Recognized and Remembered

At the continuation high school there is an orientation class. It is a class for the newcomers, the ones that have just transferred from their other schools. 

On the second day of school, I was surprised by this orientation class fourth period. The school is making some adjustments with how they do things (some practices were out of date, and it was time to rethink and redo them). And so now Mr. G has a period of orientation. Okay, then...

As with every new group, there were several students I did not recognize. But there were a couple who I did. And I was not surprised to see them. 

I did not say anything to Jensen even though I immediately recognized him. 

But, on Friday, Jensen brought it up. 

Jensen: "Do you remember me from the alternative education center?"

Me: "Yup. I even remember you from [traditional high school]."

Jensen: Looking confused. Then recognition dawns. "Oh, the English class..."

Yeah, among others. 

The good news: Jensen can't really roam like he did at the traditional high school as there's nowhere to roam. And he seems to have matured a little. (Very little.) 

But now I get to see him when I go to the continuation high school. Of course, that means he can't escape me as well. *evil grin*

Second Day Drama

Thursday. Fifth period. 

So, well, um, the continuation high school starts early. Some years I get work, some years I don't. 

It was only their second day of school, so students aren't sure of their schedules. And I don't take roll first thing. I always get them going on the assignment before I figure out who is absent. Usually this works out just fine... 

So, I was looking at the roll. And I realized that I had a student who did not belong in the class. I had seen him the day before. I checked, and he was supposed to be in my sixth period. No biggie. He could explain to his fifth period teacher where he was, and if the teacher needed verification I would give it. 

Only, something else was happening at that moment... 

I was only half listening. Something something someone's girlfriend. And Travis was looking at her? Only, Travis got very upset at the accusation, because he said he knew she was dating someone, and he wasn't looking at her? I don't know, it was a ridiculous disagreement. 

But Travis.

Some people just aren't quite able to get along. You know who I mean. The kind of person who blows up for no reason whatsoever. 

On Wednesday, I had given Travis the assignment. And he complained. Loudly. The lines he was supposed to draw hurt his hand. And he was sure Mr. G wouldn't make him complete the assignment. (Continuation high school. If he didn't do the assignment he wouldn't get the credits for it. There would be other assignments he could get the credits for later.) 

I wasn't in the mood for an argument, so I moved on. Travis sat in the back far corner, and he did (or did not do) his work. Fine. 

But this time Travis wasn't going to let the whole "looking at the girlfriend" go. Andres said something that set Travis off. And Travis was getting louder and louder about it. 

At roughly the same time, I asked Andres what class he was supposed to be in. He realized he was supposed to be in my sixth period. I asked him to go to his actual fifth period. And Andres was willing to go. 

Only, Travis wasn't backing down. Travis was taunting Andres. Challenging him. Making it as if Andres leaving the class was Andres running away from him. Because Travis could take him. Travis was tough, and he would mess Andres up. 

I picked up the classroom phone and dialed security. 

Andres got up. Headed out. Travis continued his taunting. 

I told security that maybe they were settling... 

Andres left. Travis got up from his seat and followed him out. 

Nope, I told security. Fight incoming... 

But small school. The boys were facing off outside, but five other staff members (including security) were there before it came to blows. 

Whew. Fight averted. 

We shooed the students back to class (because everyone left their classes when it looked like a fight was starting) while Travis and Andres were escorted to the office. 

I did not see Travis again that day. Andres showed up on time to sixth period. 

It's been a while since I witnessed a near fight. Glad that sort of thing doesn't happen every day. 

After school and the next day I talked to other adults on campus, and I got a clearer picture of what that dispute was all about. 

Andres' girlfriend had reported to the administration that Travis had been "watching" her, and I heard he was doing other things that were making her uncomfortable. (Andres and his girlfriend have a baby daughter.) Andres had mentioned to Travis that he should stay away from her. Rather than backing off, Travis doubled down. 

And, apparently Andres was nowhere near stone cold sober that day (hence not realizing he was in the wrong class). 

Early Start

Monday. I was on my phone, playing a game, when a text popped up. "I was curious if you're up for subbing for 3 days, beginning this wed..." 

I knew the first day of school for the continuation high school was Wednesday. And I had no plans for the week. Of course I took the gig. 

It was for the computer aided drafting class (CAD). I've subbed for this teacher and this class many times in the past. 

But then I saw the lesson plans for the day: "Students will complete the sketching exercise since computers are non-operational." 

The computers, in the computer aided drafting class, are non-operational... Uh... 

When I arrived on campus on Wednesday, all questions were answered. The teacher, Mr. G, showed up before school to make sure everything was ready to go. (He was finishing up his summer job--teaching a class at the community college.) The computers were non-operational because the school had bought brand new computers for the class, but they were still waiting on a cable to connect them. (Public schools...) 

And... Everything was fine. Pretty much. The "sketching exercise" was an intro drafting exercise, which was fine since many of the students were brand new to the class. 

So, does this count as having worked the first day of school? I mean, kind of? (The district superintendent even showed up to say hello. So, kind of a first day.) 

Fixing It

Continuation high school. Friday. CAD class. Second period.

Class had started. I finished taking roll. Then Javier arrived with a pink classroom exchange slip.

That Mr. G wasn't there was a surprise. (I got the assignment at about 8 PM the previous night. Whatever caused him to be out was last minute.) 

I asked Javier if he specifically needed Mr. G's help. While I can generally assist the kiddos with most classes, computer aided drafting isn't something I know how to do. Javier said he needed to fix his speaker. 

He showed me the one he had made. He designed it on Solidworks and then Mr. G had printed it out on the school's 3D printer. Unfortunately, there were flaws in the design, so Javier needed to redo the design and have it printed out again.

(I forgot to take a picture of the thing, so if you want a visual of what he made, go to about 1:45 in this video. That's roughly what the thing looked like. Watch the whole 2 minute video if you're curious about what he was doing.)

I was dubious, but I let him stay. Students don't usually actually work when they exchange classes to a class taught by a sub. Usually it's an excuse to go somewhere to play. But as Javier was actually planning on working on something, I figured I'd give him a chance.

And... he actually worked. He spent the period on the software, tweaking the things that were problems. (He showed me on his first attempt the things that bothered him.)

He didn't quite finish, so I told him he could return the following period if he needed to (and if his third period teacher gave him permission). 

Third period he returned. And he finished what he could do. He figured he wouldn't get the finished item until about Wednesday. (He'd have to ask Mr. G to print it out. It would take Mr. G time to get around to it. Then, it would take about three hours to print.) 

This was kind of unusual for me. A student voluntarily working on a Friday and completing his task. It helps when it's something they want to do.

The Monitor

Friday at the continuation high school. Computer aided drafting (or CAD). I have covered this class many, many times. Just not in this classroom.

At some point last school year, Mr. G switched classrooms with Mr. F, the math teacher. The move made sense as Mr. G needs more room for his "toys" and Mr. F just needs enough room for desks. (Mr. G's "toys" include a 3D printer and a spot where the students can construct small robots.) 

The bigger room also gave me a good spot to sit behind the students' desks.

What usually happens in this class is that the students say they're working, but when I watch what they're doing from the teacher's desk (there's spy software that lets me see what's on their screens), I see that they're actually playing games. 

Fourth period. While much of the class was on task, two boys were over in a corner, whispering. I finished inputting the attendance, and then I went back to monitoring what was on their screens. The boys were playing some shooter game. 

So, I went back to my perch for the day.

I took a chair behind the kiddos. I could see what was on each of their monitors. I mean, I could see that from the teacher's desk, too, but by sitting behind them, it was obvious I was paying attention to what they were doing.

The boys? They were suddenly on IXL. (IXL is a math program.) 

One boy explained that Mr. G was having him build and organize stuff for the classroom. Knowing the situation and Mr. G, this tracks. The boy would have been getting credit for helping Mr. G set stuff up. So, no Mr. G, no work for the day. Instead, he was going to do his math work.

I was fine with that.

(I'd rather they spend their time in school productively. They can play games at home.)

And so, I sat there, behind them, zoning out. And they kept their computer monitors on stuff that looked schooly. A win. Sort of.

Alas, some of them just hid their phones with their bodies and did nothing anyway. Sigh.

Keeping Busy

Some classes require more of me than others. 

Last week I was covering the CAD (computer aided drafting) class. (The teacher was on jury duty. It was déjà vu all over again.) 

The kiddos work independently. There are YouTube videos that show how to complete the assignments, and the kiddos are supposed to follow along and then duplicate them in the actual software. This may sound simple, but the software is not, and it's easy to get lost or make an error and not be sure why something's not working as the video describes. 

In practice, this means I sit back while they work. And besides taking roll at the beginning of the period and passing out wipes at the end (Covid protocols have them wiping down their desk areas at the end of each period), there's not much for me to do other than "supervise". 

This can be boring (especially when they're mostly behaving). So, on Wednesday I decided to bring something to work on. The octopus hat. 

I figured I'd have a couple hours to get some of those tentacles done. 

Crochet (or knitting) is a great take-along project at school. It keeps me alert. I can pay better attention to the kiddos while I have my physical white noise. Seriously, I notice that I have more energy at the end of a day when I had something to do with my hands as opposed to just watching a class do its work. 

Second period arrived. I noticed that one of the students wasn't getting a whole lot done. He admitted that he was stuck. So, we spent a while going through the video, trying to figure out where he went wrong. 

This is one of those instances where their teacher could probably pinpoint the issue quickly. Alas, I can only watch the video along side the student and see if I can figure out what he's not copying exactly. I was able to figure out the issue on Monday, but this time I was flummoxed. 

Then, in third period, a different student, who hadn't actually been attending school, couldn't get his files to load. I ran through my usual fixes (restarting the computer, having the student use a different classroom computer), but they didn't work. In the end, I had to contact the tech guy to take a look at things. 

The tech guy worked half of that period and half of the next to get the issue solved. (The next day the student could continue working.) 

How much crocheting did I get done that day? Not a whole lot. Because, of course, the day I brought something to keep me busy, the students kept me busy instead. 

I mean, that is my job after all. So, it wasn't a bad thing. 

Game Day

"Is Mr. G out again today? I'm so glad to see you..."

Wilbur then proceeded to call me a "good teacher" and his "favorite sub". Which is code for he didn't do any work, and he enjoyed that immensely. Sigh.

The continuation high school. Computer aided drafting. Second period.

Monday had been a difficult day for me. The spy software wasn't working...

I know I've talked about the spy software before. (I was going to link to it, but I can't seem to find the post.) It's a program that runs on the teacher's computer that shows what each student computer is doing. It's very useful, because many times when I get up to look over their shoulders, they quickly minimize the thing they shouldn't be doing and pull up the thing they should be working on.

So on Monday, while it was clear they weren't on task, when I got up to verify this, they were suddenly "on task".

But Tuesday the spy software miraculously worked. (I almost rebooted the computer on Monday. Silly me. That probably would have fixed the problem.) This meant I could easily watch what they were doing.

In second period, Wilbur played Krunker. Which is what he did on Monday. (They're loud when they play, so it's rather obvious.)

At the end of second period, Wilbur informed the class he'd return to "hang out" in sixth period. (He announced. He didn't ask. He probably should have asked...)

Sixth period Wilbur walked in. Other students asked him why he was there. To me, he tried to play off like he belonged. Failing that, he tried the "Mr. G lets me wait here" card.

So, I told him if he wanted to work, he could stay. But he couldn't just play games. He promised he was planning to do work.

I had the spy software up, and I watched.

The minute it switched from a plain Google background to Krunker, I was on him.

"I'm not on Krunker..."

Because there's a lag, it took a few seconds before it switched back to the plain Google background.

I didn't get up. So, he switched back to Krunker.

And that's when I kicked him out. It was clear he wasn't going to do work, and I didn't need another gamer in the room. I had plenty of those actually enrolled in the class.

(If they don't do their work, they lose out on earning their credits, so they're really only hurting themselves.)

The End

The students in the computer aided drafting class did not believe that their teacher was on jury duty. They accused him of going on vacation. They were sure he was out of town.

Never mind the fact that he had stopped in on various occasions. He attended Back to School night. He was grading their work.

On Monday, Mr. G emailed me to let me know that the jury was deliberating. (Finally!) On Tuesday, they still were. So, I left Tuesday afternoon expecting not to return on Wednesday. They'd be done, right?

I told the classes that there was a 70% chance their teacher would be back on Wednesday.

Tuesday night, 11 PM, I got the email. They were still deliberating.

So, on Wednesday, I hedged again. Would he be back on Thursday? Hopefully?

Again, Wednesday, I left with the expectation that I would not return Thursday.

This time, I was right. I got an email at 9:30 PM. They had rendered a verdict. They were done.

I wished I could have been a fly on the wall on Thursday. I would have loved to have seen the kiddos' faces when they walked in and Mr. G was there.

So, the CAD class is now over. The school year is officially underway. Goodbye, summer.

Everyone (Doesn't) Graduate from High School

I was back in the computer aided drafting class I'd been in all month. The teacher was stuck on jury duty. Let me repeat: FOR OVER A MONTH!

It was again Wednesday advisory. This day's big announcement was about picture day. As most of the students hadn't been at the school for the last picture day, I gave them a brief overview of how it would go.

Lucas wanted to know what would happen if he ditched school that day. (Some students I am totally not surprised to find at the continuation high school. Lucas practically announced he was going to end up here.)

It turned out the issue was Lucas didn't want to take the traditional cap and gown picture. Why not? He didn't want to celebrate getting a high school diploma. "Everyone graduates from high school," he complained.

Um, no, Lucas, they don't.

I was at one of the other schools the previous school year. It was one of those days where my assignment disappeared, so the office gave me busy work to do. On this day the busy work was stamping transcripts.

I wasn't paying close attention to the transcripts. I found an empty spot, and I'd stamp them as "official". After a while, I noticed that some of the transcripts didn't have "graduation" on it. Instead of "class of", the transcript just kind of ended. That's when I realized. These were the students who didn't graduate.

Most of the transcripts were for graduates. But there were several where the student did not finish.

Not everyone graduates from high school.

I attempted to tell Lucas this. He wasn't hearing me. He had moved on.

But what I found sad was that he wasn't thinking that earning a high school diploma was an accomplishment. Because it is. It is an accomplishment denied to some.

Bell Faker

Yup, still in the CAD class...

A couple weeks back, I mentioned how fourth period liked to line up at the door and sneak out before the bell. I stopped that by standing at the door. However, this story continues...

I would not be surprised if Nathaniel was one of the ones who got by me that first week. It was time for him to try a new tactic.

"That's the bell. Riiiiingggg. I just heard it."

Yeah, he pretended to be a bell right in front of me.

Me: "The bells don't really sound like bells. It's more of a buzzing sound."

Nathaniel: "Buzzzzz."

So, for a week, we've been doing this dance. He makes bell ringing sounds. I give him a stare. We go back and forth for a bit until the bell actually rings, and then I let the class go.

But on Tuesday (I think it was Tuesday), Nathaniel tried another bit.

"I have to go now. I can't miss the bus."

The school has no school bus service. And the city bus comes along every 20 minutes or so.

"I have to get to work." He then quoted a time a half hour later as to when he had to be at work. So, he had plenty of time to wait for the bell (which rang less than a minute later).

Is it terrible of me that I rather enjoyed marking him tardy most of the week? (He was late. Like, he arrived minutes after the bell.)

Out All Night

Yup, I'm still in the CAD class...

On Wednesdays, the school has this thing called advisory. It's a bit of time carved out of the day where the students can get updates as to how many credits they're earning. There are also announcements and such.

It was the afternoon, so I only had three students. One girl was complaining that she was tired. I could relate as I had been dragging all week. That's when she explained why she was so tired.

"I snuck out two nights ago, only getting back home just before 6 AM."

Um, what?

"My mom couldn't figure out why I was so tired all day."

Her mother questioned her. She wondered if she was doing drugs. ("I don't smoke anymore," she said.) Her mother wondered if she'd been on her phone all night. ("I turned off my phone at 10:30 as you requested," she said.)

But her mother didn't think to ask if she snuck out of the house at 11 PM and stayed out all night with her boyfriend.

So, parents, if your teen is inexplicably tired, perhaps they're sneaking out of the house at night. This is my public service announcement for the week.

Back to Room 12

Yes, I'm still in that computer aided drafting class. We're all rather curious as to what trial the teacher ended up on. Should be good...

"That old lady who's subbing for Mr. A says she used to work here..."

The boy was complaining about the sub who was covering the graphic arts class. She was on them to do work. But that's not why his comment grabbed my attention.

"When did you start here?" I asked.

Because it wasn't that long ago.

On Monday (which was the first day of school for the whole district) a sub I was not expecting showed up. Ms. M. If you recall back to February, I spent two weeks covering her class after she retired. And I subbed for her many times prior to that.

We were checking in at the front office at the same time. I knew who I was subbing for, so I was curious as to which other teacher was out. When she said the graphic arts teacher, I had a bit of a giggle.

When Ms. M retired, they moved her classes to other teachers. They did not replace her. So, her room was empty for a time. But, as it happens, the room wasn't empty for long. Another teacher moved in.

The graphic arts teacher.

So, Ms. M was subbing in her old classroom.

This is not irony. Is it considered poetic justice? Nah. But this should have a name.

The room looks different now. Graphic arts is done on computers. And there's a t-shirt printing machine as well as a couple other interesting printers.

But still. What are the odds?

(The boy had started at the school after Ms. M retired. They get a new batch of students about every month, so this is not unheard of.)

The Seating Chart

The CAD class continues...

One day I decided to make a seating chart. It's really easy to do in the attendance software. (It's just drag and drop.) And I learn names and faces more quickly when I have a seating chart to refer to.

The reason why this is silly is because the teacher doesn't have assigned seating. While in some classes this would result in pandemonium, in this class it works. At least, I haven't had any of those kinds of issues.

Besides, teens are creatures of habit. They tend to claim a seat and return to said seat each and every day.

It was kind of an experiment. Could I make a seating chart for a class where they had no assigned seating?

The answer to that question is "kind of".

In a couple of the classes, I made the seating chart, and I haven't changed it since. In the others, I have had to adjust the chart every day. (But it's just drag and drop, so it isn't hard.) Now, I say "adjust". Because, most of the chart remains accurate. It's just one or two students who move. And usually, they don't move by much.

Teens are creatures of habit. Even in classes where they're not required to remain in the same seat.

But the charts have been a success for me. I've managed to learn the students' names. (For me, that's huge. I'm terrible at remembering names.)

And the trial continues on. Late in the week we got official notification that the teacher would not be back for the next week. As that Monday (my posts appear a week after the incidents described, so I mean this past Monday) was the first day of school, summer, for me, is officially over. More stories from this class next week. 

Not Absent

The CAD class continues on...

Currently, there are two students enrolled in period seven. (It didn't start out that way. Originally, there were six.) Alas, these two aren't terribly reliable when it comes to their attendance. I'm lucky if one of them shows up.

On Monday, my liar from last week, Thomas, showed up. He again watched videos.

On Tuesday, Billy showed up.

I wasn't expecting much from him, so I was shocked when he actually did the assignment. Seriously. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I tried to play it off like it was no big deal, but it was.

Alas, on Wednesday, I was alone in seventh period again.

However, as I was noting this in the attendance software, I noticed something strange. Billy had been marked absent for the prior day. Not only absent, his absence was noted as a "cut".

(The attendance clerks check absences, and they all eventually get a code. So, if the student was out due to illness, that's noted. If the student was on a field trip, that's noted too. And if students are out for non-approved reasons, those are noted as well, such as a "cut".)

Now, there are times when I might mis-mark the attendance, but when there are only two students in class, it's kind of hard to make a mistake. (And as one student was Latino and the other African-American, it wasn't like I was going to mix them up.)

I made sure to follow up with the attendance clerk. She went to check. And that's when she remembered.

Teachers make mistakes on roll sometimes. A teacher might mark a student present who is absent. This error is usually discovered when a student is marked absent in all but one of their classes.

As I was certain I had Billy in class, the clerk fixed his attendance. He had attended one class that day. And since he had only attended one class on Tuesday, then the one class he attended on Monday must have been correct as well. (It was his fifth period that day.)

Well, attending one class a day is progress of a sort. Now, if he would just commit to a couple more hours...

The Ungraduate Graduates

It's week three in the computer aided drafting class. (The teacher is on jury duty. The trial is dragging on.)

Somewhere at the start, Travis informed me he was graduating soon. And as he didn't need this class, he spent his time playing games.

I did the usual. I suggested that he could get work from other classes (like his other "careers" class) and bring it in. Why waste a period? He didn't see my point. He would rather play games.

So, naturally, when that Friday rolled around, Travis did not have all the credits he needed to graduate. But I already told you that story last week.

Monday, Travis was back. The two credits he needed in careers had been reduced to just one. So, he had the day to spend in my class to do the work.

It's amazing how well students work when the motivation is right. For three and a half hours, Travis plugged along on a project. He took breaks at break time, but then he went right back to it, not getting distracted by games, his phone, or anything else. By the end of fourth period, Travis had completed his project and submitted it.

Then he spent fifth period playing computer games while he waited for his sister to come and pick him up.

He graduated last Wednesday. It took a day for the teacher to check his work and approve the final credit.

And while I'm glad that he managed to finish high school, I know he could have been finished a couple days sooner. I try to tell the students this, but alas, I think this is one of those things they have to learn the hard way.

The Ungraduate

It was Friday of the second week in the computer aided drafting class at the continuation high school. I got a call from the counselor. It was about Travis.

I've had Travis in various classes over the years. He's nice enough, but with an Eddie Haskell vibe.

Week one in class Travis informed me that he was in class for "careers". (They are required to do five credits worth of careers at the school, the equivalent of a semester course.) He needed two more credits.

And this is where we all dropped the ball. I thought I was in the class for a week, so I didn't think too much of this. And Travis didn't press me on assigning him work worth two credits in careers. I thought he was getting those credits from another teacher. And Travis spent all his time in class playing computer games.

But on Friday, the counselor wanted to know what Travis had gotten done. He was supposed to graduate that day, and all he was missing were those two credits in careers.

Oops.

Yeah, he'd done nothing in class. Well, he'd half-assed a couple assignments, but nothing worth two credits.

Contacting the regular teacher was difficult because he was on jury duty. He wouldn't be able to see what Travis had submitted to him (via online means) until he was done for the day.

So, Travis missed his graduation date.

The way the continuation high school works, the students graduate as soon as they have completed their credits. So, Travis could graduate the following Monday if he manages to get those credits done. Or he could graduate Tuesday.

While I feel a bit bad for having not followed up on Travis' credits, I'm not terribly concerned about causing him to not graduate. Because he will. Just a bit later than originally expected. (At this point he's a fifth year senior, so it's not the first time he's missed a graduation date.)

By the way, the trial the teacher is on is dragging out. I'll be back the next week. I'll let you know if/when Travis does manage to graduate.

Clearly a Lie

Seventh period. For a change I had more than one student in class. I actually had two!

Yesterday I mentioned how the software had been down. They had the career research assignment to do or a couple of hand-drawn drafting assignments. It wasn't what they'd usually do in this class (computer aided drafting), but it wasn't completely off-topic.

A boy in the corner of the room laughed loudly. I glanced at what he had on his computer screen and found that he was watching something on YouTube. It looked like video from a radio station interview. It could have been a podcast.

(There is software on the teacher's computer that lets me watch what each student has on their computer screen. I've mentioned the technology before.)

Whatever it was, it wasn't on task.

I kept an eye on his computer as well as the computer of the other student in class. Neither were doing any work. Ah well.

At the end of the period, I went to "collect" their drawn-with-pencil-on-paper assignments. (Hey, the boy could have done that work with the video in the background. I don't know how, but many students do work better with background noise.) Of course, his paper was blank.

Me: "You did no work today?"

Boy: "I worked on that." He pointed at the career assignment. It was written on the board.

Me: "No, you didn't. You were watching videos all period."

He didn't argue with me any further.

Apparently, he's not aware of the monitoring software. But even then, he was laughing out loud. Loudly. For the whole room to hear. And he saw me look over at him. He really thought I wasn't aware he was watching a video that he found funny? Seriously?

Recipe for Disaster

It's the second week in the computer aided drafting class. Their teacher is stuck on jury duty. But at least this week the software is working...

Yes, last week was a bit of a nightmare. It was bad enough that the teacher was out. (Kiddos really don't like it when their teacher is out. They like consistency.) But then we had the computer issue.

Without going into too many boring details, the software that they use to do the drafting stopped working on Tuesday. And it took the tech guy until Friday to get the problem solved. It was a whole thing. Calls to software reps. Reinstalling on all the computers in the room individually. We were lucky that they got it to work, finally.

So, teacher out for days plus software not working plus students not very motivated... Oh, did I mention that the students feel like it's too early in the school year ("It's still summer"), so therefore they should not be required to do any work yet? And so many of them "didn't want" this class and didn't understand what this class was about.

Okay, then, if they were not sure what the class was about, I had an idea. Since the software wasn't working, they could do a career survey. I asked them to research a job that would use computer aided drafting in it.

I gave them a list of things to look for including salary and working conditions. If they knew what CAD could be used for, they might be more interested in pursuing it, don't you think?

Yeah, that could have worked. There was only one problem--they weren't going to do the assignment. They'd rather play games. Or watch YouTube. Sigh.

So, it's week two, and the software is working. And they... Well, some of them are working. That's progress, right?

Door Monitor

CAD (computer aided drafting) class. The teacher is on jury duty, a trial that is scheduled to go a couple weeks.

Fourth period was the period. Every teacher has one. It's the class where the difficult students reside. In my case, it's the biggest class of the day, and half the class wasn't doing much in the way of classwork.

This was also the class right before lunch.

I generally give a three minute warning. ("We have three minutes left of class.") It's their cue to pack up and get ready to go. This group lined up at the door. The door opened, and a couple students slipped out. We still had a couple minutes before they should have been dismissed.

I was able to get them back. When they repeated this sneakiness the next day, I knew I was going to have to be a whole lot more proactive about this.

On the third day, I called the three minute warning from just beside the classroom door. No one bothered to line up. Success! It meant that I'd have to block the door for them near the end of the period, but that's not a big deal.

But, on the fourth day, it was buyout day. That's the day that students can get buyouts signed so they can be excused from attending school on Friday.

At the three minute warning, I was positioned by the door. I had signed the buyouts. But, of course, a student hadn't given me his earlier. He asked for me to sign it, which meant I had to leave my door position to get my pen.

Naturally, this is when the kiddos lined up at the door. And, of course, someone slipped out. (It was Ten Minutes.)

Of course, I stepped out to retrieve him. He attempted to hide behind the door. At that moment Elliot slipped out...

I got them back. I made them wait until the bell. But they're going to be tricky. On the bright side, they're the only ones that are doing this.

Ten Minutes' Rap Battle

Yesterday, I mentioned the sleeper is at the continuation high school. Of course, I had him in class. And, of course, he wasn't doing much in the way of working.

The class is computer aided drafting. They "draw" various objects in a computer program. But, this being the continuation high school, many of them don't really apply themselves to classwork.

Ten Minutes (I'm stealing Mr. T's nickname for him) had a buddy in this class. Elliot and Ten Minutes challenged each other to a rap battle. (I'm not sure who instigated this.) At least, that's what they told me later.

I became aware of the situation when Ten Minutes started rapping. Now, he wasn't loud, but in a quiet classroom, even a quiet speaking voice rapping is noticeable. First I dinged him on his language. Because, rap. Every third word or so was inappropriate for a classroom setting.

But then I understood what they were doing. Namely, they weren't doing the assignment. So, I put the kibosh on the rap battle.

They were upset. What? They couldn't talk? I said talking was fine, but not getting any work done... Oh, and there was the whole how-do-they-rap-without-cussing thing. They didn't see the problem. (That they didn't see why having a rap battle in class was inappropriate tells you quite a lot about these boys.)

Once they accepted the rap battle was called on account of substitute teacher, they had to figure out who won. They asked for my ruling. Which was rather ridiculous as Elliot didn't get a chance to compete, and I interrupted Ten Minutes' rap.

I declared a tie.

I told them that they could totally have a rap battle... after class, outside, and/or after school. If they did this, they did not tell me about it.

(It's amazing the things they have to do that suddenly aren't so important when they're not in the classroom.)