "shut the front door"? What's one memorable mix-up you've uttered among friends or otherwise? 

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

This letter available for the giveaway

Missing Class

Oh, how I hate fire drills!

The class had a video. I got it started right away. Surprisingly, everything worked the first time. And I had just settled in for the period when an announcement came over the PA. I paused the video...

The principal was doing his usual spiel before a fire drill. But no one told me there was a fire drill...

I pulled out my sunglasses. Looked about for and found the emergency envelope (that every classroom has). And that's when it was time to evacuate.

We followed the crowd. The emergency envelope had a map of where each class was supposed to line up, so I found the spot for our room easily. And I waited. And waited.

No one from my class made it to our spot. Ummm...

By the time the thing was over and we went back to class, I was ready to read them the riot act. Where were they?

"Where were you?"

Turns out that they had no idea where we were supposed to meet. And since I hadn't known there was a fire drill, I hadn't had time to do my usual spiel about the purpose of these things and where we were to line up.

Ahem.

Okay, then. Time for a "learning moment".

Me: "So, we're in a real emergency, and you have no idea where to meet your teacher. How might you figure out where your teacher is?"

When I put it to them like that, several came up with good solutions. They were freshmen. I don't think they had considered the issue before.

Do you hate fire drills as much as I do? Have you entered my giveaway yet? (Giveaway is open throughout the A to Z.)

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

Sorry, M not available for the giveaway
(but several other letters are!)

Lapse of Memory

At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)  

For the record, I came up with this week's question before I had even thought of this previous question. I knew there was something about it. But, alas, by the time I realized I sort of repeated myself, that Tuesday had passed. I think the two questions are different enough...

What if there were beings that went around and deliberately made people forget things?  

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

This letter available for the giveaway

Keeping Track

It's just one of those little things I normally do. Whenever a teacher leaves me notes of some sort (or gives us a chapter to read as a class), I take down the number of times I have to stop to get the class' attention.

Whenever there's a sub, the class will not stay focused. Sure, full-time teachers tell me to kick out the kid that is the ringleader. But when I'm in the class for one day, I have a hard time identifying who that might be. And besides, it's usually at least half the class that's talking while I'm trying to go over whatever material the class needs to get through that day.

So, rather than spin my wheels trying to figure out who to kick out or who to move, I just take a tally mark for each time the class starts talking again, necessitating that I stop and get their attention again.

7th grade science. The PowerPoint was on evolution.

I'm not sure why I didn't bring up the usual sheet of paper with me. I guess it was because I didn't have a podium. But at the third time I had to stop to get them to stop talking, I realized that the white board was right there. It wasn't like they were going to notice, right?

"What's that?"

Me: "I'm keeping track of the number of times I have to ask the class to stop talking."

And then a funny thing happened. The front of the room started to get worried. And tried to shush the talkers (who were in the back of the room). It didn't help much, but it made me think. I had not considered letting them see this tally before.

Perhaps I should let them know I'm doing this in the future. I could easily do it so they can see.

One class got to 11. The second class got to 19. And the third class got to 22. (The other classes had a different lesson.) When they knew I was leaving that number for their teacher...

What do you think? Should I let the classes know I'm keeping that tally? Do you prefer PowerPoints or Prezis?

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

This letter available for the giveaway

Jail Cell (Phone)

I could have sworn I had this photo on my phone still, but it's gone missing. Luckily, I posted it on Instagram a while back. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I'd post today...

Don't let the teacher catch you with a cell phone. It might end up here.

A photo posted by Liz (@zizirho) on Oct 8, 2014 at 10:51pm PDT

Have you ever accidentally deleted a photo you meant to save? Have you ever wished you "accidentally" deleted a photo?

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

This letter available for the giveaway

Individual Reading

...is code for silence in the classroom. Not that it works out that way. Although, lately...

12th grade English. The teacher was out due to a tooth issue (although, not like Ms. P's tooth issue), and he had left the class a short story to read. Individually.

1st period, unsurprisingly, asked if they could read it in groups. That is, they get into groups and take turns reading. Believe it or not, several of the groups actually do read. But many spend the time in general conversation.

The next class (3rd period--2nd period had a different assignment) was co-taught with Ms. B. Since she knew the kids, she told them they had to read it on their own. And many did. But, many ended up with heads on the desk...

I was sure this was a make-work assignment for a day the teacher didn't intend to miss. But Ms. B informed me that this story is on Mr. H's usual syllabus. And the class would be discussing the story in depth.

I wonder how that discussion went. I kind of hope he gave a quiz to make sure they read it.

Did you do the reading that was assigned by your teachers? Do you prefer to read silently, or do you like to have things read to you, like on Audible? 

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

This letter available for the giveaway

Helpful Students

Projectors and speakers have recently been installed in all the classrooms in the district. Each teacher has been issued a laptop that plugs into a control center so that anything from that laptop (or the document camera that also came with the system) can be projected for the class.

It's a great setup. But it's prone to problems. (Learning a new system...)

Anatomy & physiology class. The teacher left a documentary on the Bubonic Plague. (Not sure how it relates, but I'm just the sub...) Gone are the days when you feed a tape into the VCR and hit play. Way gone.

I logged onto the computer. Inserted DVD. I found the Windows Media Player. (I'm limited to what's already loaded on the computer.) I got it to play. Success.

I turned on the speakers. Got sound.

3rd period arrived. Fingers crossed, I warned them that it might or might not work...

And it played without a hitch. Whew.

To 4th period I said, "Everything worked perfectly last period..."

Famous last words. I know better! I really do.

The projector worked. The video started right up. The audio...

These new installed speakers are going to be the death of me. I have had to show videos in a handful of classes, and the glitch is always in the speakers. I don't know why.

So, the troubleshooting began. I knew everything was plugged in correctly as it had worked the previous period (and I hadn't touched any of the wires). I checked to make sure it wasn't on mute on the laptop. I ejected the DVD and reinserted it. I restarted the computer. (I've had a bit of experience with this, and while the rebooting was last resort, the other fixes fixed it in prior classes.)

Of course, the whole class witnessed this. So, of course I got "helpers".

There's always a couple who come up to "help". I'm sure in many circumstances their help is actually helpful. I know many people who aren't comfortable with the technology. I, however, am.

They suggest stuff I've already done. So, I stand back and let them try. Because they don't seem to believe me when I tell them I tried that.

They played with it to no success. Then I tried one last thing...

There's this knob that switches the audio input from AUX 1 to AUX 2 to CD. It worked just fine on AUX 2 for period 3. For period 4 the fix was to switch it to AUX 1.

*headdesk*

And then it worked perfectly for period 5. After switching the knob back to AUX 2. (Then the next day when I had the same group, if the sound didn't work, all I had to do was switch that AUX knob to the other and the sound worked. Go figure.)

Perhaps next time it'll just work...?

Do you step in to "help" when someone is having technical difficulties? Do you need someone to help when you attempt anything with technology?  

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

Sorry, H not available for the giveaway

Gift Card Holder Giveaway

The first time I did A to Z, I noticed some participants had pretty letters decorating their posts. I was impressed. I knew I needed my own set. And I knew that I'd knit them.

What form they'd take varied. At one point I thought I'd make the letter blocks into an afghan.

Last year for my sister-in-law's birthday, I wimped out and got her a gift card. As a flourish, I made her a little something to put them in. And the knitted gift card holders were born...

It has a little clip so it can hook onto a zipper pull or strap or something.

And I decided it had to have a monogram, which is how it became my A to Z project. Because I could make one for every letter.

(I also listed them in my Etsy shop, Zizi Rho Designs. You can find the gift card holders here.)

I started making them in earnest in January. (I made a few for gifts for Christmas.) I finished them mid-March. I took pictures of each.

And now those little pouches are taking up space. Collecting dust.

If you want to purchase one, I would be ever so grateful. But I'm sure you'd rather win one.

Yep, you can win one of the letters you've seen at the end of each post. Or you can win one of the letters still to come. I'll let you decide which one you want.

This giveaway will last throughout the rest of the A to Z Challenge. Winners will be announced in the A to Z Reflections post. Number of winners will be determined by number of entries--up to five winners (although I might give away more, depending on my mood when I do the drawing).

Not every letter is available. At some point this week, I'll put up a tab at the top with pictures of the available letters and another link to the Rafflecopter. (The currently available letters are: A, B, D, E, F, G, I, J, K, L, N, P, Q, R, S, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z.) I might be persuaded to make the missing letters...

Make sure to enter...

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Are you going to enter? Which letter would you like to win? What do you think of my little project? 

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

Fanfare

At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)

What if we all had our own theme music that played wherever we went? What should your theme song be?

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

Earth Science Shenanigans

A certain type of student takes Earth Science. The kind that I have to keep an eye on.

I did my usual walk-around and noticed a boy copying from another packet.

"I didn't get the notes."

Me: "That looks like the assignment, not the notes."

"But it's all right here. It's easier to copy."

I took the packet he was copying from, noted it belonged to Kevin, and moved on.

Miriam claimed to be completely done with the assignment. I doubted this, but I got distracted by something else. Upon returning to her side, I noticed she had gotten out her packet--her blank packet.

Me: "You told me you were done. You lied to me."

Not that it bothered me. Or seemed to bother her. I get lied to numerous times a day. But sometimes I like to point it out.

I stood over her, waiting for her to get to work. She refused. She flipped open the cover of the book when I asked her to open her book. She "couldn't find" the right page...

Later she called me over. I hoped rather than expected that she had an assignment-related question.

"How old are you?" (To which I gave my now standard reply.)

They'll do anything to avoid doing work. Sigh.

After I finally distanced myself from Miriam, I turned to find Kevin throwing something across the room. Something that made a metallic clang when it landed.

Since the period was over in two minutes, I let Kevin know that he would be receiving a referral for that the next day. (Too bad I didn't catch the other boy who was throwing stuff at Kevin.)

If only they put half as much effort into completing assignments that they do into avoiding assignments...

What's your favorite procrastination activity? (Please don't tell me it's throwing things at people.)

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

Dove

Nice pose, dove. Thanks.

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

First (partial) week down. How's the challenge going for you?

Commonly Misused Words

You know you sound bad when the sub caller hears your three attempts to say, "Hello," and then says, "You don't want to work today." It wasn't a matter of want, more a matter of ability. Ah well, I guess I was due.

So, today I'm giving you: Can You Correctly Use These Commonly Misused Words? 

How did you do? 

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

Edited to add: Thanks for all the well-wishes. I'm all better now. I write all these posts a week in advance, so the cold in question hit me on Thursday of last week. Sorry for the confusion.