Thursday, July 29, 2021

Summer School 13, Week 2

Things have been going fairly well at the alternative education center, which means it's time for another Thursday 13.

1. As I write this on Sunday, my focus is on my car. It decided not to start yesterday. Somehow I have to get it to the mechanic and get to work tomorrow. Hopefully it's an easy fix, and by the time you read this, all is settled. 

2. I took my car in for some major repairs in June, so having to go back to the mechanic is irritating. (It proved to be fortuitous that I did the repairs in June so I can get to and from work now. At least, it had been nice.) 

3. The above picture of the classroom is now out of date. The "do not use this desk" papers were removed first. Then the partitions on the back desks. There's a new kidney table in the corner of the room. And on Friday they took out all the desks in the middle. (They're going to move in new desks on Monday.) I'll take a new picture for next week's posts, I think, since things will look a bit different.

4. I mentioned the classes in last week's post. First period now has a second student. Yorik was enrolled in the class at the beginning, but he couldn't come to school due to Covid quarantine. 

5. Last Friday I talked about how all the students refused to go out on their walking field trip because they couldn't have their phones. The principal came up with a compromise. If they would write her a paragraph stating why they should have their phones, she would allow it. All but Anson wrote the paragraph.

6. So, the past Friday we went to breakfast at Chik-fil-A. (Breakfast, because we wanted to leave early so we wouldn't be walking in the hottest part of the day.) And the whole thing went very well. I have a feeling we'll be walking out again next Friday (tomorrow). 

7. Now that the continuation high school has started their school year, we have a P.E. teacher. Coach M. works at both schools as neither school has need of a full-time P.E. teacher. But both schools do need someone to teach P.E. He knows me from the continuation high school, so it's nice to see a familiar face.

8. I have not mentioned the water fountains. With Covid protocols, they had to take them out. But, instead of removing them, they've replaced them with water bottle filling stations. 

9. Alas, the kiddos don't bring water bottles. (They're not allowed to bring non factory sealed drinks onto campus.) So, the office has been providing them with plastic cups so they can get water.

10. Ronan's been at war with the school over the non-sealed drink rule. He had opened his water bottle on the way to school one day. Another day, his father had gotten him a soft drink from some fast food place (which was "sealed" when it was bought, but it wasn't actually sealed). Finally, Ronan brought an empty water bottle so he could use the filling station. 

11. The drink rule, like them turning in their phones and them getting wanded on entry, is a site-specific rule. The other schools don't check for those things.

12. This is so much different than last school year when I covered this class. Having the kiddos in person makes a big difference. Some actually do work whereas last year on distance, they pretty much didn't.

13. My birthday is Saturday. I've been on this Earth for half a century now.

14 comments:

  1. That seems like a reasonable compromise for the cellphones. My dad used to make us write papers to plead our case for all kinds of things.

    I hope everything is fixed with your car and that it wasn't expensive.

    Happy early birthday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sigh. The car is still in the shop and will be for some time. And it won't be cheap.

      Thanks for the birthday wishes.

      Delete
  2. Not going to lie, when you said "kidney table" I asked myself why you'd need a table for kidneys at a school.

    They put in water bottle fillers... and the kids are not allowed to have water bottles. Seems like accurate school administrator logic to me.

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  3. If I could send you a Jacqui Larson card i would or even one of my cards! Happy soon the be 50! I have crossed that line 7 years ago. I hope you are doing something that day you will enjoy. There will be many changes in the school and soon, everyone will get used to it. Some just like to be a rebel without a cause. My friend, who also teaches is wondering what all the changes will be and which teaching style to do-in person or not. They deal with a lot of international students (very private and expensive school) so she is not sure if some can come here because the school is a boarding school as well.

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    Replies
    1. Boarding school is a good idea right about now, so long as they don't interact with the outside world. They could be their own little bubble.

      Thanks for the birthday wishes.

      Delete
  4. I think covid is going to be here for a while.
    Coffee is on and stay safe

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  5. I did a double take on the kidney table, too! Happy birthday! 50 ain't all bad. Think of all the wisdom you've acquired!

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  6. Car trouble is no fun! #5 was a good idea.

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  7. The changes and adjustments with COVID has been rough all the way around. I started having some car issue the other day, I think mine is just trash in the tank...I HOPE so anyway.

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    Replies
    1. Fingers crossed for your car. Mine is in the shop for the next two weeks (at least).

      Delete
  8. You have a student called York? That is awesome. Are his parents massive Shakespeare fans? "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well..."
    Happy birthday! We are close. Mine was Wednesday. (49)

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    Replies
    1. Happy birthday!

      Yorik is an alias. I always use aliases for the kiddos.

      Delete

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