From Taking Down the Notes to Zhuzhing Up the AI

If you're a regular visitor to this blog, this was not the post you were expecting today. Yes, normally I would post something about what I'm knitting or crocheting. But, I didn't touch the yarn last week. While contemplating what to post today, I figured I could do the A to Z Challenge Reflections post (even though it's late), or I could skip posting today entirely (which was a serious option). 

I don't really have a lot to reflect about, though. Every year it's the same game. I write my blog normally, but I make the post fit the letter of the day. 

The hard part for me is the blog hop. That's why I skipped doing the challenge from 2020 to 2022. If you look back on those years, you'll see I did fit my posts to the letter of the day, but I skipped Saturdays, and I didn't do the blog hop. 

It got to be too much, fitting in the going through the master list and visiting five new posts a day. Especially when very few returned the favor. 

So, I don't do that part. I do return visits to everyone who visits (unless I can't find their blog). And this year I visited everyone I had met on previous challenges who were taking part. 

I keep track of the blogs I visit on Feedly. If anyone ever visits my blog, I add them to that feed reader. (I have several named feeds.) Then it's really easy to find them again. 

Because Feedly, anyone who visited me likely had me visiting their blogs for the remainder of the challenge. I skipped blogs that I couldn't relate to, offended me, or that I found I couldn't find something to say about (read: most poetry). I may have missed a day here or there when I was offline, or sometimes Feedly fails to catch some blogs every so often. (There have been times when Feedly gives me ten posts by someone, and I discover that I have missed a month of their blogging.)

I love the challenge as I discover new blogs to add to my daily reading list. It's the most consistent way to do so. Alas, I have found that these are bloggers that find me, not the other way around. (Not sure why, but that's my experience.) 

And now that we're fully into May, I'll see which of those new (to me) blogs become a regular part of my routine, and which ones fall away. 

So, now I look forward to summer vacation. I'm kind of planning my summer posts. On Fridays I have random quizzes, which are mostly done. I'm thinking up all the lists of 13 I can get set up for Thursdays. And on Wednesdays last year I started doing posts on blogging. That's where I need your help. 

What are some things about blogging you'd like to see a post about? 

I think I'm going to do a post about how to add gifs to your posts. (Or does everyone already know how to do that? I know many of you already know how to do that.) Maybe another HTML basics post? The posts I did last year are on this page (which you can also find at the top of the blog).

It looks like I'll have nine slots this summer. (Maybe less, if I catch a summer school day.) I only have two topics listed. That's way less than nine. Any ideas?

Winding Down

I'm having a lazy Sunday. I just spent a couple hours reading a book. And I'm going out to dinner soon. 

I'm contemplating next projects. All I've really done is...

The bit on the right, actually. The bit on the left I did a while ago. Then I measured it against what I'm using, and it was too small. I probably have a couple more rows of the one on the right and then I'll bind it off. 

This is the last week of school. My subbing stories are from last week, so this week's stuff will appear next week. And then I'm off (unless some summer school assignments pop up) until August. 

So, for the blog, I thought I'd do a post on the mechanics of blogging once a week. (I'm getting rid of my "what to watch" as I have no idea what to watch on TV anymore.) Every so often I see a "Blogger won't do this" and "I can't figure out how to...", and I thought I might write about the various things I do know for those who don't. Maybe. 

This won't start for a couple weeks. I'll have this week's subbing stories next week, and then I have my annual "what classes I covered this year" post. At the moment I'm 172 days out of 180 possible days for the year, but that's only if nothing pops up for Wednesday or Thursday (which may or may not happen--hard to tell). 

So, I'm looking at Mondays remaining yarny, Tuesdays still my day to rant, Thursdays of 13 things (I've got a few already planned), and Fridays I'm not sure about yet. Wednesdays will be about blogging--the how tos of the platform. Of course, this might change on a whim. 

Is there anything you'd be interested in learning about Blogger? I'm no expert, but I know a few things. Perhaps a bit about HTML? Any burning questions that you're curious about but never bothered to pursue? I can't promise I know the answer, but if I do, I can make a blog post out of it. 

Anyone have any plans for the summer? 

Booked

I am writing this blog post on Friday, and I just picked up a gig for April 1st. That I'll likely have to drop. Because that's just how this semester has been going.

Ever since this district joined the 21st Century and adopted the computerized booking system, getting gigs is a matter of jumping on them when they pop up on the app on my phone. But I've been letting a lot of those go by lately. 

At the beginning of this semester, at the beginning of January, I had three weeks in that geography/psychology/world history class for a teacher recovering from surgery. 

As that gig ended, I started picking up a bunch of gigs for February. I had about half the month booked when I got the email asking me if I would pick up that special ed long term, the math and world history one. Which (if you've been following along with me, you know) I did. 

There was something sad about watching all the gigs I had picked up, one by one, getting deleted in one big purge. The jobs had to go to other subs as I was going to be busy. I mean, I don't begrudge others having them. It was just how much time and effort it took to fill my month now gone even though my month was going to be busy with the long-term. 

So, again, as that special ed gig was ending, I again went about picking up a bunch of gigs for March. But I've been holding off on taking anything in April. 

Back in something like September, I got an email from a teacher I had done a long term assignment for in the past. She'd be out in the spring as she was pregnant with her second child. Would I be willing to cover? 

Her maternity leave started in February, but because subs can only cover 30 days, she had another sub start when she left, and I'll continue once the first sub finishes her 30 days. Around the beginning of April. 

Which meant that I had March to fill. And, I had just about filled it. Well, I had made a good start, anyway.

But on my last Friday in the special ed long term, I got an email from a secretary (at a different school, so she didn't know I was finishing a long term) about covering a week for a teacher who was suddenly going to be out. 

Sure, I said. And then I sadly dropped all the gigs from that week as I would be busy. 

That's the math class I wrote about last week. 

But, it turns out that Mr. R's foot problem is worse than first thought. When it seemed like the issue might last longer, I went to the secretary and told her that I just had day-to-day assignments for March, so I could drop them and remain in Mr. R's class if necessary. 

On Monday I got word that it would be necessary. 

And so, again, there went two weeks of gigs I had grabbed as they popped up. Sigh. 

It's almost like I shouldn't bother. 

I'm not sure exactly what day I start the long term English class I've been anticipating. The sub desk hasn't officially added me for it. (I know she will. When it's closer.) So, I'm not sure what day it'll start. (The current sub took a sick day, so it got pushed a day out further.)

And, we're not sure if Mr. R will return on April 1st (which is when he's currently scheduled to return). 

But I picked up a gig for April 1st. Which I might end up not doing. Because. 

I mean, at least I've been working steadily. And the days I hoarded ended up going to subs who might not have gotten them otherwise. 

So, I've got two more weeks in that math class. (Well, one more week by the time you read this.) And then the English class that'll take me to nearly the end of May. Better booked than not, I suppose. 

Nailbiter

Wednesday was my last day in the English 9 classes. 

When I began the classes (oh so long ago--3 1/2 weeks prior) I had requested and received access to the class' gradebooks. (I had to set them up. Link them. And get all the grading that had been done input.) 

The one hiccup was in the transition, the seating charts that Mr. P had made went poof. I had to recreate them. (Usually I keep a copy on paper, but I hadn't had a chance to print out a copy with all the other things I was trying to keep up with.) Yes, there is a way to do seating charts in the attendance software, and it makes taking roll go so much more quickly.

Knowing this, I was a bit paranoid about the gradebooks. Would they go poof when Mr. V got full access? 

There was a way to make a PDF copy. So, Monday evening I did. 

But Tuesday and Wednesday... 

The progress reports had gone out. The students were suddenly very interested in what assignments they were missing. 

(The previous week, they had a good hour of class time--some had longer--to go through their grades, see what was missing, and talk to me about it. Some did. Most spent the time playing games on their Chromebooks.)

So, I was getting late work. Some students hadn't started the class with everybody, so they had assignments that they weren't responsible for. (That's an easy enough fix, but they had to tell me as I only knew who was in the class when I started. I didn't know if they started the first day or later. If later, some of Mr. P's assignments didn't count.) 

By Wednesday I had made multiple adjustments to the gradebook.

Mr. V got his district account set up Wednesday. 

Because of computer access, I couldn't back up the gradebook again from school. I planned to do it from home. I got home, only to find that the classes had been removed from my account. 

And now I was worried. Would I be able to recall every change I had made since Monday? Or did the gradebooks make the transition to Mr. V intact? 

Luckily, I had his cell phone number, so I texted him.

It turned out, they had. And I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Fully removed from the class, I no longer had to think about it at all. Yay!

(Although, Mr. V doesn't have the right access to take the Google Classrooms for the classes. Yet. That's in process, and I can hold onto them until I can pass them over. He just can't give them digital assignments until then.

And, on Friday, I learned that one lone student hadn't been transferred out of "my" class with the group. I only learned this when the attendance clerk chided me for not submitting attendance. On a day I did not work.)

Going Incognito (Mode)

When Blogger did that update thing that seemed to break comments, suddenly I had issues perusing blogs from school. 

(I know, I probably shouldn't be reading blogs when I'm supposed to be working. But there are days where I'm just watching the kiddos work quietly, and that can get really boring really quickly.)

I eventually found a solution to the problem that works for me, and since I know I'm not the only one with the issue, I thought I'd share. (Besides, I don't have a plan for Saturdays other than a picture, and I already did the Canadian geese in a previous year.) 

Although, first, I should mention that when I'm perusing blogs while at work, I am in Incognito Mode.

I do Incognito Mode for a specific reason. When I am logged into the computer at work, I am logged in using my work credentials. I have a whole Google account with bookmarked links for the attendance software and other websites I need to access. I get official district emails. I have a Google Drive with documents I use. 

I know there's a way to use a second Google profile while working in Google, but using Incognito Mode keeps things separate nicely, and passwords don't intermingle. 

This all worked just fine for a long time. And then, one day, it didn't.

It turned out the fix was dead simple. I had to turn on cookies. 

When this is lit up blue, cookies are being blocked, and I can't log in to Blogger. That means my comments are Anonymous. With this off, I can comment as normal.

It took me way too long to figure this out. So, I'm sharing. 

Are your cookies enabled? (Have you cleared your cookies lately?) 

I mean, there are good reasons to disable cookies. This is tracking information. But they are apparently needed if you want to log in to certain commenting functions. (I haven't changed this on my blog because I like to reply to comments directly. The other way, I can't.)

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

Blanket Background

I like to change the background image on my blog every so often. It's generally a knit/crochet project I'm working on, something that is neutral enough to be a background. 

The last time I switched it was 2021 when I was finishing up my seven (and a half) year cardi. 

I haven't been working on the pillow cover nearly as long, but a couple weeks ago I noticed that it met my requirements for a background image. I intended to get that switched over that week.

But, as I mentioned last Monday, computer issues prevented that. Namely, my computer does this whole slow down thing when it's getting ready to update. (I've tried every trick I know to fix this issue. This issue doesn't want to be fixed, apparently.) 

First, I took a picture to use as the background image. 

Then I went to upload it to Blogger. Only, the image was too large. With computer-being-laggy issues and just no time, I mentally put it on my to-do-later list. I knew there was a way to compress the file size, but I wasn't sure how to do it.

So, as you can see, I managed to accomplish it. But I needed a bit of time, and Sunday I happened to have it.

I don't remember how I did this last time, so I Googled it. I found a website where I could upload the image, and it worked its magic.

They don't look any different, do they? I suppose if you magnify them both, this second image will be a bit fuzzier. But it'll do.

So, yay! It only took me two weeks to do a thing I thought I could manage in about a half hour. Isn't that always the way?

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

About April

As I write this, it is March 29th, and I just decided to do the A to Z Challenge. Officially. 

For the last couple years, I've kind of done the challenge unofficially. I skipped Saturdays. But the rest of the week I posted as per usual, just making sure to match the post to the letter of the day. 

This is what I did in years I was officially doing the challenge, only adding in a picture for Saturdays.

But, as I didn't do the theme post, and as I've been saying in comments to other blogs that I wouldn't be doing it, I thought I should take a moment and acknowledge that I'm in this year. Officially. 

So, nothing's going to change, really. That's the game I play. Can I fit my usual to the letter of the day? I'm pretty sure I can do it. I've done it before.

Why did I change my mind? Well, I read through the sign up post on the A to Z Challenge Blog, and they've modified the blog hop part of the requirement. Going to visit five new blogs a day is too much work for not enough reward.

When I first did the challenge in 2013, I met a whole slew of new people. I followed some great blogs. But in the later years, that wasn't happening as much. I'd visit so many blogs, but I didn't connect with anyone new. And by the end of the month, I was just done.

But, it appears that I can specify when I sign up that I'm only visiting bloggers who visit me. Which is what I'm going to do anyway. Which is what I always do. 

So, I might as well make it official. I'm in.

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

A Small Favor

Could you all do me a favor? If you're on Blogger, could you check to make sure my comments didn't end up in your spam folder?

Lately, I've noticed some of my comments have not been appearing on your blogs. At first, I assumed they were being deleted (as all blog owners totally can and should curate their comments), but it's happened way too frequently for that to be the issue.

And, I'm finding many regular commenters in my spam folder. 

Comment is not spam. Middle icon marks comment as spam.

Comment is marked as spam. Check mark takes it out of spam folder.

So, if you wouldn't mind, could you go and double check. Thanks.

Here We Go Again

A couple weeks before the end of the school year, I got an email from the sub caller. Would I be interested in teaching a summer school class? 

No. Absolutely not. Nope. Not a chance. I want some vacation time...

And then two weeks into summer break, what am I going to be feeling? Will I regret not having taken the gig? 

I dithered. And thought. And replied that yes, I would take the gig. 

School ended the previous Thursday. On Monday we were to report to school for professional development days. 

I was told I'd be teaching ELD (English language development) to middle schoolers. The first day of trainings, I went to the ELD trainings. (They were held virtually.) But, I hadn't received the materials that they were discussing. 

I asked the summer school principal. He looked into it. Turned out, I was supposed to be in the English trainings.

Argh!

(I actually didn't miss anything as the training I didn't need to go to didn't overlap with the training I did.) 

I'd say I was surprised, but I've worked for this district for a lot of years. This sort of thing is kind of standard.

The last day of summer school is June 30th. Then I'll get some vacation time. Maybe. (Don't let me take any more gigs, at least for a couple weeks, okay?)

I'm Back

It had been a month since I had last been at the adult transition center. I was called to cover the class I had first covered back in October. 

The class had gained two students since I was there last. (When they closed Ms. S's class, they shuffled the students around to the remaining three classes.) But because of how small the school is, I already knew of the students, so it wasn't a big transition. 

When the instructional assistant Keyla arrived, she immediately got to work cleaning and rearranging. 

See, Ms. L, the class' teacher, was retiring. And Keyla had some things she wanted to change in the classroom. As well, they were clearing out Ms. L's stuff so she could take it home. 

via GIPHY

Deep sigh. 

I initially got the call for Monday. On Monday they added Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday they added Friday. (Ms. L returned on Thursday. She picked up her stuff and officially checked out with the school.) 

And on Friday morning, I was officially offered the long term. Because of this year, the number of days I can do a long term has been increased to sixty. The last day of school will be day sixty-one. 

I'm not saying that I'll definitely be in this class for the remainder of this school year. Several things could happen. But as of this moment, this is the plan. 

I'm not sure if I'm happy about this or disappointed. We'll see how it all plays out.

Rearranging the Room, Again

When I began this long term assignment in the special ed class for adults aged 18-22, I planned to make no major changes to anything. I'm just an interim person, a sub for the class until they hire a teacher. 

But Covid. 

I got an email from the secretary asking us to make sure the students were all seated six feet apart (along with submitting a seating chart for contact tracing). Alas, when school opened to students, the recommendation was three feet, and the classroom was set up like this: 

Sorry for the crude sketches, but it's the quickest way to explain. Each table is 2 ft by 4 ft. An X marks where each student sat. 

To get the students six feet apart, the tables had to be pulled away from each other. Which made the classroom largely unwalkable. Tables were in the way. 

So, reluctantly, I rearranged the room.

It was much easier to space the students six feet apart like this, but this configuration took over the whole room. Plus, we had twelve tables, so I had three extra tables with no spot. This was beyond awkward. We all hated it.

So, I broke out the measuring tape and measured everything. I used graph paper to make a scale drawing of the room, cut out little tables, and spent the next week moving things about. 

Then, late on a Wednesday, I had it. 

I drew the tables smaller here, but they're still 2 ft by 4 ft. Putting the extra tables in the middle gets the students on either side six feet apart. And by angling the tables, each student is six feet away from the students at the other tables as well. Success!

And the students seem to like the newest configuration. Hopefully. (I previously mentioned that 2/3rds of the class is autistic, and they all really hate change.) 

Now I have to submit a new seating chart to the office. Sigh. 

The Current Chaos

Have I mentioned that there's a substitute teacher shortage? I mean, I may have alluded to it several times as this is the reality I'm living, but I don't think I've come out and said it. It's bad enough that it's made the media. 

Two weeks ago (last week's posts on this blog) I was covering a vacant English class. On Tuesday of that week, I ran into Mrs. O. (In the bathroom, but that's neither here nor there.) The next day (Wednesday), she was starting her leave (she had to have surgery, and she's now recovering from that). And she didn't have a sub to cover her classes. 

When I worked the second day of school, I ran into Mrs. O. She mentioned the surgery and asked if I was doing long-term jobs. I gave a non-committal answer. She said she'd request me. 

(No, teachers aren't required to find their own subs. But when teachers are going to be out, they can request who takes their classes. That's how I got that long-term gig in April. The sub caller gives us the option, which we can turn down, but if I've said yes to the teacher, I take the gig.) 

Of course, I didn't know I'd be in the vacant English class when Mrs. O needed to be out. And I didn't know that there'd be no one else to take the class. 

Seriously. No. One. 

Mrs. O was told that in all likelihood, her classes would be covered period-by-period daily by different teachers on campus. For the entire month that she's due to be out. 

But then, on Wednesday after school, I was informed that they had hired someone for the vacant English class, and Mrs. B was starting on Thursday. Yes, the next day. 

Because the English classes were scheduled to take a standardized test, I did two days of transition with Mrs. B (because I'd already set everything up), and then the next Monday (last Monday) I'd transition into Mrs. O's class. 

I had lesson plans. I knew what was going on. I was ready. 

Then, Monday morning...

I got a call. Sub caller. They needed me to cover a fifth grade class, and I had no choice in the matter. 

Grrrr.

(Tomorrow's post is all about how that day went.) 

I heard later how the school had to scramble to cover Mrs. O's classes yet another day. 

It's bad. If you've ever considered becoming a substitute teacher... 

Yes. Okay. Fine. 

It wasn't that funny. 

Still laughing? 

I'll give you a minute before I continue on...

So, yes, I'm now covering Mrs. O's classes and will do so (unless pulled again) for the rest of this month. And every day, there will be classes that go uncovered. It's been like this since day one of the school year, and it doesn't appear to be changing any time soon.

So, how's your job going?

Follow by Email

Image has nothing to do with today's post...

If you're on Blogger and you have enabled email subscriptions, you already saw the notice that the service is being shut down in July. The notice went out in April (or was it March?). 

At the time, I was busy with a long-term subbing gig, and I really didn't have the time (or the desire to make a priority) to take care of it. But school is out for the summer, so now I have some time. And one of the first things I wanted to do was deal with the email situation. 

Although, it's not like I really have all that many email subscribers. The last time I checked, I had two (my brother and my sister-in-law). Was it really worth it to even have the email subscription thingy enabled? 

I got an email about follow.it (and then I got two follow ups when I didn't deal with it right then--because I wasn't going to deal with it until now), and I've noticed a couple other bloggers have migrated to that. I figured I'd give it a go. 

I went to download my subscriber list so I could import it, and I was greeted with a shock. I had over 1400 email subscribers. Huh? 

Figuring out how to transition things took just about as long as I thought it would. (I gave myself an afternoon.) I bumbled about, and when it came time to import my subscriber list, I didn't notice the "Download List" button. Instead, I clicked on "Import Followers". 

This mistake is what made me look through that list of "followers". I was being "followed" by email addresses that could not possibly be people. 

They were all outlook.com addresses, and the names on them were... Well, let me give you a taste: 

rosadobqrioswwz

rosadobwantoniosg

rosadocgsjosepdu

rosadodacarolinaga

rosadofhsandratpj

rosadofwastridyuk

All up and down the alphabet these "names" went. One or two, I can see, but over 1000 of these were there. I have no idea what purpose these random email addresses have in following my blog, but importing them into the new email service seemed like a bad idea. 

When I had deleted all of them, I was left with nineteen subscribers. 

Nineteen. Yeah, that's way more reasonable. Way more than I was expecting (and I'm grateful to each and every one of you for subscribing), but that number makes sense. 

But the reason I mention this, before the Blogger email subscription goes away, is for anyone I may have accidentally deleted in the transition. By now you should be getting the emails via follow.it. If you are not, the "Follow by Email" in the sidebar has been updated with the new link. 

(This is only going to apply to anyone with an outlook.com address. Any other address made the transition.) 

Long-Term Thoughts

I don't talk too much about long-term subbing assignments here on the blog as I don't generally do too many long-term assignments. I'm not a fan. 

But, with the pandemic year and fewer day-to-day subbing assignments, I ended up stumbling into a couple. First, there was the one at the beginning of the school year. Then, I happened into this English class that I've been talking about for all of March.

Right before I started Ms. A's class, I did a day assignment for Ms. R's co-teacher. Ms. R asked if I would be willing to cover her class when she went out on maternity leave in April. Figuring we would still be doing the distance thing, and frankly, figuring that it would somehow fall through, I agreed. 

Which is why right after finishing up Ms. A's English class, I'm starting Ms. R's English class, and I'll be covering that until almost the end of the school year. 

And, just at this transition, the district is opening back up for hybrid learning. This means I'll be on campus with the students who have chosen to come back to in-person learning. 

Still with me? 

The week before spring break, we were given prep time, sort of. The students were "asynchronous", meaning they had work, but we didn't meet for class. Those were my last days with Ms. A's classes. I played catch up on grading.

I also got to attend the opening up staff meetings, so I'd know the protocols for this hybrid thing. And I got a chance to meet with Ms. R so I'm ready for her classes.

It was a weird week. 

And now, my blog transitions from distance learning to hybrid learning. This should be interesting.

Another Unexpected Day

It was Thursday. I was expecting to cover a math class. When I checked in for the day, the secretary handed me the folder for an English class.

Again?

It happens from time to time. I was told I was covering one class only to show up to a different assignment. Sometimes the teacher cancels. Sometimes they need to shift subs to fill the classes. And I don't generally mind.

But it's happened four times in the last couple weeks. That's a lot.

Not that I'm complaining anywhere but here. Because the other option is for me to show up only to have my assignment disappear. (That doesn't happen as often as it did when I started out subbing.)

And sometimes it actually works out better.

On Monday I though I was covering a co-teacher who travels. (Doable, but on my gimpy ankle, not ideal.) I was switched to a very nice seventh grade science class.

On Thursday, the English class I got switched into... Well, the teacher took two of her classes with her on some field trip or other. So, instead of covering a full day, I only had three classes to sub. And I still got paid for the full day.

So, not complaining. Nope. Not at all.

I Has a Ceiling!

Oh my! What a week I've had.

You may have noticed that I wasn't around much last week. I got slammed. With everything. And next week doesn't look to be too much better. Apologies in advance. Things should settle in another week or two, but until then, I'm just trying to keep my feet under me.

First things first. I went from this...

...to this...

...to this...

...to this...

...last week. They started on Tuesday and finished on Saturday. And so, now it's finally done. Whew.

(You may remember this all started in January.)

But, as all of this is right above my bed, I spent most of last week displaced in one way or another. The first night I slept on the couch in the living room. The rest of the week I could sleep in my bed, but I had to strip it first thing in the morning and remake it when I got home from work, so the contractor could flip it up towards the wall and out of the way during the day.

All the while, half of my bedroom was in the living room and out of the way. Including my TV. Sigh.

At least I was out of the house while they were working on the ceiling. You may remember I mentioned that vacant English class I was covering all week. Yeah, that kept me from experiencing the full effect of having workmen in the house. I'd leave in the morning and return in the evening to visible progress.

While working has been great, it is tiring. I'd get home with barely enough energy to get that bed remade. And then it was time for my homework. Lesson planning. (If I had the energy to look for a gif, it would be one of someone cheering with no enthusiasm whatsoever.)

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to have the work. And the other teachers have been way supportive in sharing their lesson plans with me. But that doesn't mean I can totally rely on them. They give me the plan, but I have to figure out how to execute it. I have to teach the class. And I have to figure out how I'm going to set up other things, like the classroom, and how to keep up with papers and grading until I hand this class over to someone more permanent.

I've been scrambling with seating charts, classroom control, and getting the basic supplies. The staff has been so helpful. I managed to locate books. I learned to make copies. I got the kiddos their syllabus to start the year off right. I even have a computer and working projector, so I can make slides at home and use them in class.

What I'm saying is, it's been a lot--way more than I'm accustomed to. I'll have posts for this week, but again, I'm going to be very lax in my visiting. I'll get there. But it's going to be late. I hope you understand.

I promise, no more whining this week. I do have a couple good stories to share.

Knitting Hedgehogs, a Stink Bomb, and a Wild Goose Chase

I've been doing the A to Z Challenge since 2013. It's a fun little blogging game for April. How can I make my usual blog post fit the letter of the day?

As for completing the challenge, I normally write five blog posts a week. Blogging all month isn't the challenge. Doing the blog hop and keeping up with comments--that's the challenge.

I've said all this before (in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017). If you want to read that again, I'd suggest 2016's reflections post. It's definitely my favorite title. So, rather that rehash the same ol', I'm just going to hit a few highlights:

• Hardest post to get to fit the letter of the day: Room Swap. For the longest time I tried to get that into Q. That week was just hard for some reason. 
• Post that made me laugh the hardest: You're Not a Train. 
• Post with my favorite title: Otherwhere.
• Post with the most comments (tie): Doubled Name & Zilch.
• Post with the most views: Earvin Strikes Again.
• X cheat: X-tra.
• My favorite post for April: Listening Skills. 

For the hop portion of the challenge, I was #510 on the master list. As in previous years, I started visiting at the blog just after mine (#511), and continued until I was able to comment on five other blogs. (I "hopped" about five days a week.) 

By the end of the challenge, I had made it to #26 on the master list. Yep, I managed to get to the end of the list and start over. This has been a dream of mine since 2013... 

A (very small) sampling of the blogs I visited: 

• The View from the Top of the Ladder profiled jobs Jane Austen (via her action doll) could have done (example: Smokejumper). 
• Iain Kelly wrote stories that took place in 26 cities in the EU (example: Talinn, Estonia).
• Part-Time Working Hockey Mom told us about different visited cities (example: Irvine). 
• Time and Tide had an eclectic collection (example: Malapropism). 
• Heather Erickson wrote about writing (example: Up the Stakes) and at Facing Cancer with Grace wrote about caregiving (example: Advance Care Directive). 
• Doesn't Speak Klingon also had an eclectic collection (example: Jedi Wisdom). 
• The BOMB's blog I stumbled across near the end of the challenge. Also eclectic (example: Xyst). 

I like doing the blog hop to find new-to-me bloggers. That's the whole point, isn't it? So, that makes this year more of a success than last year. But I am glad that April only happens once a year.

Coming Attractions

Welcome to the end of the school year. For those of you keeping track, our school year ends tomorrow.

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At the end of each school year, I have a little ritual. First, I repost my "Graduation Daydream". This I will do tomorrow to commemorate the last day of school. And then I'll do my annual "Year End Stats" post where I tally up all the different classes I covered.

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But, I have been working, and I'll have classes up until practically the end, so before I go on "summer schedule", I'll have a few more subbing posts. Last week I covered one special ed. class for the whole week. And this week so far I have three days scheduled. There are more stories to tell before I completely close out the school year.

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(Yeah, that gif has nothing to do with anything. It just made me laugh.)

As for my "summer schedule", it's my actual schedule (which is posted in my About Me page) minus the subbing stories.

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I will continue to update the "Student Name of the Week". What? You didn't notice my newish little project on the sidebar? Just look over to the right. It's under "Twitter" and above "Subscribe To". (Kind of between those last two gifs.) I started this a few months ago, and the explanation and full list of names already featured are on the "Student Name of the Week" page, which has a link at the top of the blog. The list of names I have currently will safely see me through the summer (and through the end of the year and into next year if that were to become necessary).

But the real reason I'm writing this particular post has to do with a question I have for my regular readers. I was contemplating adding a random TV show post one day a week, but before I begin this, I was curious if there's any interest.

A few years ago, I tried doing a random movie post one day a week. I didn't keep it up as I wasn't finding the right sort of random movies that would fit. But I got to thinking that there are a few TV shows that I watch that no one has heard of, and it might be interesting for me to tell you about them. Especially with streaming abilities and summer. Some of you might be looking for some different things to watch.

I used to do my random movie posts on Fridays, but then I replaced them with my random quiz Fridays. So, my second question is, if I do the TV posts, would you like to see them on Fridays? Or Wednesdays? (Because at the moment, while I do have an official topic for Wednesdays, I don't actually do that topic ever. In fact, I usually just skip Wednesdays entirely in the summer.)

I appreciate any opinions on the topic. I hope you'll stop in tomorrow for the "Graduation Daydream" and next week for my "Year End Stats" (spoiler: I worked more days this year than last). And I hope you'll continue to stop in all summer. I'll try to keep it interesting.

Help Wanted

J.E. Oneil and I are (very last minute) putting together a little A to Z Challenge side project. Posts with a liberal theme. If anyone would like to help us out with writing a post or two (or five ;) ) let me know in the comments or shoot me an email. Thanks.

The Lacy Sweater and the A to Z "Theme Reveal"

The sweater is going fairly well...

I didn't get much done on it last week due to choosing to go to bed over watching TV and knitting. It was that kind of week.

I got introduced to "zombie" Easter bunny amigurumi which I may have to try.

But, of course, today is the A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal Day. Since I pretty much blog every day anyway, I will again partake. For me, the challenge is in keeping up with the hop portion. 

Regular readers know my "theme". My challenge is to fit my normal posts to the letter of the day. 

I've already written my Tuesday "what if?" posts. X falls on a Friday this year, and I managed to find a great quiz that features it. (Unless something interesting happens that I can fit to X, that is. But I might keep it at the end as the quiz is so perfect.) The rest of the days it's a whole lot of "how can I title the crazy thing that happened at school to fit the day's letter?" 

Wish me luck. 

Are you doing the A to Z Challenge in April?