Wednesday, November 30, 2022

The Cold in There

As last week was a holiday week, I pushed posting about the classes I covered before the break until after. 

Seventh grade science. 

One of the first things I do when I walk in the room is to check the thermostat. It read 60° (16°C). So, I turned on the heat. 

For the first class of the day, I was covering for the teacher two doors down. Once I had gotten the lesson plans for the science class, I headed out. 

Math class, same issue. 54° (12°C). Heat on. 

By the end of the period, the room had warmed to the 70s (20s C). I headed back to the science class. 

I walked into a refrigerator. 

The air blowing was cold. The thermostat read 50° (10°C). 

Eeek. 

I immediately turned off the "heat" and opened the door. (It had warmed from our overnight temps and was nearing 70° [21°C] outside.) 

But I knew what was coming.

Oh, they whined. It was cold. (Yup, I was aware.) The chairs were cold. The computers were cold. They were freezing, and they were not happy about this.

But it's cooled off around here. We're getting colder temps at night. They were in sweatshirts and jackets. It was only supposed to get to about 70°/72° (21°/22°C) for a high, so no one should have been dressed for summer. (But naturally a couple boys were in shorts.) 

While I was sympathetic, there was nothing I could do. I knew it would warm up just with their body heat, so I explained the situation, and I had them get to work. 

At least they had a test to distract them. Otherwise, I'm sure they would have spent the whole period complaining.

By the end of the period, it had gotten to a comfortable 68° (20°C) in the room. 

20 comments:

  1. Yeah, kids don’t really dress for the weather, do they?

    There’s a wing at the school where Drew teaches that is known as “the Arctic” because it tends to be very cold. Not conducive to students sitting still and paying attention

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    1. Sounds familiar. There was one year where the heat broke in one wing of the school. Teachers were bringing in space heaters. The joys of the public schools.

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  2. My adult son was wearing short yesterday, and we're no where near as warm here as you are! What's with boys and men? I hate being cold. My old house was freezing (poor windows), and now my heating is inefficient (electric in the ceiling), but at least it works in my small house. I promised myself I would NOT be cold any more!

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    1. This week we're actually down to a high of about 65. The week before Thanksgiving was a bit warmer. Not bad during the day, but the nights were cold (as were the first-thing-in-the-mornings).

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  3. 70 sounds hot! We probably won't see 70 again til maybe March, if we're lucky.

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    1. We're having our annual cold snap. We won't see 70 today. (But we will see 70 a few times before the spring.)

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  4. I can completely understand you because we have same situation because price of electricity everyone try to saving and people complain that is too cold.
    https://www.exclusivebeautydiary.com/2022/11/chloe-nomade-absolu-de-parfum.html

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    1. I wish the electricity had gone out. Then it wouldn't have been nearly as cold.

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  5. Only seventy degrees? You poor things. How have you survived.

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  6. haha...I am with J E Oneil, only 70 degrees? HAHA....right now we are sitting at 45 outside here in TN.

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    1. That was the week before Thanksgiving. We won't see 70 degrees today.

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  7. It 21 outside here in North Idaho.
    Coffee is on and stay safe

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  8. My then teenaged son wanted to wear shorts year round, and we will go below zero at least once each winter. So it was a struggle getting him to dress properly. I can imagine how uncomfortable you and your students were. Even living in New York State, I would have been freezing in a 60 degree room, never mind a 50 degree room.

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    1. Exactly. The room was way too cold, and the heater should have taken off the chill. Sigh.

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  9. Ya, it's quite strange that some kids prefer that way! I thought it was natural for them to dress according to the weather, especially in places like yours where temperature becomes extreme.

    Here in the south of India, temperature fluctuation is minimal. It's generally warm and hot. Bengaluru being at a higher altitude does get cold. But a sweater or a jacket would suffice. North India does experience extreme cold and heat. It's peak winter in north India now.

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  10. Today was our first day of summer. It almost felt like spring.Everyone is ready for some heat (they are saying Monday...fingers crossed).

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  11. I'd be wearing shorts too if it was going to be 70 degrees. It is currently 28 here.

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    1. But it was cold overnight and when they arrived in the morning. I get shorts when the high is going to be 75ish and it didn't dip down much cooler than the 60s overnight.

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  12. I’m surprised how cold it has been. There goes our utility bill!

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  13. When we got s foot of snow a couple of weeks back, one man was in his Toronto Maple Leafs sweater and shorts. A true Canuck

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