Booked

I am writing this blog post on Friday, and I just picked up a gig for April 1st. That I'll likely have to drop. Because that's just how this semester has been going.

Ever since this district joined the 21st Century and adopted the computerized booking system, getting gigs is a matter of jumping on them when they pop up on the app on my phone. But I've been letting a lot of those go by lately. 

At the beginning of this semester, at the beginning of January, I had three weeks in that geography/psychology/world history class for a teacher recovering from surgery. 

As that gig ended, I started picking up a bunch of gigs for February. I had about half the month booked when I got the email asking me if I would pick up that special ed long term, the math and world history one. Which (if you've been following along with me, you know) I did. 

There was something sad about watching all the gigs I had picked up, one by one, getting deleted in one big purge. The jobs had to go to other subs as I was going to be busy. I mean, I don't begrudge others having them. It was just how much time and effort it took to fill my month now gone even though my month was going to be busy with the long-term. 

So, again, as that special ed gig was ending, I again went about picking up a bunch of gigs for March. But I've been holding off on taking anything in April. 

Back in something like September, I got an email from a teacher I had done a long term assignment for in the past. She'd be out in the spring as she was pregnant with her second child. Would I be willing to cover? 

Her maternity leave started in February, but because subs can only cover 30 days, she had another sub start when she left, and I'll continue once the first sub finishes her 30 days. Around the beginning of April. 

Which meant that I had March to fill. And, I had just about filled it. Well, I had made a good start, anyway.

But on my last Friday in the special ed long term, I got an email from a secretary (at a different school, so she didn't know I was finishing a long term) about covering a week for a teacher who was suddenly going to be out. 

Sure, I said. And then I sadly dropped all the gigs from that week as I would be busy. 

That's the math class I wrote about last week. 

But, it turns out that Mr. R's foot problem is worse than first thought. When it seemed like the issue might last longer, I went to the secretary and told her that I just had day-to-day assignments for March, so I could drop them and remain in Mr. R's class if necessary. 

On Monday I got word that it would be necessary. 

And so, again, there went two weeks of gigs I had grabbed as they popped up. Sigh. 

It's almost like I shouldn't bother. 

I'm not sure exactly what day I start the long term English class I've been anticipating. The sub desk hasn't officially added me for it. (I know she will. When it's closer.) So, I'm not sure what day it'll start. (The current sub took a sick day, so it got pushed a day out further.)

And, we're not sure if Mr. R will return on April 1st (which is when he's currently scheduled to return). 

But I picked up a gig for April 1st. Which I might end up not doing. Because. 

I mean, at least I've been working steadily. And the days I hoarded ended up going to subs who might not have gotten them otherwise. 

So, I've got two more weeks in that math class. (Well, one more week by the time you read this.) And then the English class that'll take me to nearly the end of May. Better booked than not, I suppose. 

A Protest Near You

I never wanted to live in a fascist country. And here we are. Sigh. 

If you're here, you already know this. I am not going to spend time trying to convince people who are too stupid to follow the news and connect the dots. I need to focus on what we can do. And, there are some good things happening.

Have you been following the #TeslaTakedown? People are coming out en masse to protest Tesla dealerships. They're getting people to sell their Teslas. And this appears to be working. The resale value of a Tesla has plummeted, and Tesla stock prices are cratering. If he wants to take a sledgehammer to everything that makes America great, we'll take a sledgehammer (figuratively) to his fortune. 

Also, the Target boycott (protesting their capitulation on being an inclusive company) appears to be going well. Target is noticing a drop in sales, and their stock price has taken a hit. 

So, if you are looking for a way to be proactive, look for a #TeslaTakedown event near you. 

Or, there's a big series of protests scheduled for April 5th: Hands Off! 

I'll leave you with a little video I found funny. And hopeful. We need a bit of hope in these terrible times. (I tried to embed it here, but I can't. It's from Instagram reels, and it's called the Pettysburg Address. It's only a couple minutes, and it'll bring a smile to your face.) 

Not Quite a Cat

After last week, this week was positively boring. In a good way. But I'm still getting over a cold, so I didn't make too much progress on the cat pillow...

Does it kind of look like a cat yet? I don't think it looks like a cat yet. (Those two slits will be where the ears are attached. Later.)

But I've now gotten to the point where I don't think I'll have enough yarn to complete the thing. And I can't buy new yarn.

I decided on this project as a way to get rid of the blanket yarn I still had on hand. So, buying yarn would defeat the purpose. The plan was to use a different color, anyway. I just decided that I would start with a different color here, and then use the remaining gray more towards the bottom.

This may turn out really cute. Or, it could end up looking ridiculous. Whatever. The point is to use up yarn, so I'm going to use up yarn. 

But I will have to buy polyfill. Sigh. 

And since I've now started the cat pillow series, it's time to include the previous posts at the bottom. As there is only one: 

• Yarn Under my Fingers

The Get-Out-of-the-Test-Free Card

Thursday. Sophomore math. Third period.

I had been in the class since Tuesday as the teacher had some foot injury that meant he couldn't put any weight on it. I was supposed to start Monday, but I stayed home with a cold. 

On Tuesday, the students got the study guide for Thursday's test. (Block schedule. The classes meet every other day.) They had some time to work on it, and then Mr. Y, the co-teacher, went over the problems so the students knew how to do them. (They were studying solving quadratic equations.) 

Then Wednesday happened. (If you haven't seen yesterday's post, you might want to check it out.) 

As first period ended and third period began, I was not surprised at the arrival of the principal, an assistant principal, and three counselors. Because, you see, the student had been in this class, and their passing would be very noticeable. 

(The student sat in the back of the room, so maybe some of them wouldn't have noticed. But one tends to at least have a passing acquaintance with the students in one's classes.)

I mean, this is when it would hit you, if you didn't have the student in another class before this. And three girls huddled in the middle of the room, one bawling while two others held her. Mr. Y found the tissue and made sure to distribute it. 

The principal talked about where the students could go for support. There's a whole system in place currently. The others said a few words. And then, when none of the students had anything to say, they left. 

Test time? Nah. Mr. Y wasn't going to make them take a test. Not now. 

While some of the students weren't close with the student who was now gone, some were. And, it just wasn't the day for it. 

Many of the students spent the period on their phones. Some talked. Some cried. I assume some were avoiding thinking about it. I understand. 

After class, Mr. Y wondered about when he'd give the test. I advocated for just cancelling it for them. (All the other classes took it.) Giving it the next week would throw third period off the same schedule as the rest of the classes. They'd be a day behind. 

(And, it was hard for Mr. Y as well. The previous class he sat with the student and talked to them for a bit. Later, before I left school on Tuesday, Mr. Y told me the student seemed off that day.)

Ultimately, Mr. Y will discuss this with Mr. R (the teacher I was subbing for), and they'll make that decision. (It'll hit Mr. R hard, too. All the teachers who had that student are feeling this.) 

It's such a weird time. I think missing one test won't make all that much difference in the grand scheme of things. 

That Day

It was the end of second period. An announcement came over the PA. Administration needed the staff to meet in the gym during snack. While technically that included me, I figured I really didn't need to be there as subs tend to be exempt from these sorts of things, so I headed to the restroom instead. I was sure I'd hear about whatever it was later. 

I had just gotten back from the restroom when the in-class phone rang. It was the secretary, and I just knew what she was going to ask. The fourth period she wanted me to cover was choir, not too far from the room I was in for the day. The bell was just about to ring, so I headed over. 

And here's where this all makes a very hard left turn...

As security let the class in, Mr. C, the band teacher next door, clued me in to the issue. Ms. C, the choir teacher (no relation--different C-name), was on campus. That announcement? It had to do with the death of a student. 

And it hit the choir teacher hard. 

Mr. C texted the choir teacher for plans, and he got the class started. They had a competition coming up the following weekend, and they needed to do a run-through. Better if the teacher is there, but the student leaders know enough to get something accomplished when a sub is there.

(Think Glee when I say "performance". Singing. Dancing. Contemporary radio hits music. I've covered the choir class before, but not lately. The current choir teacher replaced the choir teacher who retired last year.) 

The students hadn't been informed of the death yet. They were going to do it in waves. Just as soon as they got the counselors in place. 

The class got set up. The girls warmed up. (All-girl choir.) They got into position. They started working on blocking. 

I sat and watched. It hit differently when I knew what was coming. 

Then the phone rang. I was to send two students to the library. The notifications were starting. 

I sent the girls on their way. 

They were curious as to being sent to the library. (When students get called out of class, they are never called to the library. Attendance office, usually. Sometimes counselor's office. Maybe health office. Or front office.) But they went. 

Then security showed up with another list. Another five students headed to the library. 

After those girls left, an email went out school-wide. Student wasn't named, but the student's passing was announced. 

The remaining choir girls started doing some figuring. The student must have been involved in the school musical as the choir girls already gone had all been in the musical. As had their teacher (been involved in staging it). 

They managed a run-through of their show. This was a little weird as all their soloists were in the library. But, the backup gets rehearsed alone quite a bit, so they were able to do it. 

They had just finished a full run through (which took about 20 minutes) when Ms. C returned to the class. She knew that the girls had already heard. I let her know that while they had heard much of it, they did not know the student's name. 

Ms. C provided it. 

And that's when I realized I knew who the student was. 

It was the end of class, and several of the students were in tears. Some had returned from the library. They were processing. Naturally. 

I headed back to the class I was in for the day. And the day prior, and the day following. 

During sixth period (statistics), I had a couple students I recognized from period four. One did not make it to sixth from fourth period. She had been one to be summoned to the library. I was not surprised to not see her in class. 

While the statistics students didn't do their work (I was warned they've got senioritis and weren't going to be very productive), I perused the online attendance for the class. The school is on a block schedule, and we were on the even day. 

I took the attendance back a day. Looked at third period. Then I took the attendance to the next day and looked at third period. 

Yup. They had removed the student from the attendance. They wouldn't be in class the next day. I had seen them the day before. In class. 

I... Yeah. This might hit me harder than I thought it would. (There's more story here, but this post is long enough.) 

The Stranger

Tuesday. Sophomore math, period five. 

I had been scheduled to cover the full week, but I called out sick on Monday. I wasn't feeling 100% on Tuesday, but I was feeling a whole lot better. (And if I don't work, I don't get paid, so...)

It was a co-taught math class, and they were due to have a test the next class period (block schedule, so that was Thursday), so they were working on a study guide. I started off by passing out the study guide. 

This is a pretty simple procedure. At the front of each row, I hand the student enough copies for them and the students behind them. They pass them back. The only thing that complicates the procedure is when a kiddo at the front of a row is not paying attention. 

At the fourth row, a kiddo wasn't paying attention. Joaquin. He was completely turned around, talking to someone cattycorner to him. 

I waved the papers. Nothing. I said something to get his attention. He turned... 

"I don't talk to strangers." 

Um...

As I explained that he didn't need to talk to me to take the assignment from me, his neighbors pointed out that he needed to take the papers so they could get their work. 

Sigh. Some kiddos...

Joaquin was on stage, and the rest of the class was his audience. Or so he thought. 

And me, a stranger? Well, yeah, sort of. 

But, considering the situation, not so much. I was clearly the substitute teacher. At this point in his schooling career, this cannot be the first time he's encountered one of us. And his usual co-teacher was there, not doing anything to get rid of me. 

Too logical, I suppose. The other students had no issue with me. (Many of them knew me from previous classes.) 

(Joaquin was absent the following Thursday for the test. The rest of the class seemed rather happy about this. His audience? Not as entertained as he thinks they are.) 

Call Your Reps

Last week I advocated for us all to call our representatives as an action we can take to push back against this regime. And some of you responded that your Democratic reps were safe; you didn't need to advocate. 

Um...

So, Adam Schiff is one of my senators. And, he's not been fighting the good fight here. Too many of our senators seem to think they're the minority party in a democracy. They don't realize they're the opposition party under an authoritarian regime. 

We're not there yet? You did hear about ICE disappearing a green card holder, didn't you? 

Court orders are just pieces of paper. Will the regime ignore them? 

And the Dems are acting as if the guardrails still exist. That there will be fair elections in two years or four. If we have no governmental infrastructure left, these elections (if they happen) will be meaningless. 

Now's the time to remind our reps that they're supposed to be advocating for us. They need to fight absolutely everything. This regime gets nothing from the opposition. 

Are your reps voting to help the regime? Yell at them. Are they holding the line? Call to offer your support. Some of them are folding out of fear. If their constituents are blowing up their phone lines to say thanks, they might keep fighting the good fight. 

There are congressional watchers who are listing who is voting for what, and I have to yell at my Democratic senators for upholding things they should not be. 

(Full disclosure: I haven't been. Most of what I'm writing is to get me started calling my reps to yell at them, too. I'm happy when they're doing what I want, but they're not doing what I want nearly enough.) 

There are a couple good places to help you (and me) get started on this, with scripts. (I need scripts.) 

• 5 Calls: has scripts that you can pick and lists your reps so you can call them directly. 
• Common Cause: Find Your Representative (in case you don't know)
• Indivisible: has some ways in which you can help.

And an image I found online:

Yarn Under my Fingers

Last week was a doozy. (See this week's Thursday and Friday posts when they appear.) But I managed to pull out a project I started a while ago...

...that I haven't written about before. Fancy that. 

Well, it's not like there's much to say about it. My Ravelry projects page tells me I started it in October. Then I set it aside and kind of forgot about it. 

I had this thought about the blanket yarn I had acquired. I made a couple blankets out of it, but I had some excess, and I wasn't sure what to do with it. Then I got the bright idea to make a stuffed something out of it. I went online and found a pattern I liked. I printed out the pattern, and I got a few rounds done. And then I set it aside and got busy with other things. 

A week or so ago I remembered it. I pulled it out. And on Saturday I got a few more rounds done. 

It doesn't look like anything yet. 

It's pretty big as the yarn is thick. 

If you can see the holes there, those will become ears. It's going to be a cat pillow. (See the link for how the finished item is supposed to look.) 

I'm not even sure if I'm going to have enough gray yarn (although I have other colors, so this cat might end up being striped). But this isn't for anyone but me. Just to see if I can. 

And hey, I got some stitches made this week. Considering everything, that's quite the accomplishment. (It was a week! And somehow I ended up right in the middle of it.) 

Keeping an Eye on Him

Last Friday was my last day in the special ed math/history class. It was also assembly day. Ugh. 

Third period. This is the same group I wrote about yesterday. 

First, I passed out leis to the kiddos who had made the honor roll last semester (had a GPA of 3.0 or higher). That was basically the whole class except for the two students who managed to disappear on the way to the counselors the previous class. 

Before we left, I questioned Elian on what had happened. I mean, it wasn't like it was a distance, but somehow he disappeared. He hemmed and hawed, but he didn't have a great reason for vanishing. I pointed out that he missed his chance to register for classes. He said he'd already done it. 

We headed out to the gym for the dreaded assembly. But this time, I was going to keep an eye on Elian. (The girl who disappeared the previous day was absent.) 

And I did, up until we were almost at the gym. My mind wandered, and I took my eye off Elian. And he was gone.

Crap!

I backtracked, looking around. I was just about to talk to one of the security personnel when Elian appeared. Phew. 

They weren't letting us into the gym yet. I knew where Elian was, but the rest of the class wasn't in sight. Ms. S said she'd seen them, but she didn't see them anymore. 

Me: "Yeah, but I trust them."

And sure enough, when we finally got let into the gym and found the section where the sophomores were supposed to sit, the entire rest of the class was sitting there, together. 

My trust wasn't misplaced. 

Elian? I'm not sure where he got to, but I did see him enter the gym. So, at least he was nominally where he was supposed to be. 

After the assembly, the rest of the class got back to the classroom in a timely manner. Elian? He took his time, but he eventually returned. 

It's too bad my time with them was over. I had just gotten to the point where Elian was on my radar. Although, considering how many days he had been absent, that might not have been much of a consequence for Elian. 

Disappeared

Wednesday, third period. I got a call from one of the counselors. Apparently, we were supposed to be meeting with them so the kiddos could finish registering for classes for next year. Alas, no one had informed me. 

I briefly went over the chaos of this class in my first post about this assignment. The counselors probably emailed their previous teacher, who left at the semester, and didn't require a response. 

The students were working on group projects (that they had just started). I could pivot. It wasn't like I was planning on having them finish that day. 

I had them pack up, and we headed on out. As this shift was unexpected, it took them a few minutes to get things put away. I told the kiddos who were waiting to go ahead and head on over while I waited for the two students who were putting their papers into their folders. They finished, and we followed them. 

I had seven students in the class. When we got to the counselors' room, I found five students. 

Wha...? 

The distance wasn't far. There's no way they could have gotten lost. Nope. They ditched. 

Deep sigh. 

The counselors called a couple of the students in. One boy, who is moving before next school year, complained that he didn't need a schedule for next year. The others went pretty quickly. A lot of it is confirmation of stuff they filled out in the paperwork. 

The two students who ditched lost their chance to verify that they're getting the classes they want next year. They were hurting themselves, really. (And I told them where we were going and why.) 

Sophomores. *shakes head* It's an interesting age. (10th grade. 15-16 years old.) Some of them have matured and are reasonable kiddos. And some of them are still playing the games they played as freshmen. 

When the counselors called for the missing kiddos? I let them know they somehow hadn't made it. 

Slow It Down

Monday. Third period world history. It was standardized test day. 

I just went on a search to find where I'd explained this particular test, and it appears I have yet to do so. Even though I've administered this thing many, many times. Basically, it's designed to figure out where the kiddos are in relation to their grade level. So, do they read at grade level, above, or below? Same with math. And then they test them twice a year to see if they've improved and if so by how much. 

I had warned the kiddos that we'd be doing the test, so they weren't surprised. I informed the class that I would be giving them extra credit points if they did not incur the wrath of the slow-down sloth. 

In an effort to reduce rapid guessing (thereby making the test results worthless), if the students go too fast at any point, their test gets paused and they get a screen with a sloth that says "slow down". It is then my job to remind the kiddos that they aren't to just guess, they should actually try to figure out the answers, and then I release the test again so they can finish. 

I logged in from my end and gave the kiddos their test credentials. (The test is online.) 

I was still confirming students when Jalen announced that I might as well give him the release code for the slow-down sloth. We weren't more than two minutes in, and Jalen had already gotten flagged for rapid guessing.

Deep sigh. 

If Jalen thought he could just rapid guess his way through the test...

Me: "If you get the slow-down sloth three times, your test is then stopped and you have to do the whole thing over." 

Every time before that I've had to warn students of this, I felt bad. Apologetic. This time? I would have enjoyed making Jalen start all the way over. 

Jalen did not see the slow-down sloth again. 

Ides of March

Thanks, Danielle, for the heads up.

In last week's post, I learned of this little protest: #TheIdesOfTrump. The plan is to send postcards to the White House, mailing them on March 15th, expressing our displeasure with the current administration. 

Image from DebbiMac

Now, where does one acquire postcards...? (Not really a question.)

And make sure you're contacting your representatives. I keep hearing good things about 5 Calls. They help you find your reps and provide scripts. 

Also, we're boycotting Target over their abandonment of DEI policies. For Lent. 

What other protests are out there? Any other boycotts? Let me know. 

The Pivot

Friday. Sixth period world history. 

Jasper walked in. He said something about another student in class being absent. And we waited for the other students to arrive. 

There are only four students in the class. Two of them tend to be late. When the bell rang, I figured they'd be along shortly. Only, they weren't. 

I had a class of one. 

Um...

As we were doing our warm up activity (CNN 10), I pondered this. I had a lesson planned. But, if I did the planned lesson, when the other students returned, I'd have to find time to give them time to make up what they missed. 

(Yeah, I should just have them make up the work missed on their own time. But they won't do it. They're already behind, missing work from the days they were in class. I gave them a make up day this past week. They're still behind.) 

I discussed it with Ms. S, and she concurred. I thought of a movie that would kind of go with what we've been discussing, and I put it on. 

Yeah, movie day. Kinda meh, but better than having to reteach the lesson to the missing kiddos upon their return. 

Grading Concern

Wednesday. Fourth period. 

Tyson strode in the room, upset. "You told me not to worry. You told me I wouldn't get an F." 

Tyson is new to the class. He only started it a couple weeks ago. He transferred from another school. (I presume he just moved.) 

When he arrived, we were in the middle of a unit. Since this is a special ed math class, our unit consists of graphing one kind of problem. As we were going to be doing more days on this, I figured that Tyson would catch on and catch up. I wasn't going to make him responsible for the worksheets he missed before he joined the class, but he could start where we were at. 

The worksheets that Tyson had done had many errors. Ms. S (the instructional aide who's been doing all the grading) informed me that the kiddos were missing many problems on their assignments. So, on this day, as luck would have it, the plan was to give the students a day to redo the problems they missed to improve their scores. 

I attempted to calm Tyson down. He was in a panic about having an F in the class. I explained that once he made the corrections on his assignments, his grade would rise. Tyson was stuck on the F and how that would effect his ability to play football. 

He had lots of questions. Ms. S sat with him a while to help him. By the end of the period, he seemed way more confident. 

And, as he finished his corrections, Ms. S graded and input his new scores. His grade went from an F to a C-. And it's only going to go up from there. 

It's hard to come in mid semester. But I knew that Tyson's grade wasn't going to be an issue. 

And, we kind of want him on the football team. That kiddo is huge. 

Unpopular

Tuesday, fifth period. 

The period goes by a couple names. Conference. Prep. It's the period I have off from students. 

So, I was sitting in "my" classroom, doing what the period was intended for. I was doing some lesson planning. Some grading. And eating my lunch. 

The phone rang...

Ms. L, who I sort of co-teach with second period, called. 

In a prior second period, Ms. L used her document camera so that her students could copy down some notes. Only that day the thing wouldn't work. As I am familiar with the technology, I managed to get it going. 

And this is what Ms. L called me about. She couldn't get her document camera to work, and could I help her out? Well, sure, I was without students. 

I popped on over there, and in a couple seconds I got the thing working...

This success was greeted by a loud round of boos from the eighth graders. 

I'm not sure what they thought would happen if the document camera didn't work. It's not like they were going to get the period off. They might have had to do something harder than copy notes. Really, they should have thanked me. 

Ms. L did thank me, though. Profusely. 

And I was then off and back to my lesson planning and grading. 

(It was a beautiful sunny and warm day. It was nice to get out and walk in the sun for a bit.)

Economic Blackout

These times... 

I have had a hard time lately with the world at large and my country in particular. These are not normal times. We have devolved into a fascist state, and I feel powerless and helpless. And angry and scared and anxious. I can't be all business as normal. I just can't. 

But, I can't be angry all the time. 

I'm playing with what I want to say and how I want to say it. Because to remain silent in these times is to side with the oppressor. And I won't comply in advance. 

No one cares what I think, though. I won't change any minds. 

So, this week I'm passing along some info that some of you might find helpful. 

I don't know if you heard of the no buy February 28th. I did, and I participated (or didn't participate, whatever the proper terminology for not buying anything that day was). 

The Amazon blackout (no buy from Amazon) is next week, from the 7th to the 14th. I don't buy a lot from them, so that won't be hard. The Nestle... That one is going to be a challenge. I'll have to sit down and figure out what is Nestle, because that company owns a lot of things. 

I don't know what day of the week April 18th is. I'll keep this on my radar, I hope. 

This is a protest I can actually participate in. Now to find other ways I can help. Because I don't want to give in to the fascists. Make no mistake, that's where we are now.

At the Halfway Point

I finally used up all the yarn!

It's tiny, but since it's just for my neck, it's fine. After trying it on, I think I will, in fact, continue the project. There's one more skein that came with this yarn:

Now I just need to figure out what stitch pattern to use. It should be simple as the yarn is kind of fuzzy. And I want it to take a lot of yarn to make the stitch (as I don't need the finished scarf to be too much bigger than it is now). 

It's something to think about. As I have been doing for the last couple weeks. Maybe this week I'll figure it out.

Moebius Scarf Posts

• Moebius Experiment
• A Back Up Project
• Unraveling
• A Redo
• A School Crochet Project
• Crocheting at Work
• The Project in the Background

Pac-Man Fever

Thursday. First period. Co-taught freshman math. 

It was the last ten or so minutes of class. I was seated in a corner, watching. And then, the opening strains of the music for Pac-Man rang out loudly in the middle of class. 

I walked over to the student. Stood there. He looked up.

And he got very, very defensive. "I'm completely finished with my work. I have no other work to do. Class is almost over. I can play this game."

I continued to stand there. 

That's when he realized why I had targeted him. 

"Oops. Sorry."

He quickly muted the sound, and continued with his game. 

He had headphones on, so he hadn't realized that his game's music was being broadcast to the entire silent classroom. 

(He was right. He had finished his work. He could play a game for the remaining time in class. But, we weren't supposed to hear his game.)

The Easy Class

On Tuesday of last week, I was asked to cover a class on my prep period. No problem. (I get paid extra for this, so it's not generally a hardship.) 

The teacher, Mr. H, had a meeting, so he was there to start class. There were eight students. And they had a story to read and questions to answer. The assignment was online. 

Mr. H explained to me the class was really good, so I'd have no problems. 

Well, I didn't have any behavior problems...

First up, one of the students couldn't log into the assignment. We tried everything. She switched computers. We reloaded. Nothing. 

Apparently she'd been having issues. Nothing I could do about that.

And then, just when things were going well, the internet went out.

Naturally. 

(Later I found out the internet went down for the entire district, so at least it wasn't some weird dead spot where we were.)

The good news was by that time half the class had already completed their assignment. And their phones worked fine. So, they kept themselves entertained. 

Why is it that the internet goes down when I have only online work for kiddos and no way to pivot to something else? Sigh. 

Of Streaming and Screenshots

For second period, I sort of co-teach with another special ed teacher. (The "sort of" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. It's a complicated story that I don't want to spend the time explaining.) 

When I started the class, they were finishing up their World War I unit. For a final, Ms. L is having them write an essay about the movie they watched: All Quiet on the Western Front, the 1930 version. 

Because they're special ed eighth graders, this was not something they're used to doing. So, it has taken a lot of pushing to get things going. 

The plan was for them to write about certain portions of the movie. But, of course, they were having trouble recalling the scenes. Then somehow I ended up looking up where it could be streamed, and sure enough, it's currently streaming via Tubi. 

Which they could access via their in school Chromebooks. 

Suddenly, all the kiddos were rewatching the movie. 

"So, I can actually watch movies at school." 

Yeah, probably shouldn't have clued the eighth graders in on the fact that they can stream movies on their computers. (If you look, Tubi has a lot of content. Some of which the eighth graders would like.) 

With me and Ms. L and our two instructional assistants in class, the kiddos couldn't really sneak in other movies. But they do have other classes. 

One thing Ms. L wanted the kiddos to do was to find a photo from the scene of the movie they're writing about. There are a ton of images they can find. But one kiddo wasn't finding the precise image he wanted.

I reasoned that one could take a screenshot from the movie on their Chromebooks.

I explained this to the kiddo. He knew how to take a screenshot. And he managed to capture the image he wanted. 

Ms. L isn't very techno savvy, so when she saw what the kiddo did, she had him instruct another classmate so he could get the image he wanted. 

Yeah, I think I just created some problems. For later. And likely for other teachers. 

But they were actually writing essays on the movie. And about World War I. So, maybe it's a good thing? 

Something Missing

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 spent the weekend at my uncle's. I'm out of ideas, so I asked him to give us a question...

What if a void suddenly appeared where one wasn't before? 

And Then There Were Two

The Enderman is finished. 

Last week, I showed off the head. I had chosen a deadline of Thursday to get it finished. I'll explain...

First, I made the Creeper. (These are characters in the videogame Minecraft.) Because twins, I offered to make a second. They named a couple different characters. I found the pattern, but I didn't get much further than that because then my mother died. (I promise, this is related.) 

A week later, my brother said he was planning to visit our uncle (our father's brother), and would I like to come along? He wanted to check in on him after his wife passed away the same week as our mother. 

The plan was to fly up Friday, fly back Sunday. (Uncle lives in northern California. I live in southern California. Brother lives in Ohio, but he was going to be in southern California for work that week.) 

I realized that if I got Enderman finished in time, I could give it to my brother rather than mailing it to him. By doing a piece every day, I got to this point on Wednesday: 

And Thursday night I assembled it. It went into my luggage Friday morning, and I gave it to my brother at the airport: 

And as we puttered about with our uncle, we ended up at Goat Rock Beach:

Next up will be Zombie. If I can find a pattern. And yarn. And the time. But I might just pause and work on some other things for a while. 

The Rose

As Friday was a holiday, our Thursday became the Valentine's celebration on campus. In the pouring down rain. 

I didn't think much of this. I tend to not think of the day at all. 

It was third period. World history. We were reading out of the textbook. There was a knock on the door.

It was the singing Valentines. Every year, the choir does a fundraiser thingy. Various kiddos form groups, and they go and sing for students. They sing a snippet from an appropriate song. Give a card and a rose. Students can choose which group they want to sing for their sweetie or friend. I don't remember how much it costs, but it's not very expensive. Five dollars? Something like that. 

They asked if they could perform. I always say yes. No reason not to. I wondered which student it was for.

It wasn't for a student. It was for me. 

I was stunned. 

I've never gotten one of these before. I looked at the card. It wasn't signed. 

Hmmm. 

One of the students in the group was one of "my" students. (They get permission to be out of class on this day.) 

Later, Ms. S told me she had sent it. She realized she had forgotten to sign it. 

That was so nice of her. No one's ever sent me one of these before. (Usually I'm day-to-day subbing, so no one would know where to find me, anyway.) 

And we all got to see our student (and their classmate) perform. 

I may not be around today or this weekend. I'll catch you all next week.

Three Books

I mentioned that I'm kind of scrambling at the start of this new long term that fell in my lap a couple weeks ago. Which, honestly, is normal for any long term. What I'm scrambling for varies, but the scramble is expected. 

While the math classes were set (with another teacher who's been giving me worksheets to give the classes), I didn't really have anything for the history classes. 

I managed to find some textbooks in a cabinet in the classroom. The current textbooks. The current general ed textbooks. But, Mr. B used general ed textbooks in his special ed class (a long term I did in November-December 2023). And I could do something similar to what he did. 

Problem: I had five textbooks. There were eight students in third period. 

So, I did what any reasonable adult would do. I went to the library and checked out three more textbooks. 

Boring assignment, but it was better than nothing (and it gives me some direction as to topics to cover). We read together. They wanted to play games on their computer "when we finished" as it wouldn't take the whole period. Me: "Challenge accepted". 

Well, it didn't take the whole period, but these block periods are long. 

The next day, I was poking around in the cabinet while looking for something when I spied something in the back corner. Three textbooks. Um...

So, I had eight textbooks the entire time. Deep sigh. 

Of course, returning the textbooks was a bit more of a challenge as the ones I had checked out were now mixed in with the originals. (They have barcodes with serial numbers.) Luckily, the librarian is kind and looked up the numbers of the ones I checked out. 

Now I'm set. Sort of. Now I have some structure to what I should be teaching. In case you're wondering, our current topic is The Cold War. 1950s, here we come...

A Riot, Not a Protest

Monday. When I arrived at school, Ms. S told me all about an impromptu meeting the staff had had that morning to discuss a walk out that the students were supposedly going to hold. 

Out of the loop again. No surprise. 

Fourth period. Two students showed up. Out of a class of seven. (It's special ed. Smaller classes.) 

At about the last half hour of class, a third student showed up with a late pass. Emilio had gone to the protest. And... it didn't go well. 

It started out on campus. Administration had opened the gym to the protestors. But then they were going to march on city hall. I think. Emilio wasn't terribly clear on the plan. He was clear on the gates being open, so those that chose to go could go. 

(The gates are usually closed and locked during the school day.)

They walked for miles. Emilio described where they went, and I recognized the locations. I've driven there. Walking from campus? It was a hike.

But sadly, it didn't go well. Fights broke out. There were weapons. Emilio told of a girl who got heat stroke. He got her water. He was upset that no one else seemed to notice her distress. 

Then the police showed up. They had the choice of going back to school or being arrested. Emilio chose to go back to school. 

As he was telling the story, Tatum, who had not joined the protest, responded. At the end of the story, she summed it up thusly: "That was not a protest. That was a riot."

Sadly, I think she was right.

What was this all about? Immigration. The school is very heavily Latino. The threats of ICE raids hits them hard. 

(Tatum made a snarky comment about Mexicans. She's a proud Filipino.) 

Anyway, not a lot of graphing happened that day. (This is one of the math periods as opposed to the history classes.) 

Webrings? In 2025?

So, the news is terrible. Everything I was afraid would happen is happening, in spades. And there appears to be no resistance. I just... 

Rather than wallowing, this week I wanted to point out a new bit over there in the sidebar. It's a smaller version of this:

It's not new new. I joined it a couple weeks ago. I was going to blog about it then, but then, well, you know. And I've been a bit distracted. 

Anyway, a couple weeks ago a guy over on BlueSky (Greg Pak) thought it might be a good idea to revive some things from the early blogging days (before algorithms curated what you see on social media) because the forces of censorship have gained momentum. For obvious reasons. 

The idea was to bring together active bloggers. And, well, that's you. If you're reading this, you're obviously an active blogger. 

The website is here. The instructions for how to join are there as well. If you're interested, that is.

He's also done an old school links page. Here. Some of you might be interested. 

And if you're way more computer savvy and want to create your own, I'm in. I'll join you. 

I mean, I'm sure I could create my own. But right now that's not happening. So, if anyone is game, let me know. 

A Head in the Game

Mid-January, I talked about doing the Minecraft Enderman amigurumi after having completed the Creeper. And then I got a cold. And then my mother died...

On Friday I finally got off my butt and dug out the yarn I'd need. 

I got started. I got to almost the end of the head, and I realized I had read the pattern wrong...

I did back loop single crochets instead of back post single crochets at the point where the top turned into the face. I went looking at the video, and I realized that I had done the eyes wrong, too. Sigh.

As the above had taken roughly one TV episode to complete, no big whoop. I'd rip out and start again.

Both of these pics are from Saturday. Before I ripped it out and after. The after took a bit longer than one TV episode. (I got about half done by the time we watched this week's Severance.) 

So, some progress. I have a long four-day weekend. (They gave us Friday as well as Presidents' Day Monday today.) I've been taking it easy, but having something to do with my hands is relaxing for me. 

I hope next week I can show off a completed figure. 

Missed Deadline

I started a new long term assignment on Wednesday. There are a few things that I have to do right off the bat with these assignments. Get keys to the classroom. Figure out what I need to teach. Check out a teacher computer. And get access to the gradebook.

This school has a whole new administrative team, so I did not know who was in charge of adding me to the online gradebook. I asked around. Found out. Sent him an email. 

I had to do something in the main office, so I dropped by the assistant principal's office. Mr. R was not there. Since clearly he was busy and perhaps not on campus, I figured I'd circle back the next day. 

(I did get keys and a teacher computer. I was scrambling for lessons, but that's pretty normal for a new gig.) 

For reasons I do not know, the previous sub had not gotten access to the gradebook. Ms. S, the instructional assistant (who's been working at that school for many years), had been keeping up with the grading and had a paper gradebook for the kiddos. So, while there were grades, the kiddos could not see them. 

On Thursday, while in the main office on other errands, I managed to find Mr. R in his office. I asked about gradebook access. He had gotten my email and was going to take care of it. Since I was there, he did it right then. (And I had other questions for him.) 

And, because I knew, I asked the question. When were progress report grades due? 

4 PM. That day. (We were having this conversation at about 2 PM.) 

Yeah. Not going to happen. 

(First I had to set up the gradebooks. Then input the assignments. Then the grades. While I know how to do this, I don't know how to do it well. There's a lot of searching for things and going back to make sure I didn't leave anything out. Grade ranges have to be entered. And that's all before entering their progress report grades into the system.) 

Seriously, the previous sub should have taken care of it. They open the report cards four to five days before they're due, so he could have totally finished that on his way out. But again, he never got the gradebook access, so...

While I felt bad, I knew this one was beyond my control. I let Mr. R know those grades weren't happening. And he understood. 

(How did I know grades were due? Because they always seem to be due when I start a long term. I wrote about it five times in the last three years: one, two, three, four, and five.)

On Friday Ms. S input all of the outstanding grades. It took her all day. She's a rockstar. (Seriously, getting up to speed on this assignment is so much easier with Ms. S there to handle a lot of the administrative tasks that I'm usually scrambling to get under control.)