A Bad Note?

Tuesday. Seventh grade world history (advanced). Fourth period. 

It was day two of a two-day assignment, but the school is on block schedule, so this was the first time I met the class. So far, the classes had been hit or miss. First period the previous day and second period on this day were both pretty good. Third and fifth period hadn't been so good. 

The kiddos had a basic sub assignment. They had textbook questions to answer. And the clear expectation was that the kiddos would work quietly and independently. 

Fourth period came into class asking if they would get their break. Mr. R had not mentioned anything about a break in the lesson plan, but ninety minutes is a long time for twelve year olds, so I was willing. But, the previous day giving a break had been a mistake. The kiddos did not get back to work after it. So I was leery. 

But it was an advanced class. What could go wrong? 

Yeah, well, it was also a seventh grade class. 

They had work to do. They had worked quietly before the break. After? Yeah, they wouldn't stop talking. 

I think the note I wrote their teacher describes it best: 

“We’re getting a bad note, aren’t we?”

Well, that depends on you, really, and how you take my description of how the class actually behaved. As I listened to them trying to shush themselves and failing and Jasper declaring that you’d be executing them on Thursday, I laughed. And they took that as a bad sign. 

Once they settled in at the beginning of the period, they worked well. Quietly. Cooper initially asked if they would get their five minute break (he said they get it at 10:50, and then he said that the break’s been moving around a little), and I said we’d see. At 10:52, Cooper asked if they could have their break. I said okay.

Mistake.

After five minutes, I called time. Asked them to go back to their seats and get back to quiet. (They were silent before the break.) They did not get back to quiet. They tried. But they were easily distracted, and while many would stop talking, a couple would say something, and they were back to general conversations again. 

Around and around it went. I found it entertaining. They were sure you would be angry. They considered bringing in bribes. (It’ll be interesting if they do bring in bribes for you.) Then the conversations turned to other things. Most of them had finished the visual questions at this point. 

There was some inappropriate language. There was a little conflict. (...names redacted...) But mostly it was just 7th graders being 7th graders. Several discussed assignments (science, the civics assn, English). And such. 

But I’ve had way worse days and way worse classes. They weren’t great, but they weren’t terrible. Is this a bad note? 

So, is that a bad note? Hard to tell. I did not get a chance to see the teacher or any of the students after. I assume they're still alive. But I so wish I could find out if they did actually bring in stuff to bribe Mr. R with. That would have been funny. 

I Can't Look

According to BallotTrax, my ballot for this election was accepted on October 19th. I did my part. Did you do yours? 

Now we can sit back and watch the regime play its tricks. Will they succeed? 

Remember, they're the party of corruption. 

In case you were wondering, here is how the votes are counted. 

I've got a long day planned. Work, then I'm getting my hair done after work. I probably won't be watching the returns. It's too nerve-wracking. 

Will you be watching the returns tonight? Or what will you be doing to distract yourself from it all? 

Potty Pal's First Week

New:

After three-days' use:

Not bad. It's on a lanyard that they're supposed to wear around their necks. Most put it in their pocket. 

The brown is the roll the paper sits on. That's where I put the hardware that connects it to the lanyard. As you can see, the end came out. This is the second try. I buried that end carefully after it came loose the first day, but still... 

I need to attach the hardware differently. Otherwise, I like the way this worked. I did not lose it, and even better, I did not lose the teacher's restroom pass. So, it's a win, although a win with reservations. 

Last week I explained this whole project. The pattern I used is here. 

Where would you put the hook? Can you see a better way to attach it? 

A Request

Friday. Continuation high school. English. 

There were no lesson plans in the classroom. I have subbed for this teacher a few times, and she usually has lesson plans. As I headed back to the main office to see if she had emailed the plans, coming my way was Ms. E. Ah, phew. 

Ms. E was on campus doing some curriculum planning, and she hadn't had a chance to leave the plans for the day as she headed out the previous day. The class was to do their district writing assessment, which is something I am very familiar with. 

I had had time to set up for the day before I went in search of lesson plans, so as Ms. E showed me where their packets were, she noticed my water bottles. My water bottles are covered in knitting. 

(These pictures are old. I've been using these sleeves for years now. I even made a video how-to for the purple one.) 

The conversation turned to my water bottle decorations. And how she wanted one. Or, rather three. One for her daughter. One for her daughter-in-law. And one for her son's girlfriend, who she called a daughter-in-law even though she's not technically one (as the son and she are not married, but they are in a long-term relationship). 

I mean, I can make them. I should really be working on the reluctant sweater. I am doing a side quest with the potty pals. But sure, why not add on some water bottle sleeves? 

Someone really needs to get working on the thing she should be working on. 

Ms. E asked me how much I'd charge. I don't know. Anyone know what they'd be willing to pay for these? It's hard to know what's fair, really. 

Anyway, the kiddos didn't seem to get much done on their essays (or rather, their essay writing prep, as it was read-the-sources day), but they did it quietly. At least, those that were in class were quiet. Many of them wanted to help build the haunted house they build on campus each year (and invite community members to). 

Drawing Inferences

Wednesday. Seventh grade English. 

This was a new-to-me teacher. (She's also new to the school, but she's not new to the district. Last year she was at the continuation high school. I saw some gigs pop up from her, but I always missed them.) The classroom she's in used to belong to an eighth grade history teacher (who retired at the end of the last school year). 

(For fun I went into the archives. I subbed for Mr. C in this room on this day and on this day.)

Ms. V had left very detailed lesson plans. She had written their detailed agenda on the board. What could go wrong? 

Seventh graders. 

They were to read a excerpt from the novel Feed in their textbook, and they had questions to go along with it. This is a very basic, very standard type of assignment for a sub day. It should have been easy. 

But nope. I offered to have us read the story as a class. No, they could read it on their own. But, they were not reading. I pointed out that reading requires them to not be talking, because one can't talk and read at the same time. I mean, I'm way old (compared to them), and I can't do it, so I know they can't do it. 

They did not see my point. They claimed they could read and talk. (If they were reading together, that would have been fine, but that sounds a whole lot different than random conversations that have nothing to do with the assignment.) 

But somehow, they got to the point where they were answering the questions. And I got the same question from several of them. Do we have to draw? 

Draw? I went to investigate. 

The question asked them to "draw an inference" from the text. Two of the characters were having a conversation, but the text explicitly stated that the two characters were not speaking. So, how were they having the conversation? 

The excerpt was from a sci-fi novel where everyone is implanted with a computer feed. I'm hazy on details as I haven't read the book, but I quickly inferred that they were using this computer feed to telepathically (or something) communicate, maybe like texting. 

The problem? They had no idea what "infer" meant. (Although, from the context of the question, it should have been clear they were writing an answer, not drawing a picture.) 

After explaining this three times, it was time to explain it to the whole class, as there comes a point when it's clear that most of the class will have the same question, and repeating the answer for each and every student gets tedious quickly. 

Were they able to infer? Well, kind of. When I explained that they had to figure it out even though it wasn't stated in the text, they got that. But, they were also seventh graders with a sub. They weren't working as diligently as they might with their teacher. 

Although, when I left my note about how many of them weren't making very good use of their time, Ms. V emailed back that she had similar problems with them not doing their work. 

I was very much not surprised at that. I could infer from their behavior that they were not in the habit of taking their schoolwork seriously. Seventh graders. Some of them will learn the hard way that they should really take their schoolwork seriously. 

Expecting the Call

Tuesday. Third period, prep period. 

I was covering a teacher who had one period of business math and two periods of credit recovery. It was a fairly quiet day where my biggest concern was the cell phone usage. (They're supposed to put their phones away during class time. They didn't.) 

After first period (they're on a block schedule) is snack. And when I have that next class free, I usually don't run out to the restroom as I'll have time during class. But I felt a little push. Something told me to go during snack. 

The bell rang to start third period. I settled in. And then the classroom phone rang. And I just knew. 

Yup. Could I cover another class? Art. A teacher I had subbed for before (and who I've talked to many times). 

I mean, I get paid for the extra period. And it's not like it was a difficult class.

And it wasn't a difficult class. It was a scramble initially. The period had begun, and security had let the kiddos into the room. I was kinda late. (Not my fault if they call me after the class started.) 

There were no lesson plans on the desk. Clearly, this teacher had called out late. (This happens. It's likely why they didn't get her a whole day sub.) But, I know this teacher. I had the kiddos grab computers assuming that the lesson plans were online. Yup, the lesson plans were online. 

I knew where she kept her sub book. The seating charts were out. Once the kiddos got working, I looked at my computer to take roll as Allie had emailed me the attendance code, and she had also emailed the lesson plans. Which stated that the students needed to look online as their lesson plans were in Google Classroom. 

Experience is helpful. The class was settled and on task pretty quickly. 

(They were drawing sea shells. And doing some other tasks that they were behind on.)

It's been a couple years since working on prep periods happened most days. This seems to be coming back, though. While I rather like having the time without students, I also really like the extra pay. So I may grumble a bit, but I'm not terribly upset. 

I'm especially not terribly upset when the class is fairly mellow. 

And then after that I went back to the other fairly mellow class. Some days are not so interesting for the blog.

Lacking Empathy

Here are some interesting things I came across this week. 

An ‘empathy gap' divides Americans ahead of the midterms, says PRRI report

(RNS) — A survey released Tuesday (Oct. 20) found that Republicans and evangelicals increasingly see empathy as a danger that can lead society away from God. The survey found that more than half of Americans see President Trump as a threat to democracy.

I found this idea troubling. Evangelicals believe that empathy can lead people away from their God? If empathy is a problem, where is their moral compass? It explains why the atrocities this regime is committing don't bother them.

One big thing that puts my stomach in knots is the whole ICE thing. Them taking people off the streets. Killing people. Sending people to countries where they are in danger. All of it. (I feel empathy for these people. I didn't understand why others didn't. Well, now I know.)

Anyway, there's a resource for knowing your rights when the skibidi brownshirts are around. My state assembly member sent out some info as they've been kidnapping in my neighborhood. (If you're in California, you can report misconduct by ICE here.)

Also, I was sent a survey since they knew I had returned my ballot. At the end of the survey was a link to the results. I found it interesting. You can find those results here. It asked about a couple ballot measures, but it also asked about possible 2028 presidential candidates. In case you're interested. 

And finally, a little video I found interesting: 

What are you afraid of?