Finishing Up

Tuesday. The penultimate week of school. I managed to catch an English class for seniors. 

Their finals had been the previous week. Their grades were due the prior Friday. They were effectively done. 

Not quite half the class showed up. For the first class. For the second, it was more like a third were present. 

There was no actual lesson plan. "They can play games." The teacher had some board games left out. 

The first class played the games. The second class, well, there were maybe ten of them. 

Three students came up to me to ask if they could hang out in their photography class. Any other day, I'd hesitate. But seniors? Now? No problem. 

I didn't even blink when a random student asked if he could hang out in this class. (His friend was in the class. They spent the period chatting.) 

Then that same student asked if he and his friend could "wander" campus. 

And that's where I had to draw the line. 

While the seniors were done, the rest of the students were not. Some teachers might have been doing early finals. (The finals week schedule is not great, so some teachers start or just do the whole final early.) And if they weren't doing early finals, they were preparing for finals or doing actual school work. 

I could not permit roaming students. 

The student understood. He sat back down and continued talking to his friend. 

I do love the easy days. 

Check Writing

(A very rainy) Friday. Sixth period. Special ed business math. 

They're seniors, and a couple of them had been in that weird long term special ed I covered in February/March. They did their warm up, and then I explained that they had a check writing test. 

"Check writing? This is a math class."

Once I passed the paper out, it made sense. They were balancing a check register, and then they had one bank check to fill out. They're doing a unit on banking.

After that, they watched some videos on savings accounts. These were each about five minutes long, and they talked about IRAs, mutual funds, bonds, and retirement. (It's an interesting series on PBS: Two Cents.)

It's cool when I'm in a class where they're doing something that I know they'll need in the future. They might not actually write checks, but the will need to know how to keep track of the money in their bank accounts. 

Easy class. Easy day.

(Last week was only a three-day week due to the holiday. That means it was kind of slim pickings for blog fodder.) 

Unremarkable

In two weeks I'm going to have no memory of this class...

That was the thought I had as I checked out and got in my car and left school on Monday. 

Spanish I. The students had a list of assignments to complete, all in Google Classroom. I rattled off what they needed to do, double checked that the assignment was indeed posted in Google Classroom, took roll, and then settled in for the periods. 

It was before Halloween, so they had a sugar skull assignment as well. There were markers and glitter and glue near me. Some students (after completing the online stuff) came up and got materials they needed. They carefully applied glitter to their papers. No mess. (Well, I'm sure some glitter escaped containment, but not to any extent that I needed to worry about.) 

I bring along stuff to do for days like this. I read blogs. I keep an eye out for students doing stupid things, but these kiddos mostly just took care of what they needed to take care of. 

As I left, I realized that nothing terribly interesting happened all day. 

These classes don't generally make the blog, but it was the kind of week where there were a bunch of unremarkable classes. It's a great thing for me, but it's terrible for blog content. 

And, if I come across this post in the years to come, I will realize how true it was. I will have basically no memory of this class or this day. 

Seniors

I lucked out with a government class. Seniors.

The funniest part was how many of them I knew. I looked at the roll sheets and recognized a good third of the students. Then the classes walked in, and I recognized another third.

I remember that girl. She was so upset in the eighth grade that her classmates were horrible. I promised her it would get better... Oh, I remember that boy. He gave me such a hard time in that special ed. class that one day... 

And there's just something about senior year. They grow up. I'm never sure how it happens, but it does.

I recognized Vaughn the minute he walked in. I've encountered him many times over the years. When I first met him, I always braced for trouble. Over the last year, that stopped.

I also recognized Blake. He and Vaughn are friends. I've seen them goofing off outside of class many times.

It was the beginning of second period. Blake walked up to me. He asked if he could sit next to "the boy in the white long-sleeve shirt". I did not say that I knew who Vaughn was. I just nodded. And let him.

Any other year, the answer would be no. But the class walked in calmly. I just knew I was going to have a silent class. And I saw no reason to deny him.

Sure enough, the class worked silently all period. Blake and Vaughn barely communicated. (It wasn't a test. It was a "Voter Turnout Activity". They were analyzing the voter turnouts for 2016 via online resources.)

I do occasionally get to see this. They do grow out of it. And those that don't get sent to the continuation high school.

On Task and on Topic

The girl was sort of watching a video. Her computer sat on a nearby desk. She leaned over, watched something, paused the video, and then sketched something on her paper.

Upon closer examination, I saw the video was instructions for how to draw a gun. And that's what she was drawing on her paper. I moved on.

The boy was watching an episode of Ellen. I caught a glimpse of the show topic. I moved on.

A second boy was watching a basketball game.

Me: "What should you be doing right now...?"

Seventh grade English. Their end of year projects were to create a slide presentation (as a group) and a "creative component" (as individuals) on a topic about protest and activism.

The first girl's topic was Black Lives Matter. The first boy was watching an interview with the Parkland survivors. Other topics included #MeToo, women's rights, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and human trafficking.

Clearly the second boy had been goofing off.

Having computers in class for research is powerful. But it's so easy for them to get off task. I was rather impressed that these kiddos were for the most part actually working. And they were finding some interesting stuff to include in their presentations. (Their presentations in front of the class will be their final.)

I'm sure the fact that this was a co-taught class and the other teacher was there might have helped the situation.

Quick Fix

U.S. history. It was the week before spring break. The classes had mostly been excellent. Third period was the "bad" class, although I'd take this "bad class" over most middle school classes any day.

Martin was one of the reasons it was a "bad" class.

When Martin walked in, he was in a bit of a panic. He was not ready for his Spanish presentation.

He had mentioned the presentation two days prior. He wasn't sure how he was going to memorize it.

But this was Friday, and it appeared Friday was the day.

Martin had a solution. He'd record his speech on his phone. Then he'd go into class with his hood up and one earbud in his ear. He'd give the speech as he heard the recording.

I can see several problems with this...

I had been covering the history class for a week. They had assignments, but they weren't immediately due. I saw more than one student working on other assignments--math, science, English.

(My general policy is work is work. If I'm collecting something, I'll push for them to be on task. But if I'm not, or if they've finished, I have no problem with them catching up or getting ahead with another class' work. Working students aren't causing problems.)

I would not have prevented Martin from reading through his speech. He could have spent the period preparing.

I'm sure you'll be unsurprised to hear Martin and his two buddies did not prep his speech or his cheat. Nope.

Their conversation, after asking me if I liked specific bands (The Police, The Cure, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pink Floyd, etc.), revolved around their teacher's prowess as a football coach. (He's not the school's current coach, and he hasn't been for at least a couple years.)

Ah, Martin. Typical.

I wonder how his presentation went.

What problems can you see arising from Martin's proposed plan? Did you take a foreign language in school? 

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

Her Most Hated Class

Eighth grade math, first period. It was a class called integrated math 1, which is basically algebra 1. So, while these were eighth graders, these were the good eighth graders.

They had a worksheet. I passed it out. They settled and got to silent.

I had just settled in for a quiet period when the teacher returned. Ms. J was on campus in various planning meetings all day. (They do curriculum things, meet with newer teachers, and have various administrative stuff to take care of.) She set about getting what she needed.

The students? Not a peep.

Ms. J was waiting for something to print. She came over to me.

"This class, it drives me crazy."

I looked out at the quietly working class.

"They're always like this."

I suppose, when one is lecturing, one would prefer interaction with the students. I can see that. But I've been in other eighth grade classes where the students are more lively. And loud. And wild. And crazy.

I was rather enjoying the group.

I don't know if Ms. J realizes how good she has it.

Ah well. At least not all the periods were silent. (They were all on task, however. It was a good day.)

The Long Walk

We're now officially into the school year. We've hit the days where there are not enough subs to go around. This means extra work for me. 😎

I was at the back of campus. Room 919. Beyond the classroom were the P.E. fields. So, way at the back of campus.

I was, of course, expecting the phone call. Could I work an extra period? Of course. And then she told me the room number.

Room 100.

Yup. That's about as far away from room 919 as you'd expect.

Sometimes the secretary will tell me who the teacher is or what the subject is, but not this time. However, I knew already. It was a Spanish class. But this teacher has various levels of Spanish. So, I didn't know quite what I'd be walking into.

As per normal, we got into the classroom after the bell. I went looking for the lesson plans. Found them. And then I learned what class I'd be covering.

AP Spanish IV.

I did a mental jig as I read that. The class cheered when I told them their test had been postponed.

(I could have ended up with freshmen in Spanish I. They would have been a challenge. But Spanish IV--and AP to boot--contains the kiddos who have chosen to remain in this elective. The kiddos who actually like the subject. The good kids.)

Some days I just luck out. It was that kind of week, actually. Well, until... (Check in tomorrow. That day was more "interesting".)

A Non-Break

The schools are on block schedule for state testing. Two-hour periods. Which, depending on the lesson plan, can make for a very long period.

(Only specific teachers are testing on any given day. They're not absent on those days. I'm covering classes that are business as usual, albeit with very long classes.)

Health class. Freshmen. The teacher left them a huge packet on safety to complete. (Stuff like what to do in a natural disaster or if an accident were to happen in the home.)

I was braced for the worst. Freshmen. For two hours. Of what amounted to busywork. And it was the same teacher that I covered a few times in the fall semester. (I posted about those days here, here, and here.)

But then I remembered that health is a semester course (meaning that as we're now in the spring semester, all the kiddos I had issues with are no longer in the class). Except that Ms. E left me a few names of students to keep an eye on. And guess who was on the list? Kevin. Naturally.

Kevin was as happy to see me as I was to see him. (I was gratified to see his reaction to seeing me. He was so not pleased. I guess I make him do work, or something.)

Class started, and something surprising happened. The room stayed silent...

Oh sure, Kevin did no work. As did another boy on the other side of the room who I'd also been warned about. But they did no work silently. While the rest of the class busily scribbled away.

I wished for my knitting. Or a magazine. I was expecting to be dealing with issues, and there were none.

Ms. E had recommended that the class get a break at some point. With this group I think I would have offered on my own. They probably needed one. So, at an hour in, I told the class they could get up and stretch or move around.

They looked at me like I was crazy. And continued to work.

Well, not Kevin and the other boy. They took a break. (From not doing work. *shakes head*)

At the end of the two hours, two students had finished, while the vast majority had only a couple pages of work left. Well, except for Kevin. He still had seven pages to go.

Some weeks are easier than others. This week was pretty easy.

The One Problem

I'm back. The day last week that I would have normally written all my posts for the week was the day the cold hit me hard. And then rather than playing catch up later, I realized that it was probably for the best. 

I've almost caught up on my blog visiting. And as for the cold, well, I've got a lingering cough, but I'm on the mend. Now, back to my regular stories...

It was one of the good days. The biggest problem I had was staying awake. Silent classes. On task. No issues.

And then he walked in with 6th period.

Trayvon sat over in the back far corner. When I questioned him on this, he explained that "the teacher had moved him". Most days I would believe this, but every other class had just had a seating chart update (several students asked me where they sat), and the seating chart was accurate. (And Trayvon should have been seated in front of me.)

But I let that slide. That's an easy note to leave in the interests of keeping the peace. (Some battles aren't worth fighting. Especially when it's going to suck all the oxygen from the room. Why battle one student to the detriment of the rest of the class?)

I explained to the 11th graders that they were using their books. So, they went to retrieve them. All but Trayvon. His had been "stolen".

There was one book left. The name on it said "Tray". Um, not his book? He claimed not.

I found him a temp book for the day. But before he started on the day's assignment, he needed to use the restroom.

After he left, the rest of the class informed me he might not come back.

Oh really? Oh, please, let that be the case.

Nope, they were wrong. He did return. But while he was out, I replaced the temp book with the book I was convinced was his. And he didn't seem to notice.

The rest of the class worked silently. So, Trayvon slept. (These students fade when they don't get attention.) It wasn't until the end of the period that Trayvon noticed he had the "wrong" book. When he went to return it to me. After having done nothing all period.

Deep sigh. Better get to know him now. I have a feeling I'm going to see a lot of him at the continuation high school in the near future.

Ghost Town

It was Tuesday at the continuation high school, and the place was nearly empty. Lines for food during snack and lunch were nearly nonexistent. And I had three students in class per period.

Much of the school had gone on a field trip.

I heard the numbers, so I did a quick calculation. Roughly 31% of the school went. (It's a small school, so that's not a very large number.)

In fact, that's why I was there. The teacher I covered was one of the chaperones.

So, it was a pretty easy day. Most of those that didn't go didn't want to get up that early. The buses left at 6 AM. Although, a couple just weren't interested.

Where did they go? To the taping of a TV show. (One of the joys of living in L.A. County.)

Hey, it was a nice way for them to get out of the usual. And it made it a really easy day for me.

Suffering by Comparison

Middle school art.

There are certain behaviors I expect when I get this sort of assignment. I expect the class to remain seated. I expect the class to have a project that they're working on. I expect to see decent progress being made.

I expect a certain amount of noise. Students talking while working isn't unheard of. I worry about things getting out of hand, but I allow a bit more noise in an art class than I normally would tolerate.

After lunch. The class filed in. Got into their seats. Sat facing forward. Watching me. Silently. Before the bell rang.

It was eerie.

I passed out their assignment before the bell rang. (All those eyes on me. Waiting.) I explained what they were to do. I released them to their work.

And they got to work. Silently.

I don't know who these children are, but there is some freaky magic going on with them. (It must be their teacher.)

The next period filed in. Sniping at each other. One girl kept saying one boy's name over and over and over again. I couldn't get them to stop talking long enough to explain their assignment.

One girl was so happy to see me. She said her teacher hated the class.

Um, yeah. I can see why.

(For the record: two really freaky quiet classes. One relatively normal art class. One class that started off freaky silent but they got talkative as the period progressed--in an entertaining way. And they were totally on-task. And the last group of the day was typical middle school. So, not a bad day on balance.)

Social Media is Bad

While on jury duty, I got a call to work the next day. (Actually, I got a call to work on the day I had to report as well. Sigh.) Once we were dismissed, I made sure to accept the gig.

English class. They were working on essays on social media. They were to argue a position. They were assigned "good" or "bad".

Funnily enough, those that were assigned "good" were not happy. They said "bad" was the easier argument. Considering how much time these kids spend on their phones, I would think they would want to argue that social media is good.

Most worked diligently on their essays. (It helped that it was a buyout day. I needed to see essays before I would sign.) I had a chance to read a couple. (I offer to proofread.) They were pretty well done.

Some days are really kind of easy. Even at the continuation high school.

Zonked

Some days...

I'm leaning all the way back in the chair. My head resting on the wall behind me. "Dead Man's Party" plays on the radio.

The class is on task.

It's an honors algebra 2 class. Their assignment is on the distance formula. I walked the room. They're all making good progress.

I've had a whole day of this. I'm zonked.

I mean, it's a good thing. I have a lot of days like this. Easy days. Days where my biggest challenge is staying awake. Days where I hover, hoping someone needs a little help...

No?

Ah well. I'll enjoy the peace. While I have it...

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

Can you believe the A to Z Challenge is over? Did you make it through? Are you zonked too?

Reorganizing Old School

You know I'm a little strange, right?

My iPhone has been driving me crazy. I've needed to reorganize my apps into a coherent configuration for a while. But there's something about those jittery boxes and having to go back and forth between screens that disorients me, making it impossible to get the phone set up just right.

So, I set out to fix it.

I wrote down (in pen, on paper) every app I had. Then I cut out a bunch of little slips of paper, and on each I wrote one app. I spread these out...

...and then I grouped them into similar types (an organization that made sense to me, but only me I expect). 

There's something about having those little slips of paper. It's why writers organize using index cards (something I really should try as it clearly is how my brain works). It made it easy for me to see what should go where. 

Soon enough, I had a configuration that seems to be working out for me. For the moment.

And it only took me two hours.  

(Okay, it was more like two periods. With time off for starting class, taking roll, and collecting work. And writing restroom passes. But what else did I have to do? These were a period of US history and a period of government where the class worked silently--yes, in absolute quiet--all period.)

Unexpected

"Tonight is Back to School Night..."

I'm not sure how the topic came up. It was an average Tuesday morning. I checked in at the school. As the secretary gathered the usual materials (classroom key, temporary log in for attendance, emailed lesson plans), we chatted.

All checked in, I was ready to head out, but if it was Back to School Night...

"Does that mean today is a minimum day?"

SCORE!

There are six minimum days on the school calendar. The end of quarter ones I know are coming. But Back to School Night is different for each school, and in previous years has been rescheduled, so I never know when it is.

It was a very nice surprise.

The Last Thing I Expected

The budget cuts have hit schools hard. One of the ways they're conserving is by reducing the number of copies they run off.

Students are used to "class sets"--worksheets they can work from but not write on. These get returned and reused throughout the day.

Any time I pass anything out, the first question is, "Can we write on these?"

The economics teacher made copies of his Power Point lecture, and the assignment was to have them copy those notes. But he didn't make a full class set. He made 22 copies. The classes each held 38 students.

They were going to have to share.

I made my battle plan. I divided the number of copies by the number of rows, and...

I didn't take into account that they were seniors.

As they finished the first part of the assignment, I started to pass out the notes (the second assignment). When I ran out of notes, the others waited patiently (either by pulling out other work or taking their time on the first assignment). Then without me having to do anything, those that finished copying the notes passed off their copy to another student who needed them.

I watched this all happen. It was fascinating.

The most amazing thing? The room remained quiet throughout.

See, this is not how this sort of thing normally works. I should have had to divide the pages evenly, assign groups, and stand over them as they took their time not copying the notes. And the whole time the noise level would approach that of a busy Chili's. (Have you ever been in one? Man, it gets loud in there.)

Then, I got back every single copy. I know. I counted. (Normally, I lose a copy or two every period, ending up with fewer than I started with.)

These sorts of days I sort of hold my breath. It's great when things go right, but I wait and watch for the one thing that'll start the class going. This time, it didn't happen. It was a very nice day.

How has your week been going?

Teacher Roulette

Last Monday I got called for "school business" and the school was going to need ten subs. Sounds like my kind of day!

I love roving-type assignments. You're not stuck in one classroom all day. It's more likely that you'll get a chance to see the teacher and give verbal notes (rather than the written down kind). And it just feels less like work somehow.

Turned out that two groups of teachers were having meetings, one group for periods 1-3 and the other for periods 4-6. The secretary assigned us subs to a teacher for periods 1-3 in kind of the order that we arrived for the day.

After 3rd period, we turned in our key for the first three periods. The secretary had a pile of keys for the remaining classes. She dug in and pulled out a key at random.

And the winner was...room 710.

To a certain extent, my assignments can be a bit luck-of-the-draw. This day more so than others, though.

(For the record, all were English classes, and only one class was difficult. The difficult class settled nicely once I warned them that names would be taken.)

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?

Background Noise

"WHY IS IT SO QUIET IN HERE?"

Okay, he wasn't shouting, exactly, but it felt kind of like shouting when he spoke loudly in a silent classroom. Yep, the room was silent, and the student couldn't handle it.

It was that kind of day. Fairly mellow. I didn't go after the headphones.

A strange thing happens when teens plug in their music players. Or perhaps you won't find this so strange. They put on their headphones, turn on their music, open their books, and get lost in their own little worlds. And do their work. It's kind of miraculous.

I'm not supposed to allow them to listen to their music in class. But half the class was plugged into their mp3 players, and they were working. So, I let them be. It made my day much easier.

I wish those that make the rules would change this one.