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.

A Sudden Absence

Last Monday was the first day of school, and I caught an assignment for the whole week. (More about that in tomorrow's post.) However, I did not have a first period. This was a good thing, as first day of school, no teacher assigned to the class, so I was in scramble mode. 

Just before first period was to begin, I got a call. Could I cover a first period? 

The teacher, Mr. B, had been on campus. He had set up for the day. But, he suddenly got ill and had to go home. 

On the first day!?!

I don't doubt his illness. What concerned me was that there weren't any lesson plans. Uh, what do I do?

I got to the class at just about the bell. The class filed in. 

There were intro first day things written on the board. It was some sort of icebreaker activity. They were to get into groups or something, and I was unclear on what it was. 

The class was credit recovery. Generally, they'll work on whatever class they need to make up credits for. But that can't happen until they've been signed into the program. Which I could not do, not that I would on the first day. 

After I took roll, I flailed about for a bit, letting the class know that Mr. B was out ill, and then I noticed on a side table some worksheets. Score! 

They were simple things, like "about me" and "the importance of education". First day stuff. Okay, then, that works. 

It didn't quite take the whole period. But it was something. 

I had a whole first day thing ready for the class I had been booked for. If I had been thinking I would have brought it with me to that class. But no. 

You'd think by now I would know what to do in any situation. Nope. But at least the class had supervision. 

Mr. B was out all that first week. As I was on campus, I was able to find out. I hope he feels better soon. What a terrible time to suddenly take ill. 

And before anyone says it...

...yes, I know. (Via Jamie at Whatever I Think Of!)

Ignorant

What's going on in the world? No, seriously, I'm asking. Last week I got buried with back to school, and I have no idea what the idiots got up to. 

This got me thinking, though. This must be what it's like to be a low-information voter. One of the blissfully ignorant multitudes who have been going through life not watching everything we ever believed about our country crumbling around us. 

And I wondered how we reach those people. How do we wake them up to what's happening? 

We can't be overt about it. If they wanted to pay attention, they would. But can we be sneaky? Can we just slip things into conversation in such a way that they're not aware we're trying to wake them up? Can we mention things in passing that would shock them? And when they disbelieve, we can let them know that they just have not been paying attention. 

I don't know. Is it even worth the effort? 

But it is kind of nice to not be aware of all the shenanigans, just for a little while. It'll be there once I'm out from under the back to school crush. 

Preliminary Work

 I finished a thing last week.

Well, it's not precisely finished per se. But it's where I want it. 

It has been a while since I added anything to my YouTube channel. I had been toying with working on the reluctant sweater on camera, but I never quite got around to it. However, in the back of my mind, I thought I might want to do a video of the ugly slippers. 

Ugly slippers? 

They are the first things I ever made right after I learned to knit. My first project. Before that, GramMavis (my great-grandmother, the one who taught me to knit) made the family the slippers, gifting them to us to replace the previous pairs that wore out. 

As it's a great beginner project, I thought I'd knit them on camera and add them to my channel. 

As they are slippers, one would need to make two. But, I'm not going to knit two on camera. And, as it's been a while since I knit a pair, I needed to make sure I remembered how. 

I have no idea when I'm going to sit down and film this, but at least now when I do, I'm ready. 

(I like to sew both slippers up at the same time. It's a good way to make sure they look alike. So this one will remain flat until I film knitting the second slipper.) 

I wanted to give you a look at what they look like completed, but I couldn't get a good shot of them sitting on their own. Instead. I took a picture of them on my feet. Not the best, but it gives you a better idea.

Now it's just a matter of figuring out when to do some filming. 

We Can Guess If You’re a Millennial or Not Based on What Fast Food You Eat

Just in time for the school year to begin (the first day was Monday), I ran out of color quizzes. (We never did get a black quiz, but I believe we hit all the other major colors.) So, it's back to finding other quizzes. Today... 

We Can Guess If You’re a Millennial or Not Based on What Fast Food You Eat

Spoiler alert: they can't. Because I got: 

You're A Millennial!

24% of players got this result!

You are definitely a millennial, born between the years 1981 and 1997.

Uh, no. I remember 1981. I was in fourth/fifth grade. That makes me Gen X. 

So, let's see how badly they mangle your generation. I don't think I have very many Millennial readers, so most of you should not get this result. Let me know in the comments how badly they got your generation (or if they actually guessed correctly). I'm very curious. 

13 Things I Learned This Summer

As my summer comes to a close (school started Monday), I find myself reflecting on the season that was. While I didn't do much this summer (besides flying to Ohio), I did learn a few things along the way. Here is a list of some of the tidbits I picked up, in no particular order (and for Thursday 13).

1. Trashie.io 

I was in the car with my father, driving back from lunch, when the ad came on the radio. (I couldn't find a link to the ad, but here's their YouTube page.) An easy way to dispose of old clothing so it doesn't end up in a landfill. (And you earn gift cards per each bag you send in.) Sign me up. 

I have sent in one bag and one electronics box. It does cost, so that's a con. But I've been meaning to clean out my closet, and this makes it easy for me. It's just what I needed. 

2. Midnight Burger

Before my flight, I went in search of podcasts to download so I had something to listen to while crocheting on the plane. And I found this gem. It's currently in its fifth season, but I'm still on season one. 

Midnight Burger is the name of a diner that opens at six every evening. Where it'll be when it opens is anyone's guess. 

I did not expect to find a radio-play-type sci fi show podcast, but, then again, I am a total newbie with regards to podcasts, so I didn't know what I'd find. 

3. Apple Pay

On a whim I set up the wallet on my iPhone. And now I use my phone to pay for everything. It really is very convenient, although I understand why some might not want to use it. 

4. Airplane ticket on Apple Watch

I got an Apple Watch back in November, mostly to track my steps for the WeWard app. It turns out that there is so much more I use my watch for. 

When flying to Ohio, I added my tickets to Apple Wallet (as I had done in the past), and lo and behold, my boarding QR code just popped up on my watch. I did not know it did that. Now I know. 

5. Middle nephew is interested in astronomy

Just being in the vicinity of the family that I don't get to see that often teaches me so much. Middle nephew is now 16, and just in passing his mother mentioned how he's thinking of studying astronomy when he goes to college. And that just blew my mind. (I had similar aspirations at his age. Note the name of my blog. That's not an accident.) 

You better believe I asked him some follow up questions. I hope he does pursue the study. (Things got dicey for me in my twenties, and while I finished my bachelor's in physics, I did not go on to my masters as I had originally hoped to do.) 

6. Deadly Dowagers

While in Yellow Springs, Ohio, we ended up in a comic book store. They had a section of games. And I found this one. I was going to leave it behind, but SIL convinced me to go back and get it. We were going to play it, but we never did get around to it. Maybe next year... 

7. There's a castle in Loveland, Ohio

I already wrote a blog post about this. It was fascinating. If you missed the post, please check it out. 

8. Packing serving size containers

I don't know why this never occurred to me before. Game changer. 

I like ice cream. But I don't like scooping it into a bowl. Silly, I know. But, that is enough for me to not get ice cream unless it's in a smaller (and more expensive) container. Then it occurred to me that I could get the ice cream and repackage it in smaller serving-size plastic containers. 

It makes it so much easier. For me. I do something similar with cereal. This is more a neurospicy hack than something most people would even bother with, but it was new to me this summer, so on this list it goes. 

9. Making s'mores in an air fryer

We got an air fryer about a year ago. I've been learning how to make things in it. 

Put one marshmallow on a graham cracker. Set the temp for 375 degrees F. Let it heat until the marshmallow turns golden brown (about 3 minutes, but I watch it). Take out of air fryer, and put chocolate and second graham cracker on top. Squish and eat. 

10. Poaching eggs in the microwave

I learned scrambling eggs in the microwave a few years back. Why not try poaching them? 

I've only done this a couple times, but I learned quickly to poke holes in the yolks as the first time I tried it one of the eggs exploded. All over me. It was a mess. 

I've been doing 3 minutes in the microwave (in water), but I like my eggs well done. And covered, because exploding eggs. 

11. Jack in the Box and In-N-Out developed drive thrus at about the same time (but independently)

The Food that Built America has been a favorite of mine for a few years now. The current season started recording on my DVR in March (maybe February or April? I wasn't paying attention), but I didn't start watching the episodes until June. That was one of the tidbits from one of the episodes. 

12. Europeans love ranch dressing

I enjoyed seeing travelers enjoying the U.S. during the World Cup games. And this cracked me up. There were news reports of people trying to check this in with their luggage. 

I can't stand the stuff personally, so send it all overseas. I'm good with that. 

13. FAA regulations mandate pilots must retire on their 65th birthday

I learned this while eating lunch in Nashville Airport, but I already blogged about that. 

Blogging Maintenance

School started back up this week, so this is my last blogging nuts and bolts post of the summer. So, a few reminders: 

Now is a really good time to refresh your sidebar. When was the last time you went through and made sure all the gadgets were working? Is there anything there that's out of date? You should check it out periodically, so why not now? (Or find a time of year when things are slow for you and set yourself a reminder to do it then.) 

I've spent this summer trying to figure out how to help those bloggers who can't log in to comment on Blogger. If you've had this issue and figured out how to fix it, why not write your own blog post about it? I guarantee there are bloggers who would appreciate the insights. 

I collected all my blogging nuts and bolts posts into a page with a link at the top of this page. Feel free to reference it whenever you have need. 

And if there's any topic that you would like me to address, let me know in the comments. If I can answer the question, I will. Vacation weeks throughout the school year I will be in need of topics to blog about. Also, I'll need topics for next summer.

Happy beginning of the school year to those who celebrate.