Scorching Hot & Soaking Wet

The day before spring break (which was two Fridays ago) was forecasted to be hot. 90-something degree hot. On the day, we actually got up to 101F (38C). 

On the Wednesday, instructional assistant Keyla informed me that she wanted to do "water play" that day. See, we called it "water play" in the note that went home to the parents (so the students would have towels and extra clothes to change into) rather than telling the parents we planned to have a water balloon fight. 

When the time came (it was well into the 90s before noon), the aides filled a couple buckets of water, filled up some balloons, and pulled out the water shooter/squirter thingies. 

Earl turned on the hose and sprayed Keyla with it. Keyla took the water shooter and got him back. Alas, in that exchange, I was collateral damage. 

Jennifer and Jonas went after each other and the other students outside. Keyla showed Doris how the water balloons worked, and Doris proceeded to douse herself with them for the duration. (She kept breaking them on herself.) 

One of the other classes was out on a break. They watched the fun. Many of them got hit by random splashes, although they didn't seem to mind much. 

Not everyone really wanted in on the action. We coaxed Natalie out, but she stayed out of the way until she was able to convince someone to let her back into the classroom and onto her computer. Sigh. 

Penelope and a couple of our other lower functioning students were given bowls and buckets of water with toys to play in. 

They were probably at it a half hour. They were soaked when the balloons had finally been exhausted. 

We finished up the day in the classroom with pizza and a movie. 

Bad Forgery

My second day of a three day assignment in the eighth grade English class was a Friday. It was "Fun Friday". Any student who met certain requirements (namely, good grades and attendance) got dismissed to lunch 20 minutes early and admitted to a fun activity.

I had the list of students. I had their passes. I passed out the passes to the seven students in class who had earned it. And at the allotted time, I allowed them to leave.

Jesse held up a pass, said he was part of the group, and attempted to leave the class with the group. But Jesse wasn't on the list.

Why do the difficult students think they can get away with this stuff?

Jesse wasn't "bad" per se. These classes were pretty good overall, so the worst I can say for Jesse is he got out of his seat a bit too frequently. I had to take an extra moment to ask for his attention when I was giving the class instruction. But nothing out of the ordinary, especially for a sub.

But trying to sneak out of class with "the good kids"? Nope.

After the rest of the class had been dismissed for lunch, I found Jesse's "pass" on the floor. The passes were preprinted class schedules (with student ID numbers) for each student. Jesse had scratched out someone's name and printed his name in pencil above it.

I don't know what he was planning to do with that pass if he managed to get past me. No one would mistake that for an actual pass for this activity.

Eighth grade logic escapes me.