Flying Over the Fence

It was Thursday, I think. (The week has completely blended together as I write this over the weekend.) Snack time. So, we were all outside. 

The school is very small. We're tucked into a back far corner. Our snack area is a patio that backs onto a lawn area. Beyond the lawn area, separated by a fence, are backyards to people's houses. 

On this (likely) Thursday, a couple of the students had gone out to the lawn area and were kicking around a basketball. 

Jonas was in soccer mode. (I don't think I've mentioned Jonas before. If I have, he probably has a completely different blog alias.) He went in for a hard kick, and the ball sailed upwards and over the fence into someone's backyard. 

Ooof. 

And the chickens kicked up a ruckus. 

That particular house has chickens in the backyard. We hear them clucking on occasion. Not too often. 

From where the ball likely landed (as I saw it sailing over the fence from where I was seated), it sounded as if it landed on top of the chickens. 

The staff and I were concerned that a ball of that weight and velocity might have hurt one or more of those chickens. 

Double ooof. 

See, this sort of thing doesn't generally happen. I've been at this school for more than half the year, and this is the first time this has come up. 

Most of the time, the students throw the basketballs into the hoop that's set up on the patio. Although, more often than not, they're focused on their devices. (While many have more of a kid mentality, they are all chronologically adults.) 

There was nothing for it. Someone had to go to the house to apologize. Of course Jonas would go, but someone on staff would go with him. Keyla got roped into it. 

We heard when they arrived, for they were in the backyard. Jonas is very soft spoken and hard to understand most of the time, but Keyla's voice was audible. 

They returned basketball-less. Apparently, we had sent them to the wrong house. At least no chickens had been injured in the incident. 

Except, the next day, the basketball was returned. From that house. Somehow, it had blended in with the backyard, and even though Keyla and the homeowner had gone out there, no one saw it. 

I think the school is still on good terms with that neighbor. I hope. Jonas has been forbidden to play at being a soccer player any longer. Well, at least for now.

A Very Bad Idea

It was 7th period PE at the continuation high school. Things had been going fairly well. There was one basketball game, one game of horse, and one volleyball game. Until the volleyball game broke up...

Not sure why it happened. The ball hit the net. The two teams debated whether it was in or not. They came to a conclusion. But the discussion was enough to alienate one team.

The girls went and joined the game of horse.

The basketball game occupied one half of the court. The game of horse occupied the other. It was all rather peaceful, although the boys playing basketball were really going at it.

Until they weren't.

One boy passed the ball to another who had chosen that moment to abandon the game and head for the water fountain. Then the boy who passed the ball needed a drink. And the game came to a standstill.

So, a third boy decided to find a different way to entertain himself. He wondered if he could hit the building on the opposite side of the basketball court. One of his friends shouted encouragement. The boy put the basketball down on the ground...

No. Absolutely not.

I don't remember my exact words. "No" was in there. So was "don't". I do know I said something, because later three different students echoed that I had told the boy not to do it. Unfortunately, the boy did not hear me.

He kicked the basketball...

It sailed down the court...

...And smashed into the back of a girl's head.

Hard.

She didn't lose consciousness. She didn't fall down. But she was in pain. A lot of pain.

She left school via ambulance.

Everything had been going so well. Up until that point.

Not Going to Move

Today was the first day of school at the continuation high school.  Most of the students in the opportunity class didn't get the message.

I had two students today.

I threw work at them, and they sort of did it.  As the day wore on, they got less and less motivated.

After snack they have PE.  Santiago was at least willing to grab a basketball and go outside.  Carlos needed a bit more persuasion.  After I got them outside, they sat on the concrete steps and refused to do anything.

I considered it a victory to have gotten them outside.  Santiago had refused to do his math assignment earlier.  Carlos took forever to get through his work.  I told Carlos that if he didn't finish it by snack, he'd be outside until it was done.  That got him moving.

I stood over them, trying to get them to move.  There were basketball hoops.  Santiago said that he hated basketball.  Okay then, why don't I get the football?  Nope, he said that he hated football too.

Of course, they had both spent the morning resenting the fact that they had to be at school.  At least they did it calmly.

After they had been outside for the requisite amount of time (I let them off 5 minutes early), we went back in and I gave them the next assignment.  They did it, sort of.

Calls were made to the students who did not show today.  It's likely that I'll have a bigger group tomorrow.  (Insert scream here.)

Smart Basketball?

Today I got to assist the assistant principal administer an AP test (U.S. history).

The College Board is very specific about how the test must be run.  If there are more than a certain number of students, more than one proctor is needed.  They hit that threshold, so I was the second body.  

I am pretty familiar with testing, as I have helped to proctor the CAHSEE many, many, many times.  But AP tests are different.  

We got through the first part which was the multiple choice portion of the test.  Then the kiddos got a 10 minute break, but they were not allowed to leave during that time.  We were in the gym, so while I grabbed my snack and ate, many of the students slipped onto the basketball court.  

I was surprised to hear dribbling.  Suddenly, a pick-up game broke out.  

I asked the assistant principal about it, and he informed me that it was tradition.  During AP tests, they always play basketball.  

I thought it was an interesting way to blow off steam.  They had their ten minutes, and then it was time to get on to the essay portion of the test.  As they were returning to their seats, one boy remarked, "That was the smartest game of basketball ever played."  

I thought it a rather bold statement.  I'm sure someone somewhere could come up with a smarter group playing basketball.  But I didn't say anything.  I thought the boy should have his moment of hubris.  

He needed to feel smart.  He still had three essays to write.