Not Antarctica

Credit recovery, seventh period. (This is the same day as I talked about yesterday on this blog.) 

Credit recovery is a class that students take to quickly make up credits for classes that they initially failed. So, everyone is working on something different.

It was a warm day as is usual for August. At least it wasn't scorching hot which is also usual for August. But, small room, 15 or so students, and the room heats up quickly. I had the air conditioning on.

We had a high somewhere in the 80s outside. Inside I had set the a/c for 75° (24°C).

"Turn off the air conditioning."

Um, no. If I turn it off, it's 80° in next to no time, and no one wants that.

I explained this to Milt. I informed him that soon the classroom would reach the temperature and then the a/c would click off.

He whined. "It's like Antarctica in here."

Soon enough, the a/c clicked off. Milt should be happy now, right? Nope.

"It's too hot in here. It's like a desert. Turn on the air."

Well, no. It was then a reasonable temperature, and there was no reason to turn the air back on. I told Milt that it would click back on when the temperature got above 75°. 

Sure enough, it did a few minutes later. And what did Milt do? I'm sure you can guess...

And so, for the rest of the period, Milt complained. If the a/c was on, it was "Antarctica". If it was off, it was "the desert". At one point of "Antarctica", I offered to let Milt work outside. He returned a couple minutes later, complaining of "the desert" outside.

I stopped responding. If a student's going to complain, sometimes they're just going to complain.

But I got to complain, after school. And when I named Milt, the office staff wasn't surprised. Apparently, he's working towards becoming a professional boxer. 

I'm glad I'm not his trainer.

The Cold in There

As last week was a holiday week, I pushed posting about the classes I covered before the break until after. 

Seventh grade science. 

One of the first things I do when I walk in the room is to check the thermostat. It read 60° (16°C). So, I turned on the heat. 

For the first class of the day, I was covering for the teacher two doors down. Once I had gotten the lesson plans for the science class, I headed out. 

Math class, same issue. 54° (12°C). Heat on. 

By the end of the period, the room had warmed to the 70s (20s C). I headed back to the science class. 

I walked into a refrigerator. 

The air blowing was cold. The thermostat read 50° (10°C). 

Eeek. 

I immediately turned off the "heat" and opened the door. (It had warmed from our overnight temps and was nearing 70° [21°C] outside.) 

But I knew what was coming.

Oh, they whined. It was cold. (Yup, I was aware.) The chairs were cold. The computers were cold. They were freezing, and they were not happy about this.

But it's cooled off around here. We're getting colder temps at night. They were in sweatshirts and jackets. It was only supposed to get to about 70°/72° (21°/22°C) for a high, so no one should have been dressed for summer. (But naturally a couple boys were in shorts.) 

While I was sympathetic, there was nothing I could do. I knew it would warm up just with their body heat, so I explained the situation, and I had them get to work. 

At least they had a test to distract them. Otherwise, I'm sure they would have spent the whole period complaining.

By the end of the period, it had gotten to a comfortable 68° (20°C) in the room. 

Cold, Part 2

Monday after Thanksgiving break, I was called in to cover band (again). 

After a week off and chilly temps, I came to school prepared. I actually wore, well, not a jacket per se, but what I consider a jacket for chilly days. 

As expected, the classroom temperature read as 58°F (14°C). While it wasn't supposed to be all that chilly (our forecast was for 75°F (24°C)), I still figured it was cold enough to turn on the heat. 

Which, of course, didn't work. (The space heaters strewn across the room should have been my first hint.) 

So, I huddled in my "jacket" with the space heater blasting at my back. 

As the day wore on, it got warmer outside. Not inside, though. Man, those rooms really hold temperatures well. I even propped open the door to the outside, and it barely made a dent. By the end of the day, it was 65°F (18°C) in the classroom. 

I probably shouldn't have worn sandals. Sigh. 

As it was a two-day assignment, I would have done better the next day. Only, in the middle of the day I got an email from the sub caller. We day-to-day subs are now working from home until further notice. 

I wasn't surprised. COVID numbers are climbing fast. Now that we've been doing the distance thing for a few months, we subs know the drill. And the school can email us the info we need to do the job.

Not the Heat

The weather in southern California last week was pretty nice. We had chilly nights (down into the high 40s/lower 50s) and warm days (upper 70s/mid 80s).

So, about mid day I needed a bit of the air conditioner. And while the room was a bit cool in the morning, I didn't think it was that cold. I'd walk into the room being at 64 degrees. (This is Fahrenheit, in case you're reading this from outside the U.S. That's about 18 degrees Celsius.)

With student bodies, that temperature creeps up all on its own. (That and the warming day outside.) So, I didn't feel the need to turn on the heat.

But the students... Oh, they were freezing. I had to put on the heat.

(Which just seemed like a waste of time and energy to me. It wasn't that cold. And it was warming up all on its own.)

When I refused to do this, a student decided he'd turn the heat on himself. Only...

Notice how it says "cool setting"? And 83 degrees? That's overkill.

(When I took the picture, it was 69 degrees in the class. When he was messing with the thermostat, it was 66-67 degrees. And that time? Yeah, it's not set correctly. It was closer to 11 AM when I took the picture.)

He has since figured out how to put it on the heat setting. But he's still not getting it to work. Because of other issues, the HVAC is turned off at the breaker box. However, I'm not about to tell him that. No. I just told him the heater is broken. 

Cheating? Perhaps. But at least I'm not being blasted with unnecessary heat.

Punishment, Unusual and a Little Cruel

In the first year of high school math, certain students who are struggling are given an extra period of what is called "math support". All the struggling students. Together. In one period.

This is how difficult classes are constructed.

But, I had two things going for me on this day. One: I had fair warning from the teacher himself and his co-teacher (who had taught all the previous classes that day). Warning and support. And two: another teacher "helped out" (read: did all the work) with the class.

One of the warnings I got was a little trick the teachers used to keep the class in line. Turning on the air conditioning was contingent upon the class' behavior.

I know many parts of the U.S. are getting into fall temperatures. However, I'm in southern California. On this day, our high was projected to be in the upper seventies. (Roughly 25 C.) With it being a sunny and warm day, and us being in a classroom with no open windows, the room got fairly warm. I had been running the a/c all day.

But, with the warning, I turned off the a/c before this class came in. (This class was immediately after lunch.)

Class got started. The other teacher who "helped out" showed up. (There was some question as to whether or not she'd be there on this day. As it sounds like she's doing this extra on her own time, I wouldn't have blamed her for not coming in.) I passed out their assignment, and they got to work.

Slowly, the temperature in the room crept up. And someone asked me to turn on the a/c.

The other teacher then used the a/c to her advantage. She informed the class that everyone had to complete two problems before she'd turn on the a/c. Several students had completed way more than two problems, but several others hadn't even written their names on their paper.

It took at least five minutes (maybe ten) before the stragglers finally finished their two problems.

I was urging them on. I run warm generally, and I was already dripping sweat. (This is normal for me.)

The class was still loud. Several only got those two problems done. But, that class could have gone a whole lot worse. I'm going to have to consider using the a/c to my advantage in the future.

It Won't Hurt Anything...

Fifth period economics. Seniors. It was after lunch on a warm day.

Class started. I closed the door and switched on the air conditioner. But it wasn't clicking on quickly enough for Nathan. He got up and went to adjust the temperature.

"Nooooo!"

Sure enough, he had moved it down to 66°F, touching nothing else.

"No need to freak out. It won't hurt anything..."

And I growled. Internally.

A couple years ago, Ms. P told me of her a/c issues. It was one of those days where I saw the teacher before she left for her training or whatever. It's been a saga. She'd figured out how to make sure the a/c kept working, but eventually it did die. It has since been fixed, sort of.

The air conditioner warning remains in her lesson plan:

Having been in class when the a/c died by 5th period, I know she's not being an alarmist. So, I made sure to set the thermostat to 73°F (just to be safe), and I turned it off during passing periods when the door would be open.

Which is why Nathan's offhand comment irritated me so.

"Um, yes, actually, it might blow out the a/c," and I explained to Nathan why his thoughtless a/c adjustment could be really bad. "You don't want to lose the a/c before June, do you?"

Half of me wanted to let him blow out the a/c just to spite him. But it would have hurt Ms. P and the rest of the really nice students. And who knows when I'd end up covering that class again?

Too Cold

"Could you turn on the heat?"

Yes, it's August. This is not some sort of repost from the winter. And those were the first words out of a student's mouth when he entered the room.

(The continuation high school has started their school year. They start a month before the rest of the district.)

The weather had cooled a bit from the prior week. Only to be replaced with humidity. But still, summer temps. Sweat dripped down my back as I got ready to go for the day.

Somehow, the air conditioner got left on in the classroom. (I think the timer function is misprogrammed.) So, when I got there, it was 63 degrees Fahrenheit (according to the display). Ah, bliss.

I turned off the a/c and opened the door. I was quite comfortable. The students, not so much.

But I'm not turning on the heat in August. No. Not doing it. Especially not when it was much more comfortable inside than it was outside.

Still, the whines...

A couple hours later, the temperature had climbed to 68 degrees. A decent room temperature. I was in heaven. Them...

"We're going to freeze to death."

Um, no. Not even close to a possibility.

Fresh

"It feels so fresh in here."

It had been a swelteringly hot week. 100°+ temps a couple days. It was forecasted to only be in the 90s on Friday, but I still had the air conditioning on as soon as I got there.

I knew I wasn't going to get many complaints about the a/c, and I didn't. But instead of coming into the room and commenting on how cool it was, I got the above comment. A few times. And not only on this day. It seems that "fresh" is the new "cool" or something.

Ah well. Hopefully this week things will cool off a bit.

Too Hot in Here

"Please make sure you leave your doors closed and your air conditioning running."

The nearby wildfire affected the air quality. At the time the office made that announcement, my classroom door was closed. But the room wasn't all that warm. I saw no need to turn on the air conditioning.

But fifth period was warm.

"They said you had to have the air conditioning on."

The room was at a comfortable room temperature (like 68° or 70°). I was in short sleeves. I have a tendency to run warm (and more often than not am accused of leaving the room freezing), so if I was pretty comfortable, there was no need for air conditioning. I told them no.

"But it's warm in here."

Rather than continue this conversation across the whole class, I joined the boys who were complaining. That's when I noticed their bulky sweatshirts. Which they couldn't remove as they weren't wearing t-shirts underneath.

Bad planning on their part was not a reason for me to have the air conditioning on.

I say it was bad planning, because the forecasted temperature for that day was 86°. The previous day had been just as warm. There was no excuse for dressing like they were expecting a cold snap.

Besides, the minute I would turn on the a/c, I'd get someone complaining it was too cold.

I can't win. So, I no longer play.

(Of course, in sixth period I got warm. Seventh period complained that it was too cold. Sigh.)

Air Conditioner Bliss

It was the first week of school, so obviously, it had to be the hottest week of the summer. Luckily, the classroom's air conditioning unit worked perfectly. I had the room set at a comfortable temperature all day, so much so that I was surprised by how hot it was outside.

About half way through the day, the principal made an announcement.

"Teachers, if you are running your air conditioning..."

No. No. Absolutely not. He wouldn't. That's just mean. Too cruel. I won't do it.

"...Make sure that your classroom door and windows all remain closed."

Oh, is that it?

I looked over at the closed classroom door. The windows were too high for me to reach, and I didn't have one of those long pole thingies that can open those, so I was safe there.

Check.

He scared me there. I thought he was going to ask us to turn off the a/c.

I mean, it was really, really hot.

A Broken Air Conditioner

"The a/c may or may not work."

Those words were scrawled in the margin of the lesson plan. And all I could think was, "Oh no!!!"

The weather has been changeable lately. This day we were back on the warm side. We were projected to have a high of 82°. I hoped for the best, but as the day warmed and I went to try the air conditioning unit, I discovered it was a "may not work" kind of day.

The students were not pleased.

Middle school math. Sixth period. As they walked in, everyone whined about the temperature. Once the bell rang and I had their attention, I explained the situation to them.

"The air conditioner does not work. I have tried everything I know how to do. If I could get it working, I would. I'm as warm as you." At this point I held up my arms so that they could see the pools of sweat there. "The doors are open. The fan is on. That's the best I can do. I've been here all day. You're going to be here an hour. So, I don't want to hear any more about it. If anyone else complains, I am going to lose it."

After that, I did not hear another "I'm hot" or "why won't the a/c work?" So, I could focus on the other issues, namely that the class was very, very loud.

Sweating in the Winter

When I walked into the classroom last Monday, the thermostat read 45°. And my jaw hit the floor.

Last week started off cold. It had been cold for a few weeks. Well, cold for us. I know the rest of you that get real weather, like snow, consider us wimps, and perhaps we are. No, no perhaps. I guess it's just what you're used to, and we're used to things being a little bit warmer.

I shivered under my heavy sweater. Then I turned on the heater.

The heater worked well. By the time the class showed up, the temperature was up to 52°. By the end of first period, we were at a comfortable 70°.

About that time, when we had achieved room temperature, a girl called me over.

"Could you turn on the air conditioner? It's too warm in here."

Never fails. I don't care what the temperature is. Someone always wants me to turn on the air conditioner.

Reruns

Today was one of those days. Average. The kids weren't bad, but they weren't spectacularly good either. It was a good working day.

Unfortunately, it didn't give me a great incident on which I could hang a blog post.

I spend my days looking for that one thing that will make a good story to blog about. (Well, that and doing my job, but that should go without saying.) I usually have a couple things to choose from. I do for today as well. But none of these are terribly original. My choices...

1. I had an issue finding the lesson plans. They were in an obvious place, but since no teacher had left his/her lesson plans there in a while, it didn't occur to me to look there until after I called the teacher at home. (I blame Mercury going retrograde.)  
2. It warmed up. I had the air conditioner going. The kids complained that it was too cold.  
3. I ran into a student I had had in class at the traditional high school (I was at the continuation high school today). I wasn't surprised to see him at the CHS. His behavior at the THS screamed future CHS student.  
4. I was in a computer class. Some students were doing things (online, games) that they weren't supposed to do. They thought they were hiding it from me. They weren't.  
5. I got to watch a video twice. I saw it before in another class.  
6. And I was just happy not to be at one of the other schools today because they were having an assembly.  

I probably should have just gone with the skip today. It wasn't a terribly interesting day.  

Freezing the Students Out

It was chilly this morning. So, one of the first things I did once I got into the classroom was to turn on the heater. Once the room got warm enough, the heat switched off.

It was inevitable. Someone had to complain. Kayla told me it was too cold in the room (from across the room, naturally), so she asked me to turn on the heat. I informed her that it was already on. She asked me to turn the heat on again ten minutes later.

The heat switched on and off twice more before the end of the period. The room wasn't toasty warm (that would have been too warm), but it wasn't freezing cold either. (It was about room temperature, somewhere around 68 degrees.)

As they left class, I heard Kayla complain to another student. Kayla said that she didn't feel the heat, so it must not have been on.

Yeah, because I'm going to lie about that. Sheesh!

I Meant to Do That

Today's temps are supposed to get into the high 80s to low 90s.  It was a cool night and cool morning, so I left the classroom door open for 1st and 2nd periods.  At the beginning of 3rd period, I could feel the heat starting, so I turned on the air conditioner. 

I barely walked away when a student turned the a/c off. 

I turned around and turned the a/c back on. 

"Why did you do that?" 

She asked me that.  I told her I was warm.  She said that she was warm, too.  I didn't understand why she'd turn the a/c off then.  She said that she wanted to stay warm. 

I'm the teacher.  I win this battle.  If I want the a/c on, it stays on. 

I have to be the one to decide this.  No matter what, there are some students who will not be pleased.  Even when I try to be nice and not keep the room at the temperature that is comfortable for me (I generally run warm, so comfortable for me tends to be cold for most of the girls), I get complaints. 

Besides, I'm the one in the room all day. 

It was so much easier when the classrooms didn't have their own thermostats.

Comfort Levels

It reminds me of an episode of the failed sitcom It's Like, You Know.... The gang went to see some woman in the valley (for what reason I don't recall). They were so hot they were miserable. They couldn't understand why the woman seemed comfortable.

Then later in the episode, the woman from the valley came to their place. And she was freezing.

The continuation high school is back in session. Today is my first official working day of the new school year. While it's been a fairly mild summer, it's still summer, and it's still warm.

The school is several miles more inland than where my home is. There is a temperature differential. It's a bit warmer more inland than it is closer to the coast.

I'm already at a disadvantage. I'm wearing more clothing than I'm used to--I'm in a shirt with sleeves instead of a tank top, capri pants instead of shorts, and I'm actually wearing shoes.

So, I turned on the air conditioning. It is set at about 72 degrees, so it's not unreasonable. But still, the kiddos complained that it was too cold. Too cold?

That's when the sitcom popped into my head. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that these kids live in a slightly warmer place than where I live. They've gotten used to warmer temperatures, so what I consider comfortable is too cold for them. Perhaps 72 degrees is too cold for them.

Then again, only a few students were complaining about the cold. The rest complained that someone had turned off the a/c.

I should be used to this by now. No matter what temperature I have the room at, one of them always complains. I can't win!