Explaining the Project

I need to explain the why as this is not something I had any intention of making. 

I was surprised to get a Christmas gift from my brother. We had come to an understanding that his presents to me for all birthdays and Christmases were to edit the various videos I made for my YouTube channel. 

He then texted me this link, and I thought, why not? 

I did some online searching. Apparently, the Woobles patterns go with the kits, but I have absolutely no need for those overpriced kits. I have yarn. I have hooks. I know how to crochet. 

(That is not to say that those kits are worthless. If you don't have the tools nor the knowledge, these are cute. They give you the yarn you need, the tools, and the instructions. Totally worth it for a beginner.) 

I did find a pattern and a video for the character, although not as small or as cute as the Woobles one. But close enough. This I could do.

So, I did.

I have no idea what these things are supposed to look like, so hopefully it's the thing. Whatever.

And by the time you read this, it should be in the mail to my brother. Because he asked for it... 

(Well, not really. I assume a nephew will end up in ultimate possession of the thing. I doubt my brother plays Minecraft, but I know the nephews do.)

I mean, I was between projects. I needed something to do with my hands. And I had all the yarn on hand, in my stash.

The Poll Numbers

Sometimes teachers will leave their cell phone numbers for us subs just in case. I try not to use it as I don't want to bother them, but sometimes...

The first class of the day had a quiz. I told them to put their notebooks away. And they vehemently objected, stating that they were allowed to use notes. So, I texted Ms. S to ask, and sure enough, notes were allowed. 

Friday. Integrated math 2 (read: sophomore math) honors (read: taken by freshmen), sixth period. 

They had a quiz. It went well. While they had the whole period for the quiz, most had finished it with forty-five minutes left in class. (Block schedules give us loooong periods.) 

For the remainder of class, they were to study for their final which was the next week. (It'll be over by the time you read this. Their final was this past Tuesday.) 

"How many questions do you think will be on our final?"

A girl asked this of a friend, then another, and then another. She realized she was taking data, so she got out a dry erase board and started listing guesses. She went around the room asking everybody. 

And I just couldn't resist...

I'm sure the final is already set. But it was fun to mess with them.

In case you can't see the image...

Me: Student is polling the class on how many questions they think will be on the final. 

Ms. S: "liked" the text with "ha ha"

Ms. S: What do they think?

Me: 50 to 60, but with guesses as high as 200 and as low as 35.

Ms. S: Wow, tell them that 50 to 60 just seems like a lot, but if that's what they want, we can do it.

Ms. S: Also tell them Monday at lunch they can do a retake of the simplifying radical expressions if they want.

Me: Now they're guessing 24/25.

Ms. S: ::laughing with tears emoji::

Not So Slick

Thursday. Seventh grade science. First period.

I was warned in the lesson plan that the classes were challenging, although I was specifically warned about third period. (A difficult seventh grade science class? You don't say...)

In order to get ahead of potential problems, I started off tough. I urged the students to get into their seats as soon as they got in the classroom, and I warned them that they should get to work and put the cell phones away. 

The room was set up for easy strolling (see above picture), so once I got the introduction out of the way and the assignment distributed, I walked the room.

Jackson was on his phone. I stood behind him, reading the text he was sending. 

the sub needs to gtfo

"That's probably true," I said. He startled. "But it's time to put the phone away and get to work." 

He immediately flipped his phone over, but it was too late. I had seen the text. I probably should have been offended. I wasn't. The middle school sullenness and attitude when it comes to phones lately has been comical. The looks they give...

I didn't go after the phones too much. Mostly the students did their work. I kept after them to remain seated. That seemed to keep any issues from flaring up.

I wonder if Jackson was texting Jaxon. His twin. Who sat on the other side of the room and who also had his phone out. (Yes, both names are pronounced exactly the same. I wonder about their parents.) 

Does This Text Make Me Look Fat?

I was in the same English class at the continuation high school for three days. Day one went pretty smoothly (for the continuation high school). Day 2 was a bit more difficult. It was a short day, their prom was that night, and they really weren't in the mood to work.

The assignment for the day was the reading an analysis of a poem called "To Christine". It was about girls and body image. And while the rest of the day getting anything out of them was like pulling teeth, one period we got a fascinating discussion going.

One boy told us he calls his girlfriend fat all the time.

One of the others at his table dug into that a little deeper, and I was able to discern that said girlfriend is pregnant. The boy claimed his girlfriend is not offended by his comments, and as I don't know the girl nor know how the comments are delivered, I can't be certain if he's truthful or lying to himself.

We said as much to him.

Suddenly, he started to wonder. Was his girlfriend upset and not telling him? He had to text her...

(Normally I'd be all about not texting in class, but under these circumstances...)

If you think about it, this is an awfully strange text to get out of the blue. According to the boy, she said she wasn't offended. Then he had to explain how this had all come up in class, in a class discussion.

I hope the two of them have a conversation about this later. I wonder at the girl. But then again, I wonder at people all the time.

Texting Habits of Today's Teens

It's been a while since I was last at the continuation high school. But classes are classes...

The topic of the day was texting. They read an article called "Is Texting Killing the English Language?" And I was given several discussion questions to go over before they had written questions to do.

I got the chance to kind of play anthropologist. How do teens text today? Several claimed that they don't text all that much. They call. I don't know if I believe that. Perhaps the texters were the ones not participating in the discussion.

But there were a few things that I learned about their texting habits:

• LOL is for girls. A couple guys claimed that they only use LMAO, and using LOL indicates a guy is not straight.
• ;) means something different to teens. I had heard this before elsewhere, so I didn't need them to spell out what it meant. Although, their reaction was enough to tell me that what I had heard was correct.
• Punctuation means they're upset. A period equals an exclamation point, basically.

One of the questions was "What abbreviations do you use?" I had hoped to get some new ones. Alas, the only one I was unfamiliar with was TFTI (thanks for the invite). (Oh, and SMO, for obvious reasons.) The others: SMH, GTFO, WTG, GTG. (A couple of these are NSFW.)

So, I make an awful anthropologist. Not a surprise, really.

This Again?

It was 5th period yesterday.  I had just finished helping a student with a problem.  I noticed that the three boys sitting behind her didn't have books or work out, and it didn't look like they were going to start any time soon.  It was time to lay on the guilt trip that never works.

That's when I saw the boy at the end of the row using his cell phone.

I'm too nice.  I know I am.  Instead of confiscating his cell phone, I gave him a warning.  I told him if I saw him with his cell phone again, I would confiscate it.

Later in the period, the girl needed my help again.  (She was working on algebra word problems.)  I glanced at the boy.  He had his hands below his desk in "the position".

I didn't want to get into it with him again.  I pretended I didn't see...until he took the cell phone out from under his desk.  He was clearly texting.

I went over to him to confiscate it.  He cried foul.  ("I didn't see you there.")

He didn't want to give up his cell phone.  I warned him that this would result in a referral.  He told me he was turning his cell phone off as he finished the text that had gotten him caught in the first place.  (As if I don't know that it only takes him hitting one button to turn the thing off.)  Then he reluctantly turned it over.

I had enough time to hide the cell phone under some papers on the teacher's desk before it was time to clean up.  The bell rang, the class filed out, and the boy came up to me to talk me into giving him his cell phone back.

I guess I'm too nice.  He seemed to think he'd succeed.  It was a good thing the phone was hidden, or else I'm sure he would have picked it up and left the room.  As it was, he tried every trick he could think of from bribery ("I'll give you a dollar") to begging ("But I need it after school") to the old broken record trick.  He even asked for that referral instead.

He spent the entire five minute passing period trying to wheedle the phone back.  When the bell rang, I asked if he had a 6th period.  He said he did.  I told him he'd better get to class.  He asked me for a note excusing him from being late.  (I refused.)

I did have 6th period off, so I immediately went to the office and turned in the offending phone.  I wasn't terribly surprised when the boy returned just before 7th period.

I explained that I had turned his phone in to the office.  He said it wasn't there.  Who did I turn it in to?  Where was it now?  I was lying.  It wasn't there.  I had to still have it.  Couldn't I just give it back to him now?

I didn't know what else to say.  If he didn't believe the truth...

He warned the incoming class that I was a terrible person, and that they should guard their cell phones.

I didn't have another cell phone problem in 7th period.  I didn't think I would.  The last student I confiscated a cell phone from was in class.

Cell Phone Drama

The cell phones have been getting to me lately. 

I don't know what it is about teens and cell phones.  Add a sub to the mix...  Anyway, I've had it, so on Monday I gave them fair warning.  I reminded them that cell phones out in class were subject to confiscation. 

It was 4th period yesterday when I saw a student pull out his cell phone.  I went over to retrieve the device to confiscate. 

He started in with the excuses.  His mother had texted him ("See, right there,") asking him if he was at school.  Then he wanted to know if I'd give it back to him at the end of the period.  Turning it into the office was bad, because his mom couldn't pick it up until after she got off work at 7 PM. 

He eventually gave up the cell phone.  Then he left class.  I figured he went to the office to complain or something. 

The principal came by (during the bee incident) to retrieve the cell phone.  As I was busy, I didn't ask any questions. 

After 4th period I had lunch.  I stopped by the office.  The attendance clerk called me over. 

She wanted my side of the story.  The student's mother was there to pick up the cell phone.  It was time to compare notes. 

Did she text him?  She thought she might have asked if he had a ride home.  She didn't text to ask if he was at school.  She knew he was.  She dropped him off. 

The student's mother was glad her son decided not to take the suspension.  The reason the principal came to get the cell phone?  He thought the student might take it back without permission, triggering the harsher consequence. 

Why do these things become such high drama?  And this was only my first cell phone incident of the day. 

Texting Impressions

I was in a big craft store today (read: yarn run). I was checking out. I had swiped my card through the reader, and I stepped back towards the cashier. That's when I caught her on her cell phone. She was texting.

The cashier was young. She wasn't much more than a teenager. She had her back to me. She had turned so that if I hadn't moved, I wouldn't have seen the cell phone. I doubt she even realized that I caught her at it.

I was shocked. I wasn't so much shocked that she was texting, but I was shocked that she thought that this was appropriate when she was working.

Sure, she only delayed my checkout by seconds. And perhaps I'm just old. But I kind of doubt that her boss would appreciate that sort of thing by an employee.

This got me to thinking, though. Do these kids really think that we're so oblivious? I see it at school all the time. A kid will have her hands under her desk in her purse. Does she think I don't know she's on her cell phone? Perhaps because I don't call them on it, the kids think that no one sees. But they're seen. And it gives off a bad impression.

I wonder how long it'll take the craft store to notice the texting on the job. I wonder if they'll do anything about it.