Loopy

Thursday. Eighth grade math. Seventh period.

When Ms. M planned these two weeks that she'd be out, she found a unit that would take two weeks to complete (including unit test).She kept the topics similar for the seventh and eighth grades, although they wouldn't be the same. 

The seventh graders had learned about circumference and area of circles. The eighth graders had done the volume of cylinders. 

As a sub, I don't usually spend a whole period going over notes and problems and examples. (I usually introduce an assignment, answer some questions, and let them work.) So, by the end of the day on Thursday, I was worn out. 

I had taught the same lesson all day. They started with questions reviewing what they had done the previous class session. Then I went over the answers, starting by writing down the formula for the volume of a cylinder. 

"Shouldn't that be squared?" a student asked.

Instead of writing down the formula for the area of a circle, I had written down the formula for the circumference. (Something the seventh graders had done the previous day, but something none of the eighth grade classes had done on this day.) 

I wrote down the formula three different times, only getting it right on the third try. 

Yup, I was tired. And loopy. 

I had to shake it off and get my brain in the game. This was material that was new to them, so I had to get it right. 

I did. Eventually. After a shaky start.

It's a good thing I don't get too flustered when I make mistakes in front of them. I just own that I made an oops and continue on. (And I thanked the student who caught my mistake. What a disaster if I had continued on with the wrong formula.) 

By the time I get used to teaching them all day, my two week assignment will be over.

The Missing

Around Thanksgiving, I got an email from a teacher. Could I cover her class for the last two weeks of February? 

Because it's middle school math, we decided that things would go much smoother if I taught the class for two weeks (as opposed to them having independent assignments that I just kind of managed). 

Middle schoolers do better with routines. They're going to be on sub behavior because I'm not Ms. M. But we minimize the issues that crop up because they're doing what they're used to. (That's my theory, anyway.) 

One of Ms. M's routines is that when they enter the room, they retrieve a "tool bag" and deposit their cell phones in the pockets.

The "tool bag" contains a calculator, a dry erase marker, a dry erase board eraser, and a red pen. These are all things they can use while taking notes and doing assignments in class. 

This routine has meant that I haven't had to deal with cell phone issues in class. (Well, a couple students have attempted to keep their cell phones, and they played dumb when I caught them, but that was going to happen.) 

I started the gig on Tuesday. On Thursday, a student came up to me. The calculator was missing from their "tool bag". 

Because, of course. 

These are not state-of-the-art calculators. The calculator on their phones is nicer. (But no cell phones in class, so...) But whoever made off with the calculator was not going to be in class, so I borrowed from a "tool bag" of an empty seat so the kiddo had access to a calculator. And I got on with the day.

(We're on a block schedule, so the students I had on Wednesday I wouldn't have again until Friday.) 

By the end of the day, I discovered that two calculators had gone missing.

So, on Friday, I announced to each class that if the class calculator had happened to fall into their belongings to please return it. 

(Cheap, tiny calculators. I did not think they were deliberately lifted. This is the age where I find a water bottle and two jackets left behind each period. Mistakes occur.) 

By the end of the day, two calculators mysteriously reappeared on the teacher's desk. (Different periods.) 

As I wasn't looking for anyone to blame, I was quite happy with this. I ended the week with the same number of class materials that I started it with. 

Trust the Enemy?

What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder. 

On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news. 

Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

What if the solution to your problem was offered by your nemesis? (I think I've done this question before. If not this question, then the question I did was similar.)

Almost There

Last week I looked at the blue afghan. The afghan looked at me. A nod was exchanged.

It's just about long enough.

If all goes well, I'll bind off this week. Then it's on to a border.

It's time for a list of all the posts for the afghan:

• New Project Loading
• It's Begun
• Can't Count
• Four Rows
• Two Skeins
• Afghan Pics

A Special Ed Day

I was back in Ms. H's moderate to severe special ed class. (When I was last there, I had some car trouble.) 

The first block. Ryder was punching in the air. I was far enough away that I didn't get hit, but I was close enough that one wrong move and I could. I gently mentioned maybe not punching the air. But Ms. S, one of the instructional aides, informed me that Ryder used to punch walls. Punching the air was way better. Agreed.

Ryder had a pretty constant monologue going. Sometimes I could follow his train of thought, sometimes I couldn't.

Ryder wanted to write "superhero" on his paper. Ms. S said he could write it on the back. Later in the day, he wrote it as his last name (although he knows his last name and could spell it when he was prompted to put it on his paper). 

There were worksheets (on the calendar, on telling time, etc). There were activities. Ryder was a little hard to direct, but he eventually got his stuff done.

At lunch, he disappeared into the bathroom and returned in a Batman costume. I had seen him in this costume on previous occasions, and as no one commented on it, I gathered it was a usual thing. Ms. S later told me Ryder gets to have lunch in the costume. Whatever works.

But by math class, Ryder was kind of done. There was a coloring worksheet that he was in a hurry to complete, but I could not get him to do it properly. I directed as best I could, but he wouldn't slow down enough to follow directions. But it was the afternoon of the Thursday before a four-day weekend, so we were all a bit burnt out.

After that, we got to do "fun Friday". (We had a science lesson in the lesson plans, but the IAs said Ms. H had texted them to shift us to a wind down for the weekend. That was fine by me.) Ryder got to hum along to whatever songs he was listening to on his computer. (They got out a Nintendo Switch and connected it to the big screen TV in the classroom. Several students enjoyed that.) 

It was a pretty standard day in that kind of classroom. I've definitely had worse. 

You want to see a bit of their math lesson? We started class with two videos. These were the same two videos I showed the last time I was in class. (They do a lot of repetition. It helps them learn certain concepts.) After the videos, they had other work. But the tunes are kind of catchy. 

The Gram

Valentine's Day. Fourth period world geography. 

On Valentine's Day, the school choirs do a fundraiser where various groups of students deliver singing Valentine grams. They audition for this. The groups are three to seven students, and each group has a part of a song they perform. Then the recipient gets a card with a message and a balloon or a flower (depending on how much the giver spent). 

I've been subbing a lot of years. That means I've seen a lot of Valentine's Days. I know the drill.

A group showed up looking for Charlie. He was identified. The group surrounded him and began the song.

The boy in front of the gram recipient, Gary, got up and got out his phone. He recorded the performance. 

The group finished, said "Happy Valentine's Day," and departed. 

Charlie looked at the gram.

Gary had sent it. 

Apparently, they had had a conversation. Gary said he was going to send Charlie a gram. Charlie didn't believe him. So, Gary had to prove that he was going to do it.

I didn't get the impression that there's anything going on with Charlie and Gary. Charlie was more embarassed than anything. And I think that was the point. Charlie wasn't expecting a gram. And while it wasn't mean-spirited, Gary sending the gram was kind of a prank.

(There are openly gay students on campus. A boy sending another boy a Valentine's gram would not have caused a stir.) 

Moment over, the boys went back to working on their assignment. (The day's topic was weathering and erosion.) 

Volume Control

Tuesday. Seventh grade world history, special ed. It was the day before Valentine's Day, so they had assignments based on that. 

It was a fairly easy day for them. They had some reading with questions. Then they had an online Edpuzzle (which is a short video with questions embedded in it--they do this on their own online). And finally they had a coloring page. 

After they finished all three assignments, they were to work on "a quiet activity". Which is basically saying that they had free time. With computers, they could watch a video, play a game, etc. 

Only, seventh graders don't really do quiet well. 

The conversations got loud. The room was small, and the kiddos who were talking were seated close to each other, but they projected their voices so they could be heard at the back of the theater. (I'm exaggerating, but not by much.) I wish the kiddos would put this much power into their voices when we're doing discussions and reading in class. 

But, that kind of volume on side coversations? It was a bit much.

I'm used to this sort of thing. But the class' instructional aide was not. She warned them that they needed to quiet down their voices or she'd find another way to keep them busy.

The regular teacher, Ms. P, was on campus at a training. There were a couple students that Ms. P wanted updates on, so Ms. V (the IA) and she were texting back and forth. Ms. V texted the teacher about the students being done with the assignment. And Ms. P added more work online for them to do.

Oh, the whining... 

The volume calmed down once they got working, although they couldn't understand what the problem was. They weren't that loud, they said. 

I told them that they really needed to stop going to raves, then. Because they were talking as if they had to compete with loud, booming music. 

Eventually they learn to not call attention to themselves when they've finished their work. Just not in the seventh grade.

Long Lost Family

What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder. 

On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news. 

Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

What if you learned today that you had a sibling you had never heard of before? (I'll specify that they are currently living. This could be a half-sibling. Or not.)

Afghan Pics

I've only gotten a couple more inches knit since last week. And the knit is still going pretty smoothly. So, all I have today are new pictures.

I decided to hang it from my closet doors. At this size, it's hard to style the thing for a good picture. Above is the "front". Below is the "back". 

And that's all I really have to say. As of the writing of this post, the forecast for Monday is rain. I hope I'm under that afghan knitting on it as you read this. 

Day in the Life of a Sub

Last Friday was a day...

As I drove to school, the sun was shining. And the rain was falling.

The rain wasn't supposed to be falling. The weather report had said we were done with rain (for a bit). 

Once I parked, I double checked the weather app on my phone (to determine which umbrella I'd bring from my car) to discover that the sub desk had called me. I called her back, and she let me know that my job for the day had been cancelled. 

But, they were going to switch my gig to another teacher whose scheduled sub had cancelled the evening before. As it was at the same school (two doors down from the teacher I was expecting to cover), it wasn't a major issue.

The teacher I was now covering was leaving on a field trip for a flag football tournament. These are the moderate to severe special ed classes, and the districts in the area have begun a "unified" thing where some special ed kiddos and some general ed kiddos play on various teams and compete against different schools. 

This, of course, meant that the classes would be light some students. I also gained a couple students (Zena...) due to them remaining behind while their teacher didn't get a sub. 

Once the dust settled, the first class went pretty smoothly. Then, instead of getting a prep period, I was asked to cover a class over in the new STEAM building. 

I found someone to open the door for me (they don't give me keys when I'm covering an extra period), and he had trouble finding the room. (I do not know my way around the STEAM building as it's new this year. I've subbed in there a few times, but every time I have to consult a map to figure out where I need to go. In a couple years, after I've been in the building several more times, I'll be an old pro.) 

What class was I covering? It was called BioAnimaker. Apparently, they're eventually going to learn how to make lifelike robots or something. The students explained that at the moment the class was more playing with 3D printers. (The new building has spaces for things that the school hasn't quite instituted yet. It's coming, though.) 

This is how I learn about some of these things. I cover the class.

After that class, it was time for art.

Ms. A co-teaches an art class with a general ed art teacher (who I've subbed for a couple times this school year). It's a mixed class--some of Ms. A's special ed kiddos along with Ms. G's general ed kiddos. (It's more of the unified stuff. They integrate the special ed kiddos into the general population, and they expose the general ed kiddos to students who are different.) 

As luck would have it, the art class was also in the STEAM building. I didn't have far to go at all.

After art was lunchtime. I got to sit and eat. I was enjoying the moment of not traipsing all over campus when... EARTHQUAKE. 

An instructional assistant was in the room with me (supervising her one-to-one student), but she didn't feel it. I immediately consulted my earthquake app to learn it was a 4.7 on the Richter scale. (I heard it was downgraded to a 4.6 later.) The epicenter was roughly 45 miles away. 

The earthquake was about ten minutes before the end of lunch. I had three students in the next class. And then I had two when one of them got called into speech. (A speech therapist has half hour classes with some of the kiddos from time to time.) 

Then the field trippers returned. (They got first place in the tournament.) Some remained in class while others went off to different classes. And Ms. A returned, although she was in and out finishing up things from her day off campus.

After all that, I needed the weekend. Although, some days are like this. I go all over the place and do various things. It helps that a lot of this was stuff I was accustomed to, so I just rolled with it. That's the gig.

Cascading Failure

Wednesday. It had finally stopped raining, and it was likely to be an easy day. I got into the classroom, turned on the lights, and I headed for the thermostat. It was 58℉ in the room. I turned on the heat.

The heat switched on. Then BANG, and the lights cut out.

Uh oh... Power outage...

But wait. The clock was still lit.

So, not the whole school? 

I called the office. Nope, just my classroom was without power. They sent maintenance, and he managed to get the lights back on before the first class started. (It was the breaker, but it wasn't as easy as flipping the switch. He had to toggle it back and forth before the power came back on.)

He left. I got class started. I turned the heat back on. And then the thermostat went blank. (I called for someone to fix it, but it never did get fixed that day.)

Well, that makes for a good blog post. The day should be cake now, right? 

Fourth period. The assignment was in their Google Classroom. Only, it wasn't. I emailed the teacher. The assignment finally appeared. (I think the timing was just off; I don't think the teacher saw my email.) 

We had about a half hour left of class, and most of the students had finished their assignment. (It was a government class for seniors.) Good thing, as that's when the internet went out. 

I wasn't too concerned. Then. They were done. But when sixth period came in a half hour later and there was still no internet...

Sixth period was U.S. history for juniors. And their assignment was in Google Classroom. Which was inaccessible due to the internet being out. And I didn't have a backup assignment for them as I was the sub.

Deep sigh.

They were quite happy to entertain themselves. A group played Uno on their phones. 

The internet came back up about a half hour later. I informed them of this. They attempted to convince me that there wasn't enough time for them to do the assignment. I told them they could do the assignment and then go back to their game.

Hopefully most of them did that. (It seemed like they had.) Because just before the end of the period, the internet went out. Again.

(Luckily, by that time I had my note for the teacher in the drafts of my email, so I was able to sent it to her from my phone.) 

She had a prep period eighth period, so I happily left campus early as I didn't want to get slammed by any more technical issues.

Why did the internet go out on us? There was a power outage at another high school (and its neighboring elementary schools) in the district. That power outage knocked out the internet to the entire school district. Sigh.

A Colorful Activity

Monday. It was pouring down rain (a rainstorm that did not let up for two days--you may have heard about it). And I caught a seventh grade world history class that I had covered right around Halloween.

It was one of those days where some kiddos were completely drenched. Many got into their backpacks to discover that their work was wet. (I had a workaround for them, but those who had wet papers didn't want a workaround. They wanted to complain. Getting that wet was definitely a choice.) 

Fifth period. I had four boys that kept getting out of their seats for vague reasons. 

The class had a list of things to work on. Many were working on them. So, I could focus on trying to get the four boys settled. But they had reasons why they had to be up. At one point they were hovering around a cardboard box that contained pieces of crayons.

(One of their assignments was a project that needed to be colored in. So, borrowing crayons was a valid activity.) 

Finally, they were all seated. And then, the complaints...

Kiddos (the four boys and others) were being hit by flying crayons. 

Deep sigh.

I revoked all permission for them to have crayons. I removed them from those who still had them. (Of course, the boys who had thrown theirs no longer had crayons.) 

"It wasn't me. I didn't throw any crayons." 

Uh huh. Sure. 

I knew which four boys had been by the crayon box. They were named in my note. 

I do not know how this teacher manages with these kiddos all year. I have to assume they don't play around for her like they play around for the sub.

Returning the Favor

What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder. 

On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news. 

Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

Last week's "what if?" was part one of today's question. Last week I asked if you had the technical knowledge to build a time machine but not the funds, would you get someone to fund it for you? 

But, when I got the idea for the question, I was thinking of it as if the time machine had been built, just with the funding of someone else. Which leads to the real question:

What if the person who gave you the money to build your time machine then had a task for you to complete? (Assume the time machine is built, so you've already spent the money. And assume that what they want you to do is something that you'd rather not, but it is something you can do.)

Two Skeins

I am now two skeins in to the blue afghan:

(And I don't really have anything to say about it. It's been a pretty uneventful knit.) 

The afghan currently measures 39 inches by 42 inches. I'm using Bernat Blanket yarn, color Dark Teal (10825). It's 74 stitches on size 11 needles. (I'm not sure how many rows I've knit. I'm not going to count.) The main stitch pattern is the Fancy Lozenge Pattern from Barbara Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns (page 17 of the edition I have). The borders are worked in moss stitch.

The technical information is for me. If I ever want to recreate this, it's easier to just have the info jotted down somewhere. This way, it's just a matter of searching my blog (although, I'll probably transfer this to Ravelry as well at some point). 

Is your weather warming up? (I'm hoping for a couple more weeks of cold here so I can get the majority of this afghan done. It's not fun to do in warmer weather.) 

Rainy Day Rules

Thursday. Rain had been predicted for about a week, so it was no surprise when I woke up to lots of water falling out of the sky. I had booked the day in advance at the alternative education center (the school they send the kiddos to when they get kicked out of the other schools for reasons). 

Only four students showed up for school. (I think total enrollment currently is seven.) So, someone decided to modify the schedule. 

(For first period, the English teacher had no students present, so he offered to go out for cronuts.)

I had the math/science class. For first period, I had three of the four present students. So, rather than have one kiddo on his own in history, they sent him to me (for science). Then I kept all four students for second period (for math). And then I was done for the day. 

(The history teacher took the four for third and fourth periods. Then fifth and sixth they had counseling, but they figured rainy day, so they'd just watch a movie.) 

And here I was gearing up for trouble. 

But it ended up being a mellow couple of periods (and a quiet rest of the day). 

This was good, as I've had run-ins with these boys before. Remember Jensen? I last saw him at one of the traditional high schools right before winter break. (He was notable for being very late to class consistently and then not doing any work. He was in the English class I started the school year in.) I was not terribly surprised to see the district had changed his placement. 

And... Do you remember Austin? Chair-thrower Austin? (Check out the link for that story.) He's back...

(I should mention that the chair throwing incident is famous. Or infamous. I cannot tell you how often a student would walk up to me and reference the chair throwing incident last school year. It was a lot.)

The worst I can say about Jensen and Austin on this day? They did no work. (Jensen claimed he completed his online work, but I doubt it.) They entertained themselves by watching videos on the computer. 

I'll take it. 

Locked In

Wednesday. I had accepted a gig covering a moderate to severe special ed class, so I was prepared for a certain kind of day. It's not that I have to mentally prepare myself or anything as I've covered those classes enough times in the past that I'm not worried. But I do go in with certain expectations.

I arrived at the school. I parked. I attempted to get out of my car...

I have an older car. It has a manual lock. I flipped the lock open, and it snapped. My door remained locked and I couldn't unlock it. I couldn't open the door.

I managed to climb out via the passenger side. But now I was in a panic. What was I going to do now?

I attempted to focus on the job. I was at school. I could work. 

For the first block (second period) we had "unified cheer". The school has been doing more inclusive things with this population, like having intramural basketball tournaments and such. They can't do all the intricate tricks and gymnastics that the general population cheer squad does, but they can do the basic cheers. So, they practiced those.

The class is mostly special ed, but it has a few general ed students, and they helped the kiddos along. It's a PE class for all of them.

I was the co-teacher in this situation, so the main PE teacher ran the class while I "assisted". (Read: hovered at the perimeter of the class while inwardly panicking about my car.) 

Yeah, I wasn't much of an assistant.

It turned out that I had a prep period after this. After one of the instructional aides suggested Auto Club, I attempted to call and get a person to see if they had someone that could help. But, alas, it's all automated now. But, during the block of my prep period, I managed to meet with a tow truck driver only to discover that I could unlock the driver side door from the outside with my key, so I could get in and out.

Well, that's something. 

Apparently, I need an auto body shop to make that particular repair. Which is something I need to do now.

But, until I find that, I can get in and out of the car and drive it around. So, I was able to get home. And to work the next day.

And I had some time to calm down so I could be of some use to periods six and eight. 

(The classes went pretty well. We had the usual behaviors, but nothing too terrible. I've had some days with some doozies of behavior, so it was a pretty decent day.)

Stalker

Monday. I arrived at the school and checked in. At the same time, a sub I had not met before arrived. (We were in the parking lot at the same time. I think I got to the secretary before her, though.) She was not sure where her first period class was. As we were going to the same building, I told her I'd show her where to go.

(We were both covering classes in the new STEAM building. It wasn't far from the main office. I had an easy math class. She had that health careers class that I covered a while back.) 

We were both on opposite sides of the building, so I pointed out where she needed to head, and I wished her well. I assured her the health careers classes were an easy gig. 

Tuesday. I snagged a gig at the continuation high school. I haven't been there much this school year. It's the luck of the draw. 

I arrived at the school, checked in, and I headed to my classroom for the day. 

There were two other subs on campus that day. I did not see the sub for the CAD class, but I did run into the sub for the math class. And now she was a familiar face. 

"You're following me." 

Well, I'd say she was following me, but I didn't see any reason to correct her. 

I did not see her the rest of the week, but I'm sure I'll see her around. Now I just need to get her name.

Beyond Your Means

What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder. 

On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news. 

Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

What if you knew how to build a time machine, but you couldn't afford to do it? Would you find someone to finance it? Would you tell your financier what you were building? 

Four Rows

Last week I made slow progress on the afghan. About four rows a night. 

Since adding the stitch markers, I haven't had any issues. So, today's blog post is just pictures (mostly). 

This week is supposed to be cool (cold for us). This is the perfect time to be under a blanket (while knitting it). 

I'll take the lack of things to blog about for a smooth project. I hope you all stay dry this week. (They're forecasting lots and lots of rain for us this week. Send us dry thoughts.)

Laws of Gravity

From my college studies, I remember two constants in physics. (The other one is the speed of light.)

Friday. Sixth period eighth grade science. The topic of the day was Newton's Laws of Motion.

I explained to the class: "This is literally my subject." 

They had some notes (in their Google Classroom) and some problems to complete. Normally, I have to take a minute to familiarize myself with the topic of the day before I feel comfortable enough to offer assistance. These problems I knew how to do cold.

I heard it bandied about. One student asked another if it was the correct number. What number? 9.8. And I could confirm.

The rate of acceleration due to Earth's gravity is 9.8 m/s^2.

The problems were about mass versus weight. (Mass in kilograms. Weight in Newtons.)

Not all on Earth. (Gravity on the other planets was given in the problems.) 

Did the kiddos need my help? Nope. 

(I got a couple questions. Mostly, they knew what they were doing.)

Well, it was an advanced class. And they were doing the basics. The kiddos worked together, so they answered each other's questions.

I generally don't have issues with Ms. B's classes. I don't know what magic she uses on those eighth graders, but she has to do something, because they are not a problem.

This Week and Upcoming 13

I had another week with not very many good subbing stories. Things happened, but I can't say that any of them necessarily will make a full blog post. So, why not do a Thursday 13? Why not, indeed?

1. I started the week with only Friday booked. I snagged Monday's assignment at 5:30 AM Monday morning. Wednesday's assignment popped up at 5:08 AM Wednesday morning. (I did not get anything for Tuesday, and Thursday's assignment popped up Wednesday afternoon.) 

2. Since I wanted to work, I took the Spanish class on Wednesday, even though the language I took in school was French. (The classes were fine, although I had one girlie in class who I remember not so fondly from the vacant English class I started this school year in.) 

3. Friday I had band class (see above picture). Band days are always a bit weird. Not a problem, but weird.

4. I may possibly (probably) have a long-term assignment coming up in March. Nothing is official, but everyone seems to know about it now. 

5. A long-term assignment is official when the sub desk contacts me, and after receiving confirmation from me, inputs it into the system. It's barely February, so it's no surprise that she hasn't made it official.(I know my name has been submitted to the sub desk for the gig.)

6. Thursday I covered the math class that will be the long-term assignment. When it popped up in the system, I was glad I could grab it. (This is why I say everyone knows I'm doing it as we had those conversations.) 

7. The class is co-taught, so I got a chance to talk to the co-teacher. (Well, we've talked before this.) Ms. L was out one day in October. That's when I talked to Mr. J and he mentioned he'd be out in mid-March.(Paternity leave.)

8. But the class isn't entirely math. Mr. J has three periods of integrated math 2 (think sophomore level math; it used to be geometry, but now it's geometry and algebra combined). And he has three periods of computer science. 

9. I do not know computer science. I know some very basic HTML. 

10. I suppose I should learn something, at least some basics, so I can be of some use to those classes. Does anyone know any good websites that could help? I don't expect to have expertise (and I'll have some help with his lesson plans and another teacher on campus who does have the background), but I would like to at least know the lingo.

11. Part of me has been wondering if this whole thing will fall through. (I could have started looking into learning some coding basics in October.) I'm never sure these things are going to happen until they become official.

12. Although, every time a teacher has asked me (and I half expect it to fall through), the request happens in time.

13. The last two weeks of February are a perfect example. I'm booked. The teacher contacted me around Thanksgiving. It became official our first week back in January. And the teacher and I have conferred, so I'm ready. Gulp.