Phoning It In

Signs I've been subbing too long:

When I got the keys for the day, the secretary told me that Mr. J was in room 908. But I knew that was wrong. I knew that Mr. J was in room 911. Room 908 doesn't really exist. So, I asked for the key to room 911. 

I got to where Mr. J's room was, between rooms 910 and 912, and sure enough, the door now says room 908. I tried the key for 908, but it didn't work. I tried the key for 911 which did. 

So... why? One day (a day I was on the campus for, it happened last year when I was in that vacant art class) people on campus tried calling Mr. J in his classroom. The number to dial is the room number. But on this day, that 911 ended up going straight to the outside emergency line, and it broke the entire school's phone system. 

They reprogrammed his phone to extension 908 (as nothing else worked and that extension number was free), and I guess they had to make the room number match the extension number. 

Once in the room I found no lesson plans. But as the kiddos were arriving, the phone rang. Mr. J. I knew he wasn't going to leave me hanging, but he was running late, and he let me know to stall until he got there. (He was going to be out of class for a meeting, but he'd be on campus.) 

And after getting the kiddos going (he got there shortly after I took roll), he promised to put another assignment into Google Classroom for the students who were ahead. Alas, he did not do this as once he got to his meeting he got involved in his meeting. 

(I texted him to remind him, but he didn't check his phone until way later. Not in time for that class, but he put the assignment in for the next group.)

The class? Eighth grade science. 

The last class of the day was 8th grade success. It's basically a study skills class. Mr. J had thrown together a plan, and I was in the process of getting them started when another adult arrived. She explained that she was there to do a drug prevention presentation to the group. 

Considering how the day had gone thus far, I was not terribly surprised that Mr. J had forgotten. 

Did the kiddos pay attention? Once the presenter bribed them with candy, they were more receptive to the information. 

Some days... 

Stylin' the Eighties

Chemistry. Tuesday, eighth period. 

The lesson plan for the day was for them to complete some surveys the district was requiring of all the high school students. Mr. U said that it should take the whole period, but teenagers rush through things, so many were finished with much time to spare. 

Mostly they were sophomores, and mostly sophomores know how to not make a nuisance of themselves when they've finished their work. Most have learned how to sneak onto video games. 

But not Jessie. No. Jessie first distinguished himself by taking 20 minutes in the restroom. In a building where the restroom was steps away from the classroom. Deep sigh. 

I'm not going to list all of Jessie's misdeeds, mostly because as I write this it's been four days since I covered the class and I've forgotten exactly what it was that made him stand out. Self preservation, I think. I can't keep all of the silly things they do at the forefront of my memory. 

Why Jessie made the blog has to do with the last thing he talked about, just before the final bell rang. 

He asked me if I wanted to cut it off. Cut what off? 

He reached around his neck and pulled out a long, narrow braid... 

A rat's tail?!?

Suddenly, I was a seventh grader again. I think that's the last time I saw one of those. They're back? Really? 

So, I said the first thing that popped into my head. 

"1983 called. They want their hairstyle back." 

But the bell rang at the same time, so Jessie did not hear me. 

I'm not upset. It was a rather weak joke. It's been made hundreds of times. Just not about rat's tails. 

Rat's tail. 

Wow. 

I did not expect to see that style return. 

One Burning Question

Last week there was one topic all over social media. The first time I saw anything about it, it was a post that sounded like this was an issue that had been known everywhere for weeks. But I got up to speed pretty quickly. 

I'm talking about the Cornell 7. 

And if you're unfamiliar, that link goes to Wikipedia. That's a pretty good summary if you're unfamiliar. I'm not going to delve into it here. 

But I do have one "hot take". Most of social media has hit most of the good talking points already, so there's no need for me to rehash. However, there is one thing I have not heard that I've been thinking. 

I've been thinking about the whole "but we can't ruin these young men's lives" people. I have one question for them: 

What terrible assault did you commit as a young man that you got away with? 

Because, seriously, if they're identifying with the perpetrators in this scenario, that does not bode well for their humanity. 

This is not really "resisting" content, though, so here's a "resisting" video. Warning: adult language. 

This video is from August, but he's been posting hot takes like this daily. 

In Process

Since sending off the raven, I haven't done much of anything. 

When I wrote last week's post, the tracking on the raven said it would arrive on Wednesday. Then, on Monday, the tracking updated to arriving on Monday, which it then did do. So, sister-in-law received her birthday present a day early instead of a day late. Woo-hoo!

But before that I managed to finish knitting the ugly slippers on camera. Proof: 

Is the video done? Of course not. 

I still have a couple bits to film. I have sent the good clips (read: I eliminated the bloopers) to my brother for editing. I won't have the opening to do any filming until next weekend, though. 

These slippers aren't entirely finished, though. I usually go around the edge there and add a crochet finishing touch. I thought I'd do a separate video about that. Not really whole video worthy, but I'm out of ideas. 

Which leads to today's question for you all. I know most of you aren't knitters or crocheters, but maybe you have an idea. What should I make next on camera? (My YouTube channel is here, so you can see what I've already done.) I haven't designed anything new in ages, and I have nothing I'm burning to make. 

Oh, and does anyone want a pair of ugly slippers? These fit my feet. (I wear size 10, double wide.) 

Still a Wanderer

I've been subbing too long. That's what this is. Because today's story has quite a bit of backstory. 

Wednesday. Senior government, special ed. Third period. 

It was day one of a three-day assignment for a teacher I did a long-term assignment for three years ago. So, I knew what the lesson plan would be going in. (And I was right.) 

As the class filed in, I greeted many students I already knew. They had been sophomores in that special ed world history class I covered in February/March of 2025. They had been a good group. A fun group. So, I wasn't too worried. 

Well, except for Ariyah. She's not a bad kid, but she had a wandering problem. 

We were to go to a launch event in the gym. California is doing a free community college thing, and there's a community college just down the street from this high school. That community college has partnered with the high school, and so personnel from the college spend the year getting the seniors all set up so they can slide right into college after graduation. 

(I ran into the end of the sequence last school year. This was the beginning.) 

I got roll taken (quickly, as I already knew most of the kiddos), and we headed out to the gym. 

Remembering the last time I was in this position, I made sure to keep an eye on Ariyah. Did she follow along to the gym? Of course not. She "had to use the restroom", which was code for meeting up with a friend. I walked on ahead to keep up with the rest of the class, but I did note when Ariyah did arrive in the gym. She took a seat in the bleachers. Whew. 

The group from the community college ran through their program. A lot of it would be new information for the seniors. 

I saw when Ariyah got up (with a friend) and walked out of the gym. Deep sigh. 

Did she return? Of course not.

But the program didn't take the whole period, so the kiddos went back to class. And Ariyah did actually return. 

So, I asked. She claimed that she had not left. I said I saw her leave. She said she had been outside with security. I could call and check. 

(Which security person? If I just call "security", I wouldn't get an answer.) 

Uh huh. Sure. But again, she's only hurting herself missing things that will be useful for her. 

Ms. M, the instructional assistant, said Mr. B gives her a long leash. So, I mentioned this in the note. The next time I had Ariyah in class, she only left for a reasonably timed restroom break. So, maybe not a major issue? I don't know for sure. Mr. B will take care of it.

Inappropriate Names?

Tuesday. Ninth grade integrated math 1A (special ed). Second period. 

Ms. G warned me that the class contained a core group of autistic boys. As I have of late found that I identify strongly with certain autistic traits (I have not been, nor will I seek to be, diagnosed as autistic), I figured we'd be just fine. 

I had met the boys before, in other classes. 

They had the usual math-type worksheet. They solved problems. Those problems had colors associated with them. If they got the correct answer, they used the correct color on the coloring sheet portion of the assignment. It's a quick way to visually see if they're doing the math right. 

The coloring sheet was of sea turtles. 

As the boys worked, they talked. And at some point, one of the boys suggested naming the turtles. 

The other boys objected. They couldn't name the turtles. I chimed in with the suggestion that there was nothing wrong with assigning names to the cartoon turtles on their papers. 

Then one of the boys commenced with the naming. "This one is Mr. T, this one is Ms. B, this one is..." 

He was using teacher names. I recognized all of them. They were all special ed teachers. Probably their current teachers, but maybe a couple from the previous year. 

Now, if the paper had been something weird, I might have objected. But they were sea turtles. It was a cute paper. I could detect no malice, nor was there any snarkiness. It was like the boy needed names he knew.

But the other boys objected strongly. "You can't name them that!" 

Again, I chimed in. "Those names are fine." 

Then the conversation went back and forth between whether they should name them that or not. 

Of course, that didn't last too long before they moved on to other topics. 

Often it is fun to be the fly on the wall, listening to their conversations. 

In Italian

Monday. Forensic science. Fifth period. 

The assignment: they were to watch the second half of a video on Amanda Knox. They had questions to answer that went along with it. 

And... I hate showing videos. The kiddos don't watch them. They talk. Do they do any of the writing they're supposed to do? Of course not. They had received the questions in the previous class period when the video was started. (I had extras if any student needed another paper.) 

So, it was the end of the period, and I was going around and collecting the work. One of the students who had spent the period ignoring the video and talking to her friend had nothing to turn in, naturally. When I pointed out that she should have been watching the video (I had repeatedly shushed her during it), she complained that she couldn't understand the video because it had been in Italian. 

Italian? Uh, no. 

I'm not going to rehash the whole Amanda Knox trial and such, but the whole ordeal took place in Italy. And, some of the people interviewed spoke in Italian. Not everyone, but yes, some of the video was in Italian. 

But the subtitles were on. The captioning was on. And when someone was speaking in Italian, on screen was the translation in English. (I watched the thing with them. No glitches. The subtitles were working.) 

I pointed out that the subtitles were on. Her reply: "I couldn't see the screen." 

Uh... So, all classrooms now have the big screen TVs that the teachers use for slide presentations as well as videos. The classroom is configured in such a way so that all the students can see the screen easily. If a student can't see the screen, they are generally moved to someplace where they can. 

Did this student say anything about having trouble seeing the screen? Nope. She just talked to her friend. 

If you want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse. This girl. All excuses. 

Those excuses won't help her grade, though. At least she'll have some excuses to explain to her parents as to why she doesn't have a good grade this early in the school year. 

11,000

Did you see the MN Stolen Neighbors Quilt? 

Yeah, so in Minnesota, they put together a quilt of 11,000 squares to demonstrate how many people were kidnapped by ICE in the state. That's... that's a lot of people. Just going about their lives. And then they were ripped from them, horribly, and... 

It's all very horrible. And still going on. I wonder how big the quilt for California would be. Or how big one for the whole country would be. 

Just my weekly reminder that this regime is awful, and they need to be stopped. 

There's a bill that went through the California state legislature seeking to ban police and such taking side jobs with ICE. As of writing this, I hadn't heard if Gov. Newsom signed it. Or not. 

A Raven, Kind Of

I hate deadlines. 

That raven that I've been working on is a birthday gift for my sister-in-law. Her birthday is Wednesday. 

She lives in Ohio.

So, if I wanted to get her gift to her before her birthday, I had to get it in the mail. I had hoped to mail it midweek. 

I got the body finished Tuesday. Wednesday I had hoped to get it all assembled. (And I'm already late getting this thing done to get it in the mail midweek.) 

I got the beak attached. I attached the feet to the legs and then the legs to the haunches. I attempted to attach the haunches to the body, but I ran into a bit of trouble. 

So, I detached the legs from the haunches and reattached, this time making sure to orient the feet just so. I went to attach the haunches to the body, and... 

Let me just say it did not go well. 

I tried to do it more than once. I attached, found it wasn't stitching right, and then I ripped it out. Five different times. 

Somehow one of the haunches is larger than the other. I don't know how this happened. I followed the instructions. I made two the same way. 

So, after two different nights over two hours, I gave up. I realized that I probably need to redo the haunches to make sure they are precisely the same size. 

Although, even if they were the same size, they didn't go onto the body well. I couldn't get it so the feet were under the body of the bird. They were at an angle. That's part of the reason why I kept ripping it out. 

If I had another week... 

I don't have another week. 

Then I looked at the bird... I mean, does it really need the feet? 

Ideally, I'd attach the feet. We're out of ideal territory.

I kind of like the birdie without feet. 

So, I'm declaring it done. Without feet. 

Sorry about the pictures. I took them, then packaged up the bird, and then got it into the mail. Otherwise, I'd redo them. 

I packaged everything Friday/Saturday. Got it into the mail on Saturday. Tracking shows it'll show up... Thursday. Sigh. 

Only a day late. Not ideal, but at least it's not nine months after (and counting). 

Now I really should get back to the reluctant sweater which was last Christmas' gift, but likely won't be done by this Christmas. Sigh. 

Dressed for the Wrong Occasion

Two of the most beautiful words appeared in the lesson plans for the day: student teacher. Woo-hoo!

It was eleventh grade U.S. history, so I wasn't expecting difficulties, anyway. (I've subbed for this teacher many times in the past. Her classes are generally fine.) But all I had to do was input the roll and keep track of restroom passes. The student teacher, Mr. B, did all the actual work of teaching the kiddos. 

The lesson was on inventions that made life easier. I wasn't really paying attention, though. I was more focused on how the students were dressed. 

It was a spirit week. That's a week where the school encourages the kiddos to dress up to various themes of the day. I mentioned Adam Sandler day on Wednesday. I was at other schools for jersey day and "Anything but a Backpack" day. (Kiddos carry their stuff in something other than a backpack. Look it up on social media. It can be hilarious.) And I would miss the assembly on Friday where they were told to wear black. 

But this day, Thursday, they were to dress for the wrong occasion. And many participated in interesting ways. 

I caught a few students in Christmas gear. More beachy stuff, though. One boy in class wore an inner tube along with board shorts. (He was dressed for a pool party.) There were girls in fancy dresses. Two teachers were dressed in marathon gear. (Ms. V, who does run marathons, said it was very comfortable to wear her marathon stuff that day.) And many students came to school in their pajamas. (No pajama day this spirit week. That day tends to be the most popular.) 

It was kinda fun to laugh at some of the ensembles. I marveled at wintery gear as it's still in the 80s here, but the kiddos clearly understood the assignment. 

What would you dress as? The idea is that they're dressed wrong, and of course, they were at school. So, if that was the assignment, to dress for the wrong occasion, what occasion would you dress for? 

Taking the Assignment

About three weeks ago, I got an email from a teacher asking if I would be able to cover her class. Of course, I replied. 

Then last Friday I got another email from her. Ms. S was going to be out on Wednesday of the next week. Could I cover her class? 

I was already booked for Tuesday and Friday. The Friday I'd be working for her. I would be glad to take the assignment. 

The district does some things weirdly. It took them forever to get with the times and get the sub scheduling app. (Like, they were a good decade, or more, behind the neighboring districts.) And, in their infinite wisdom, they have decided that if a teacher wants to request a specific sub, they have to have a person at the district office input that into the system. 

So, since it was late on a Friday, I knew I wouldn't get the booking until Monday. Not a problem, really. 

Monday morning, I did not get called in. So, I was playing games on my phone when a job popped up. Because of how fast the open jobs go, I grabbed for it. It was only after looking at it after I managed to snag it did I notice that it was for Wednesday. The Wednesday I agreed to cover Ms. S's class. Deep sigh. 

So, do I cancel the job and hope the one I said I'd do pops up? Or do I keep the one that I now have? 

They can, at the district office, drop me from any assignments I have and reassign me. And, it I happened to grab the assignment when they were putting the other in, I might have missed it already. It was hard to tell. So, I stuck with the assignment I grabbed. 

It was a history assignment at the same school. And it went fine. (I won't be mentioning it any more as nothing very interesting happened.)

At least I worked that day. Things have been a little slow, but we're only just getting into the second month of the school year. Slow is standard for this time of year. 

Not That Alert

Tuesday. Middle school yearbook. Seventh period.

It was Adam Sandler day. Which meant everyone was dressed in shorts, sloppy t-shirts, sandals, and a baseball cap worn sideways or backwards. 

The yearbook staff was coming up with interview questions. They're going to have to go out and talk to their fellow students to get quotes for the yearbook. But, middle schoolers. Some weren't so very focused. (But things could have gone a lot worse.)

Mostly, I was keeping track of restroom passes. 

It's become a thing. We only allow one student out of class at a time, but each student takes a while, so there ends up being a line for the restroom. Keeping track can take half my attention most days. 

So, when the student asked to go while someone was out, I gave my usual response. "As soon as the student who's out gets back." 

While we were waiting, three other students asked to go. As usual. They got added to the continuing list. The last student who asked got a no response, however. We were at maybe twenty minutes left of class, and by the time the previous three went and returned, we'd definitely be at less than ten minutes left of class. We're not supposed to let students out that close to the end of the period. 

The girl returned. I called for the boy to go. He did not hear me. He was sucked into his phone. (Because it was yearbook, because they had come up with interview questions, because it was that kind of day, those are all reasons why phones were out and I wasn't making an issue of them.) 

Well, fine, then. If he wasn't going to go, then I'd go to the next person on the list. 

After she had left, and by that I mean that she had been gone for a couple minutes, the boy again asked. What happened when I called for him? But, it was ten minutes until the end of the period. So, even when the girl came back, I wasn't going to let anyone else go.

"But I really have to go..."

I mean, how serious was that need that he was completely tuned out when the person we were waiting for to return returned, and he didn't notice? When kiddos need to go, they usually are watching that door. (And the girl was not gone that long.) 

I told him he could go after the bell rang. At that point it was something like seven minutes until the end of the period. 

The time passed. The bell rang. The students filed out. The boy? I found him sitting in one of the nice chairs in the entryway to the classroom after I had done my final check and I was ready to leave. 

"I thought you really, really needed to use the restroom." 

I guess it wasn't as critical as he was making it out to be.

Pregnancy Danger

Abortion bans kill women. 

I stumbled upon a thread in Bluesky last week about how the rate of ectopic pregnancy deaths had more than doubled in recent years. TL;DR: Abortion bans are at least partially to blame. There was an article in ProPublica all about it. 

Pregnancy can be dangerous anyway. Abortion bans make it worse. 

But that's what a certain segment of the population wants, and the regime is pandering to them. It's in the authoritarian playbook. Control women. If it kills them, so what? So long as the men keep their power. 

So, let's have the EPA test for abortion pills in the water. It's not like there's anything else they need to do. *stares meaningfully* 

Maybe I'll write postcards to swing districts. It's something, anyway.

Winging It

There is a Crochet Procedure that frequently appears in patterns. You start with a round (or an oval) of, like, 12 stitches. Then you increase it by six by crocheting one and then increasing in the next stitch, which consists of crocheting two stitches into the next stitch. 

That pattern (crochet one, increase one, giving you three stitches in the current round where there were two stitches in the previous round) is so common that when I saw it in the raven pattern, I barely read it, and just commenced with the increases. 

The next round consisted of crocheting two and then doing the increase. And the following round was crocheting three and then increasing. Easy. I've done this many, many times before.

So, why could I not get the stupid thing to work this time? 

I mean, I counted carefully. I got twelve stitches in the first round. I did the increase, and somehow I was a stitch off. But I counted, and I had 18 stitches. Okay, then.

But five times I got to the round where I was supposed to have 30, and I was off. By, like, a lot. 

I have no explanation for this. I counted. I worked into each stitch. Of course, I'm working in black, so it's harder to see, but how did I mess it up that badly? 

On Saturday I attempted it again. In better lighting. And still... I ripped it out twice before finally getting to the round of 30 and actually having 30 stitches. Whew. 

(Just in case you were wondering what was blocking me from making progress. For three weeks. Yeah, the wings.) 

Luckily, wing two went much easier once I brute forced my way into getting wing one done. 

Seriously, I have no explanation for why this was so freaking hard. It shouldn't have been.

Deadline's fast approaching, and with the wings done, I could finally start on the main body. 

Alana, see that tail thing at the back (on the right side in the picture)? In round 13, that's where the chain went. And then in the following rounds, you just work over that chain, and it builds out, adding to the body. At least, that's what I think the pattern meant. 

Hopefully that was the last major glitch. I managed to do that whole increase thing on the body with no issues. Why I had trouble with the wings perplexes me. 

Identification Snafu

Friday. Peer counseling/mental health class, third period. 

(This class was a new one for me. The teacher has been with the school for several years, and I believe she taught this last year as well. As for how long she's taught it, I couldn't tell you.

It's kind of a psychology class, at least that's the foundation. But it's more geared towards teaching the kiddos about themselves with a bit about teaching them to do peer counseling through a couple programs at the school. I think. At least, that's what I gleaned.) 

This was my second day in the class. I had been there on Wednesday as well. (They're on a block schedule, so each class meets every other day.) And they had been generally okay. (Fifth period, which came after, was horrible. But, of a class of 33, five of them weren't freshmen. Age makes a difference.) 

However, this day got an extra degree of difficulty. It was pass-out-their-IDs day. And that's when they learned that they were now required to wear their IDs on campus all day. 

They did not like this.

And, the passing out of IDs did not go smoothly. Not at all. 

Having gotten a heads-up, I had gone to the teacher's mailbox to get the IDs and lanyards that I would need to pass out. But, there were not 27 IDs in the stack I got. It felt short, and then I counted. Yup, I was about 10 IDs short. 

As the announcement went out that they were getting their IDs, I held them up to show the kiddos that yup, they were getting them for sure. But not everyone. Once the IDs I had went to the proper students, I gave the students missing an ID a lanyard for when their IDs showed up. 

You'd think they'd be happy they didn't get an ID. Nope. A couple of those without IDs were visibly upset that theirs had not arrived. And those that got them? Yeah, not happy with them. (They hated their pictures. I can relate. I hate my employee ID picture as well. And they let me retake it when I got it.) 

Then I got a call from the office. They listed off seven names. Could I send them to the office? They had their IDs. 

So, at least a few of them were happy to get IDs. 

To say the rollout of this was a mess... Yeah, that did not go well. 

But then again, having worked for this district for a while, yeah, that snafu is an acronym really, really applies here. 

(Some people have a word for each new year. Something they strive for. I am beginning to feel like this school year has a word, and it's snafu.) 

Phone Forgotten

I was out the door on time Wednesday morning, even, maybe, a bit early. It was supposed to be a blazing hot day (we ended up with a high of 105°F--that's 41℃). I had been sweltering all night, and I was already drenched in sweat before leaving the house. 

I had noticed the day before that my usual route to work was under construction, so I took a slightly different route. Traffic wasn't an issue. Things were going well. 

And then, my Apple Watch buzzed. "Cell phone left behind". 

I was ten minutes away from my house. Do I go back for it? Do without? Do I have time to go back for it?

Well, no. I didn't really have time to go back for it. But, I turned around and went back for it, anyway. 

Now, of course, on the way back, I hit more traffic. Certain spots get congested with to-school traffic. And I knew. I made the wrong choice. I was going to be late. 

I called the school secretary. I have the school phone number on my phone, and I knew her extension, so while stopped at a red light, I called. I decided not to explain, just to apologize and say I was going to be late, but I would be there. Apparently there was an accident on the freeway, so she assumed that I was stuck in that. I did not correct her. 

I drove past the main office just in time to hear the one minute warning bell. I parked shortly after the bell rang to start first period. I joined the group of students coming into campus late. Security was there. She saw me. "You're for room 209?" Yup, that's me. She said that security had let the students into class. 

I had told the secretary I might be about ten minutes late. Turned out it was only five-ish minutes into the period when I got to the room. So, not too bad. 

The class was "early college academy" aka a college credit class they can take in high school. So, the kiddos had already gotten their computers and were logged in to the work they needed to do (presumably--they might have been doing something else as well, like typical high school students). 

I made sure that the official stuff got done (attendance, introductions, etc.), and then while they worked, I settled in for the day. By the end of class, I was in the rhythm of the school. And I needed my feet under me, as the other classes, especially the last class of the day, didn't go nearly as smoothly. 

The expectation is that we're supposed to be on campus about a half hour before school begins. So, by that metric I was very late. But we don't really get into trouble if we get there a bit later than that. We do need to be in class when school officially begins, though, so that was a fail. But, I haven't been that late on a day when I booked the assignment at a reasonable time in a very long time. (I have been late for very late calls, but that's another thing entirely.) 

Such a Cliché

Tuesday. Eighth grade U.S. history, fourth period. 

Mr. R, who was on campus at some meeting or other, told me that his fourth period class was really good, his sixth period class was meh, and his eighth period class... Well, he'd be stopping by to get them started off in the right way. 

(Note: Mr. R did drop by eighth period. He did talk to them about how they should behave. And they proceeded to spend the period not behaving well at all. Unsurprisingly.) 

So, I had high expectations for fourth period. Which they did not meet. Deep sigh.

The bell had barely rung when I noted a boy folding paper. I didn't look too closely as I was busy taking attendance. They were supposed to be doing a quick write and then reading in their textbook. (Mr. R had written the list of what they needed to do on the board. It was very clear.)

Hutton (the boy folding paper) then turned and passed the paper back to the boy in the seat two seats behind him. As Winston received it, I could see what it now was. A paper airplane. 

"How cliché." 

Yes, I said that. However, eighth graders do not know what cliché means. 

(They also do not know what it means to abbreviate nor do they know what state abbreviates to Conn. Those are two questions I got repeatedly all day.) 

Winston handed off the paper airplane to Axel who then did the obvious thing with it. Just as I said not to. 

To his credit, Axel did retrieve it and then threw it out. 

If it had stopped there, well, no harm done. But those three boys... They had lost their focus, and no matter what I did, they could not figure out how to do the assignments. 

(They were to compare and contrast the Pilgrims and the Puritans. Then they had a map of the 13 colonies to label and color. It wasn't hard, and they had all the stuff they needed. Well, except their attention.) 

It was a problem I had with them all day. I directed them on what to do. I pointed out that it was all written on the board for their reference. I passed out papers and gave them instructions on the next thing when the previous thing should have been completed. But eighth graders with a sub. It just wasn't happening. 

So, I resorted to my usual consequence for these sorts of things. I left names. 

The next even day (the school is on a block schedule), I was sitting in sixth period, minding a very good class, when Mr. R walked in. He had notes of apology to deliver. 

He had had a conversation with Hutton, Winston, and Axel. And they were required to express their contrition in writing. 

(Mr. R was just going to leave the notes with the secretary to give to me, but she informed him that I was on campus.) 

Apology notes are always fun. Hopefully, the boys learned something from the exercise. 

Lies and More Lies

Apparently there was some sort of midterm "convention" in Texas that the regime decided to have. And it was just as cringey as you'd expect. 

But this worries me. Especially that sound bite that got out, the one about them promising $5000 to everyone if they win. 

We know this is a lie. We know this is completely ridiculous. The problem is, those low-information voters do not know this. 

This reminds me of the whole "free IVF" thing that got floated before the presidential election. We all knew it was hogwash. And yet, after, I saw news reports of deluded women saying they voted for him because they had heard that and believed it. 

We need to make it crystal clear that the $5000 thing is a lie. Because there are people out there that heard that sound bite, and now they think it's really a thing in play. Can we get the Dems to put out something similar? It doesn't have to be true. It just has to get to the ears of those who would believe it. 

Have Feet Now

I had it in my head that the smallish project I started last week would be done by now. Alas, no. I basically did not touch it until Saturday. I added two more pieces to the pile.

Feet...

Alana nailed it in the comments last week. This, when all is said and done, will be a raven. The pattern is here. 

I wasn't very loquacious last week--I didn't want to talk about it. But my world has cooled off, and I can think again, so I'll explain my reasoning. 

Generally, when one does amigurumi, one does the body first, and then makes the little bits that get attached. But, because I was using this as a take along project (and I didn't want to carry stuffing), I decided to do it backwards. 

This has the extra added bonus of when I do actually complete the body, I'll have done the bits and bobs already, so all I'll have to do then is assemble. I don't know if it'll make things easier for me, but maybe. 

Why am I making a raven? It's a birthday present. So, there's a deadline. But as long as it doesn't heat up this week, I should be okay. Fingers crossed. 

Actually an Improvement

Tuesday. High school art, second period. 

They're really cracking down on cell phones, and so Ms. G had asked me to make sure to collect their cell phones at the beginning of the period. I did. And, the students gave them up easily. 

Towards the end of the period, a pleasant ring tone rang out. Calm. Melodic. A ring tone I would choose for my phone. (Is it new? I must go and check my phone to see if it has it.) 

I looked around. The ringing phone was in the box of cell phones. Where it was supposed to be. 

I continued my circuit of the room. 

The students? Looked panicked. Whose phone was ringing? They had to stop it. 

As far as I was concerned, the phone would stop ringing soon enough, and the students would be more aware of making sure their phones were on silent before turning them in. 

But one student came up, searched through the box, found their phone, and silenced it. 

I mean, this was a win as far as I was concerned. 

Thursday. Eighth grade English, fourth period. 

This was a co-teaching day, and the kiddos were doing some standardized testing. Phones were put away in backpacks which were stored at the front of the room, or they were on a charger in the back. 

Midway through class, a phone on the charger started to speak. Clearly a ring tone. Ms. C (the general ed teacher) started to comment that the phone was where it should be and the kiddos should ignore it, until the phrase continued with an F-bomb. Oops. 

Ms. C made a comment about ignoring the profanity, and she said something about phones on silent. But, again, mostly a win. The phone wasn't in the possession of the student, especially during standardized testing. 

So, so far this year, no major problems with kiddos giving up their phones as required. Now we just need to teach them how to put them on silent. 

Baby steps. 

Naturally, Of Course

Wednesday. Seventh grade world history. Fifth period. 

The kiddos had work in their Google Classroom. They had vocabulary words and questions to answer. Easy enough. 

They were working pretty well, for seventh graders. There were a couple not doing much. One boy kept turning to the boy behind him, annoying the second boy. The usual. 

I went to look something up on my computer when I got the spinning wheel of doom. I tried a different tab, and spinning wheel of doom. Oh no.

A student noted that they couldn't get something to load on their computer. 

Crap! Did the internet just go down? 

I called the office. The internet had just gone down. 

Deep sigh. 

Why does this always happen when the work is all online?

The teacher had left extra work in case the kiddos finished early. They could work on other class's work. Mr. D also left word searches. Okay, then. 

I announced to the kiddos that without internet they could not finish their online work, but they could work on, and then I gave the list. Several of them pulled out the success assignment (as I had had them earlier in the day). Several of them wanted to attempt the word searches. One girl pulled out her book, and she asked me if I liked to read. (She said I looked like someone who likes to read. I think she meant that as a compliment.) 

I no longer had the good, studious behavior I had had before. But, that couldn't be helped. At least they had something to do. 

The internet returned towards the end of seventh period. At least the seventh period class, another success class, had work on paper. 

Burning Question

Wednesday. Seventh grade success, third period. 

(Different campus than the one I did the week and a half of seventh grade success at, but they were doing the same thing I had done last week. The counselors came in to get their student portal accounts set up. Looks like I had the vacant classes right on schedule.) 

The students had a school rules kind of an assignment (they were doing the A to Z of how they should behave), and mostly they were on task. Someone made a comment about the air conditioning. 

After the prior week's heat, this week was a nice cool down. We were still in the 80s (Fahrenheit, Celsius would be about 29 degrees), but it felt so much better. However, it was still air conditioning weather. 

Instead of responding, I noticed that the kiddo sitting right in front of me had on a black hoodie. And I finally asked the question. 

I mentioned that we adults have had this conversation. Why do the kiddos where black hoodies in the heat? What are they thinking? 

Several students chimed in. Mostly it was about having the sads. They said sometimes they just want to huddle in the comfort of a hoodie and wallow. (That's the gist of it, anyway.) 

Mystery solved. 

And then one student piped up with how they'll sometimes wear shorts in the winter. To which I emphatically agreed. And why is that? But to that I did not get an answer. 

Breaking USPS

My current* congressman sent out a fundraising email and referenced a threat to vote-by-mail. Via NPR: 

The U.S. Postal Service could "derail" the midterm election if it continues rushing out "untested" technology as part of President Trump's push to restrict mail-in voting, a newly released whistleblower report warns.

With voting by mail for the midterms set to officially start this week, key parts of the USPS plan for carrying out Trump's directives, including requirements for states to comply, remain blocked for now by a court order in the legal fight over the president's executive order.

Still, the mailing agency has been preparing for months to launch an online portal that would allow state election officials to submit absentee voters' names and ballot envelope barcodes required by the now-blocked rule.

This is worrying in California as they mail us all mail-in ballots. I have really enjoyed this convenience. Because of course they want to break all the good things that we have. 

People are fighting back, and hopefully these new rules won't be implemented this year. It's all about making new rules to break the system. They claim it's to prevent voter fraud, but voter fraud is such a minor problem. It's just an excuse. 

So, pay attention if you're doing vote-by-mail. They want to disenfranchise you. Don't let them. 

*After this election he'll be my former congressman as the redistricting puts me in a different district. 

A New Beginning

The reluctant sweater is kind of on a break, and I haven't had the time and space to continue the ugly slippers video, so I did what any reasonable person would do. I started a new project. 

No, I'm not going to tell you what it is. As I'm working it backwards (kind of), I'm not expecting anyone to have any idea, either. 

I should be in more of an explain-y mood next week. At which point there should be more to see. Maybe. 

Absence Modified

Thursday, while sitting in the teacher's lounge/workroom in the main office, a job popped up on the subbing app. A job I was kind of shocked to see. 

The previous Friday, Mr. K at the continuation high school had texted me to see if I was available to sub for him the following Friday. I said no as I didn't know how long the vacant success class would go, and so I was booked through the week. 

I had assumed that Mr. K had put in the request that day. Apparently not. 

I don't look too closely when jobs pop up, because if I don't grab it quickly enough, I miss it. (I'll click "accept" and then be told that another sub was already assigned to the job.) It wasn't until I got the "successfully booked" message that I looked to see what I had snagged. 

I was surprised to see the assignment for the next day. But there was a problem. It showed as a half day, afternoon. This I knew to be wrong as the continuation high school only has morning classes on Fridays. 

So, I called the school. 

I knew the secretary could fix the assignment, and I knew which secretary to call. When the system picked up, it asked me to dial the extension of the person I wanted. And then it told me that extension didn't exist. Deep sigh. 

The phone list I had for the school was from the 2023-24 school year. 

Well, I knew the front office staff. I dialed O for someone to pick up, and I recognized the voice. "Hi, Shelly. Could you please transfer me to Sabrina?" 

And when Sabrina picked up, I identified myself and told her what had happened. 

She was hesitant to touch the assignment as she didn't want me to be booted from it. I assured her that I get "absence modified" notifications all the time. So, she fixed it, and I retained the assignment. 

Of course, part of me just wondered if something went wonky and put in a job that didn't exist. But no. Mr. K just put in his absence the day before. (He is out a lot. I think he's trying to fly under the radar sometimes with his sub requests.) 

Fridays are pretty mellow at the continuation high school. Not much happened. But at least I had the sweet, sweet air conditioning. (The kiddos complained it was too cold in the room. I. Did. Not. Care. It's been icky hot here.) 

And Just Like That...

Tuesday. Lunch. 

I had just finished getting the students into their online gradebook (see yesterday's post), and I was organizing my stuff as things kind of go all over the place during class. The classroom door opened, and in walked a stranger to me. 

He identified himself as Mr. N, the new teacher. 

I had heard the prior Friday before leaving school that they had hired someone. We were in waiting mode, waiting for his paperwork to clear. As soon as it did, he could start. 

Mr. N told me he was starting Wednesday. 

All-righty, then. 

They gave us two days of transition. Mr. N needed the time to get his feet under him. I showed him what was up with the success classes. He was also hired as the school's new athletic director, so he had a lot of stuff on his plate. (It's been crazy without someone in that position as the school year begins.) 

But Mr. N is close in age to me. He's been at several schools. He's taught, coached, and done all the educational things, so he knows what he's in for. They're in good hands. 

That was the gig I signed up for. This is probably the shortest vacant position I've ever done. That's a good thing, really. 

And now, back to the day-to-day subbing of it all. 

(I told the kiddos this wasn't goodbye. I'd be around. A lot. And I will.) 

Winning

I connected with the middle school assistant principal, and she sent me a bunch of resources for the seventh grade success classes I was covering while the school was in process of hiring the teacher. In those resources was an offer that the counselors had made of coming to the class to help the seventh graders create accounts so they could access their online gradebook. 

After the previous week's debacle, you'd think I'd reach out to the counselors and have them help. Wouldn't you? Yeah, that's not how I roll. 

I could do this. 

The school is on a block schedule, so the class I met on Monday was not the class I had the issues with on Friday. Rather than chance another computer mix up, I put the students' credentials on paper that I handed out to them. 

I went through the slideshow. And I had the same issues I had Friday. 

"You have to create the password. Just make one up."

"It's giving you an error message? Did your password contain one capital letter, one number, and one special character?"

"Just go to your email and click on the 'confirm email address'. No, don't put in a code..."

Oh, and they had no idea how to find their email. 

Hands in the air, and I'd go over to find that they just weren't listening to my instructions. They plowed ahead, and then they got stuck. I'd have to answer the same question individually several times. So, basically what I expected. 

I handed out their credentials. I went back to showing them how to log back into the account they just created. "No, you don't have to do this screen again. You created the account. See how it says this account exists." 

And then, suddenly, they were all in. Poof. 

I just... 

I looked around, and they were looking at their grades. (I had not input any grades yet, but other teachers had. Their history teacher had maybe one assignment, so pretty much everyone had an A+ in that class. Some were amazed.) 

The feeling of accomplishment overwhelmed me. They did it! Mission accomplished. 

I won the day. Whew. 

Yeah, I knew I could get them through it. 

(As for the other class, the lady at the district office sent me an email early Monday morning. She had disconnected all the accounts that were attached to Sadie's info. This time I put their credentials on paper, and that worked. They got it all set up, too.)

In the Hands of ICE

I got another fundraising email from my current congressional representative. (I'm a little irked, though, as I learned in the primary election that come January I will no longer be in his district.) And it contained information I had not heard. So, I looked it up, and, via AP News: 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded a $16.7 million contract to purchase 6,000 pairs of gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks, saying officers would use them to control detainees and protesters who resist.

ICE moved forward with the purchase despite opposition from civil rights advocates and Democratic members of Congress, who said ICE officers cannot be trusted to use them appropriately.

Now, that's chilling. (You can find the full article here.) 

And those things can kill people. (Although, ICE has been killing people just fine without them.) I mean, tasers aren't as safe as we think they are... 

My congressperson had a petition to sign. You might want to call your reps and let them know of your displeasure over this.

Blooper Reel

I have started recording the video. 

I am making slippers that look like this: 

(It's been too hot to think, plus I've been busy at work, so my brain hasn't been in reluctant sweater mode. I'll get back to it once things cool off.)

I got a new light/camera holder since I recorded the last video, so there was a bit of a learning curve. I can set the camera up higher. My first attempt to demonstrate something ended up being below what the camera recorded. Oops. 

So, to make sure I kept my hands in camera range, I stuck some blue tape on my surface. But, as I moved around and recorded and such, the camera moved a bit. I had recorded everything I wanted to do, and then I checked what came out on camera. The blue tape? Had drifted into the shot. Most of what I recorded was unusable. 

Deep sigh. 

I had to rip out what I had done and shoot it again. 

And then there are the usual bloopers. Like...

But progress. 

I knit a bunch off camera (no need to continue to demonstrate the two rows that repeat), and when I get another moment when I can, it's back to recording more video. 

I won't promise when this will get done. Once it gets done, it'll have to go to my brother for editing, and that can take some time. But, it'll be up sooner or later. I'll announce when. 

One Minor Glitch

My little counter at the top of my posts page tells me this is post #4500. Wow. I'm kind of amazed I noticed it. I guess I've been doing this for a while.

Here we go again... 

New school year, new vacant class. This one is seventh grade success. It's basically a study skills class that is kind of an elective for the kiddos, but it's also kind of required. 

I was informed that one requirement of the class is that we're to have them do grade checks every week. Okay, no problem. For them to be able to check their grades, they have to have access to the online gradebook. As they are new to the school, they were going to need to set that up. 

They gave me the instructions on how the kiddos needed to set up their accounts. They also gave me the log in credentials the kiddos would need: their student ID numbers, their official phone number, and a verification passcode. 

Knowing how these things go, I tried to be clever. I typed in the info they'd need into the computer, and I sent that info to each student before class began. 

So, we were in the midst of it. And it was going as well as could be expected. That is, I had many students unclear on what to do even though I had slides with what they needed to click on up for them. I explained to the class, and then I had to explain again to individual students. 

While I was helping the students who were struggling, the students who got it had worked ahead. And found the credentials that I had sent them. 

Only... they all had the same credentials. They had the credentials for one student named Sadie. 

Sadie alerted me to the problem. Several students now had gradebook access to her gradebook. 

Ugh. 

I do not know what happened. I sent each student a different set of credentials. I typed them in myself. I double checked that I was doing a different one for each individual student. It took me over an hour. 

Doesn't matter. It was wrong. 

I deleted what I could. Many students hadn't even gotten that far. And it was the end of the period, so we were out of time. 

So, now I have to track down the person who can reset these things. The main office sent me to the IT guy who sent me to someone in the district office. But it was late afternoon on a Friday. 

At least I wasn't to see this class again until Tuesday. Maybe it'll be fixed by then? So we can try it again? 

Just when I thought I had a handle on things...

A Snafu Kind of First Day 13

Last Monday was the first day of school. And to call the day one big long snafu is to use the initial meaning of the word, the original acronym for the word. It was the kind of day I can only encapsulate via a Thursday 13. 

ONE

I was very happy when an assignment for the week popped up the Friday before school began. I had a suspicion it was a vacant class from how the assignment was worded, and shortly after I accepted it, I got an email from Allie verifying that my suspicion was correct. Good news/bad news.

TWO

I arrived early Monday as I didn't know what sort of situation I'd be walking into. Good thing. Because no teacher was assigned to the classes, there was no way to access the attendance online. Allie (the secretary I check in with at the school) printed me paper rosters. And that was when I first got to see what my schedule was going to be. 

THREE

The vacant position was for the athletic director. Who was also teaching two periods of seventh grade success. (I knew the success part before I got there. The athletic director part was a surprise.) What were my responsibilities regarding the athletic director? I would need to touch base with the assistant principal who oversaw athletics. (Note: this did not happen.) 

FOUR

The good news: I didn't have a first period class. The bad news: the seventh graders were spending all day with their first period teacher in an orientation. (We did the same thing two years ago when I covered that maternity leave for the seventh grade science teacher.) Where was I supposed to be? Turns out, I had not been added to the list for the day, so I had no official responsibilities. 

FIVE

As I was figuring the day out, another teacher came into the classroom. She explained that she had just learned (the previous workday) that she would be teaching two periods of success this school year. She's a PE teacher. So, she was checking out the room to see what she had and what she would need. She would have the room for first and second periods while I would need it for third and fourth periods. Not a problem, just a surprise. 

SIX

Right before first period was to begin, Allie called me. A math/credit recovery teacher had taken ill and gone home. Could I cover his first period? Well, it's not like I had anything better to do. (For the full story about this class, see yesterday's post.) 

SEVEN

For third period, I returned to "my" classroom, but "my" third period would remain in their first period classes. I remained with the PE teacher's group. The PE teacher had her PE classes to cover for the rest of the day, but they had booked another teacher to come in to supervise the class. 

EIGHT

I got to see some of the orientation. We took a tour of the campus. In the heat. And while my presence was not needed, I learned what the students learned that day. I knew most of it, but now I knew what they were supposed to know. 

NINE

I asked Allie what my responsibility was for seventh period, the athletic period. She had told me she'd ask around and get back to me. For seventh period, she said to remain in the classroom. (The school is on a block schedule, so the first day was an odd day, periods 1, 3, 5, and 7.) 

TEN

I got to work on what I'd need for the next day (when I would for sure have a class). I was going to email Allie pages I needed printed (as I don't have printer access). Only, I suddenly had no access to my district email account and it's linked drive (where I keep all the material I need for class). I got an error message saying it was disabled. I've had this account for many, many years. WTF!

Before I could panic, Allie called to tell me I was supposed to be outside. (She had only just been informed.) I told her my account was disabled. She said she'd look into it. 

ELEVEN

On my way outside, I passed the basketball team heading for the classroom. I told them to come back outside, and I took roll. I was able to locate a few of the students from the soccer team, but most had left. (They were supposed to have practice, but something something coach not there something something missing bus. I didn't get full details.) I had several other teams' attendance, but they were nowhere to be found. 

TWELVE

End of day, I went to check out. I took the athletic director attendance to the attendance office. Allie informed me that they had restored my account. I went to check it, but I couldn't get online in the office. I asked Allie to print some things for me that I'd email her when I could. And then I went home.

THIRTEEN

Yes, I could access my account. Yay! I emailed Allie what I'd need for the next day. As I sat down to make sure I had my slides and such ready for Tuesday, my account again was disabled. Grrrr.

The next day I learned that they were doing something at district that was disabling accounts. I conferred with two other subs who had the same problem. Allie contacted district and got my account restored only to have it be blocked again that day. After class, luckily. Then Allie contacted the district again... At the moment my account works. Fingers crossed that that doesn't pop up again.