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.