Glitchy

Friday. Seventh period. Integrated math 1. (Read: algebra 1.) 

The plan was for them to do their study guide for a half hour, then I'd go over those answers, and then they'd take their test. While they were working on their study guide, I texted the teacher with the names of all the students (nine of them!) who were absent. 

No one had any questions about the study guide. So, then it was time to start the test. I collected their work, and they went to get computers. 

The test was online. 

Dr. R wanted the names of those absent so she only had open tests for those students who were in class. (Absent students could access the test from computers at home, but at home we couldn't guarantee the students weren't using notes or their phones or someone else was doing the test for them.) 

Once they got logged in, a student called me over. Her test was paused. It turned out she was on my absent list. (Which, seriously? I called out the roll. Was she not paying attention when I called her name?) So, I texted Dr. R to open her test. 

Whew. Class was quiet. Phones were put away. Things were going well... 

Sterling approached. His test had been paused. He showed me that when he tried to input a plus sign, he instead got a new screen. And because it was a test, the computer only allowed one screen and one tab open while the test was being done. 

I texted Dr. R. Sterling continued working on his test... 

A few minutes later, another problem. Sterling wanted to backspace to fix something he had mistyped, only backspace wasn't working. Deep sigh. 

I had Sterling get another computer. Clearly the one he had was glitching (or he hit something that was disrupting things), and I wasn't going to be able to fix it. So, I had to text Dr. R one more time... 

It was after school when I saw her final response. That she had opened Sterling's test twice. (I got busy with class stuff so I wasn't looking at my phone.) 

I made sure to send along an explanation for what happened. Tech issues. Always gets us. 

This is one reason why the math teachers don't usually give tests while they're out. (Well, those teachers who do the online tests. Some teachers still do tests on paper.) 

Not Seeking Help

Wednesday. Seventh grade English, special ed. 

A couple of the students had to finish their district writing assessment. The rest had a grammar packet to work on. 

I had been warned that the class could be "chatty". Most days that's not a big deal, but the students who still had to finish their writing assessment needed a quiet room. Luckily, I had an instructional aide who knew the kiddos and was able to call them out when they wouldn't settle. 

But seventh graders. 

Mostly the room was calm. But then Dante started talking to his neighbor Garfield. Not loudly, but it was distracting enough. So, I meandered over there. 

I stood between Dante and Garfield. Hovering. Dante looked up at me. And asked me a question. About the assignment. He was stuck. 

Okay, then. That's something I can help with. 

I answered Dante's question. I helped him enough so that he could continue on with the assignment. I went back to the teacher's desk. 

A few minutes later Dante's talking again. Again, I meandered over. And again, it turned out that Dante was stuck. 

By the third time I asked Dante why he didn't just raise his hand to ask for help, rather than turning to his neighbor. (They were not discussing the assignment. The energy of the conversation was playing, not academic.) Dante replied that he thought that if he contemplated the question enough, he could figure it out. 

Well, clearly not. Clearly when he got stuck, he distracted himself with talking to his neighbor. 

This is not unusual. Nowadays, kiddos rarely raise their hands. They rarely ask for help. Unless I'm standing there. If I'm in front of them, they'll take that opportunity to ask a question. But they won't seek me out if they're stuck. They'll stay stuck. 

I'm not sure why this is. But it's something I can work with. 

Catching Assignments

I like to be booked in advance. But last week that did not happen. When I left school on Friday, I had nothing scheduled for Monday or Tuesday. 

Saturday evening, something popped up for Monday. Whew. I wouldn't have to spend Sunday waiting and wondering. 

And then Sunday afternoon that assignment was cancelled. (The teacher sent an email apologizing for cancelling. I assume whatever reason she was going to have to miss school resolved itself.) 😞

I tried to be happy about the prospect for a day off. (There was going to be a little construction in the house, so I wanted to be away from home for that.) I went to bed planning what I would do with my day off. 

Then, at about 5AM-ish, a job popped up. Whew. 

All day Monday I kept my phone and computer open. Hoping for Tuesday. 

(Monday's assignment was an English class. The tenth graders were doing prelim work before reading Animal Farm while the ninth graders were analyzing the poem "Ozymandias".) 

And a couple assignments did pop up. Sadly, they popped up while I was doing my job. 😞

(If I don't grab the assignment when it pops up, it's gone. One of them I saw four minutes after it posted. I tried to grab it. It was gone.) 

Tuesday wasn't going to be a problem being off, though. No work planned in the house. 

But, at about 7:30 PM, something for Tuesday popped up. Whew. And this one didn't get cancelled. Again, whew. 

(AP Economics. The kiddos were prepping for a test. But we had technical difficulties with the computers not letting them get logged in. Well, only about a third of the class.  But seniors. In advanced placement. They weren't a problem.) 

The rest of the week was booked. As is this week. So, after Tuesday I could relax a bit. 

Now, as for next week... 

It's Happening Again

I have about five different ideas about where to start today. It's hard to narrow it down. But if I think about the one thing that bothers me the most about *gestures to everything*, it's the ICE raids. And the concentration camps. 

This story was shared on BlueSky. This link takes you to the posts on BlueSky. Here's a taste of it:

They are committing atrocities. 

Article: Lawsuit Alleges Inhumane Conditions at Broadview ICE Facility 

And that's just Chicago. The same thing is happening in Los Angeles. And all over the country. 

Good Progress

...if I do say so myself.

The bulky yarn helps, as does just knitting a couple rows a night. I didn't get to knit every night, but I'm knitting more now that things have cooled off a bit. 

I did not get around to figuring out how to create a video of the progress. It's one of those things that I'm going to have to have the headspace for before I attempt, and then it'll probably take me way less time than I anticipate. 

While I work on this sweater, I have to think realistically about the requests I got in July for Christmas. 

I have officially given up on knitting the twins anything for Christmas this year. They requested Minecraft sweaters. As I know little about Minecraft, I went in search of patterns. I could not find anything. I found some sweaters, but no pattern for them. I found patterns for Minecraft critters, but those I'd have to adapt somehow, and I really don't have the time, especially considering how far along I'm on this sweater for their big brother. 

So, I bought them Minecraft sweaters. Well, sweatshirts. One wanted just a green Minecraft sweater and one wanted an ugly Christmas Minecraft sweater. If I have any time, I did find a pattern for a Minecraft beanie. But it's more likely that I'll have time in January or February for that. 

Kinda a fail, but at least I've managed to make something for two of the four nephews. 

Sweater Tracking:

• 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

Their Instructions

Friday. Halloween. Seventh grade science...

(If anyone recalls how I started last school year--long term for a maternity leave for a seventh grade science teacher--this room might look familiar. Yup, this is Ms. S's class, the class I covered last August/September.)

Because Halloween, Ms. S left a movie. Wall-E. Since the classes are 90 minutes long (block schedule), the kiddos started with a vocab assignment. 

The definitions were written on the white board. Then they were to illustrate the terms and use the terms in a sentence. They've done this before. Several wanted computers to look up images, but Ms. S said no computers. 

(I covered the class about a month ago, and I severely limited computer access per instructions. Those students who managed to find a good enough excuse to get permission to use a computer proved why no computers was the better way to go.) 

It was time to start the movie. But, while many of them had finished the assignment, many still had not completed copying the definitions of the terms. I warned them that I was going to pull down the screen, so they had only a couple minutes left for that task. 

Ms. S had left the movie on DVD and had that hooked up to her projector. 

The projectors were new technology a short time ago. They have been supplanted by the big TVs, but some teachers prefer the projectors. And in some cases those work better for some applications. 

I had not had a chance to test the equipment, but unlike with yesterday's post, I was sure this DVD player actually worked. But I wanted to have everything ready to go before I told a class of seventh graders that we were starting the movie. 

I turned on the projector. Then I turned on the DVD player. It immediately went into starting the movie... 

"You have to pull down the screen." 

"Turn out the lights." 

"I can't see the movie."

"Six seven..."

"We passed this part already." 

I didn't respond as they all shouted out instructions. Because really? I had it. Everything was working. And I was still waiting on one or two students to finish copying down the definitions before I pulled down the screen. 

So, I waited. I haven't quite figured out how to shame them into calming down. I can't compete with them all shouting instructions at me. But if I say nothing, they seem to think that I'm not hearing them or I don't understand what they're telling me. 

Eventually I was ready to get it all started. I explained that we were about ready to go, and that's when I pulled down the screen and fast forwarded to about the 20 minute mark (which was where Ms. S said they left off). 

That age just loves to explain things. They make sure the sub knows how things are supposed to go. Even though this sub did know what needed doing. 

As far as Halloweens go, this one was relatively sedate. 

Some previous Halloweens: 

• Bubble Gum Physics
• How to Address a Postcard
• A Gig on Halloween

Old Broken Technology

In February, I took a long term gig covering a class that had lost its teacher at the semester. It was a mad scramble. 

At that time, the library was clearing out its old technology. They were throwing out all their old DVD players as most teachers now stream video to their big TVs or have the kiddos watch things on their Chromebooks. The aide for the class snagged one of those DVD players and left it for the classroom. 

At no point did we ever use that DVD player. 

Wednesday. Freshman math, special ed. 

New teacher, but familiar classroom. Mr. R arrived, admitting that he had forgotten he was out of class, so his lesson plan was kind of thrown together. The kiddos had a couple worksheets, and then they could watch a video. (He left three choices.) That DVD player, that Ms. S acquired in February was connected to the TV. 

We got through the worksheets and "Good Things". (Every day they do a thing where the kiddos talk about one good thing in their lives.) And then it was time to watch the movie. I let the kiddos pick which one, and I went to start the DVD player...

Only it wasn't plugged into the wall. We searched for an extension cord... 

I turned on the player, put the DVD in, but the TV wasn't getting a signal. I switched out the cable. Nothing. I tried a few other fixes. Again, nothing. 

I grabbed a Chromebook, figuring I could stream the movie. Only, the Chromebook didn't have a spot to plug in the HDMI cable to plug into the TV. 

Finally, after a good half hour of troubleshooting, I cast the Chromebook to the TV. Only, the picture worked, but the sound did not. Sigh. (The sound worked from the Chromebook, so I turned that up as high as it would go.)

For the next class, the aide called a neighbor teacher who is tech savvy to see if she could figure out the problem. She plugged in a different DVD player... and that worked. (Well, the drawer for the DVD wouldn't open, but the TV got a signal from the DVD player.) 

So, the DVD player, that Ms. S "rescued" from being thrown out, didn't work. Sigh. 

If only Mr. R had tested the thing before setting that as the lesson plan...