That Day

It was the end of second period. An announcement came over the PA. Administration needed the staff to meet in the gym during snack. While technically that included me, I figured I really didn't need to be there as subs tend to be exempt from these sorts of things, so I headed to the restroom instead. I was sure I'd hear about whatever it was later. 

I had just gotten back from the restroom when the in-class phone rang. It was the secretary, and I just knew what she was going to ask. The fourth period she wanted me to cover was choir, not too far from the room I was in for the day. The bell was just about to ring, so I headed over. 

And here's where this all makes a very hard left turn...

As security let the class in, Mr. C, the band teacher next door, clued me in to the issue. Ms. C, the choir teacher (no relation--different C-name), was on campus. That announcement? It had to do with the death of a student. 

And it hit the choir teacher hard. 

Mr. C texted the choir teacher for plans, and he got the class started. They had a competition coming up the following weekend, and they needed to do a run-through. Better if the teacher is there, but the student leaders know enough to get something accomplished when a sub is there.

(Think Glee when I say "performance". Singing. Dancing. Contemporary radio hits music. I've covered the choir class before, but not lately. The current choir teacher replaced the choir teacher who retired last year.) 

The students hadn't been informed of the death yet. They were going to do it in waves. Just as soon as they got the counselors in place. 

The class got set up. The girls warmed up. (All-girl choir.) They got into position. They started working on blocking. 

I sat and watched. It hit differently when I knew what was coming. 

Then the phone rang. I was to send two students to the library. The notifications were starting. 

I sent the girls on their way. 

They were curious as to being sent to the library. (When students get called out of class, they are never called to the library. Attendance office, usually. Sometimes counselor's office. Maybe health office. Or front office.) But they went. 

Then security showed up with another list. Another five students headed to the library. 

After those girls left, an email went out school-wide. Student wasn't named, but the student's passing was announced. 

The remaining choir girls started doing some figuring. The student must have been involved in the school musical as the choir girls already gone had all been in the musical. As had their teacher (been involved in staging it). 

They managed a run-through of their show. This was a little weird as all their soloists were in the library. But, the backup gets rehearsed alone quite a bit, so they were able to do it. 

They had just finished a full run through (which took about 20 minutes) when Ms. C returned to the class. She knew that the girls had already heard. I let her know that while they had heard much of it, they did not know the student's name. 

Ms. C provided it. 

And that's when I realized I knew who the student was. 

It was the end of class, and several of the students were in tears. Some had returned from the library. They were processing. Naturally. 

I headed back to the class I was in for the day. And the day prior, and the day following. 

During sixth period (statistics), I had a couple students I recognized from period four. One did not make it to sixth from fourth period. She had been one to be summoned to the library. I was not surprised to not see her in class. 

While the statistics students didn't do their work (I was warned they've got senioritis and weren't going to be very productive), I perused the online attendance for the class. The school is on a block schedule, and we were on the even day. 

I took the attendance back a day. Looked at third period. Then I took the attendance to the next day and looked at third period. 

Yup. They had removed the student from the attendance. They wouldn't be in class the next day. I had seen them the day before. In class. 

I... Yeah. This might hit me harder than I thought it would. (There's more story here, but this post is long enough.) 

Christmas in October

On Wednesday of last week, I happened to catch the choir class. I have not subbed for Mr. S in a very long time, so I wasn't sure what to expect. 

When I arrived, I looked for lesson plans but did not find them. Before I had a chance to panic, the student teacher walked in. Whew. That made things very easy for me. All I really had to do was take roll. 

(The choir teacher is also the golf coach. One of his golfers made the local playoffs, so he was with that student there.)

The last class of the day was the very good choir (called Ensemble). And they were to run through some music for the upcoming season, especially something called Candlelight. 

There were a bunch of plaques hung in the room proclaiming Candlelight at Disneyland for the last decade and more. So, I did an internet dive to find out more info, and apparently this is a thing. It's a super secret annual event that if you don't know how to get tickets already, you can't get tickets for it. Okay, then...

I found a video on YouTube of the event last year:

Anyway, all of this is to say that what the student teacher ran through with them was a bunch of Christmas music. On October 30th. 

And me? I sat over in a corner and listened. Student teacher days are easy days for the sub.

An Eighth Grade Playlist

It was the penultimate day of school, and I had caught a gig covering a special ed co-teacher. Her sixth period class was eighth grade English.

The eighth graders were officially done. All that was left were the end of year activities. On this day it was a trip to a water park. (The general ed teacher was out too; she was chaperoning the water park trip.) So, any eighth graders left behind...

Well, they had excuses for not going. It was too expensive. (Likely true.) They had a season pass to a water park, so why go with the school? (Also likely true.) They had a doctor appointment that day. (The student was wearing a knee brace, so likely true.) 

Also likely true: they did not qualify to go. To qualify, they had to be "promoting" (passing GPA, etc), no recent behavioral infractions, and no excessive absences. 

Because of this, the students in class were few. And they were a bit wound up. They had no assignments (they're done for the year), so they had free time. Once the initial flurry of activity subsided, most of them were on their phones and they settled to pretty mellow.

One girl went to the class TV and changed the music that was playing. It was some rap something that didn't sound very school-appropriate, but I didn't have a chance to chide her on it. She changed the music, and then she left to go hang out in a different class. (This was okay per the teacher.) 

So, I looked at the remaining students and asked if that was the music they wanted on. It was not, so they changed it...

And I was floored by their choice. They left this artist on for the rest of the period. 

Seriously, take a listen. I commented that the music sounded like it was out of the '40s. What decade does it sound like to you? (And if you're intrigued, check her out on YouTube. She's got dozens of songs all in a similar vein.)

Consequences

On Friday, I covered a choir teacher who had been out for a couple weeks, and so the other music teachers were picking up some of the slack on things that she would normally cover. (Her classes were being covered by her student teacher from last semester, but he couldn't cover the class on this day.) 

So, for second period, I was to switch classes with the teacher next door. Ms. C was going to evaluate the girls' choir while I watched her group. 

Ms. C got her class started. I took roll and had the girls begin their vocal warm ups. Then we switched classes.

Ms. C's students were to work on some music theory stuff (identifying the notes on a keyboard, something about identifying notes, and Pasta or Composer?). If they behaved, half way through the class they would get to watch a movie. (Ms. C warned me that they did better with rewards.) 

When I arrived, the students were working. I scanned the room. I recognized about half her students, but not in a good way. 

The only student not on task was Alyssa. She was doing her makeup. Normally, I would probably say something, but Alyssa kind of scares me. She's not yet 14, but I'm pretty sure she's in a gang. I find it's easier to just let her be. 

I took a look at the clock, did some calculations, and figured that 10:15 was when I'd start the movie. I watched them work.

And they worked well, for a few minutes. 

Then the class slowly slipped off task.

A couple students attempted to sit near their friends. (Teachers assign seats for a reason. It's best to keep them in assigned seats.) I shooed them back. They resisted. 

Then fake Evan made his way to Alyssa, and things devolved from there.

It's like Whac-a-Mole. Get one student dealt with only to have a new problem crop up somewhere else. 

But then it was 10:15. And I had a choice. They hadn't been good, really. But perhaps a movie would settle them. It was worth a shot.

Ms. C had left The Emperor's New Groove cued up. I went to start it...

"Ms. C said we could choose the movie."

"Put on Friday." 

"I know how to change the movie. It's really easy..." 

Yeah, I know how to change the movie, too. But Ms. C had left a movie ready, so that was the movie they were going to watch. 

I started the movie...

Someone closed the door and turned out the lights...

And five different misbehaviors instantly erupted. (Students chasing students. A group congregated in a corner. Some battle happened.) 

I turned off the movie. I turned on the lights.

"Hey..."

Nope. They lost the movie. 

They protested. Ms. C promised, they whined. 

"It's Black History Month. Teachers have been doing nice things for Black students because of it. So, you should put a movie back on." 

Nope. They lost the movie. 

I explained this twice. After that, I stopped replying. They weren't listening, and I wasn't changing my mind.

"Are you going to leave a good note?" 

I didn't even dignify that with a response. I sat and stared at them.

A note? Pshaw. Their teacher was next door. I told her all of this during the following passing period.

Dance Party

It was about an hour before the end of the day. Vera (instructional assistant) suggested we put on some music. I opened up the floor for requests. 

I'm not a fan of choosing music. I know what I like, but for the most part, I find no one else really enjoys my choices. And I'm generally quite content to sit in a silent room. So, when in a group, I let others pick what we're listening to. 

We started with a couple recent top 40 hits. We got Jayden up, although he was only reluctantly dancing. Vera danced with her student, and a couple students from other classes joined us. We even pulled Penelope into the fun, which is a bit different as she's wheelchair bound. (Jennifer and Jonas weren't interested, and ignored us.)

And, of course, we got Yohana in on the action.

I don't think I've mentioned Yohana before. She's pretty quiet. She follows where we lead. She goes where we tell her. And she's so quiet we sometimes forget she's there.

But, when left to her own devices, she'll dance. There doesn't have to be music. As she ambles around when we're on breaks, she'll dance to her own internal music. 

Various aides know what she likes, though, so we put on some music for her. And for the rest of them, actually. Songs that everyone seemed to like. 

New-to-me music, but old favorites for many of them.

Garbage

The students like music. Jonas especially. His favorite band is Big Time Rush. 

Penelope likes One Direction. (Although, I introduced her to BTS, and she seems to like them now, too.) 

Keyla mentioned to the class that we  should do a "dance party", so first thing the next morning I plugged the computer into the classroom speakers, and I let each of the students choose a song. (Natalie chose "Skip to my Lou".) 

Jonas really enjoyed this. (There's a reason I'm choosing Jonas as his blog alias.) He likes to sing along to music on his computer when he has free time. 

Monday. It was raining, and the forecast was for rain all day. 

As soon as the day officially started (they came in early as they have no place to wait that would have been dry), I decided to put on a song that I think about whenever it rains... 

They weren't impressed. 

Ah well. At least I got on a song I liked.

Repeating the Lesson

There are some things that happen in a day that make it into my note, and then I don't think of them again. 

A couple weeks ago, I covered a middle school beginning band class. They were doing sectionals.

The class didn't make the blog. They were loud, but that's to be expected of kiddos playing musical instruments. There was no story there. 

At clean up time, several of them did not clean out their horns. I did years in school bands (oboe), so I know the importance of instrument maintenance. 

When one blows into a wind instrument, spit happens. Brass instruments have "spit valves". In woodwinds, liquids can accumulate, so we learn early to wipe them out after each use. It doesn't take long, and it prevents bigger problems down the road. 

I asked why they weren't cleaning out their horns. They said they don't. 

via GIPHY

I made a note of this in the note to their teacher. And I promptly forgot about it. 

Thursday. Seventh grade science. Fourth period. 

"You snitched on us." 

I was innocently walking the room when Quinn made this pronouncement. I needed more information. He said I had told his teacher that the class didn't clean out their instruments. Then I remembered. 

Apparently, their teacher had talked to them about this. As she probably needed to (hence why I left it in the note). It didn't sound like they got into any trouble, so I'm not sure why the upset. 

I mean, I did explain how not cleaning out one's horn after practice was a bad habit to get into. But I know students tend not to pay attention to things subs say. They didn't seem to believe me. Perhaps hearing it repeated by their teacher may have helped to drive the lesson home.

Probably not, though. I mean, Quinn was upset enough to call me out on it the next time he saw me.

Gleeful

Have you ever seen the TV show Glee? It's a musical about a high school choir, with full on production numbers. 

Just in case you thought that those classes don't exist, I can verify that they do. 

Thursday. Third period. High school choir.

The lesson plan stated that the student leaders and choreographers would run the class. When they arrived, I found a corner of the room to sit in (after getting the roll taken), and I watched the rehearsal. 

They cleared all the chairs and stands from the room. (This teacher also had a couple periods of band as well as a basic choir.) They spread out. And they got to dancing. 

Full on dancing. They kind of mumbled the lyrics of the song as they went over the movements. The student leaders stopped them frequently, correcting positions and movements. It got markedly better as the class wore on. 

Once they were satisfied with how much progress had been made, it was time to work on vocals. 

You would be surprised at how good a high school choir can sound. Of course, this was the class that one has to audition for, so these are the best of the school. But still, high school kids. 

This day they were going off book. This was a bit hard for the soloist, as he hadn't quite memorized his part yet. He found his sheet music and used it when it was his turn. 

They have some performances coming up. It's still early in spring semester, but they're getting close to competition season. They're good. They've been good for years. They'll be ready.

In case you're curious, they spent most of the period rehearsing this song (note the harmonies--yes they could do them): 

And then they had a little time to start working on their other song: 

Named

If I ever finish that subbing book (which at this point the draft is about ten years out of date), there will be a whole chapter on how to find a student's name when one needs it for the note to the teacher. And it'll boil down to some very simple advice.

Wait. Pay attention.

Tuesday. Middle school choir. Things had been going relatively well all day. The kiddos weren't nearly as wild as they could be. That is not to say they were wild. They were just more "lively" than they'd be in a more academic setting. 

And then it was fifth period. And boyo started off by informing me he was already done with the day's assignment (memorizing three pages of "Mambo Italiano" and recording it). 

I was dubious. The previous day's assignment (helpfully provided on the sub lesson plans from the prior day) was to have two different pages memorized. No middle schooler works ahead like that. 

Boyo then spent the whole period poking into things.

He started with a Tech Deck tourney with a couple other boys. He banged on the drums. He "accidentally" opened the back door. There was a brief game of keep away.

And at each instance, he moved on when I pointed out to his companions that there was work to finish. 

He was going to get a starring role in my note. But because no fixed seating, I did not have his name.

After pulling him out of something again, one of the girls spoke. 

"Archie, you're going to get in trouble." 

Archie! A ha!

Three other students called out to Archie, telling him to stop or something. 

At that point, I was recounting his antics in the infamous note.

Sure, I could have just asked him his name, or I could have asked another student for it. But experience has taught me that leads to a whole other issue. 

Other students suddenly have no idea of anyone's name. And the student in question gets very defensive of why you need his name. Then, can't he possibly earn his way off of the note? And then he'll pester me for the rest of class about getting me to erase his name. 

I try to avoid those issues when I can.

But more often than not, someone will just volunteer the name by talking to the student. Or calling him out. Same difference.

And this way, I don't have the whole begging and pleading (which is way more annoying than the behaviors that got him in the note in the first place). Because at the point where I'm writing it down, the student has had all the chances to make things right, and now he's suffering a consequence. 

Peaches

Friday. Fourth period economics. We were discussing shifts in the demand curve.

That I passed my high school economics class is a minor miracle. To this day, I'm convinced my econ teacher gifted me that C. So, covering this class has been just as much an education for me. Luckily, Mrs. O has supplied me with all of the lecture slides and assignments, so the kiddos haven't been at a disadvantage. 

We spent a couple days on the topic. They had a chance to practice, and on this Friday, they were going to have a quiz (right after doing a practice worksheet that looked almost exactly like the quiz). So, I was spending some time going over more examples so that they'd be ready for that quiz. 

The question that popped up on the PowerPoint was about peaches and nectarines... 

And the song "Peaches" popped into my head. 

Not for the first time. This was the third time I'd been through this example, so the song had been on a loop in my head for two days. 

Do you think that earworms act like viruses? Do they want to infect as many people as possible? 

In fourth period, I broke. I mentioned the song.

So, of course, now they were curious. 

The song is older than they are. (They were born around 2004.) I was pretty sure they weren't familiar with it. 

I warned them not to look it up. It would get stuck in their heads. But, I don't think my warnings were heeded. 

At least now I'm not humming it alone.

I would recommend (if you are not familiar with the tune) to not click on the video below. You've been warned. 

Karaoke

On Wednesdays, the continuation high school has a thing called "advisory". Back in the day, it was when the "advisors" (read: the teachers) would pass out an itemized list of what credits the students had and what credits they needed. 

The "status reports" do still get passed out, but only about once a month. (If the students are curious as to how many credits they have on any given day, most of the staff can pull that up for them.) 

So, nowadays, the weekly advisory "period" (of about 20 minutes) gets filled with other sorts of activities. This past week, it was an ASB activity. (ASB is the student government.) They were playing Around the World for prizes (tickets to a local miniature golf course). 

While those that participated (a small percentage of the student body) played, a couple students in ASB manned the sound system. They had music playing. 

At the beginning, I wasn't too shocked at the choice of song. Nor was I that surprised that one of the students pulled out a microphone and began singing along. Then their friend joined, and the two of them duetted. As the rest of the students were either playing the game or ignoring the proceedings, it wasn't like they were really performing for anyone.

Then the song changed...

And I was rather surprised by their choices. Choices that they continued to sing along with. 

While they were singing, the ASB advisor came over and tried to get a picture of them. That's when they got bashful. (The advisor did get his picture, though.) 

The Weird Kid

The first day back from winter break, I was called to cover middle school choir. Because of course. 

The lesson plan had them looking up traditional/folk songs sung in a different language (hopefully one that they were also familiar with, but not everyone was bilingual). 

That I got lots of questions was not surprising. Middle schoolers always have lots of questions. But add in something that they are totally unfamiliar with, and they were lost. But that's good for me. It meant I had something to do rather than look at a computer screen with all their cameras turned off. 

But that's not what I want to talk about today. 

Every class has one. The weird kid. They're more prominent in middle school classes (as by high school, they learn to hide it better). 

Seth logged in early. His first question was about who I was. I explained that I was just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, daily substitute teacher. I said it that was because of the way Seth asked about me. He wanted to know if I was their new teacher. 

Immediately I knew he was the weird kid. He sounded younger than middle school age. There was a bit of whine to his voice. And he had lots of questions. 

While I might tell you that he's weird, to him and the rest of the class, I act like nothing is different. Because he may be weird, but that's not a bad thing. 

All period I was fielding questions from the whole class as to whether this song or that song was one they could use. (They wanted to choose "Happy Birthday" but in Spanish.) 

Seth "raised his hand". (In Google Meet and via an extension, the students can indicate that their hands are raised.) I called on him. 

"My hand's not raised," Seth informed me.

Sure enough, the indicator that shows a raised hand was not on.

Another student chimed in. "He does that a lot." 

The indicator beeps when the hand is "raised". It also beeps when the student turns it off. So, when my computer kept beeping, I noted that Seth was raising his hand and putting it down. Repeatedly.

So, I went back to what I was doing. I did not call on Seth again.

"I do have a question," Seth piped in a bit later. "Why do you keep turning your head?" 

What I had been doing was marking the roll on my second computer. (Yes, I have two computers going most days. It's easier that way.) And I do this most days. But no one had ever questioned me on it before. Leave it to the weird kid to notice. 

I told him what I was doing. It wasn't a secret.

Ah, the joys of middle school (virtually). 

Distant Musicians

Have you been wondering how they're conducting music classes distantly? Only me? 

Last Tuesday I was called in to cover band (and music appreciation). Last Wednesday I was called in to cover choir (at a different school). 

It turns out that the marching band is actually learning a parade march. I mean, that's what they always do every year, but they generally do that with the expectation that they're going to perform it while marching in various parades. 

Rehearsing distantly with the wonky wifi connection is odd. The drum major did the conducting while everyone else had their cameras and mics off. (I'm sure there's got to be a way that a band can rehearse this way, but the technology apparently doesn't exist yet.) The drum major had various section leaders play their parts, but not together. At least they'll know their individual parts when they can meet in person? 

It was a good thing the drum major was doing the work, because I got kicked out of the meet six times. Yup. Six. At least I was accessing the attendance software via a different computer, or I might have been kicked out of the meet more than that. 

The music appreciation class allegedly watched a video. They turned in the questions before the class was over, so they did something. (They were given the YouTube link for the video, so I didn't have to show it to them.) 

As for the choir, they were to do rehearsals via various websites, and then they were to record themselves via another website. So, unlike the band, their teacher could hear what they were doing. (Although, I assume the band director was having them play individually for him at various times. They had a "test" coming up where they were to have their parts memorized for various sections.) 

It'll be interesting when we get back to in person classes. I wonder if they'll be performance ready. It's a different way to learn their music, to be sure.

Guest Conductor

There haven't been a lot of planned absences lately (trainings, conferences, meetings, etc.), so I've been getting gigs last minute (the dreaded early morning wake up call). For the most part, these teachers are falling ill, so lesson plans are kind of sparse and/or makeshift.

Wednesday. Band.

The class was expecting a rehearsal. They even knew what piece they were to be working on. But I was a musician (oboe). I didn't learn conducting.

As luck would have it, that was the day a teaching student was beginning his observations. No one had told him the teacher would be out. When it was clear I was out of my depth, he volunteered to rehearse the group.

via GIPHY

And... Things went well. Really well. One doesn't begin teacher training until having spent time learning the subject concentration, so he had already trained to conduct.

I spent twelve years playing in bands. That period felt like a rehearsal.

Some days I really luck out.

How Not to Review an Album

When I took over the journalism class (because the teacher was retiring), I was told that hopefully the counselor wouldn't add any students for those last two weeks.

Alas, she did.

Jason needed something to do, but all the articles had been assigned. So, I flailed about for something to give him. I hit upon the idea of a review, as the movie reviewer had been absent for days. But he wasn't into movies. However, he was into music.

(I've read the school newspaper. Several issues, in fact. So, I know they occasionally have an album review. It wouldn't be out of place.)

Jason wanted to review his own music. He couldn't comprehend why I would object to that.

But eventually, I got him to understand that he could review any other album by any other artist he liked.

So, for three days he worked on his review. Once he finished it, he submitted it to me.

It had the usual grammatical errors. Those I was expecting. I was also expecting that I might not have heard of the artist or the album. (I hadn't. He reviewed Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho.)

What I didn't expect is that he didn't actually review the album. He put together three paragraphs that are obviously cobbled together from that Wikipedia page I linked to. Nothing about what the album sounds like. Nothing about what he thought of it. Nothing that sounds like an album review.

He had no idea what I was talking about when I gave him back my notes.

I attempted to explain what I meant by an album review, but it was like I was speaking to him in Greek. He didn't get it. So, I searched out some examples of album reviews. I gave him a link to Rolling Stone's page of album reviews. He balked until I explained I just wanted him to take a look and use those as examples.

A couple days later he resubmitted his article to me. He had added a paragraph on the end about the music.

While I would really like to just copy and paste what he wrote, copyright and all attaches, so I won't. Suffice it to say, he wrote a sentence saying what kind of music it was, and not saying a whole lot more.

Hopefully the new journalism teacher can get a better album review out of him. I tried. I really did.

Dropping a Mixtape

Apparently I've never written about Earvin before. Funny. He's been a thorn in my side for a while. I guess he's not done anything blog-worthy until now.

It was week two in the English 12 classes at the continuation high school. Third period was journalism. (Read: the kids that write the school paper.) Ms. M had dropped Earvin from the class before she retired to make things easier for me, but the counselor put him back in.

Ugh.

Earvin is one of those students who has no concept of proper behavior. Oh, he pays lip service to it, but when I actually want him to sit down and let me start class, he'll "do it in a minute". He just needs to finish whatever he's talking about right then. And that something is rarely, if ever, classroom appropriate.

On this day, Earvin was all about the rap song he had just released into the world.

He had to play it for everybody. Repeatedly.

And no matter how much I protested that it was inappropriate for school and that we had classwork to do, Earvin needed "just a minute" to "finish up".

Oh, the class was so enthusiastic about the song. They're sure he's going to be famous. And they told him how brilliant it was.

Personally, I thought the song was profanity-laced, misogynistic, violent, and rude. Of course, I'm not into rap music, and when every other word is either an f-bomb or that n-one, I'm left totally cold.

But Earvin was so proud. And he had to promote it. He needed a credit card. He asked me if he could use mine.

And then he was shocked that I wouldn't let him use it. (He only needed $5, and he was going to give me the cash.)

Some students are just so clueless...

Earvin seems to think I like him. I have no idea what gave him that impression.

Moonwalking Sub

I wonder if I should change these up. I'm in the habit of reposting something on Tuesdays, but the Internet seems to have decided that Thursday is the "throwback day". Which would mean I could post my random questions on Tuesdays. What do you think?

Today's repost came about when I searched through my 8th grade posts. I stumbled across this one which led me to the following which originally appeared on March 30, 2010.

"You're the best sub ever!"

That statement makes me nervous. I wonder what I did wrong. I don't mind the popularity. I do mind that somehow I let the students get away with something that I shouldn't have.

Today I had middle school choir. Their assignment was to work on their "group work". They have divided into small groups, and each group is to perform a song. Most of them picked fairly recent songs.

I spent the day watching them sing along to their songs and work out their choreography. I offered suggestions where I could. Mostly, I watched to make sure that they didn't get out of control (something that middle schoolers are expert at).

6th period was a bit different. One group chose a Beatles song. And the group nearest to me was doing this song from Mulan (yeah!!! I finally got something to embed):



As the group was working out their choreography, they decided that when "dark side of the moon" is sung, they should Moonwalk. They didn't know how, so they asked me if I did. (I didn't live through the '80's for nothing.)

So, I tried to demonstrate while wearing backless shoes (I do not recommend this). I think I explained it better than I did it. They tried. They'll need a little more practice.

After that, they called me the "best sub ever". Apparently, I didn't have much in the way of competition.

Guess My Musical Instrument

"You look like you play the oboe."

That's what got my attention. The boy to whom the comment was directed looked confused.

"Elbow?"

What does an oboe player look like? I challenged the boy who made the initial comment. He hemmed and hawed. I asked him if I looked like an oboe player. He said I didn't.

Funny. I guess that decade I spent in various school bands was all my imagination, then. (Although, I was never very good...)

I informed the boy that one couldn't tell what instrument one played just by looking at them.

"What instrument does he play?" he asked, pointing at the boy seated next to him.

Didn't I just say...

Fine. I needed to narrow it down a bit. Woodwind or brass? I was told woodwind.

I looked at the boy in question. How was I supposed to know what he played? I threw out saxophone followed by my second guess of bass clarinet.

His eyes went wide. He was an alto sax player.

"What instrument does she play?"

After being told woodwind, I thought flute. But that's way too obvious. So, I said clarinet. But...flute.

You'd think they'd be done, right? But no. It seemed like half the geometry class was in the band. And I was directed to another student. Boy. Woodwind.

"Clarinet?"

Bullseye. Next, a girl. Brass.

"French horn?"

(French horn players... Well, she just seemed like... But I can't tell what instrument just by looking!)

Finally, the boy who started all this told me to guess him. Brass. Well, I knew he had to be low brass, so I went with the obvious.

"Trombone?"

They now thought I was a witch. The clarinet player was very impressed. I don't know why. Perhaps if I had gotten 100%, but I didn't. Not really.

I guess my time in various bands (in junior high, high school, and college) paid off. Somewhat.

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

Did you play in your high school band? What instrument? If you could play a musical instrument, which one would you choose?

Stuck in my Head

I have had this song in my head all day...



I have no idea why.

Teachers often leave this instruction in their lesson plan: "The students are to work quietly and independently." When I see that, I worry. Will I spend the day fighting the class? How am I ever going to get them to stay quiet?

Today? I read the instruction and nodded. No problem.

This history teacher is very strict. She likes a quiet classroom. So, because the students are used to working quietly, I knew I could get them there. And once I got them there, they stayed there.

My brain made up for the quiet classroom by supplying a soundtrack. Of one song. Not that I have anything against the song, but it's not a favorite. I didn't hear it on the radio this morning. If I had had a choice, I would have picked something else.

What song is stuck in your head?

Here We Go...Away

While we were packing, Nick Jr. was usually on in the background. I've mentioned my niece and nephew, but I haven't mentioned the other nephew, the youngest. He's 14-months-old. Yeah, so not so much with the helping of the packing.

Because that channel is aimed at the really young, I should have expected that certain segments get repeated over and over and over and... Yeah, it got bad. Not as bad as this, but annoying nonetheless. The worst offender... 

Imagine hearing that song every 15 minutes. (If you have a young child and already watch the channel, you don't have to.) Enough said.