In the Wrong Room

The last time I covered Ms. L's class was early November. The continuation high school isn't doing distance like the other schools. Rather than adding me into the Google Classroom as a teacher, they just gave me the link for the meet. And the last time I covered Ms. L's class, that worked just fine. 

Tuesday morning. I got the lesson plans. I logged into the meet. And I waited.

And waited. 

I knew something was wrong pretty quickly. While the kiddos don't all show up on time, someone is there on time. If only one. And usually someone is a touch early. 

But five minutes into class and I had no one? Nope, that's a mistake. 

I went through about ten minutes of panic which included calling the school (which didn't help). But then I noticed that the teacher had given me the student codes. . .

Google Classroom is set up so that someone can be designated a "student" or a "teacher". Teachers can add assignments and grade things. Students can only see what's been input and complete assignments. 

But what I needed was the meet link, which everyone can see. So, I figured why not? I can sign up as a student. 

Once I had done that, I found the messages from the students, wondering if class was happening. 

I had missed about half of first period (the class periods at the continuation high school are a half hour), but knowing the issue, I made sure to log into class via the Google Classroom for the rest of the day.

Teachers have a tendency to reuse their lesson plans, only modifying the specific stuff the class is doing that day. Clearly, Ms. L didn't realize that the meet links change. I let her know about the issue.

An Empty Class

"Don't know how you're going to be able to handle his classes."

The secretary was joking as she handed over the roll sheets. Mr. L's classes had two students enrolled in each period.

Yes, this is a new subbing story. In July. That's because the continuation high school is on a year-round schedule. And Mr. L needed the day.

In first and second periods, I had a full house (that's what I call it when I have no absences). Then in period four, I had no one show up...for 30 minutes. Turned out that the only student who had been showing up to class was testing (CAHSEE).

The last period of the day had two students enrolled, and no one showed up.

Normally, two absences is no big deal. It's a good average. But when the class only contains those two students...

What to do? Do I hang out? I am contracted through the end of the school day. Or do I try to go home early?

(I stayed. I couldn't go home anyway as we were having a scheduled power outage.)

Small Class

I believe I've mentioned the buyout thing at the continuation high school, but just in case you missed it...

On Fridays, students can get permission to skip school if

1. It was a full week (no Monday holiday)
2. They were in school and on time all week
3. Their teachers all give permission

This is what's so great about subbing on Thursday there. I get to sign the slips giving permission, and my condition is always for them to do their work. I state this up front, and I find that this is incentive enough to get them to do what they're supposed to do.  

On Thursday, every single student in first period (all six of them) gave me a buyout to sign. They all did their work. (The room was silent.) I signed every buyout. And I knew I was returning Friday (the teacher was out Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday).  

Would I have anyone in first period?  

Turns out, I had one student. I asked the burning question. 

Another of his teachers wouldn't sign his buyout. Bummer.  

But I was glad he was there. I would have felt funny getting the period off. It feels wrong somehow to have no students in a class that I'm supposed to teach.  

Math in Art Class

I expected a protest. I got one. But it didn't happen until 5th period. That it took that long was the surprise.

The lesson plan was curious. On Wednesday they had a drawing assignment. On Thursday the assignment was a packet on fractions--simplifying, improper fractions, and mixed numbers. Strange.

The TA explained. The class was construction skills. It goes along with the wood shop class. They have to be able to sketch what they want to build. And they have to be able to measure accurately.

Okay, then.

All the morning classes accepted Thursday's assignment without complaint. They worked on it. I got the usual sorts of questions. Many finished it.

Then 5th period arrived. They complained. "This is an art class!"

Yes and no. I explained the importance of math in this context.

They weren't having any of it. They didn't do math. So, they spent the period in conversation, starting with a run down of every teacher they ever had that they hated.

(This stuff is fascinating. I learn who's been fired and why. I also see how they feel about teachers that I've met. Sometimes I agree with their assessments. Sometimes I don't. But I would still rather see them get some work done.)

Then 6th period came in and complained about having to do a math packet, too. But unlike 5th, they accepted my explanation, and most of them actually did it.

There's always that one class. One period that just has to be difficult. I'm not sure why.

The Repercussions of the Note

From time to time I hear about what happens the next day after I sub a class. This was one of those times. This was originally posted on October 1, 2008. 

I was back covering the teacher that I had covered on Monday. It was pretty much a replay of Monday. This I expected.

I do leave notes for the teacher. I leave names. I leave funny incidents. And when I'm sure a student is lying to me, I make sure to write down what they said and who it was that said it. If they're not lying, no harm done. If they are lying...

So, on Monday, three students told me that they had no work to do in the class. I wrote their names down along with the quote. On Tuesday the teacher found me (it's not a big campus; I wasn't hard to find) and told me that those three were in trouble. They did have work to do, and they knew it.

Upon further discussion with the teacher, I told him that I knew that the students were lying, and that I get such things all the time. The teacher appreciated my note. Then he thought he should use the whole note thing to his advantage.

During one of the afternoon classes, a student asked me why I had written down his name and snitched on him. He told me that his teacher had come right up to him and busted him for something or other and "why did you play me like that?"

I wasn't sure of this student's name. I didn't remember what he could have done. But whatever the teacher had called him on had been accurate, and remembering that the teacher had said he was going to use my note to his advantage, I played along.

I informed the student that I did not "snitch". I am a teacher. I tell the regular teacher what happened in his class during his absence. That is not "snitching". That is reporting.

I wonder what the student did. Nah, maybe I don't.

Who Are You Going to Vote For?

...is what I've been hearing all day. On the one hand it's a good thing. It means that the kiddos are interested and invested. On the other, it means that I have to come up with a way of deflecting the question. Teenagers don't take deflection well.

It's not that I don't want to get into an educational discussion. I want them to think and learn. I just don't want to argue with them, and many of them do have political beliefs that are opposite of my own. Also, I don't want to turn into one of those blowhards who trumpets her opinions to the world and won't brook any dissension.

Although, it was very interesting. More often than not, when I deflected the question, the questioner (or another student in the room) then mumbled the name of the candidate that I will not and did not vote for. I found that reaction fascinating. And I had to bite my tongue not to correct them.

So, we got into other discussions. Many of them had to do with Proposition 8. The students were either confused by it ("So, a no vote means you're for it?") or they had very definite opinions about it.

And a few of them could vote. Since I was at the continuation high school, there were a few 18-year-olds. And some of them had registered. But for the most part, it was a hypothetical discussion. (Although, I did encourage them to vote in the next election when they will be old enough.)

I wonder what the discussion will be tomorrow.

The Repercussions of the Note

I was back covering the teacher that I had covered on Monday. It was pretty much a replay of Monday. This I expected.

I do leave notes for the teacher. I leave names. I leave funny incidents. And when I'm sure a student is lying to me, I make sure to write down what they said and who it was that said it. If they're not lying, no harm done. If they are lying...

So, on Monday, three students told me that they had no work to do in the class. I wrote their names down along with the quote. On Tuesday the teacher found me (it's not a big campus; I wasn't hard to find) and told me that those three were in trouble. They did have work to do, and they knew it.

Upon further discussion with the teacher, I told him that I knew that the students were lying, and that I get such things all the time. The teacher appreciated my note. Then he thought he should use the whole note thing to his advantage.

During one of the afternoon classes, a student asked me why I had written down his name and snitched on him. He told me that his teacher had come right up to him and busted him for something or other and "why did you play me like that?"

I wasn't sure of this student's name. I didn't remember what he could have done. But whatever the teacher had called him on had been accurate, and remembering that the teacher had said he was going to use my note to his advantage, I played along.

I informed the student that I did not "snitch". I am a teacher. I tell the regular teacher what happened in his class during his absence. That is not "snitching". That is reporting.

I wonder what the student did. Nah, maybe I don't.

Choices

Sometimes the students just don't have that great a grasp on reality (although, neither do I, but that's a topic for another day...). I was at the continuation high school (again) in the basic math class. Barely anyone was doing any work. Well, at least the conversation was interesting.

There was this one student. He was complaining about how short he was credit-wise. Perhaps I should explain this a bit...

The main difference between the traditional high school and the continuation high school is how the students acquire credits. In the traditional high school, if the student gets a "D" or above, he/she gets the 5 credits for the semester. At the continuation high school, the students get credits for what work they turn in. So, if they do no work for a semester, they get no credits. If they do a lot of work, they can get 5 (or sometimes more) credits.

The student who was likely a senior (he was 17) had less than half the credits he needed to graduate. He was nowhere close to graduating. And he spent the period doing no work. Hmmm...

Anyway, the student talked about how he was planning on getting his GED instead. He was grumbling about how he wasn't getting credits fast enough.

And then the conversation got interesting. He told me that he wanted a job where he didn't have to work weekends. I explained that retail jobs and food service jobs were all going to require weekend work.

I'm sure that there's a job out there that would work for him. I don't want to be a downer. But he's not exactly inspiring confidence in his future.