Thursday, December 8, 2022

Irritated 13

Have you ever had one of those days where everything just irritated you? I had one of those weeks. Last week. 

I resisted taking out my foul mood on those around me. Barely. But rather than writing a full week's worth of posts on the things that irritated me, I'm doing a Thursday 13 to contain them here. 

1. Monday was the first day back after Thanksgiving break. So, of course the secretary who checks subs in was out, leaving the back up secretary who didn't know how to give us subs access to the online attendance. So, not only did we have to take roll the old-fashioned way (on paper), we gave the attendance clerk more work when she had to input all of our absences herself. 

2. The lesson plans for Monday stated that the assignment for the students was in Google Classroom. Okay then. But, first period informed me that there was no assignment for them. Then second period said that it was there, but it was the same assignment they had before the break which they had already completed. Grrrr.

3. Grocery shopping, something I like to do, was just torture. The store was packed. It annoys me normally, but I was already irritated by my day.

4. So, driving home, it was getting dark out. I turn on my headlights. At a stop, I look up at my reflection in the car ahead of me, and was it...? Yup. There was not a reflection of a headlight where there should have been. One of my headlights had burned out. 

5. On Tuesday, I covered an ELD class. That stands for English Language Development. These are students whose first language isn't English, and they're there to learn English. Second class of the day, a student informed me in broken English that she didn't speak English and needed to work with another student at a different table.

The teacher had been quite clear that the students weren't to move. But what really irritated me was the whole "I don't speak English" routine. In any other class, I would have been more understanding, but if she barely spoke English, she would have been in the beginning/newcomer ELD class, not this more intermediate/advanced one. This was the wrong class to try to play off that lie.

How irritated was I? Irritated enough to include her name in my note. I don't usually bother, but this time, it had to be done.

6. The first class that day had the same assignment. I was supposed to make sure they stayed on task, and for the most part they did. But two boys kept trying to sneak games on their computers. I could see their screens from where I was stationed, but I had to get up and go over to them before they'd switch back to their assignment. Unless I stood over them, they kept going back to their games. Grrrr.

7. On Wednesday I was at the continuation high school. Another teacher there said he was going to be out on Monday. He let me know when he put the assignment in the sub app. And...? Someone else snagged it before I could catch it

Then the exact same thing happened on Friday. Different class, different school, but someone snatched another job right out from under me.

8. So far, December doesn't look like a busy working month. So, I was really disappointed to miss out on those assignments. As I write this, all that's in the system is elementary gigs. Am I that desperate to work? I'm not sure. I shouldn't wish for people to get sick, but here we are.

9. It's been a while since one of the middle schools did video morning announcements. But, of course, they'd do this last Thursday. And I only found out about it when it was time for the announcements, which didn't give me enough time to set up the projector and computer so they could see these announcements. A heads-up would have been nice. 

10. Thursday. 8th grade English. They were doing a first read assignment on a poem. It was due at the end of the period as an "exit ticket" (meaning I collect it from them as they leave the room). I let them know all of this at the beginning of class and I reminded them of this as they were packing up.

At the door, as I'm holding out my hand to one boy he said, "I'm doing it for homework." Oh no. No, you're not. You had the whole period to do this. 

How irritated by this was I? Irritated enough to match all the assignments to the student roster so I could find his name and include it in my note. That's a lot of effort to find one name, but it was worth it. 

11. I'm not sure how to write this. Jaylah got on my last nerve. I had her in class twice last week. She was in the summer school class, too. She did no work in either class (the ELD class and her 8th grade English class). She didn't get in anyone's way. She wasn't rude. But it just irked me. (This one I did not write down. Her teachers could see what she didn't accomplish.) 

12. I snagged my sweater. This one was bought, so it wasn't my handiwork that was upset. And it tends to snag, so this wasn't the first time. But I got to work only to find the snag, and there was no time to do anything about it. 

13. It was a busy Thursday, so of course I was asked to cover an extra period. But the timing. They don't give us keys for those rooms, so I have to find someone to open the door for me. Because the class followed lunch, those with keys were supervising the students at lunch. Plus, I had to hit the restroom before I got there. Normally I'd call the office, but to get back to a school phone to make the call... It was just awkward. 

22 comments:

  1. Some weeks, and or days go just GREAT. Others suck. LOL...I remember when I first started noticing that things seemed to happen in groups. I worked at the Hermitage (Home and Pres. Andrew Jackson), in the gift shop and I noticed that if my first customer was an a-- then they all seemed to be that way. If the first was sweet and easy to deal with then, they all seemed to be that way. Another thing I noticed after my brought it to my attention, deaths seem to happen in threes. And bad things seem to happen in total groups! Its nuts. When my SUV died a couple weeks ago, a couple weeks before that, I filled my wiper cleaner only to find that it would not work. I was going to check to see if the hose/tube had come disconnected but never got to it. Then a week after that I noticed the driver side brake light was out, bought the bulb but was too busy running around helping Tim, I never replaced it. Now, I just want it out of the shop.

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    1. Yeah, things tend to happen in groups. I think it all kind of fed off each other, and things that wouldn't have bothered me really got to me.

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  2. Ugh, I'm exhausted just reading about it. I hope the rest of the year is less irritating for you.

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  3. Wowza that was certainly a growly week. Hope this one was better for you, Liz. Big hugs to ya!

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  4. Definitely not a good time. I hated substitute teaching. I did it one year and aside from the one time I managed to be in a high school English class, I hated every minute of it. I did not do it the following year.

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  5. Things tend to all bunch up and attack at the same time... let's hope the next week is much better!

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  6. I got tired just reading this! I hope life begins to move at a more manageable pace.

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  7. I could never do it! Congrats you got through it.

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    1. Things don't usually bother me this much. Last week, though...

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  8. Just a miserable week. It’s over now, and I hope things are better

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    1. My attitude is better this week. Sometimes that's the difference.

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  9. I'd be biting my tongue to shreds, I think, trying to keep my mouth from speaking my mind. You did well to lay it here instead.

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    1. Half of my annoyance was just me being snarly. I can't really yell at kids when it's not their fault. Although, telling me he's doing an in class assignment for homework definitely merited a snarl at him.

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  10. Years ago, when I had a customer service job, I noticed how nasty customers/knotty problems/just frustrating things in general all seemed to happen at the same time, and it wouldn't be just me but other reps in the office, too. And enough of these clusters, I will swear to you as an educated person, happened during or near full moons. Only half joking, what phase was the moon in?

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    1. Last week? I think we just had a full moon, so it was nearing full, I think. Yeah, people always say no, the full moon doesn't influence people, and yet... I don't discount that at all.

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  11. i couldn't imagine being a substitute teacher these days. It sounds very frustrating.

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    1. Some days are better than others. It keeps me in blogging stories.

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  12. Oh, dear... what a week. I've had days where everything irritates me, never a week. I never wondered about your lack of subbing elementary school classes. You don't like working with the younger kids? I would find middle schoolers the worst!

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    1. I have had some disastrous elementary experiences. It's just weird for me. I'm better with the older kids. And middle school can be squirrely, but I only have to deal with them for an hour at a time.

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  13. Happens, Liz. Some days are like that. It has happened to me as well. I would just wait to see the end of the day, and just hope that the next day, and the days thereafter are better!

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