Seamingly On Track

Well, I made some forward progress. I attached both sleeves:

And I got set up to sew up the side seams:

And that's about it. Sigh. 

Hey, it's something. Although, I really need to get this done. Like now. At least, if I plan to mail it with my brother's birthday gift, and have that, at least, arrive on time. 

I don't like deadlines. 

Anyway... I need your help. Have you heard of Humble Bundle? It's a website that sells digital libraries. Well, it sells video games and computer books, but it also sells other sorts of books. About a month ago they did a bundle of all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, and I grabbed that one so fast... 

Right now they're offering digital copies of 26 crochet books/booklets. And... I don't need more crochet patterns. Not really. I mean, the amigurumi book looks interesting. But there are books of afghan patterns and baby layettes. (Neither of which I need. At all.)

Please talk me out of getting this. I am so tempted. The price is great. The money goes to charity. But I have books and magazines and so many patterns. I can resist this. 

The sweater's previous posts:

• Starting the Sweater
• Getting to the Back
• Missed Deadline
• Distractions from Knitting
• A Month Late
• Inching Along
• Tracking the Growth
• Weekly Sweater Update
• Moving Right Along
• Good Progress
• Almost to the Interesting Part
• Plot Twist
• Not Worth the Effort
• Sleeve Progress
• Continuing Sleeve One
• Sleeve Two!
• Continuing Sleeve Two
• Setting a Deadline
• Almost There
• How I Keep Track
• Some Assembly Required
• Missed Winter

Scared of Girls

Friday. Tenth grade world history, special ed. Fifth period. 

Because it was a special ed class, I had an instructional assistant. Ms. M warned me about fifth period. Specifically, about the three boys on the baseball team. They would likely be late. Why? 

The classroom is located on the end of the building. There's an outer door that opens into a kind of foyer. If you head straight ahead, you find the classroom. Right next to the classroom, if you head to the left instead of straight, is the girls' restroom. (And next door to that is a locked faculty restroom. Very convenient.) 

These three boys... don't want to be seen near the girls' restroom. Or be seen by the girls in the restroom? The aversion is unclear. 

So, passing period. I prop open the classroom door to make sure the kiddos will enter (and not hover outside). Angelo and Kyson whooshed into the room, headed for the table next to the TV (if you look at the above photo, there's a standing desk to the right of the TV; that's where they were). They turned towards the whiteboard, and hid their faces. 

They would not be convinced to go to their seats, not until the door was closed. 

Deep sigh. 

The bell rang. I closed the door. And Angelo and Kyson took their seats. Soon thereafter, Noah whooshed into the room. He made sure that door closed behind him.

And... I... Huh? 

Ms. M made the comment, out of their hearing, that it wasn't like they had to go through the girls' restroom to get to the classroom. 

I am very familiar with this classroom. Exactly a year ago, I was doing a long term in this very classroom (for a vacant class). And I could not tell you what the girls' restroom looks like. I've never been in there. 

But for some reason, those boys (and only those boys) do not want to be seen by the girls. 

While the door was closed, Angelo, Kyson, and Noah were fine. Well, not "fine". Noah claimed he had already completed the day's new assignment (it had been posted first thing in the morning, so he could have accessed it in his previous classes), and so he spent the period moving about and getting his lunch (he had a baseball game later that day). 

The three boys were not well-behaved. 

About a half hour before the end of the period, Noah and Kyson had to leave for their game. They stood before the door, waiting for the minute they could go, but they opened the door just a crack. Just to look. 

They begged to leave early. Well, earlier. Nope. 

I guess they were trying to get out while the coast was clear. Of girls. 

The second they could go... whoosh. 

That's... that's a new one on me. Wow.

Sophomore Meltdown

Wednesday. Tenth grade English, special ed. Seventh period.

It's district writing assessment time, and that includes the special ed students. Ms. C gave me very specific instructions on what to do. 

Their routine is to grab a Chromebook, log in, and do a warmup. But we were switching things up so they'd have more time to write. As I got class started, I informed the class they wouldn't need their Chromebooks, so would they please put them back. 

Adrian was not pleased. While the rest of the class put their computers back and I passed out the packets they'd need for their writing, Adrian wailed. He did not want to give up his computer. 

Luckily (or maybe obviously), Adrian had a one-to-one aide. Mr. J went over to Adrian and pointed out that Adrian was disrupting the class. Adrian needed to put his Chromebook back. 

Adrian? Laid on the floor. Wailing. 

One is not often treated to a fifteen-year-old throwing a toddler temper tantrum. At least he wasn't flailing his limbs and screaming. 

While the rest of the class looked on, Mr. J calmly pointed out that Adrian was disrupting the class, and maybe Adrian needed to take a little walk to calm down. Adrian didn't like that idea. He didn't want to be in trouble. And somehow that got Adrian off the floor. He put away his computer. And we continued class. 

Of course Adrian complained about the essay. And the topic. (They had an argumentative essay. Topic: the space program--continued funding, yea or nay.) And he objected to how they spelled "center" in the articles they were to use as their sources. (Apparently Adrian is obsessed with English spelling and said it should be "centre". Well, if he wants English spellings, fine.) 

Did Adrian finish the essay? Nope. But he did actually write something. So, that's a win. 

Dude-Bros

Monday. Esports. Fifth period. 

I mean, it's a class where they play video games. Cake, right?

I was walking the room, making sure the students weren't doing anything stupid, as is my job. And I got pulled into conversation with three boys... Deep sigh. You know this isn't going to go well. 

So, there was a lot going on. And in retrospect it's hard to remember what bit came first. In the note to their teacher, I explained them thusly: They didn’t seem to be doing much other than being provocative. 

Marco found a totally inappropriate game to play. (Title: Five Nights at Epstein's. Normally I'd search it up so I could link to it for you, but no.) I pointed out the inappropriateness of this endeavor, but Marco didn't see my point. His compatriots logged in and played the game, too. They claimed that Mr. P wouldn't mind. Sure he wouldn't. 

Jorge explained to me how the Jews controlled everything. I countered with how wrong and racist that whole argument was. I even pointed out how the people pushing those theories were the very ones who were backing ICE and such. And, that since the three boys were varying shades of Latino, they were directly targeting them. No dice. 

And the three of them actively mocked the very special ed kids who were also in the class. Those kiddos weren't in the room at the time, so I didn't realize what they were doing, but in retrospect, it was clear. 

The instructional assistant that came with the special ed kiddos is someone I have worked with many times. She clued me in. This was Mr. P's worst class. Obviously. And the maturity level of those boys was the main reason for it. 

Which leads me to believe that much of the problems currently in our country have to do with these kinds of dude-bros being too stupid to realize that they're stupid. We're spending way too much time trying to appeal to their better natures. Sadly, they don't have better natures...

I mean, we can hope those kiddos will grow out of it. I don't know. I think they were an object lesson to me. Don't bother. The rest of that class was fine. Focus on them. Not the dude-bros who don't even realize that they're the ultimate losers in this particular game.

Too Much News

I don't know what I want to wail about today. Do I mention the moving forward of the building and staffing of the concentration camps?

• Construction Contracts Awarded for ICE Detention Facilities in Maryland and Arizona
• A "Humanitarian Response" Firm With No Federal Contract History Is Staffing Planned Immigration Detention Center in Maryland
• For ICE to build concentration camps quickly, they're leaning on this 'Dept. of War' program
• Texas’ one-of-a-kind concentration camp for children and families
• How a Planned Disney World Vacation Turned Into Four Months in Immigration Detention

Or do I talk about how the main thing the regime wants is to enrich themselves?

• Documents Reveal a Web of Financial Ties Between Trump Officials and the Industries They Help Regulate
• Explore Financial Disclosures From President Trump and 1,500 of His Appointees
• The Case For Billionaire Realism

Or maybe about how whack-a-doodle they are about the Middle East?

• US commanders want to make war with Iran as ‘bloody’ as possible to bring about biblical end times, officers report

It's hard to narrow it down, really. I want to talk about all of this. And more. There's just too much to keep track of. Why did this madman have to become president? Why?

Missed Winter

I have just been so tired. I was dragging all week. I'd get home from work, eat something, and then close my eyes... After a long nap, then it was time to get ready for bed. Sigh.

But I did manage to sew the shoulder seams. 

And that was all. Sigh.

So, I have officially missed the winter with this sweater. I mean, unless, is it still cold where you are? (We have finished our cold winter weather. I switched my bedding to my summer sheets.) 

Maybe this week I'll get it done? I really don't have a good excuse at this point.

At least eldest nephew will get to wear this next winter.

The sweater's previous posts:

• Starting the Sweater
• Getting to the Back
• Missed Deadline
• Distractions from Knitting
• A Month Late
• Inching Along
• Tracking the Growth
• Weekly Sweater Update
• Moving Right Along
• Good Progress
• Almost to the Interesting Part
• Plot Twist
• Not Worth the Effort
• Sleeve Progress
• Continuing Sleeve One
• Sleeve Two!
• Continuing Sleeve Two
• Setting a Deadline
• Almost There
• How I Keep Track
• Some Assembly Required

A Likely Story

Friday. Twelfth grade English. Second period. 

It was almost an hour into the ninety-minute period (block schedule) when Jocelyn arrived. She asked if her friend, who didn't have a second period, could "hang out" in class with her.  

While Jocelyn informed her friend that she'd have to go elsewhere, I noticed that Jocelyn had handed me a yellow late pass. The pass said 8:39. It was 9:24. 

When Jocelyn returned to me to get the day's assignment, I asked her where she'd been for the better part of an hour. 

Jocelyn explained how there was a long line in the office to get a late pass, how she picked up a random yellow pass from the counter, and how the time stamps on those passes didn't mean anything, really. 

All of this? Lies. 

Rather than get into an argument with Jocelyn, I nodded, and she sat down and got to work. 

After second period was snack. I went to the attendance office. 

I told the clerk what Jocelyn had told me. As expected, she laughed. 

When a student arrives late, they get a pass. The attendance clerk stamps the pass with the time stamp machine. Then they're shooed to class. Most students arrive at class within a couple minutes of that time. (If the class is far from the office, it might be closer to five minutes.) 

If the student is more than a half hour late, the attendance office switches from yellow passes to red passes. Student gets it time stamped. Then the attendance office inputs the tardy as "excessive". 

The attendance clerk said that Jocelyn's grandmother had called the school wondering why Jocelyn had so many tardies. So, the clerk said she'd call Jocelyn out of class the next period and they could call the grandmother and talk to her on the phone together. 

Only... 

The next period the school had an assembly. (It was to celebrate students with good grades. It was beach themed. Perfect, actually as it was a 95℉ day.) I actually saw Jocelyn. She arrived late. She left early. And then I saw her strolling around campus when my class returned to class. Because, of course. 

I checked the attendance software, just to see. Jocelyn had been marked truant for both my period and the period after. The clerk left a note that she had been unable to find Jocelyn in the next class. 

Jocelyn is a senior. We're about one quarter away from graduation. I hope she doesn't miss it due to how much class she's been missing. 

From the Garden

I finally got to go back to the continuation high school. (And now I'm sort of shadow banned, but that's a whole different blog post.) 

Wednesday. English. 

As it was Wednesday, it was gardening day. Unlike the last time I pulled this gig, this time we actually could work in the garden. 

There was a "garden ranger" who ran the class. She did a short lecture on natural versus chemically derived ingredients, had them make some tea, and had them do some planting and pruning. 

(At various points she videoed the kiddos. Apparently, there's a program to bring gardening into schools. Here's their Instagram. And here's one of the videos she shot that day.) 

Fourth period. She had brought in some mint plants, and the earlier periods had found a spot to plant them and weeded the area. Fourth period got to plant them. She had them lay out the plants in a sort of grid. 

Seth took his shovel, and he stuck it where he wanted it. He jumped on the shovel, pounding it into the ground. He methodically did this three more times, and very quickly created a hole large enough to put the mint plant in. Clearly he had done this sort of thing before.

Seth explained that his grandmother had an award winning garden. It looked like he had assisted her. 

After they had planted about half the plants, Seth invited me to plant one.

Well, didn't want to, really. So, I gave some excuses. My hand hurt. I didn't have the strength. Etcetera. 

Seth? Yeah, he called me out on that. Shot down my arguments. And fair, really. 

I'm usually the one making the kiddos do things they don't want to. This period I had two students who were unwilling to "get dirty" (there are sinks; they can wash their hands after), and I was urging them to work. So, I'm not doing it? I knew I had to. 

So, I did. Slowly. And badly. But I managed to dig a hole with Seth's guidance. And he put the mint in the ground. 

I got a bit of sun that day. And many of the kiddos did kind of enjoy it. It looks like it's a great program.

The Stench

Tuesday. Seventh grade English. Sixth period.

The day had gone pretty well. But the instructional assistant warned me of one kiddo in period six. His seat was separate from the class for reasons. Okay, then. 

As I was getting the class going, the IA reminded Enzo of where his seat was. In the back, next to the door. I recognized Enzo; he had been in the art class (well, likely still is). 

The class settled into the assignment. They were reading something and answering questions. But laughter floated from Enzo's corner of the room. The table near to Enzo was enjoying Enzo's antics. Deep sigh. 

But then, that section of the room erupted in exclamations of horror. Enzo had farted, and they did not like the smell. I did the only thing I could. I ignored this. 

Enzo asked to use the restroom. 

Later, when the class had calmed down, and the table near Enzo seemed to be working, Enzo asked if he could go outside. 

My initial answer: no. But then I considered.

So, I went over to Enzo and asked him why. Yeah, he needed to fart again. 

Yes, please, take that nonsense outside. 

Enzo got no work done. If he had spent half the energy doing the assignment that he spent avoiding the assignment, he would have been done. But no. 

Alas, some of them never learn that particular lesson. 

At least we didn't have a repeat of the stench from earlier in the period. 

Ugh

I saw this video on Saturday (yesterday as I write this), and it's kind of where I'm at right now. I'm Gen X (not a Millennial), but I can relate. (Link to video.)

So, this week I just want to be, you know? What's something you find joy in? Let us all find a little joy this week while the world does what it's doing around us. 

Not the Project I Should Be Working On

So, after finishing the knitting of the sweater I today have a fully finished sweater to show you? Of course not. I didn't touch the sweater all week. 

(I had a rough week last week. Even so, I could have pulled out the sweater and started the seaming process, but no.) 

But when I go and visit my father on Saturdays, I bring along a project to have something to do with my hands. And seaming that sweater was not a bring-along project. Time to find something new...

Do you remember the beanie I knit for middle nephew for Christmas? 

After my father modeled the thing, I offered to knit him one. When I had time. Well, now I have time.

I haven't gotten very far: 

I decided to flip the colors, so the purple will be the mesh thing on top. I was kind of curious how that will play out. 

I will not, however, tell you how long it took to find those size 6 needles that I needed to start the ribbing with. It turned out they were actually in the first bag I looked in, only in a front pocket because they weren't in use. I only checked that front pocket after tearing apart every other place those needles could be, at 11 o'clock at night, so I'd have something to work on the next day.

Sigh.

Of course, I'm going to need the size 8 needles for the collar of the sweater as well as the two-color portion of the beanie, so we'll see if that gets me working on the sweater, or if this beanie gets finished rather quickly. 

Teacher Fail

Friday. First period. Learning center. 

I got a call from the other learning center. Would it be okay if they sent someone over for me to assist? Um, sure... 

The student had homework to complete. Integrated math three (read: algebra 2/junior math). The problems: logarithms. 

Uh oh... 

Okay, so I've had all the math. I took three semesters of calculus in college. I even took senior level math classes in applied analysis. You can throw most math topics at me, and I have at least a basic working knowledge of it.

But not logarithms. 

They didn't bother with logs in my high school. (I think that's pretty much what all the schools did at the time.) We did natural logs and the e function, but that's as far as it went. 

But, pretty decent working knowledge of math, so I can fake it pretty well. Where were the student's notes? Uh, yeah, no notes. 

Deep sigh. 

Third period, IM3. Ms. B went over their homework, the homework I couldn't help the kiddo with. And, after her brief explanation... 

Yeah, if only I had had third period before first period. Because after seeing the example, yeah, I totally could have done those problems. 

Because if the kiddo had had the notes so I could transform the problems, I knew how to solve once the logarithm was handled. 

The one topic I couldn't help with. Naturally. Sigh. 

Out-of-Date Seating Chart

Tuesday. Fourth period integrated math two (read: geometry/sophomore math). 

I was in for Ms. L all week, and I was expecting to find Mr. J. Instead, I found Mr. H. Oh, a two sub day... 

Mr. H has been a sub about as long as I have. (We even went to college together, although we didn't know each other then. Big school.) So, we greeted each other, and I found Ms. L's desk and sat down. 

As Mr. H was covering the general ed teacher, he went about taking roll. Mr. J had left his seating chart, and Mr. H was going about verifying who was there and who wasn't. Only, the kiddos weren't precisely in their assigned seats. 

When I covered for Mr. J when he was out on paternity leave two years ago, I learned that his seating chart was more of a suggestion. The kiddos could sit where they liked as long as they were on task, and some of them drifted to other parts of the room. Mr. J tried to keep his seating chart up-to-date, but it wasn't a priority. (This is true for many teachers.) 

Mr. H asked the kiddos who were out of their "assigned" seats to return to them. The kiddos were not pleased. 

One kiddo loudly complained to me. Others in the class came to his defense. I asked him to sit there just for the day. 

"You think I'm lying about my seat," he complained. 

I assured him that I did not. I knew how things worked in that class. But, I also knew that undermining the other sub in the room never helped things, and it was just for one day. 

Reluctantly, the kiddo remained in the seat, but I could see him stewing. 

The next day I ran into Mr. J. He apologized for also being out. (These things happen. I wasn't concerned.) I told him about the seating issue. 

And... Mr. J had warned the kiddos early on that if they drifted, they might be asked to return to their old seats by any subs who covered the class. It was the risk they took. 

Kiddos can be creatures of habit. They don't like being moved. 

(I did tell Mr. H about the seating chart's inaccuracies between classes so he wouldn't run into that issue again the next class. Or he would know if he chose to enforce the seating chart. 

Kiddos will lie about their assigned seats, and they'll sit someplace they shouldn't--like next to someone who will distract them. Or, they'll sit someplace where they can pester someone they shouldn't. So we subs generally make them sit where the seating chart says, because it will save us from other issues later on. It's one of those things that sometimes need to be enforced and sometimes don't.)

Missed Lesson Plans

Last week I caught a four-day assignment for Ms. L, who I worked with two years ago when Mr. J was on his paternity leave. I knew who she co-taught with, and I had a vague idea of her schedule. So, when I arrived at school on Tuesday, I headed directly for the learning center. 

The class was "study skills" which is code for study hall. As it was the first day back after a four-day weekend, I was not surprised when the kiddos didn't have anything to work on. 

I hovered a little, but I pretty much left them to it. It wasn't like they kept track of what they did or anything... 

Um, well... 

Every teacher has a "home base". For most teachers, that's their classroom. They keep all their stuff in there. For the special ed co-teachers there are desks that are in the two learning centers. Ms. L's desk is in the other learning center. (I thought it odd she taught classes in the learning center where her desk wasn't, but scheduling issues.) 

Ms. L's desk is in the learning center next door to Mr. J's classroom. So, on my way to that period, I breezed by, just to make sure she had left no lesson plans on her desk (as she hadn't the last time I covered her classes). Alas... 

Yeah, Ms. L had left lesson plans. And I had been supposed to give the first class a paper to note what they got accomplished in class. 

Oops. 

Well, I wasn't going to make that mistake again, and I did have three more days of the class. 

In my defense, the special ed co-teachers don't usually leave lesson plans. We're just assisting the general ed teachers in the classes we go to. And her desk was on the other side of campus. 

(I'm exaggerating. A bit. It was out of the way, but it wasn't a terrible distance.) 

At least I took roll. 

Racism Not Implied

You may not believe immigration restrictions are racist, but racists believe immigration restrictions are racist. And a lot of what's going on is just pure, unadulterated racism. And unless proven otherwise, I assume all MAGA are racist. Anyone who is agreeing with the regime, or supporting whatever talking points, is doing so to support the inherent racism. 

I mean, why else would stories of a 2-month-old just getting out of the hospital and then being abandoned across the border not raise more outrage? Why aren't people more concerned about ICE watchdogs being dismantled? 

And, of course, the concentration camps. They're buying up unused warehouses for concentration camps. We're in the concentration camp part of this nightmare. 

And if you are still in denial about this, you shouldn't be. (Link to video if the embed doesn't work.) 

Feel free to rant in the comments. 

Some Assembly Required

Sleeve two is finished!

While the pattern told me the piece needed to be twenty inches long, I had already knit one sleeve, and I noted how many rows of that I knit to get to the twenty inches. 

I almost finished it Wednesday night, but it got late, and I was tired. So, Thursday night I knew I needed to knit two rows and then bind off. And done!

Well, not quite... 

Then Saturday I knit the ribbings onto the bottom of both sleeves. 

And so, now, officially, the knitting of the piece is (almost) done. All that's left is to sew it all together. 

Which is going to take some time. Yeah, just when you thought I was done... 

First shoulder seams. Then the sleeves. Then all the way up from the bottom seam to the end of the sleeve. Using mattress stitch. It's not hard. I will want to take my time to make sure it all stitches up nicely. No use doing all this knitting to have a mess in the end because I rushed the seaming. 

Then, once that is done, I have one last bit of knitting to do. The collar. 

But that's only after I'm finished seaming. 

I'm close. I'm very close. 

The sweater's previous posts:

• Starting the Sweater
• Getting to the Back
• Missed Deadline
• Distractions from Knitting
• A Month Late
• Inching Along
• Tracking the Growth
• Weekly Sweater Update
• Moving Right Along
• Good Progress
• Almost to the Interesting Part
• Plot Twist
• Not Worth the Effort
• Sleeve Progress
• Continuing Sleeve One
• Sleeve Two!
• Continuing Sleeve Two
• Setting a Deadline
• Almost There
• How I Keep Track

Angry Birds IRL

Thursday. Ninth grade English, special ed. Eighth period.

It's district writing assessment time (as I've mentioned in previous posts). While the other classes I've been in have been in the midst of writing these or finishing them up, this class was just getting started. 

Their essay was to be an argumentative one. They had studied the structure of the thing. This day was for the introduction of the topic. It had to do with climbing Mt. Everest and whether or not they should block people from doing so. (The kiddos get to pick a side and argue it.) 

I showed them a quick video that the teacher had assigned. Then they read the first two of the three articles that were to be their sources. We read the articles together, looking at statements for allowing climbers in and statements against. 

In the second article, one of the arguments against described how people did this thing in Moab, Utah with ropes and slingshots and... The description sounded horrifying. 

"That sounds like Angry Birds in real life." 

Absolutely brilliant statement, and totally funny. The whole class erupted in laughter.

Oh, I should probably mention that there were a total of four students in the class. But yeah, all four of them busted up laughing. 

Me too, really. 

Because yeah, that sounded suspiciously like Angry Birds. 

I was now curious, so I went looking. Yeah, there's video... 

Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Not tempted in the slightest. Nor did the class seem tempted either. 

Once they were done laughing, we finished up the article. They'll spend more time reading a third article and figuring out what they're going to write, but I won't be there for it. 

These essays are interesting as the teachers really go into the nitty-gritty of how to write. And part of it is how to think for oneself. Important lessons, truly. 

Spinning Wheel of Doom

Tuesday. Film Studies. Seventh period. 

When I walked in the classroom first thing in the morning, there was a note projected on the screen. It said to leave the big screen down all day, and that the movie the class was watching would automatically start shortly after class started. Okay, then.

First period, things worked perfectly. The class watched Sisu. 

It was a pretty violent movie. The teacher said it was in the same vein as John Wick. If you like that sort of thing, I do recommend. 

Third period was sophomore English, which I wrote about yesterday. The screen projected a note to the kiddos, reminding them of what they were supposed to be working on. Then fifth period it turned into another note to me, saying not to touch anything. 

It was a little creepy, but I've heard some stories of what subs end up doing, so I understood. I did not touch anything. Why would I? Everything was working perfectly... 

Oh, you know what's coming. 

Seventh period walked in. I took roll. Explained what they would be watching. (They watch movies all year, so this was nothing new.) Then, as planned, the movie started. 

I got comfortable. We were about ten minutes into it when something blinked on the screen, we got the spinning wheel of doom, and the movie froze. 

Naturally. 

The teacher had left his phone number, so when things didn't right themselves, I texted him. When I got no response, I called. 

I explained the situation. He said he couldn't fix it from where he was, and he couldn't leave. (He was on campus.) The class would have to do something else... 

Luckily, this was a good class, so they found something to entertain themselves. 

Just before the period ended, Mr. A walked in. He did something on his phone, and the movie righted itself. He had Apple TV hooked up, and he had programmed the full day on it. Somehow it had lost connection. Mr. A had the remote on his phone. If he had left a remote with me... 

But, as I said before, some subs... Anyway, the kiddos had access to the film, so they could watch it at home. Not as good as on a big screen, but tech issues and all. 

I was kind of glad not to have to watch the movie again. But I know they would have rather had it. Ah well. 

It worked for almost the full day. 

Weather Sense

I have very deliberately not been discussing the weather with y'all. I know much of the U.S. is buried in snow, and the temps have been bitterly cold. I'm sorry. It sucks. I'm wishing for an early thaw and an early spring. I can't even imagine how you all are coping. 

Tuesday. Sophomore English, third period. 

I was at the door, greeting students, as usual. As Jessica entered, she asked me to turn on the heat in the classroom. 

Jessica was dressed in jeans and sneakers, and she was wearing a tank top. No jacket. Deep sigh... 

At the end of the previous period, I checked the thermostat. It read 73 degrees. Knowing how many bodies raise the temperature in the classroom, I went to put on the fan. It was cool enough outside that there was no need for air conditioning. We definitely didn't need the heat. 

I told Jessica no. Then I asked her where her jacket was. 

She explained that when she stepped outside to leave for school, she noted how it was overcast and cool. But she didn't feel like turning around, going back inside, and getting a jacket. 

Her problem, then. 

The previous day, Jessica would have been dressed okay. The previous week, Jessica was dressed completely appropriately. Because the previous week, we were in the 80s. Yeah. End of January/beginning of February, and I had been wearing shorts. There were a couple days where we were pretty close to 90 degrees. 

But the weather reports had told us the temperature would be dropping. Rain was forecast for Tuesday evening. Our projected high was to be about 65 degrees. 

I pulled out warmer clothes. The rest of the class was dressed appropriately in long sleeve hoodies and the like. It wasn't bitterly cold, but it was not the day to be wearing a tank top with nothing over it. 

Jessica admitted she hadn't been paying attention to the weather reports. So, I warned her that the rest of the week was forecast to be cool. She might want to be bringing her jacket for the next couple weeks. 

This is very much a case of a lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine. I do not understand why it is so hard for teenagers to learn how to keep up with the weather reports. There's a default weather app on every phone. 

Accountability?

I'm tired, so I'm going to let someone else do the talking today: 

I will not let the world forget what the Trump administration did to Minnesota.

[image or embed]

— Peggy Flanagan (@peggyflanagan.bsky.social) February 12, 2026 at 3:42 PM

If you can't access the video, the post is here. 

Although, I don't believe ICE is really leaving Minnesota. ICE is still in LA. But it's not making national news, so we've kind of forgotten. ICE is expanding, not retreating. 

They are still committing atrocities. (Against children.) Do not forget. 

How I Keep Track

Last week I got a question about how I keep the pattern for this sweater straight while I'm knitting it. This is one of those things that we knitters figure out along the way. My process works for me. I picked up some of it from other knitters, and some of it just made sense to me.

The pattern is When Harry Met Lucy. If you scroll through it, you'll see that the sweater is made up of five different panels. One center cable. Two side cables. And two raindrop stitches. 

Each panel has a different number of rows to complete the repeat. How could one possibly keep track of all of that? Well, it's not really that hard. 

There's my current sleeve. I have added lines to show each of the five panels. 

Before I started, I took screenshots of each of the charts for each panel. (Working from charts is much easier than working from written out instructions. Especially for this.) Then I took those images and added them to a document. I adjusted the size so that it all was about the same and all fit on the same page. And I printed out: 

The paper shows the wear it's gotten as I've used this for the front, the back, sleeve one, and now sleeve two. 

I took a picture of the sheet where it's at right now, so you can see my sticky notes. Each one is underneath the row I will knit next, so I can easily see which stitches I should be making. It's numbered one to five as that's the direction I work while knitting. 

Then the "wrong side" is the exact same, so I knit back (from five to one) knitting the knit stitches and purling the purl stitches. At the end of the non-public side, I move each sticky note up two rows, and I work from one to five again. 

The sticky on the sticky notes wears off after a while, so I have replaced those sticky notes a few times. I also cut them to fit each panel. Panels one and five are worked multiple times over the stitches, while panels two through four are only worked once. The panels are worked bottom to top, so when I reach the top, I start over again at the bottom. 

You can't really see the markers in my knitting if you look at my knitted piece, but they're there. I have a marker at each one of the lines, marking each one of the panels. Because if I somehow get lost in one of the panels, I only have to count back to that section, not back to the beginning of the row. 

Any questions, comments, or concerns? 

I'm getting close to finishing this sleeve. I'm not going to say how long it should take, because experience tells me the minute I make that guess, something is going to rise up out of nowhere and hit me across the face, stopping me in my tracks. 

So, until next week... 

The sweater's previous posts:

• Starting the Sweater
• Getting to the Back
• Missed Deadline
• Distractions from Knitting
• A Month Late
• Inching Along
• Tracking the Growth
• Weekly Sweater Update
• Moving Right Along
• Good Progress
• Almost to the Interesting Part
• Plot Twist
• Not Worth the Effort
• Sleeve Progress
• Continuing Sleeve One
• Sleeve Two!
• Continuing Sleeve Two
• Setting a Deadline
• Almost There

Cough-Wink-Cough

Tuesday. Photography. 

Mr. S arrived shortly after I did. He explained that the art department was having their yearly planning session (which I was there for last year, covering a different teacher), and that he wanted to explain the assignment to the class. Okay, then... 

Their "open house" was the next day, only they call it something different now. They've shifted it to now as the students are getting ready to choose their classes for next school year, and the event is more about the various elective teachers and other programs promoting their offerings. 

Mr. S instructed his students to pick their best photograph and upload it to the slideshow that Mr. S was going to use for his open house presentation, to try to entice students to choose photography next year. They had to do it in a certain way so that Mr. S didn't have to go through and fix it later. 

I completely understood what the kiddos needed to do, but it kind of did need to come from him. 

While he was explaining the assignment, he had another announcement for the class. 

Mr. S: "Oh, and before I forget, and in case I forget to mention this on Thursday... So, you know how sometimes your teachers will tell you they feel like they're coming down with something, so they're going to miss school the next day? Yeah, well, I feel like I'm coming down with something, so I won't be here... Monday and Tuesday..."

The class? Crickets. 

I don't know if they got what Mr. S was hinting at, but whatever. I did. I really hope he had something fun planned. 

Then Mr. S went to his planning meeting, which was practically next door to the classroom, and he didn't return at all. (Unlike the teacher I covered last year.) 

Unsettled

Thursday. Eighth grade English, co-taught. 

I was expecting a two sub day, but nope, Ms. C was there, like the last time I covered this class, just a couple weeks ago. 

They were doing the district writing assessment. Every quarter every student is required to write an essay. The prompts are standardized by grade level. They're given some source material (usually articles, but sometimes videos), and then they have some sort of question to answer. 

For this essay, the eighth graders were writing an argumentative essay on the media. (They could choose pro or con.) 

This was day two of the essay, and Orson had taken over the couch in the back of the room, stretched out. He had a computer with a game on it. Okay, then, Orson had finished the essay. 

The rest of the class, however... 

Ms. C gave them instructions. They basically already knew what to do. Ms. C had already explained the structure, and they'd been over things like citing evidence and creating a hook. Then Ms. C took a group of the students to work in another room, leaving me alone with the remaining group. All they had to do was to start writing...

Yeah, no.

While I hovered, helping those that had questions (mostly things to get started), the rest of the class started talking. And got louder... 

Then a boy arrived, late. He joined two others at the front of the room, and those three got into play mode. 

As I tried to figure out who the late boy was and settle the class, Cedric suggested that I adjust their seats. (Cedric was the boy from this day, unnamed the the post, but he was the one who played that entire period, at least until he left and had to be shooed back by security.) 

Just when I thought I was going to lose the class, Ms. C returned. And the whole class settled. Sigh.

(She apologized for being gone so long. There was a group of eighth graders roaming the school, including the boy who arrived late, and she was helping the principal corral them.) 

The three boys at the front? Ms. C stationed herself in front of them, and they still needed constant redirecting. 

And before you ask, one of the boys was not supposed to be sitting there, but Ms. C let him when the late boy wasn't there. Then when the late boy appeared she just left it like that rather than disrupt things during assessment essay time to move him. 

Ms. C told me that was her worst class. Me: "Really? I couldn't tell..." 

Changing My Password

Wednesday I was back at the continuation high school. And... Meh. The teacher was chaperoning a field trip whale watching. I had one student per class period. Yeah. Seriously. 

Alas, at the end of the day they had not seen any whales. They did see lots of dolphins, though. 

But I had one major thing I had to do on this day, and it had nothing to do with the students. 

Last summer, the district implemented a bunch of new security protocols. There were some breaches. Nothing bad has happened as of yet, but the IT people are concerned. So, two factor authorization became mandatory, and passwords now have to be at least 15 characters long and include a capital letter, one of the other special characters, a number, an incantation to summon the rain god, and the name of our first grade teacher. 

Well, maybe not quite all of those. 

And, of course, now passwords must be changed every three months. 

To change the password, one must use a district-issued device. Of course, as a sub, I do not have a district-issued device checked out to me. (I do get one when I'm on a long-term assignment.) And most teachers nowadays have laptops checked out to them that they don't leave in their classrooms for their subs to use. 

Some classrooms still have very old desktops. And some classrooms have newer desktops. So, knowing that it's been about three months since I changed my password, I was delighted to see a district-issued device that I could access in Mr. P's classroom. Which meant that this was the day that I could update my password so I don't have to worry about this again until May. 

I had a new password picked out and everything. 

Second period was my prep. As soon as my first period student left, I went about logging in and getting that password changed. 

And for the next hour... 

Because, yeah. I spent an hour on this ridiculousness. 

I mean, the actual changing of the password was pretty quick and painless. It was just in updating everything that uses that password that took for-ev-er. 

So, there's the login to the district computers. And my emails. (I have two with the district.) Then there was the login I'd used to login to the computer I was using, so every tab I had open suddenly didn't work. I have the district email on my phone, so that had to be updated. As well, I had to update my Wi-Fi access, as I can access the district Wi-Fi, but only via my username and password. 

And then the big problem. I had to re-login to Google on my phone, as that's what I'm using for my 2FA (because texting a code led to other issues), and that required 2FA, and... 

Like I said, an hour. 

And so, now I don't have to worry about this again. Until May. Sigh. 

All done. All clear. Until the next day when my computer wouldn't log in so I could take attendance, and I took way too long to find where to update the Wi-Fi password on that computer. Because of course there would be one more thing I hadn't quite updated. 

Whew. 

*My first grade teacher's name was Mr. Elm. 

Combat Voter Suppression

This week I want to talk about the voter suppression act making it's way through the Senate. The so-called SAVE Act will make it harder to register to vote. By disenfranchising voters, the regime hopes to stay in power. 

Your job is to contact your senators and urge them to vote no. 

Are you a married woman? You're going to have to jump through hoops to register to vote. Your marriage certificate is not an accepted form of ID, and since your name is different than the name on your birth certificate, you'll have to get other proof you are who you say you are.

(Did anyone jump through those hoops to get a Real ID? I heard it was a pain in the rear. Same issue.)

Anyway, here's the actual bill. And here's some more info via the League of Women Voters. 

I read the “SAVE Act” (the GOP’s new voter suppression bill) so you don’t have to. This is my one page summary. Jesus it’s bad. 1/

[image or embed]

— Jenny Cohn (@jennycohn.bsky.social) February 6, 2026 at 11:54 AM

In case you can't see that Bluesky post, here's a link to it, and also so you can view the whole thread.

After calling your senators, check out the Adopt a Day Labor Corner. There's also a virtual webinar about it on February 18th. 

And, finally, there's one more video following up last week's follow up (and here's that direct link as I know some of you can't see the video here):

Almost There

There's something about knitting sleeves...

My great-grandmother, the one who taught me to knit, stopped knitting sleeves. When I knew her, she only knit vests. (This post contains some pictures of her work.) 

I'm beginning to understand why. 

When I started sleeve one, it seemed like I'd be working on that sleeve forever. It didn't seem to be gaining any length. Until it did. And there was a moment when I looked down at my work when it went from, "Will this sleeve ever be long enough?" to, "Wow, I'm almost done." 

For sleeve two, I hit that point Saturday. 

That's roughly 13 inches. I just need 18 inches to be finished. I think it was 18 inches... (My notes are across the room. I'll look it up later.) 

It's closer to the length of sleeve one, anyway.

My self-imposed deadline is looking more and more doable. Wish me luck.

The sweater's previous posts:

• Starting the Sweater
• Getting to the Back
• Missed Deadline
• Distractions from Knitting
• A Month Late
• Inching Along
• Tracking the Growth
• Weekly Sweater Update
• Moving Right Along
• Good Progress
• Almost to the Interesting Part
• Plot Twist
• Not Worth the Effort
• Sleeve Progress
• Continuing Sleeve One
• Sleeve Two!
• Continuing Sleeve Two
• Setting a Deadline