Unexpected Sixth

Wednesday. Sixth period. And the class showed up... 

Sixth period is ELD. The English language development class. One of the major things that they had to do during my tenure in the class was to take the ELPAC. I couldn't give it, but I got questions from the students and from the counselors as to when the class would take it. 

Last week the assistant principal got back to me about it. He scheduled it for this week. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. He told me he would get back to me with more information, but he never did. He informed me that they would call the kiddos out of class, and there was nothing for me to do. Okay, then... 

Tuesday, I had four students in fifth period. (A few of them didn't have to take the test.) This was fine as I was expecting no class. I hadn't planned for them to do anything. (I had moved the plans for the day as ELPAC was to take priority.) 

But Wednesday, the kiddos showed up. They had been called out of class the previous day and had finished their test. 

Uh... 

Well, the actual lesson plan for the day was study hall. That's what Ms. A had originally scheduled. It was a "buffer day". She had put in an extra day just in case I got behind on Of Mice and Men. I hadn't. 

I had the next day's plan ready to go, though, too. So, I gave the kiddos the option. They could get the study hall day on Friday. They picked Wednesday. Fine by me. 

It would have been nice, though, if the assistant principal would have let me know that all the students would be tested on Tuesday. You know, so I could plan ahead. 

At least it's done. And as I get ready to leave this long-term assignment (when this post goes live, I'll have already left), it's good to know this major component did get completed. Even if I didn't have to do any of the actual work involved. 

Sideways

Tuesday. 

You ever have one of those days? Nothing wrong, exactly. It's not a bad day. But things just kinda feel off. 

First off, I was running late. (I ran late all week. Just tired. Even though I'd been sleeping.) When I got home and looked in the mirror, I realized I had forgotten to apply makeup before leaving for school. And I didn't even notice all day. Sigh. 

I start my day with the daily Wordle. I do this as I log into the computers (for this gig, I've been using three, daily... well, four if you count the in-class TV screen). And... Hole in one:

And you know my first reaction? "Damn it! Now I have to find a new starter word." (It's now "tenor". In case you're interested.) 

Just as I was coming to terms with that (and while I was eating a muffin), the assistant principal dropped in. (It was my prep period. I was kind of trying to sort of prep.) I did need to see him. 

I have two ELD classes. They have to take a test yearly called the ELPAC. A few of them really need to take it so they can reclassify. (They'd be considered "fluent" in English, so they would no longer need to take an ELD class.) I can't give it because sub, so I have to coordinate with another teacher to get it done. 

The assistant principal came by to discuss when we'd get this done. He proposed doing it Wednesday/Thursday. But, long story short, that fell through as the teacher who would have done it then was actually out on Tuesday, so he couldn't coordinate anything. Naturally. 

I went back to getting prepped for the day. I looked over the next quiz the eleventh graders would take on The Great Gatsby. And as I read through it, I discovered that there are questions on it that I have not covered. Stuff like symbolism. And... Yeah, probably should mention some of this stuff so the quiz doesn't take them by surprise. 

It's always something. I suppose I should have realized that things were going too smoothly. I had to be missing something. Hopefully I found most of the issues. 

Catcalls

Friday. Beginning ELD.

(ELD stands for English language development. This is the class for recent immigrants. Beginning means they don't speak any English yet, so they're very recent immigrants.) 

Mr. F had left a jam-packed lesson plan, and I was struggling with the technology. And, of course, the instructional aide was running late.

(For reference, Mr. F is the teacher who took over the vacant middle school English class in 2019 that I started the year in. He's still in the same classroom. And the instructional aide, Ms. R, is the IA I had when I did the summer academy in 2022. In other words, they both know me, and I know them.)

By the time Ms. R arrived, I had gotten the technology going, had gotten their notebooks passed out, and was just getting into the lesson. Ms. R kind of took over as she knew the routine and could slip into Spanish to help the kiddos understand what they had to do.

(While the majority of the class were from Spanish speaking countries, there were a couple students who spoke Arabic and a couple who spoke Vietnamese. I can't recall what the fourth language was, though. It's always a mix in these classes.) 

As Ms. R was discussing something with them, half the class broke into whistles...

Ms. R stopped what she was doing to explain to the group why whistling was inappropriate. 

She does this from time to time. One time in the winter she explained why even though the sun was shining, they needed to wear a jacket. (Our climate is weird.) And she'll point out things that they might not know as newcomers to this part of the world.

The whistling discourse hit on how disrespectful it was to women and the sorts of things you'd want boys to learn. And then Ms. R turned back to the board to get back into the lesson. (They were writing sentences like, "The third day of the week is Wednesday," and "The seventh month is July".) 

Just as Ms. R turned around, another student whistled...

Oh, she wasn't having that. She sent that student out for that.

Because, seriously? The first time, sure. They don't know better. But the second time? Nope.

Later, Ms. R had a serious conversation with the student. Mostly in Spanish, so I wasn't listening. (And it was snack time, so I went in search of a restroom.) But later, she talked to me about it.

The big question was, what's going on in that seventh grader's life that he felt the need to call attention to himself like that? Which is a very good question.

Beginning ELD classes can be tricky. Behavior issues crop up. We wonder what sort of schooling they had prior to ending up here. But kids are kids, and they'll do the sorts of things you'd expect.

Two Truths and a Lie

Last week was Thanksgiving break, so there was no school. This is from the week prior.

English language development. They had an activity. 

The teacher had posted a game. They were to come up with two truths and one lie. Then they were to try to guess their classmates' lies. 

It was fun for me as I could see the whole interaction. When it was time, I called on each student to reveal their lie. 

And in each instance, at least one if not two or three of their classmates guessed the lie. 

Although, maybe not guessed.

One student's lie was that he liked orange. Another said his shoe size was 10. A third said she had a good memory. 

The students pretty much got those lies. In a class like ELD, they've been together a couple years. They probably didn't have to struggle too hard to figure out the lie. 

But the activity worked really well virtually. It would not have worked nearly as well in person. And it was the perfect assignment to be done by a sub.

ELD Bingo

The first two periods of this high school English class was beginning ELD (English Language Development).

How beginning? As I was explaining the assignment to half of the class (while the other half worked on something different), I noticed that none of them were listening. They were all focused on their computers or phones. I peeked at what they were doing. They were typing in the instructions from their papers into their devices, and the computer was translating into alphabets I did not recognize.

So, I did a lot of pointing after that.

But then we were to play Bingo. It was in the lesson plan, I swear.

As soon as I pulled out the Bingo set, a couple students started passing stuff out. I instructed those who were in charge that they were. And they got to it.

The instruction was that as soon as a number was called, the students were to repeat it back. And once they started doing that, I realized what this assignment was all about.

They were practicing their numbers.

For the most part, things went pretty well. They got confused between numbers like thirteen and thirty. But, it's B13 and I30, so if they said I-thirteen, I immediately knew something was wrong.

They were very shy shouting out "BINGO!" though. I barely heard it.

Then it was a scramble for the prizes. Where were the prizes? At least I found those readily enough.

The assignment may have been about practicing numbers, but the winners wanted their winnings.

Peep Show

It was Monday of the last week of school. The eighth graders were on a celebratory field trip to Knott's Berry Farm. The teacher I was covering was one of the chaperones, and I was left with all of his seventh graders.

Mr. S had one period of middle school leadership, one period of middle school theater, and two periods of English Language Development (read: English learners). As his leadership and theater classes needed a different sort of room, he traveled to a more academic classroom for the ELD classes.

The room he used for his ELD classes housed health classes the rest of the day.

It's the end of the semester, so the health classes are currently studying sexually transmitted diseases, something first period gleefully informed me of. (I knew this already, so I shrugged it off.)

The classes' assignment was an essay about what goals they had for their summer vacation. And they were less than pleased to be writing.

And sixth period...

They were terrible in the usual sort of way. I was not shocked. So, I tried to settle them as I went into explaining what they were doing for the period.

"He lets me pull up the screen."

All classrooms have projectors now, and most of the time the screen is down. I didn't need the board underneath, but I figured what was the harm in letting the boy raise the screen?

As soon as the screen went up, the whole class erupted in hoots and hollers.

I looked back at the board...

Posted to the white board was a poster of the female reproductive system.

I pulled the screen back down.

I should have known.

The boys (there were two girls in the class of about twenty) didn't settle at all that period. I have a feeling that's their normal behavior. At least that class is no more. (School let out on the 6th. It is officially summer vacation.)

Irritable

Some days...

It was Friday, and my day up until that point had been fairly uneventful. I was asked to cover an extra period (naturally) for sixth period, and it was next door. I had a chance to talk to the teacher before she left.

Ms. M apologized for the class. There were only seventeen of them, but they had way more energy than anyone should have at the end of the day, she said.

They weren't out of the ordinary for a middle school class. They wouldn't settle to let me give instructions. There was the boy who thought he didn't have to sit in his assigned seat. Well, three boys. I had to stop the video four or five times because they were talking. And getting anyone to read the article (this was after the video)... They'd read when I insisted, but it took them forever to comply.

After taking way too long to settle them (again) for the next reader to go, I had just had it. They could answer the questions and finish the reading on their own.

They did, but they did it way too quickly.

Sigh.

Some days, I just don't have the energy for them. Stuff that should roll off my back irritates me no end. This day, I was just irritable.

They can't all be good days, I guess.

What irritates you no end? Do you have any energy at the end of the day?

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

The Bird

ELD (English language development). Third period was the eleventh graders.

About twenty minutes into class, Rebecca arrived. She had an excused tardy pass from the attendance office.

I told her what the assignment was. (They were writing essays.) She said she'd already finished. Then she asked to go and see her counselor. I gave her a pass.

I've had Rebecca in various classes since she was in middle school. She can be a little irritating. But she's never made the blog before now.

She returned from the counselor after only about ten minutes. And that's the first time Rafael noticed her.

"You're late," he said. "Where have you been? Class is halfway over. You should be working on your essay. It's due tomorrow."

Rebecca turned to him and flipped him off.

And me? I told Rafael to mind his own business and get back to the essay he was not working on.

I'm supposed to call Rebecca out for inappropriate hand gestures and all, but seriously...

At the beginning of third period, Rafael grabbed a computer immediately. He had to start on his essay right away, never mind that there was a warm up he was supposed to complete first.

We argued. I pushed for him to do the warm up. He complained that he had to do his essay. We got through the warm up, no thanks to him, and then the class got to work on the essay. (He seriously wasted a good two minutes with his arguing.)

I meandered to the back of the room so I could see what everyone was doing on their computers. Rafael was busily typing an essay, right? Of course not.

Nope. Rafael spent the period avoiding doing the essay. He was staring into space. He was "doing research". We had another argument about him getting something done. He explained that he didn't need to be in the ELD class, he had the top A in the class, and he was resentful about being there so he refused to work. (Yes, those contradict each other. This is typical for a teen argument.)

So, when he noticed Rebecca (the second time she walked into the classroom) and went after her? Yeah, no. Nope. No.

Rafael was flabbergasted that I didn't say anything to Rebecca about her giving him the finger. But I had a few seconds only to offer my reaction, and I picked the more egregious behavior. And I stand by that.

Rebecca's response? When Rafael turned back to his computer, she gave me heart hands.

Sex in Scrabble

Seventh grade ELD (English language development, read: English language learners).

The teacher was out on jury duty (first day--I don't know if she got selected for a jury as I worked elsewhere the next day). The lesson plan was a bit of a scramble. This group was to play Scrabble.

If you think about it, it's an excellent way to have them doing something in English. And due to limited boards, the students played in pairs as teams, which meant they were conferring on proper English words.

Things went fairly well. I mean, they got a little loud, but that was to be expected.

Then one group called me over. They were talking as I approached.

"It means gender."

They needed a ruling. Was it okay to play the word "sex"?

Sigh. For that age... But they weren't giggling. It was an actual, reasoned debate. The team that wanted to play it rightly pointed out it had a valid definition that was classroom appropriate.

Considering the tenor of the conversation, I allowed it. They weren't being silly. They were treating it as a word. I appreciated that.

Besides, using X was going to give them issues anyway.

Three Sentences

Middle school ELD (English language development). This is one of those classes where you wouldn't realize the students aren't considered "fluent" in English just by talking to them.

The teacher had us practice writing sentences. We only had three to do, but we managed to make this take the whole period.

How did such an activity take the entire period? Some of it was due to language struggles, but the rest was just middle school squirreliness. Combine that with sub day and end of the year...

We did have another activity that we never got to.

Anyway, your assignment (if you choose to participate) is to write their three sentences. You may add more words than assigned, but you must have one of each of the words listed, and in this order:

1. subject, helping verb, predicate, adverb, prepositional phrase, punctuation
2. subject, conjunction, subject, past tense predicate, prepositional phrase, adverb
3. subject, helping verb, predicate, article, adjective, noun, adverb

(They'd been doing this sort of thing for days. I even pointed out what the sentences should look like. I had them write sentences on the board and helped them "fix" them. But the playing around...)

Saved by the Internet

Did you know that if you type in the title and the first couple of questions of a worksheet, you may be able to find a copy of that worksheet online?

I discovered this trick quite by accident. I was looking for the answers to something or other. I did just this, and the original popped up.

So, when the worksheet that the ELD (English language development. Read: students who moved here from elsewhere and are learning English) class had was missing key components, after not finding the book it came from in the classroom, I checked for it online.

(This was the third day the teacher had been out due to illness. She'd left early on Friday because she wasn't feeling well. Then she called in sick on Monday and this day which was a Tuesday. That she managed to get a very detailed lesson plan to me, with worksheets!, is pretty amazing. We'll forgive her for the worksheets being incomplete.)

They were supposed to identify the tense of the verb, only the verbs were missing. Oops. Somehow, the copy had everything that was italicized blanked out. I was going to come up with some random verbs, but the list was rather long.

So, I typed in the publisher of the worksheet (it was printed on it), the title, and voila... It actually popped up. Not only that, but the whole book it came from. Wow.

And because the computer was connected to the projector, I was able to project what was missing from the worksheet for the class to copy down.

The Internet saves my butt yet again.

Kudos Deserved

When I'm asked to cover an extra period, there are certain things I expect. We'll have to wait around for security to let us in. The class will be loud and all over the place while I locate the lesson plans. And somehow I'll have to get the students to settle while I'm getting situated for the period. (This usually involves the raising of my voice.)

I went to the extra 6th period on this Monday with realistic expectations. (This was the same day as the ELD class from yesterday's post.) However, I was thrilled when security arrived at the classroom just when I did.

Security let us in the room, and the first thing I noticed was how warm it was. (The class had been period subbed all day, so I assume none of the other subs had bothered with the thermostat.) Before looking for lesson plans and dealing with the loud, I went to turn on the air conditioning. Then I turned back to the class...

Everyone in the class was seated. And silent. Waiting...

Um... This was weird. These were middle schoolers. 7th graders. Silently waiting. Right. This couldn't last.

I located the lesson plans. (The sub from the prior period had hidden them away. Grrr.) Found the thing they were supposed to do...

"But we're ELD..." one kiddo protested.

Yup, I knew that. I was reading the period 6 lesson plans, which I pointed out. And I started to pass out their work. (Got a volunteer, so I let him pass out papers.) And I explained what they were doing.

And they did it. Silently. For the whole period.

I had my fingers crossed. I knocked on wood. I was doing everything not to jinx the luck. Because, seriously? A middle school class that I was only in for one period and that period was 6th period behaving well? This just doesn't happen.

The note I left was glowing. They deserved it.

These were alien replicants, right? Or Stepford children? What do you think caused this anomaly?

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

Justification

I was back in the middle school ELD class. (She's a new teacher, so she has a lot of trainings that the district makes her attend.) They were mostly on task and mostly quiet. But a new problem has emerged...

I caught a girl popping something into her mouth.

Eating in class is generally prohibited. (Some teachers are more lax on this than others.) I went over to remind the girl of the rule...

"The rules say no food, drink, or gum," she explained.

This is true. The sign posted in the classroom said as much.

"This is candy."

Uh huh. And candy is food...

"No, it's not food, it's candy."

We went back and forth on this a couple times. My explaining that she was not supposed to eat anything in class getting us nowhere. But then...

"Oh, no, it's not candy. It's a cough drop..."

Uh huh. Sure it is. And she can explain why it only became a cough drop after this argument to her teacher.

Oh, and keep in mind that she did eat the candy...

Do you remember your middle school (junior high school) years? (That's ages 12-13.) What's the silliest thing you ever argued?

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

Speak Not, Google

Miguel and I are well acquainted. Last year I covered his 8th grade science class when they were behaving badly. I said some things that were not well thought out. He has not let me forget my slip.

ELD. They had specific book work to complete. Then they could get on computers to complete other tasks.

Miguel played around a lot. But, eventually he got to the point where he could get a computer. Did he get on task? Of course not.

You know how you can type something in to Google and have it speak it for you? (I'm not sure how this works. All I know is that it does exist.) Miguel knows. Because, while the rest of the class was busily working, his computer started spouting off something... rude...

The words weren't inappropriate per se, but the sentiment... And it was directed at the boy seated next to him.

Miguel lost his computer privileges. This period I had an instructional assistant. (I've worked with him many times.) He went looking for a think sheet for Miguel. At which point I realized I had a few that I "borrowed" for just such an occasion.

Freshmen boys...

Blue Slime

It was the 3rd time I'd covered the advanced ELD class at the middle school in four weeks. 5th period was... challenging...

The teacher expected them to work silently, and while the rest of the classes did, 5th period would not.

There's something about this age. Emotions are heightened. Brighter. And impulse control is nearly nonexistent.

When Alex went into his backpack and pulled out a container of blue goo, I knew where this was headed.

(The slime/goo stuff has been around for a bit, now. I've seen it before. Not as often as I see Rubik's Cube. A calmer class on a different day explained the recipe to me. You can find that here.)

I told Alex to put the goo away. He refused.

It was passing period, he said. He just wanted to look at it, he said. He'd put it away at the bell, he said.

via GIPHY

By the time the bell rang to begin class, Alex had a portion of the goo stuck to the carpet on the floor... (And, of course, two other boys were also distracted by other issues at the same time.)

Somehow, I got the rest of the class settled, passed out the day's assignment, and got roll taken. Alex still had the slime out and by now it was all over his hands.

15 minutes later he was almost ready to get to work. The goo was back in its container. He just needed to go to the restroom to wash his hands. They were now blue.

via GIPHY

You know that old sign? "A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine"? Apparently, this was Alex's first exposure to the idea. 

Found It

The class was advanced ELD (English Language Development). 9th graders. I had them for two periods.

During the first period, they were to read chapter six of The Outsiders and answer some questions. Almost everybody pulled out a book. All but one.

"I forgot my book."

After exhausting a couple other options, I hit upon a solution. He could do the assignment for the second hour first, then he could borrow another student's book to do the reading during the second hour. Perfect, right?

"Let me check again..."

Lo and behold, he "found" the book at the bottom of his backpack.

Freshmen. *shakes head*

Caught with Cell Phone

Friday. I had a very small, very well-behaved ELL class. (ELL stands for English language learners, meaning that they're fairly new to the country and not all that fluent in English yet.) The first thing on the agenda was SSR. (Silent sustained reading, meaning that they're supposed to pull out a book and read for 10-15 minutes.)

Most had books. A couple of the students explained that they usually read on their phones. This is not the first time I've heard this, so I allowed it. (Making sure they were reading books and not texting, of course.)

The room got silent. They were all reading. So, I got busy with something else. (I don't remember what. I was either writing something or reading something.)

Then the assistant principal and a counselor walked in. As is usual, a pair of them will walk into class to do a "dress code check". I recognize what they're there for right away, so I nod when they tell me. They gaze around the room and generally they walk right back out. Which is what they did this time.

It was only after they left that I remembered--two of the students had cell phones out. Um...

I had kind of hoped not to be caught allowing cell phones out. But then again, more and more teachers are using them in their lesson plans. And it wasn't like the students were goofing off.

But still, I felt like I had been caught doing something I shouldn't have been. Even though I didn't get into trouble for it.

All Alone

ELD. English Language Development. So, while they spoke English, they weren't fluent. This was the advanced group.

They had two worksheets. One of them asked them to write a story. The prompt asked them to imagine that they had a time machine and that they could go to any time past or future. When would they go? What would they do? Etc.

One boy was incensed by the question. Time travel is not possible, he explained. I agreed, but explained that this was a story, and he could make things up.

But he wasn't having it. It took a bit for me to get what was bothering him, but eventually I got the gist of what he was saying.

He could imagine someone building a machine that could take someone back in time. But, he argued, once you got there, you'd be all alone. Because the people in the past are now dead, so they wouldn't be there when you got there. Because they are now dead.

It's an interesting theory. One I haven't seen in any of the time travel theories before.

I, of course, argued that if you go back in time, you're going to the time when those people would have been alive. But he wasn't having it. He insisted that if you went back in time, you'd find empty cities.

Of course, he was all about how the Illuminati are real and various other conspiracy theories too. Not that one has to do with the other.

Sometimes I'm amazed at how their minds work.

Arachnophobia

Ms. P warned me about her 5th period. She explained that they had a packet of worksheets, and the way she described the assignment put me in mind of throwing steak at a pack of wolves hoping they won't devour me. 

It wasn't that bad. They were in assigned seats. They remained seated (mostly). But as for getting any work done...

Jose threw something at (to?) a neighbor. I told him to stop throwing things. He informed me he didn't "throw" it. He "flicked" it. Fine. Then I told him to not cause any object to fly through the air. Best to nip these things early.

His neighbor insisted that he needed a textbook for reference. Francisco then caused a run on the books, and in the frenzy, someone managed to knock over the instructional aide's tea. And make a mess.

Carlos volunteered to go and get paper towels from the restrooms. He returned with them... eventually...

It was pretty much a constant battle all period. Just when I'd get one student settled, another would insist that she just had to sit in a seat that was not hers. At least she saw reason when I pulled out the referral form.

Then someone spotted a spider.

And Jose and Francisco were on top of their desks. Quaking.

The thing was two rows away from them. But they would not come down from their desks.

Sigh.

Once the spider was disposed of, they eventually settled down. Were the big, bad boys afraid of a piddly little spider? Or were they taking advantage of a crazy situation? I have a hard time believing that they were actually afraid. 

At the end of the period, I managed to get them seated rather than lining up at the door. (I have a trick for this.) So, the entire class passed the last couple minutes by making bird sounds.

Vocab Lesson

I had been warned about 5th period. I immediately started in by making sure they were all in their assigned seats. Then I explained that since I can't read and talk at the same time, I knew they could not, so therefore I expected silence.

(I didn't really expect silence. I never expect silence. I figure silence is something to strive towards, depending on the assignment. But I will push for it if the circumstances warrant.)

I got the usual refrain. "We can multitask."

But eventually they settled down. Not to silence, but to a quiet enough where I figured that most could get the assignment done.

It was a middle school advanced ELD class. ELD stands for English Language Development. These are the students who aren't native English speakers, and their assignment was to read a story (in English) out of their textbook.

They should need it quieter, right?

One boy was talking to two of his neighbors. They were clearly not doing the assignment. So, I asked how what they were talking about could have anything to do with the reading assignment. (This is how I usually approach students who are off task.)

"Well... We were talking about a Chinese girl, and this story is about a Chinese family..."

Tenuous connection at best. I was about to say that when I remembered where I was.

"Have you ever heard the word 'tenuous'?" I asked.

They hadn't. At which point I explained it. A couple students asked if it was kind of like fragile. And in a minute or two, most had now been introduced to the term.

I turned back to the boy.

"Yeah, so that excuse. Tenuous at best."

At least they learned something new.