Bored Games

I've decided that Adriel is bored. 

(Adriel is the student who has apparently cheated on tests in the past. But I've seen when he does the work. I think he actually understands the material.)

He's bored and immature. So, he entertains himself like a middle schooler would. But, he's old enough to realize that he needs to be sneaky so as not to get caught.

Ms. L, the co-teacher, explained that Adriel had a partner in crime, and the two of them together were unmanageable (even when they were seated across the room from each other). Mr. J made it his mission to get the boys in different periods. He succeeded. 

So, now Adriel sits isolated at the edge of the room, and he spends most of the period watching his phone.

He spends the rest of the period throwing markers and pencils. Surreptitiously. So as not to get caught.

Now that I have the rhythms of the class, I told Ms. L that I could teach the lessons. So, she can help the students as I go over the material. (This is how the class is supposed to function. She is the special ed teacher. Her students need a bit more assistance.) 

I was explaining something about 30-60-90 triangles...

Ms. L: "Adriel, stop throwing pencils." 

Apparently he denied doing it.

Ms. L: "I saw you throw it."

He must have gone back to watching his phone.

(It's not that we've given up on him. We try to get him engaged in the class. But at a certain point, we're expending way more energy on a student who won't try when we could spend the time with students who actually want the help.)

At least with Ms. L watching them, Adriel is more likely to get caught. And that's a win. 

Doing the Work

Mr. J has three periods of sophomore math and three periods of computer science. I'm qualified to teach the math classes. The computer science classes, however...

When I started the classes, Mr. J sent me an email with a suggestion. 

Computer science is a CTE class, short for career and technical education. The CTE department is going to have a job fair in May where local employers will come to campus to interview students. The idea is to give the CTE students an opportunity to practice being interviewed for a job.

Mr. J suggested that I could do a unit on interviewing and resumes so the students could prepare. That I can teach. (Although I am terrible at it, I know the basics of what I should do.) 

I started the unit with what to wear. Then we delved into resumes. They are going to have to turn in a completed resume as they will need one for the job fair. 

Friday. I went over the basics. Gave them some tools to use. Suggested that the internet had all sorts of advice. Explained that resume templates existed. (I did give them a template to use if they so chose.) 

Then I gave them time to work.

I heard some playing video games. Some of them clearly weren't on task. (That's kind of how things have been going. But, some had completed a resume in other classes, and I wasn't requiring them to write a new one, just to turn in the one they already have done.) 

But then, I heard a group of boys in the back of the room. Discussing how to describe their skills...

They were doing the assignment? 

They were doing the assignment.

The computer science classes were kind of off task as they weren't getting direct instruction in anything, but now that I'm following up, things are getting done.

Deep breath.

This is what it's supposed to be like. It's good when things work out.

A Test Makeup

It was week three in Mr. J's classes, and I'm starting to get my feet under me. That means that certain things I may not have noticed initially (while I'm trying to get a handle on the bigger things) are now catching my attention.

Jordan is in my second period class, but I hadn't seen much of her. In fact, I hadn't really seen her at all. 

I first noticed Jordan's absence when I was getting the quarter grades taken care of. She had pretty much taken the month of February off. And she was doing the same for March. Her grade was fine, but that was only because no one had input the grades.

Once I finished getting the grading caught up, Jordan's grade dropped to an F. 

I checked her attendance. It appeared that she was attending school every other day. As the school is on a block schedule, that meant that while her first, third, fifth, and seventh period teachers were seeing her regularly, her fourth, sixth, and eighth period teachers, as well as me, weren't seeing her at all. 

Thursday was an odd day. During passing period, Jordan showed up at my door. (I was at the door greeting students as they entered. The administrators encourage this of the teachers.) I knew who she was because the seating charts have photos. 

Jordan said that her grade had dropped because she was missing a test. (She was missing two tests and five or six assignments, but I didn't point that out.) After expressing displeasure that I hadn't just automatically cancelled the grade for her, she wondered if she could make up the test. I told her of course she could. Then she was on her way to her fifth period class. 

(There is a way to make an assignment not count for a student. I did this for a student who was out for a while after a suicide attempt. I will do this for various students who already completed an online course on how to job interview which I'm assigning to a couple classes. I will not do this for a student who ditched class for a month and now sees that her grade dropped.)

Did Jordan show up to take the test later that day? No, she did not.

Jordan did show up to class the next day. So, I offered her the opportunity to take the test right then. 

She wasn't that quiet, although I think she thought she was, when she said something along the lines of, "I don't want to do this now." I suppose I could have pressed the issue, but I gave her the out of taking it later in the day. She said she'd be there.

And then a meeting I needed to attend ran long, so I got back to the room late. So, of course Jordan wasn't there. Had she been there at the time we'd agreed? 

Well, I double checked her schedule. She does, in fact, have an eighth period when she said she didn't, so I kind of doubt that she was there. 

She can still make up the test and all the work she's missing. I'm accepting all late work. 

But will she? Will she get that work made up? 

We shall see. 

(So many of them did little while Mr. D was covering the classes, and somehow they thought the work didn't count. I had a couple weeks of students scrambling to get assignments in once their grades plummeted after I got those assignments input in the gradebook. Some still have not done anything.)

The Big Yawn

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 😉

Most religions have some sort of "second coming" in them, don't they? (I'm not particularly religious, so I can't be sure.) I'm not going to specify religions, but assume the major prophet or some such was reborn when I say "second coming". 

What if the "second coming" happened, and we just... missed it? That is, what if that prophet or whoever did return, but no one noticed?

Plotting and Planning

After finishing the afghan, the next item on my knitting agenda is the dragon swatch. Back in January I explained that I have to rip it out and start over. 

If this was a video, I would point out where the errors are. 

Have I touched this since finishing the afghan? Not at all.

I'll need to drop a lifeline before I start frogging, and I just haven't had the mental bandwidth to sit down and attempt it. I'll get to it sooner or later. Likely later. But spring break is next week, so I should have some time then. I hope.

I had time this weekend, but I spent much of Saturday trying to fit my Tuesday "what if?" questions to the letters of the day. I'll be doing April's A to Z blogging challenge, but nothing changes around here. My game is to fit what I'd normally write to the letter of the day. 

Have I prewritten anything? Just the what ifs. But that's pretty standard for me. The first couple years I did the challenge, I created a "back up" list for just in case. I never used it. So, I don't do that anymore. 

And now I'm rambling, so I'll stop. I hope everyone has a great week planned. I've got four days of work, and then it's spring break. Yay!

Full of Stars

As an adult who often interacts with teenagers, I consider it my duty to report back to you when I notice a trend. And lately I've noticed that the kiddos have all started doing something kind of weird--they now wear star stickers on their faces.

These are not large, maybe a half centimeter across. Usually they're yellow. And they can be anywhere on their faces. Usually girls, but I've seen some boys wear them too.

Curious, I Googled it. And it turns out that they are pimple patches. Oh, that makes sense.

Here's an article I found about them. If you search for them, you'll find they sell them on Amazon, at Walmart, and many other places. 

So, if you encounter teens and you see little stars on their faces, now you know what they are. 

The Wrong Answer

I started the long-term math class right at the end of a unit on solving quadratic equations. All that was left was a study guide (that I went over with them) and the test.

The test...

(See yesterday's post for the explanation for why they didn't really learn anything about solving quadratic equations.) 

Grading the test, I saw how much they really didn't know. Deep sigh. If only I'd gotten to them sooner...

One boy clearly did not read the directions as he attempted to solve the equation using a different method than instructed. (He was supposed to use the formula, which was given on the test, but didn't.) His answer wasn't even close.

Then the next paper I graded... It was the exact same "solution" without using the formula. I went back and double checked. Sure enough, this whole paper was pretty much exactly like the first boy's. 

Then there was a third paper. Identical.

If the answers had been right, I wouldn't have noticed. But all of the wrong answers were the exact same wrong answers.

I graded a few more tests. Then I found a fourth paper identical to the other three.

*rolls eyes*

I mean, if you're going to cheat, you might as well cheat off of someone who knows what they're doing.

But no one in this group knew what they were doing. 

The worst part? I watched them. I stood in front of the class (and the four boys sat at the front of the room) and watched them take the test. I did not see them sharing answers. 

Guilt

It was the second week of my new long-term assignment, and I spent much of it getting their grades caught up. For much of the month of February, nothing had been graded and the non-co-taught classes had been kind of left up to their own devices.

When I talked to Mr. J about his upcoming absence, he had planned to be out starting in mid March. So, when another teacher asked me to cover her classes for the last two weeks of February, I figured I'd be free and agreed. 

But Mr. J's wife had to take her maternity leave early and Mr. J needed to be home with her. So, the secretary got another sub to take the class until I could start. I don't know Mr. D very well, but he is well-liked at the school, and he's done quite a few longer assignments as of late.

As it wasn't technically long enough to be long-term, Mr. D didn't get grading access, nor did he directly instruct the classes that weren't co-taught. 

There's one sophomore math class and three computer science classes that aren't co-taught. (There are two sophomore math classes that are co-taught, and Ms. L was instructing them.) 

The computer science classes were going to be tricky anyway, as there aren't any subs who are well-versed (or even partially knowledgeable) in computer science. They were always going to be kinda on their own. Their lessons have videos, and one can follow what they're supposed to be doing. But mostly they were supposed to be keeping up with the lessons on the website.

But the math class was also kinda left to their own devices. They had computerized lessons. The co-teacher made them videos. But sophomores. 15-year-olds are not known for being self starters.

So, I've been sorting out things like tests that didn't happen and grades that didn't get input. And lessons that the kiddos didn't actually get. 

I've been hit with a whole lot of guilt.

Because, if I had just dropped out of that two-week assignment, I could have started this class back in February, and we wouldn't be in the midst of a mess.

The math class had a test over the unit that they were supposed to be keeping up with. It went badly. The computer science classes missed a test at the end of February over their unit. (Once I realized this, I gave them a week's heads-up that the test would happen, so they had time to look over what they were supposed to have learned.) That test also went not great. (Some did well. Some, not so much.) 

Their quarter grades were due at the end of last week. And many of them took a nose-dive. 

Part of me is exasperated as clearly they weren't doing anything while Mr. D was there. (And he gave them the assignments, and they had the time in class to do them.) But part of me also understands that some things got missed because of the situation.

This would not have been the situation if I had started in February.

Deep sigh.

All I can do is move on from here. And kind of enjoy watching the kiddos scramble to turn in assignments late that they should have done in February. When they were assigned. When they had time in class.

(The baby's been born, and both mother and son are doing well. I don't know much more than that as I haven't been bothering Mr. J with school stuff while he's on leave.)

Genius Powers

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 😉

I have a short subbing story for you. It was a seventh grade accelerated math class (read: academic kiddos). One kid asked a question about something that I had gone over. So, another student called the kiddo stupid. 

The stupid comment was unnecessary and untrue. (Sometimes they don't hear what I said.) So, while informing them that calling their fellow students stupid was wrong, I made this comment: "Everyone in this room is a genius."

(I did not further explain. Everyone is good at something. And when we find that thing, we could be considered a genius at it.)

After making that statement, the energy in the room changed. They heard me. And they believed me.

Which brings me to this week's question:

What if my statement was actually magic, and I somehow unlocked a superpower in each student in that room?

Fully Situated Replacement

In January, I got a new iPhone.

My old iPhone wasn't broken or anything. With planned obsolescence, I have to keep on top of replacing my devices every few years. It was time. (One time I waited a bit too long, and my trade in wasn't worth anything.) 

And because of the time it's been since I last upgraded, of course all of the connectors I had before were out of date. 

Which meant it was time to cover my cords. I finally got around to doing that. 

(Before this I was a bit busy with the afghan of two months, so the phone cords had to wait.)

When preparing to sit down and write this, I went through my back posts to find links, and it turns out that the first time I did this was in... gulp... 2013. So, I guess you could say it's a thing. (According to the post, I saw the idea online and decided I had to do it. Now it's just a thing I do.) 

First, I started with my earbuds. Yeah, I could buy AirPods or such, but that's kind of pricey for something I use occasionally. (When I use them, I need them, but I don't use them frequently.) 

Then I did the power cord.

The cables nowadays are pretty sturdy, and I have a cordless charger (as well as a case that will allow me to use the cordless charger), but I'm used to plugging the phone in, and I'm used to seeing a cord covered in yarn, so I had to do this. For me.

How did I do this? It's hard to explain. I should make a video of it, but I'm still in the process of getting three other videos I made last summer ready to upload, so that won't be happening any time soon. I'm basically slip stitching around the cord. It can be done with a single crochet around the cord, but I didn't like how that turned out.

And now I won't mention this again until I get a new phone. At my current rate of change, that should be in 2028.

Where I did this previously:

• Keeping my Hands Busy
• Under Yarn
• Easy Cord Cover
• Personalizing My Earbuds

The Cheater

Thursday. Fifth period integrated math 2 (read: math for sophomores). They had a test.

Ms. L, the co-teacher, warned me about Adriel a couple days prior.

As Ms. L was going over the study guide for the test, I had noted that Adriel wasn't doing much of anything. I prompted him to get on task, which he ignored. I moved on to helping other students who had questions over what they'd be tested on.

Ms. L said that Adriel didn't do much in class besides watch his phone. And then she'd find that his computerized class assignments had him getting 100% after working on the problems for five minutes. (It should take a bit longer than that.) Clearly, he had found a way to game the system.

And, apparently, he had attempted to cheat on a test previously this school year.

On test day, Ms. L took her special ed students to test in a different room while I monitored those that weren't special ed identified. Mostly, kiddos don't attempt to cheat on tests, but this time I knew to watch Adriel. 

I didn't intend to make it obvious. However, Adriel was also watching me. 

All the other kiddos were focused on their tests. Occasionally they'd look up. Adriel? He wasn't looking at his test paper at all.

I didn't watch Adriel. But I kept an eye on him (as well as the others in class). I did not catch him on his phone. I did not catch him with anything he should not have. 

But that doesn't mean he didn't sneak something by me. I hope he did not. We'll see...

At least I know where to focus my attention. Although, any student who is watching me when they have something to work on is someone who I need to pay attention to anyway.

A Bathroom Emergency

For my new long-term assignment, I have three periods of math (two are co-taught) and three periods of computer science. Sixth period is computer science. It was Wednesday.

Tardiness has become a huge issue on campus. (Since they did away with tardy sweep, we have students who amble in at any time during class as if they don't have a care in the world.) 

So, when Reid walked in almost fifteen minutes late, I inwardly grumbled and noted the time. (I note very late arrival times in the attendance.) 

Immediately behind Reid was Kate from security. Uh oh...

Kate asked what Reid had been doing out of class. 

Reid: "I had a bathroom emergency..."

(It's become a thing, mostly with the boys, if they've been out of class "to the restroom" for longer than reasonable and they are questioned on it, their answer is long, involved, and poop-filled.)

Reid's pause carried certain implications.

Kate wasn't buying this. Reid hadn't asked to go to the restroom, so he was considered tardy. (If a student asks to use the restroom during passing period, I don't mark them tardy if they get back to class after the bell.) 

And Reid hadn't been near the restrooms. He had been with several other boys, and they were peeking around corners, looking out for security most likely.

All of this was part of the lecture Kate gave Reid. That was all he got, for now. Once he was settled into class, Kate asked me his name, which I gave her. 

I don't know if Reid fully realized it, but he is now on security's radar. Certain students aren't allowed out of class during class time without an escort because they have a tendency to wander. This was step one of being added to that list. 

(I wonder if he knows Austin. If not, I should introduce them. Austin might be able to warn Reid of what happens if Reid continues down the roaming campus path.) 

Handled?

Back in October, I did a co-teaching day in a math class. I covered for the special ed teacher. The general ed teacher, Mr. J, talked of leave he'd be taking in March for the birth of his second child. I agreed to cover his class. 

But, in late January his wife was hospitalized with complications, so his leave had to start early. Alas, I had promised another teacher I'd cover her classes at the end of February. 

They found another sub to cover the classes until I could start. I started last Monday.

They gave us a transition day. 

The co-teacher was around, but of the block schedule days, this was the day she did not co-teach. When she popped in, I had one major question for her:

"When are grades due?"

Because, they have to be. I'm starting a long term assignment, so grades are due. Last year I got slapped in the face with this. Now it's on my radar.

Ms. L, the co-teacher, wasn't sure, but we figured out that the end of the quarter was the next week (read: this week). So, I had some time to get situated before I'd have to submit grades.

As Ms. L discussed what we'd be doing in class, she mentioned some testing that was due. We'd have to do it next week (again read: this week). And I laughed. Because I got hit with that one in the vacant English class I started this school year in. 

At least I have all the things I need for that one. (Getting my log in credentials reinstated for this test ended up being an issue, so I have periodically checked to make sure I still have access since then.) 

I am not going to do anything stupid and say something about being all set. Because I'm not. Something else is going to appear out of the blue that I'll have to scramble to deal with.

But, for the moment, my begin-the-long-term scramble seems to be handled. For now. 

Mr. J is scheduled to return in early May. This should be an interesting two months.

Pick Your Pain

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 had a splitting headache, but the remedy that would help upsets your stomach?

Two Months' Work

It. Is. Finished.

The border went pretty smoothly once I got it going. I worked a bit on it each night last week.

When I went to update its Ravelry page, I discovered something funny. I began the project on January 7th. I completed it on March 7th. Two months exactly.

I'm happy with this one. If I got cold often enough, I might be tempted to make one for myself. But, I would rarely use it. This one was always meant as a birthday present, belated as her birthday was in January. (But she's watched me make it, so she knew it was coming.) 

And now that this is done, it's time to get back to that dragon swatch that I have to redo. Or perhaps something else interesting will pop up. We shall see.

The blue afghan in blog posts:

• New Project Loading
• It's Begun
• Can't Count
• Four Rows
• Two Skeins
• Afghan Pics
• Almost There
• On the Border

Video Proof

Friday. Second period accelerated math, seventh grade. 

Accelerated math means the students are learning seventh and eighth grade math at the same time. (They'll take freshman math as eighth graders.) 

The topic on Friday was what I spent two separate days covering with the eighth grade classes: the volume of a cylinder and the volume of a cone. 

There is a way to derive the formula (something we did in calculus), but for middle schoolers, we do an explanation as to why it is correct, and then we have them use it. 

For the eighth graders, my explanation of "it takes three cones to fill a cylinder" was good enough. Alas, the seventh graders did not believe me.

However, I knew that I could find a video that showed that very thing. (There is so much good math material on YouTube.) So, if they needed proof, I'd show them proof. 

They weren't entirely convinced. ("There's still water in the cone.") I explained that getting a perfect pour wasn't necessarily going to happen, human error and all. They grumbled, but they accepted that explanation.

Of course, Friday was one of those days where keeping their focus wasn't really happening. But I have had worse, so it wasn't too terrible.

And now I'm done with that class and on to a new long term that started Monday. I'll begin talking about that next week.

Time to Find Out

Thursday. Eighth grade math, third period. They had a test.

Since the first day I was in this class, I told them when the test was. For every example, I reiterated what they would need to include in their answers on the test. I went over examples, gave them time to try problems on their own, and I answered all their questions about how to do the problems. 

(Their test was how to find the volume of a cylinder, a cone, and a sphere. The formulas were included on the test, which I also repeated daily.) 

But eighth graders. 

There were three boys in the middle of the room who spent more time goofing off and talking to each other than paying me any mind. 

"Colton! Adonis! Russell! Do you know how to do this?"

They assured me that they were on it. It was easy. They were caught up on the homework.

So, Thursday rolls around, and I started off with a warm up. They had four problems that looked exactly like the questions on the test. I gave them time to do them. Then we went over them together.

I got questions. I answered the questions. I solicited more questions. They assured me they were ready for the test.

I passed out the test. 

Colton raised his hand.

He pointed out the first question. "How do I do this? I don't even know how to start."

Um...

It was exactly like the first question in the warm up (with only the numbers being different). 

"That's what the question is asking you," I replied. And I walked away.

Why do they goof off until the test? (Don't answer that. I know.) 

But it was rather satisfying to walk away and not answer his question. If he had asked me how to do it five minutes prior, I would have told him. But no. So I left him to the "find out" portion of that well known phrase.

Preventative In-House

Every teacher has that one terrible class. Ms. M had two. One of them was (not a surprise) sixth period.

(The other was third period. Eighth graders. One day two boys were throwing parts of glue sticks. Enough said.) 

The first day I had the seventh graders in sixth period, things went pretty smoothly. It was a small class (fifteen students), and while they were definitely struggling with the material, they weren't fighting me on paying attention or goofing off.

Alas, as I discovered the next time I had sixth period, two students had been absent. Myron and Aiden. And their absence made all the difference.

Neither boy would remain in his seat for more than a couple minutes at a time (while I was explaining how to find the area of a circle). It was like playing Whac-a-Mole. Just when I got one settled, the other would pop up.

(Why were they absent the previous day? They had been sent to in-house suspension "for no reason". While I don't know specifically what caused them to be sent there, based on what I dealt with, the consequence was warranted.) 

Wednesday, as I was preparing for the day, I perused the attendance. (I don't remember what made me look ahead.) And I saw Myron was already marked absent. The code showed that he would be at in-house suspension.

And I danced a little jig. 

While I still had Aiden in class, he was considerably less of an issue without Myron to bounce off of. 

One student can make a huge difference. 

(I did not have access to who had given Myron the consequence or for what. It's too bad, as I would have sent them a thank you.)

Either/Or

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 your career aspirations directly conflicted with those of your significant other? (That is, one of you can pursue the career goals, but that effectively blocks the other from doing the same.)

On the Border

I did bind off the afghan.

(There's still not a great way to take a picture of the whole thing, so it's folded in half here.) 

And all that's left is doing something around the edging. A border. 

I hemmed and hawed all week, trying to decide what to do. I looked through my stitch dictionary. I perused Pinterest and Ravelry. Then I went back to the first thing I looked at on Pinterest and decided (after discussing it with the recipient) that was the one.

Initially it was too wavy, so I had to do some math to figure out how to fit it along the edges of the afghan. But now it seems to be working fine.

I have a busy work week planned, so I don't know if I'll have the time or be too tired nightly to touch this. I hope to have it finished pretty soon. (Any longer and it'll be done just in time for the weather to warm up.) 

And then I'll have to figure out what to make next. Sigh.

The afghan's previous posts:

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

A Bad Poof

Because I was covering Ms. M's math classes for two weeks, I was given access to her Google Classrooms and the set up she usually uses to instruct her classes. 

Ms. M puts the slides she uses in class online, so the students can access the notes (like, if they were absent). They take down the notes in class as they're written, though. And they are written. Examples are worked out in real time. (She uses a whiteboard app called Jamboard.) 

Friday. Sixth period. It was almost the end of the period. I had done their notes and many examples. (The topic of the day was the area of circles.) 

The question of ℼ had come up. I explained that it was just a number (albeit a weird irrational one). Since they were viewing everything on the in class TV screen that I was using via a computer, I searched online for ℼ to more than a couple digits, and I found it. 

Then I went back to the lesson. But, everything I had written on the whiteboard app, everything that was supposed to remain in their Google Classrooms, vanished. Poof.

Uh...

I attempted to write something on one of the slides, and the digital pen wouldn't work. 

I had less than ten minutes of class, so I pivoted to something else, and then had them get ready to leave class. 

But what was I going to do? Was I going to have to recreate the notes from class so it would remain online? 

After they left, I tried to troubleshoot. The digital pen wouldn't work, so perhaps rebooting the computer might get that going...

And when everything restarted, all my notes reappeared on the slides.

Whew.

But, all my scribbles (from when I was trying to get the digital pen to work) were there as well.

Deep sigh.

The digital pen also has a digital eraser, so that was fixable. And at least I didn't have to try to remember everything I had done with them in class.

(Ms. M left notes that I was mostly copying for them, but I also worked out examples in their books and such, so while I wouldn't have to recreate it all from memory, there was stuff I would have had to recall.)