The Wrong Episode

It was Halloween. So, the teacher left them a video. An episode of The Twilight Zone.

(It was "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". Here's the link. Unfortunately, it's mirror flipped, so all the words are opposite.)

Then, because students will ignore videos, they had a "quiz" after. It wasn't so much a quiz as just something to verify that they hadn't been on their phones. Ms. S said that they could work together on it.

Of course, some of them were on their phones. They didn't even attempt the "quiz". In fact, they were surprised by it when I passed it out. I don't know why. I announced it as I intro'ed the video.

Ah well.

Sixth period. They were awful. A group of boys was just loud. And obnoxious.

The loudest and most obnoxious of the group then complained that he had missed some of the first ten minutes (because he had been talking and such). He pulled out his phone, searched his Netflix, and found that the series was available.

Um, it was being projected on a big screen at the front of the room. But somehow, this wasn't the quality that he liked. He'd rather watch it on his phone.

As long as he watched it...

The episode was over. I passed out the questions (which were multiple choice and obvious). The boy was still watching on his phone. I looked over his shoulder.

I'm sure you won't be shocked if I tell you he wasn't watching "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". However, he was watching The Twilight Zone. Yes, the black & white original series.

He was watching the "Living Doll" episode. You know, talking Tina.

I mean, great selection. I applaud the choice. But later. You know, after he'd completed the questions for the episode that was assigned...

Sigh. Let's just say that Ms. S wasn't shocked when that boy's name came up.

Too Much Effort

Thursday at the continuation high school means it's buyout day. A student can get Friday off if:

1. The student has had no absences or tardies all week.
2. The student has permission from their parents.
3. The student has permission from all their teachers. 

Ideally, teachers only give permission to buyout if the student is caught up with all their assignments for the week. (This is not always the case, depending on the teacher. Some teachers will sign buyouts for everyone.) 

I was covering English for Ms. S. She had some... things... to do. (She told me. Multiple times. Something about meeting with students and checking graduation progress. But I had a hard time keeping it in my head. I'll blame the migraine I was getting over.) 

Anyway, the upshot was that she was on campus all day. And she was signing their buyouts.

There was only one hitch. They had to have completed the work for the week. 

Now, this was not an unreasonable request. And their work wasn't all that much, really. She'd been teaching them various writing things, and this week was all about writing an article summary. 

She gave them an article. She gave them a template with sentence frames. They read the article together. She modeled how to find details from the article to use in the summary. If they put those in the sentence frames, they had a very easy article summary completed. 

On Thursday they were to find their own article and repeat the process. 

I explained to the classes that to buy out, they had to have completed both article summaries. 

Sixth period walked in. Only one boy had a buyout to be signed. I explained the lesson. 

After making sure the students had all the papers they needed, I found myself next to that boy. He had barely anything completed on the first summary. But, getting both done in a period was doable. I pointed out that he needed to do the work to get his buyout signed. 

The boy ripped up his buyout. 

He wasn't going to even try? 

I mean, by sixth period, he had had five other teachers approve him skipping school Friday. He couldn't be bothered to at least make an attempt at doing the week's work? 

Nope. He ripped up his buyout and did nothing that period.

Deep sigh. If they won't at least make the effort. 

(Several students did get their buyouts signed. Because, it wasn't unreasonable, the work she was asking them to do.)

Instead of Working

On Tuesday (and Wednesday and Thursday) I was back at the continuation high school. English class. They had several assignments online.

(The entire English department in the district has switched over to this textbook/online system. Imagine an interactive textbook. That's kind of what it's like.)

They were supposed to be working on prelim stuff for "Song of Myself". And many of them were on task. The room was fairly quiet.

But then I noticed that several of them were focused on one student's computer. And they were laughing. So, clearly they weren't on task. They were watching something.

I didn't want to investigate. What were they watching now? Popular time killers include soccer games, fights, video games, and just random stupidness.

I meandered over to stand where I could see what they were all reacting to. (I can also make it clear I'm Going Over to Investigate, and in that case they stop whatever it is pretty quickly and pretend they were on task all along. Depending on what outcome I want--whether I want to know what they were watching or whether I just want them to get on task--determines how I approach.)

I was not expecting what I found...

I'm not sure if I'm annoyed or impressed. I mean, obviously I would have rather found them watching the introductory video for "Song of Myself" (the assignment). But as far as what could have been entertaining them, this is not bad.

I think they really liked the egg crate device holder.

The Snitch

Monday I was back at the continuation high school. Math class.

They do all their work on computers, so my main job is to monitor them and make sure they're on task. (I also occasionally am called on to assist with problems that they're having difficulty with.) There is a computer program to help with this, and on this day I found that more of them were off task than on.

Not surprising. Annoying. So, I kept a list of those who were off task.

For some reason, they think they're sneaky by keeping their video tab small. Nope. I totally see that and note it.

In one class, a student decided to apply for a job online. While I applaud his determination, job applications are best filled out when one is not in math class (when one should be doing math). I told him something of the sort.

"But I need a job. I don't need math."

I should mention that he was applying to work in a retail environment.

I pointed out that math has some bearing on selling things. He argued that he didn't really need algebra.

Perhaps. Perhaps not. We did the usual argument. He refused to get back to work. I walked away (because belaboring the argument doesn't help). And, of course, I noted the exchange in my note to the teacher.

The next day I was back at the continuation high school but in a different class. Naturally, the job seeker was my classes this day, too.

He had a bone to pick with me. Apparently, his math teacher wasn't pleased that he was applying for work instead of doing his math.

"I thought we were chill. Why'd you have to snitch on me?"

I'm not sure what part of our conversation led him to believe that I was okay with him not being on task. Or why he'd think I wouldn't report what did and did not get done in class.

Deep sigh. Just another day dealing with teenagers.

Paranoid

Remember the whole "stop looking at me" conversation I related on Wednesday?

That same day, all the English classes at the continuation high school were writing the quarterly district essay. (I was covering graphic arts.)

The next day, I covered one of the English teachers. (They were out grading the essays.) And I found this on her desk...

Click on picture to make bigger (so you can read it).

So, instead of working on the required essay (which was worth quite a bit), this student took exception to "being watched", too.

I'm not the only one.

Must Do "Work"

The previous day, the English class had to do the writing assessment that this school district requires of all its students. So, on this day, the teacher left them a video.

You'd think they'd be happy to have a video. Some were.

This one boy, however, was quite upset. He needed to get some work done. He wanted a computer.

The schools now have class sets of Chromebooks (read: lightweight laptops) that teachers can use for various lessons. As this class wasn't going to need the Chromebooks for this lesson, the computers weren't accessible.

The boy insisted. He needed to get something accomplished. I thought this laudable, so when he asked if he could borrow a Chromebook from another class, I allowed it. (It was supposed to be a relaxed day for them, so if someone wanted to do work...)

In the end, six students went and got Chromebooks.

But, they were rather noisy for those doing classwork...

I quick peek over their shoulders, and I found out what all the noise was. Were they working hard on class requirements? Of course not. They were playing a first person shooter game.

via GIPHY

Figures.

Later in the day, Terrence showed up. He informed me that he needed a computer. (No, he didn't ask. Apparently, asking permission is for others.)

Well, I stopped him. I asked him if he actually planned to work. I'm sure you can imagine his response.

(I explained what I had observed earlier in the day. He promised me he was going to do work.)

You know I didn't leave it at that. I went to look over his shoulder...

To find him doing work. Slowly. But, not games. So, progress.

Not a Real Word

Some classes I cover more than others. (I hear there are going to be a lot of English curriculum trainings this year...) So, this particular PLUS class and I are well-known to each other.

The day's lesson was about vocabulary. They were to take words like team, values, character, and role model and define them "through a PLUS lens". (That is, they were to give examples of those qualities in action.)

I had a list. The lesson plan said to assign a word to each student. So, I did. I went down the class roster and down the list of words. And they were okay with this. Well, everyone except one student.

He got assigned "paradigm".

"That's not a real word."

Since the assignment had them creating a Google slide for the word, the students had computers. And I had just spelled the word for the boy. (Never mind that the word was in the book that was open in front of him.)

He had typed the word into Google, and the definition was right there on the screen in front of him.

So, yeah, of course I just made the word up... *eye roll*

He eventually completed the assignment. I think. But not after he challenged me to use the word in a sentence. (Which I did. Not a great sentence, mind you, but passable.)

How about you? Want to try to use paradigm in a sentence?

Not Overheard

The class was one of those leadership-type classes that isn't ASB. (It's a kind of character building thing that serves as an elective as well as some extracurricular stuff.) On this day, they were going over the behavior expectations (code of conduct and code of ethics stuff).

So, it was discussion time. And we were at the continuation high school. (The other schools don't start until this week.) The part of the code of ethics about reporting criminal activity didn't go over well. ("We're not snitches.")

The discussion meandered, as discussions usually do, and we were interrupted by the phone. A student needed to go to the office. He left, and then he returned in a bit of a worse mood.

"I got some bad news and some good news."

The class wanted to know. The bad news was kind of expected. As for the good news...

"I can't say," and he indicated that he couldn't divulge the good news in front of me.

The rest of the class protested.

"What's said in here stays in here," someone pointed out.

The teacher has set the class up as a safe zone, where the kiddos can talk out their issues. And they have to know that what they say isn't going to be used against them later on. I get that. So, after telling me I couldn't "snitch" on him, he let us know about his after school plans.

The class laughed. And they looked at me. Apparently, I had a good enough shocked face.

Great. Something I can't let slide?

Yeah, see, that's the problem. I had no idea what he said. He was turned away from me, and mumbling a bit (and my hearing isn't always the best, especially in these circumstances).

So, I played like I heard. Gave him a stern look. And we moved on.

I so shouldn't have let him say anything. Sigh.

(The next day I had the same class, and he repeated that he got to smoke a blunt after school. Sigh. I think I was better off not knowing.)

Misread the Schedule

The continuation high school is back in session. Their first day was last Tuesday. I was there on Wednesday.

(The teacher had a training for the district. The rest of the district is on summer vacation, so she was the only one who needed a sub.)

2nd period. I hate calling out the roll, so when possible, I do the "reverse". That is, I walk around the room with roster in hand and ask each student his/her name. They tell me, and I mark them down as present.

Because it was the second day of school, schedule changes continue to happen. So, when a couple of the students' names were not on the roster I had, I wrote them beneath the list. After making the rounds, I sat at the computer to input the roll. And that's when I discovered that Brian was not in the class.

Okay. No problem. I went over to him and explained that he was in the wrong class. I did it gently.

"No. This is my class. I'll prove it to you..."

And he pulled out his schedule.

Mind you, I was not accusing him of "visiting". I assumed it was an honest mistake.

As soon as I saw his schedule, I understood the problem.

The continuation high school has this thing called "advisory". They meet once a week, kind of like what I understand a home room used to be. They get announcements. Important papers are passed out to them. That sort of thing.

But, with the software that generates schedules, they have no way of marking "advisory", so they call it period 0. And the students should learn that period 0 is for their advisory class. But newbies to the school are still learning their way around.

Brian had this English class 1st period. 2nd period he was supposed to be elsewhere. But, he didn't look at the periods; he only counted down lines from the top. (Why his advisory teacher didn't realize he shouldn't have been in his class 1st, I have no idea.)

I explained where he was supposed to be. And he was not pleased. He stormed out of class, angry. I let the teacher he was supposed to have know what happened, and then settled in for the rest of the period.

Turns out having Brian leave mellowed the table he was sitting at way down. (They weren't terrible, but they were way more quiet once he was gone.) So, bonus!

I worry about embarrassing them about things like this. I guess I shouldn't worry so much.

Blood Drive Fail

"Ms. S said you'd give blood if you were at the continuation high school on Tuesday..."

It was odd to get a call to work the next day at 5 PM. It was even odder to be called to cover the teacher who was running the blood drive. But then again, of course she couldn't be in class and run the blood drive...

I've subbed for Ms. S quite a lot recently. She told me about the blood drive a month ago. I did say I would volunteer, but it was likely that I wouldn't be on campus that day. Turns out I was wrong.

I did remember the promise. And it was a day of work. So, I took it.

The reason I've never given blood before doesn't have to do with a fear of needles or the sight of blood making me faint. I've just had really bad luck when it comes to having blood drawn. For example, the last time I had to have blood drawn for tests, it took them eight tries to find a vein.

Eight. Tries.

Yes, I got stuck eight times. I felt a bit like a pincushion at the end of the day.

So, I wasn't sure what was going to happen at the blood drive. I promised myself that I'd let them try twice.

I got through all the intake paperwork. I went to lie down. And the nurse went looking for a vein...

Turns out I needn't have worried about getting stuck twice. After two blood drive workers failed to find a vein, they let me go.

At least I tried. (This is what I keep telling myself. It isn't making me feel any better about it, though.)

Expert in Geography

It was day two with the English class at the continuation high school. We were fully into the movie Girl Rising, stopping every 15 minutes to review ethos, logos, and pathos. (Please see yesterday's post for a brief overview of the lesson.)

The teacher had suggested that it might be cool if I could find a world map and point out where each of the girls' stories took place.

A quick Google search turned up an awesome map where you can click on a country and a map of that country pops up. (It's here in case you want to check it out.)

I was not surprised that in most of the classes when I asked where Haiti, Nepal, and Egypt were I only got vague answers that were mostly wrong. This was the continuation high school, and as a culture we are notoriously bad at knowing where anything in the world is.

So, I was surprised when in 2nd period I asked where Haiti was, and one student gave me a very good description. Then he surprised me by correctly locating Nepal. And then Egypt.

They do actually take a geography class as freshmen. I'm glad that at least one of them was paying attention.

Could you locate those countries on a map without a hint? Did you take geography? How did you do in your geography class?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Down Time

Last week I was back at the continuation high school. English class. They're doing a unit on modes of persuasion. There will be an essay they will have to write. But later.

On the days I was there, they were getting practice identifying ethos, logos, and pathos. By watching the film, Girl Rising.

But, to get them started, we first watched the trailer...



After, I asked them to come up with examples of ethos, logos, and pathos from the trailer...

"What? We were supposed to watch it? It's a trailer. You know, the thing that comes before the movie. We weren't paying attention..."

Because, apparently, I wasn't clear enough when I explained that they would be coming up with examples...

Fine. I offered to play the trailer again. At least they were able to come up with examples after a second viewing.

Do you enjoy watching movie previews? Have you seen Girl Rising?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Calling his Mom

Two weeks prior, the last time I had covered this English class at the continuation high school, Jeremiah and I had a bit of a conflict. It's a long story which ends with him on a three-day suspension. So, while I wanted to be respectful of him, I also had to make sure he knew I was in charge.

The previous day, the class completed a first read of excerpts from "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman. On this day, they were to look for textual evidence supporting attributes of the poet expressed in the poem. They were writing out their findings in a bubble map.

Jeremiah chose not to do his work. Also, he chose to sit in the front of the room. So, of course I stood over him and asked what he was getting done.

What he was doing was talking on his phone. Or playing his music too loud. Or accessing various apps on his phone (texting, Instagram, etc.). And he did not like being "singled out".

"Go sit over there," as he pointed to the chair behind the teacher's desk. "That's your seat..."

He did not agree that my job was actually to make sure he was getting something done. I was "picking on him" and he didn't like that one bit.

I walked the room. Then I returned to see he hadn't gotten any further on his assignment. And he wasn't having my nose in his business any longer.

"I'm going to call my mom..."

His phone was already out, so he pulled up his contacts and started the call.

"Oh, she'd better pick up..."

The phone rang and rang, but he got no answer. He hung up.

I'm not sure what he hoped to accomplish. Was his mom going to tell me that I should let her son sit in class and not do his schoolwork?

I managed not to break into laughter in front of the class. Barely. The student called his mom on me! *shakes head*

A Dictionary App

It was the third time in two weeks that I'd covered the 11th grade English class at the continuation high school. This day, they were doing a first read of excerpts from "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman.

First up, I asked the class to define ten vocabulary words their teacher had left for them. They were allowed to use their phones to find the definitions.

(Having students look up definitions on their phones has become common practice in the last couple years. Before anyone gets "these kids today" about this, just think about how you'd rather find a definition or check spelling on a word. You're going to use your phone or a computer, right?)

The continuation high school has many students who have tuned out. They may attend class (although many rack up the absences), but they're there under protest, and they refuse to do anything. But nowadays, rather than spend a period antagonizing me, they spend the period glued to their phones--texting, Snapchatting, Instagramming, and watching videos.

(Depending on various factors, I may or may not choose to do battle over the phones.)

Jake is one of those. I think he has a phone addiction as much as that device is glued to his hand. So, I thought looking up words on it would be right up his alley...

"I don't want to go on Safari..." he whined.

He's glued to his phone, and he doesn't want to use his phone...? OMFG!

But, I had a solution. "You know, there are dictionary apps..."

A few minutes later, I noticed him texting. He explained he was waiting while the dictionary app downloaded. Sure enough, there was now a dictionary app on his phone. Hooray?

He even defined a couple of the words. (Although, not all ten...) Until he got bored of the whole endeavor and put his head down on his desk. Deep sigh.

Old Age Debate

It was one of those days when the kiddos had work, and I could just sit back and watch them work. One boy decided to sit next to me to converse.

He touched on various topics. I contributed when called upon. Then he came up with the oddest idea.

"I don't want to live to be old and sick. I'd like to die before I reach 55."

They have some odd ideas about age. I commented that 55 isn't old, and there's still so much to do once reaching that age. But he wasn't having it. He figured that's when he'd be too sick to enjoy the rest of his life.

This went back and forth for a bit. Then another boy passed by.

Boy 1: "What age would you like to live to?"

Boy 2: "80."

At which point, a couple other students chimed in with more reasonable ages. So, it was just him.

Ah, the naivete of youth.

A Visiting Cricket

Insects and spiders don't freak me out. (They may gross me out, though.) This can be useful in the classroom.

I finally made it back to the continuation high school. It's been a while. This day I was covering an English class. They were supposed to be reading and analyzing a current event article. And some of them were.

The boy hadn't been doing much, but he had finally settled down. Just when I thought all was well, he jumped out of his seat and ran halfway across the room.

"Crickets creep me out."

The rest of the class found this amusing.

"Do you move that fast when the cops show up?"

"If you had stepped on it, it would no longer be an issue."

The boy's response (to the second comment): "I can't kill it. Crickets are lucky." (He didn't respond to the first comment.)

This is the point where I got involved. I did my usual when there are critters in the classroom (or spiders in my shower--so long as I saw it before I turned on the water). I found a clear container (the teacher had a plastic cup with markers and highlighters in it) and put it over the cricket. (It was a big cricket. I'll give the boy that.)

The boy then jumped in. I guess he felt his manhood had been questioned. He started to scoot it out the door. But I called a stop to that as the only reason I had left the cricket under the cup was to go and find a folder to put underneath. Once I had that in hand, I took the whole thing outside, and the cricket was dumped in the bushes a few steps outside the classroom.

The class concurred that crickets were lucky. That one sure was. It lived past its encounter with the scary high school class.

Online Help

I finally made it back to the continuation high school. It's been a while.

English class. Their assignment was online. (This is becoming more and more common. I think it's a good thing. And since I can fix the majority of the issues that crop up, I'm good with it.)

The assignment had them reading an article and an excerpt of the U.S. Constitution (yes, really), and then they had questions to go along with their reading. It looked to be a pretty straightforward assignment.

So, I was surprised to find the students Googling things. No, they weren't looking at random sites. (Well, they did do that, too.) No, they were Googling the questions to the assignment.

Um, why? The answers to the questions were in the reading. And the reading was part of their assignment.

"But I couldn't find it," they complained. Funny, I found the answers while looking over their shoulders and skimming...

Well, there's a reason they're at the continuation high school...

Small Group

Fridays at the continuation high school are a bit different. Looser. Students who attended Monday through Thursday can "buyout", so classes are smaller. And the students are less willing to do anything productive.

I expect smaller groups, but still I was surprised when only one student showed up for third period (out of 15). Um...

The lesson plan was one I had done before. Since class discussion was required, I figured it wouldn't work with one student. So, I gave him permission to find somewhere else to be. Until a second student arrived (late).

I could do the lesson with two students...

They were not happy with me. But I insisted. And things went better than I expected.

Turns out, it's easier to put students on the spot and make them talk when there's only two of them. At least sometimes.

Not Staying Here

This week it's my turn at Unicorn Bell. I'm discussing weekly bloghops you may be unfamiliar with. I'd love it if you'd stop by and say hi.

English class. At the continuation high school. They had a paragraph to write in response to an article they read. As per normal, some worked while others... well... they had the work out on their desks...

"...When you're in the back of a police car, you know they drive all like..." and he mimicked sliding from side to side.

The four boys discussed not-the-assignment in a volume more appropriate for a busy restaurant. The stuff they discussed... Cops and not giving cops information. Getting arrested. Drugs.

I informed them that they had an assignment. That they were talking too much. Too loudly. That they needed to get on task. Which they ignored. Even while I stood there, hovering.

The next day, I had these classes again. Their teacher, who was nearby at a meeting/training/whatever, was there setting up before the school day, and we discussed how things went. Harrison and his group were well known to her. Considering how little attention they paid to my instructions, she thought it'd be a good idea to have them "work" elsewhere. In the principal's office.

The class arrived. Of the four boys, two were absent. One sat away from Harrison (the loudest of the group). And Harrison found another boy (who I had had in a different class and I knew to be just as loud and obnoxious as Harrison) to sit next to.

I got class started. Which Harrison ignored. He was up and walking around. Talking loudly to the other boy. Talking over my instructions to the rest of the class.

Once the rest of the class was settled with the assignment for the day, I had time to deal with Harrison. I approached. I explained that he was to take his stuff and go and work in the principal's office for the period. (As the other boy was at least making a pretense of working, I decided to let him be.)

He wasn't having it. Oh, he howled. I "hadn't warned him". It "wasn't fair". They "weren't doing anything wrong". He refused to budge.

Well, I wasn't letting him stay in class. I could tell that this day would be a repeat of the previous one. And I didn't want to hear any of it.

So, I explained he had a choice. He could go, now. Or I could call the principal and have him escort Harrison out. And I wasn't bluffing. I would have done it.

But Harrison finally relented. And left.

Ah, the peace. It was lovely. The rest of the class got really, really quiet (even though I wasn't concerned if there was a little talking).

Harrison did return a couple times. To ask questions. About the assignment. It was clear from what I saw that he was actually making progress. Which was more than he had done the previous day.

So, success. Sort of. At least, I hope he got his work done.