Turkey Day Vocab

I got to go to Turkey Day this year!

Turkey Day is an annual event at the continuation high school. The Thursday before Thanksgiving, the school hosts a turkey meal for the school and the district. (It's also a fundraiser for their scholarships.) 

Student volunteers serve the meal, but three teachers supervise, so subs are always needed. And bonus, we get to eat, too. I held off on accepting any sub gigs until the continuation high school gigs popped up.

It's been a couple years. Last year I was doing that long term assignment at the adult transition center, and the year before was 2020 (no in-person schooling, so no events like Turkey Day). 

While it had been a couple years since I attended, many of the students had never attended, so I explained how things were going to go, urging the students to go when it was their turn. (Many of them choose not to go and eat, and their reasons are spurious.)

I talked it up enough so that when it was Solomon's turn, he went. When he returned, he was asked how the food was. 

"It was okay." 

I think even if the food was spectacular, a teen would respond in this fashion. Okay is high praise, really. (His friend Malia asked if the turkey was "well seasoned". I think she was expecting a school to do gourmet.) 

Another friend wanted more information. "So, it was exceptional?"

Solomon chided his friend. "Exceptional is not the same as okay." 

Upon a bit of back and forth, Solomon realized what word his friend was looking for. "Acceptable." He agreed that the food was acceptable. 

It does my heart good when I hear them using words correctly, especially when the students are correcting each other. They do learn.

Scenes from Turkey Day

Last Thursday was kind of a sad day for me. So many things have been cancelled this year due to the pandemic, but this one hit me hard. Turkey day. No students attending the continuation high school in person, so of course, no turkey day. 

So, I'm reposting last year's turkey day post that I posted on Thanksgiving of last year. Enjoy. 

Last Thursday was the continuation high school's annual Turkey Day. It's the day they serve a turkey dinner lunch brunch to the students and the school district community. I make sure that I have a gig there that day.

(I've written about Turkey Day before: 2008, 2013, 2015. Or just click on the tag "turkey day".)

The day is always rather catawampus. I've worked at the continuation high school long enough to know to go with the flow. Some of the crazy:

• Period 1: Jordan (no, not that Jordan--there happen to be three of them) came into class with a classroom exchange pass. Only, the pass was to go to PE. (I was in the woodshop.) Apparently I was the preferred sub (PE had a sub, too). I told him to get a pass to woodshop. He left instead. (The office was not pleased he was not where he said he'd be.) 


• They don't get to use the machinery with a sub, but I allowed painting. Elijah had painted his name plate blue. He went looking for red paint. While the blue was still wet, he painted over it with the red. (Me and another student warned him.) It came out a streaky purple. Which he tried to say was something he liked the look of. Sigh. 


• I had snack duty, so I didn't get my bathroom break until after the bell. Of course, another teacher darted in front of me. So, I was late getting to third period. I felt bad about this until the teacher next door arrived at the same time. Whew! Not that late, then.
• Oh, by the way, he's an author (the teacher next door). You can find his website here, and his books on Amazon are here. He writes fantasy.


• Bob arrived with a tardy slip half way into fourth period. He asked me to mark him present for third period. He claimed he had been in the office. When I called the office "to check", I was told he had only just arrived. I mean, nice try at fixing his attendance record, but perhaps actually attending would work better. 


• We adults didn't get to eat until after school. (We got out at noon that day, so not a hardship.) Another sub didn't want to go. (I mean, I get it. It was hard for me to join in when I was a newbie.) Me and Mr. G (he was the teacher for the class I covered in August last year when he got stuck on jury duty) did convince her to peek in. She was eventually convinced to take a to-go plate.

I guess it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a little drama. 

Scenes from Turkey Day

Last Thursday was the continuation high school's annual Turkey Day. It's the day they serve a turkey dinner lunch brunch to the students and the school district community. I make sure that I have a gig there that day.

(I've written about Turkey Day before: 2008, 2013, 2015. Or just click on the tag "turkey day".)

The day is always rather catawampus. I've worked at the continuation high school long enough to know to go with the flow. Some of the crazy:

• Period 1: Jordan (no, not that Jordan--there happen to be three of them) came into class with a classroom exchange pass. Only, the pass was to go to PE. (I was in the woodshop.) Apparently I was the preferred sub (PE had a sub, too). I told him to get a pass to woodshop. He left instead. (The office was not pleased he was not where he said he'd be.) 


• They don't get to use the machinery with a sub, but I allowed painting. Elijah had painted his name plate blue. He went looking for red paint. While the blue was still wet, he painted over it with the red. (Me and another student warned him.) It came out a streaky purple. Which he tried to say was something he liked the look of. Sigh. 


• I had snack duty, so I didn't get my bathroom break until after the bell. Of course, another teacher darted in front of me. So, I was late getting to third period. I felt bad about this until the teacher next door arrived at the same time. Whew! Not that late, then.
• Oh, by the way, he's an author (the teacher next door). You can find his website here, and his books on Amazon are here. He writes fantasy.


• Bob arrived with a tardy slip half way into fourth period. He asked me to mark him present for third period. He claimed he had been in the office. When I called the office "to check", I was told he had only just arrived. I mean, nice try at fixing his attendance record, but perhaps actually attending would work better. 


• We adults didn't get to eat until after school. (We got out at noon that day, so not a hardship.) Another sub didn't want to go. (I mean, I get it. It was hard for me to join in when I was a newbie.) Me and Mr. G (he was the teacher for the class I covered in August last year when he got stuck on jury duty) did convince her to peek in. She was eventually convinced to take a to-go plate.

I guess it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a little drama. 

A Wonky Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving.

For #ThrowbackThursday, I'm revisiting a post from November 18, 2010. It was Turkey Day at the continuation high school. Turkey Day takes place the Thursday before Thanksgiving. They serve all the students and many in the district a turkey lunch (although it's served between 9:45 AM and noon). I managed to make it to the school this year (I've missed the last two), but alas, nothing blog-worthy happened. 

It's that time of year again. Today was Turkey Day at the continuation high school.

The administration puts on a school-wide movie to entertain the students while we wait to be called. The TV in the classroom has to be hooked up to the in-school "network" for us to be able to see it. When I finished showing 1st period a video in the VCR, I had to switch the cable so that instead of connecting to the VCR, it connected to the in-school "network".

It's harder to explain than to do. When the teacher told me that he was going to send over the school's tech guy to do it, I told him that I could manage. I did. Unfortunately, there was some interference in the picture.

The students were annoyed by this (we could see the movie, it just wasn't completely clear). They wanted it fixed, so I called the office.

I told them: "The picture is a bit wonky. Could someone come and take a look?"

Michelle thought my word choice funny. She had never heard the word "wonky" before. She wondered if it was a real word.

I was startled. She'd never heard "wonky" before? I understand when these students haven't heard long academic words before, but "wonky"?

I spelled the word for her. Told her that it was indeed a real word. She took my word for it.

The tech guy did come, and rather quickly too. However, the problem righted itself just before he got to class, so he wasn't needed.

(This wasn't my first Turkey Day. I blogged about previous years here and here.)

It's amazing how the technology has changed in just seven years. The classrooms no longer have TVs. Instead, each classroom has a projector that connects to a computer. The "in-school network" is no more. If the school wants something shown to each class, they email the video clip to the teachers, and the teachers can play the video clip on the projector at their convenience. 

And they no longer house the students in one classroom for the day. Instead, they have the students go to each of their classes in the morning, and they call out groups of 30. The newer method works a whole lot better.

Not Interested in Free Food

It was Turkey Day. It's an old tradition at the continuation high school, going back to practically when the school started (so, that makes it from the '60s). The Thursday before Thanksgiving the students are served a turkey dinner lunch brunch.

This year I covered the orientation class. The orientation class is the first class students new to the school take. (Every student is a transfer from another school. They get sent there because they don't have enough credits.) And this class started two days prior. So, they were brand new to the school.

They were a bit unclear as to the whole concept. Which was fine as I wasn't.

One of the students' names was called. And she didn't want to go.

I explained what it was. That it was food. And the food was pretty good. That the people were friendly. But nope, she wasn't going to go.

Well, I wasn't going to force her.

Each time a new group was announced, the students got a bit anxious. And unlike in other classes, these kiddos were doing their work (well, sort of) rather than not doing anything (which is what students who have been through Turkey Day before would have been doing). So, not a terrible day.

My time with them ended, and they moved on to their other class. I was free then, so I got a chance to have a meal. And then the majority of those students were called.

I guess they just needed to go with their classmates. Safety in numbers and all that.

Actually Watching?

A week ago we had Thanksgiving. A week before that was the continuation high school's annual Turkey Day. They changed things up a bit this year, calling out students alphabetically rather than by classes. And so, there was no need to keep them in the same class, so they got to attend all their classes.

This was good as it gave the students something to do besides sit and complain. But some students decided they didn't want to go and eat. (I spent some time convincing one girl she should go and just see what was there. Her name was called, and I urged her to go. She did. Upon her return, she said it was good and she was happy she went.)

The teacher I was covering left Planet Earth for them to watch. (It was a science class.)

I popped in the DVD and sat back. Much of the class seemed to be engaged in things other than watching the show. But then I started to hear things...

Things that related to the show. Things that made it seem like...they were actually watching the DVD.

Astounding.

Of course, this was one for one class, but still. Kind of a minor miracle.

New Technical Problems

It was an interesting Turkey Day at the continuation high school.

(Yes, I already did a post about Turkey Day. But there was no school last week, so my topics are a little thin.)

In years past, the school would put on a school-wide movie to keep the students entertained while we were waiting to eat. And then after.

At one time this set up was state of the art. We'd pull out the TVs, make sure they were hooked up to the school-wide cable, and somewhere in the office someone would start a movie.

Of course, every year this was an issue. First, was the TV hooked up correctly? Then, was it on the right channel? Sometimes the connection was bad, so we'd get no picture. I'd call for technical assistance (once I'd done everything I know how to do) only to learn that the office hadn't started the movie yet.

This year, they did something different. They uploaded the movie to each teacher's computer so we could play back at our leisure (so we could pause it when we went to eat). Every room now has a projector connected to the teacher's computer. Great idea, right?

Getting the movie to play--no problem. Unfortunately, the movie lasted one hour. We had three hours to fill.

The students all told me to put up Netflix. One problem: I don't have a Netflix subscription. And none of them were willing to use theirs so we could watch something else.

Sigh.

And no, I'm not getting a Netflix subscription to show two hours of something for one class. No matter how much they pestered me to do so.

Poor Russell

It was Turkey Day at the continuation high school. This is an annual tradition. (I've been at the school for this a few times in the past.)

It takes place the Thursday a week before Thanksgiving. The school hosts a turkey brunch (they call it a dinner, but since we are fed between 10 AM and noon, I'd say it's more of a brunch) for students in the school and members of the community. (Full explanation here.)

There are three teachers who are in charge of the thing (which is why subs are always needed that day), plus they have a dozen or so student volunteers who help out with the serving and such.

We were in the hall. We were seated and eating. One of the student volunteers came by our table to make sure we had everything we needed. Suddenly, his peers needed all sorts of things.

First, the girl seated two down from me hadn't gotten a dessert. ("I didn't want to carry two plates.") Then another boy needed water. And someone else needed a napkin.

It wasn't just the table I was at. The neighboring tables broke into choruses of "Russell. Russell, over here."

Soon I was sick of Russell's name. He went back and forth, nicely retrieving things for his rude classmates.

He did a great job under trying circumstances. I kind of expected him to dump a plate on someone's head. He didn't. He didn't even snark back when he was called yet again for some random thing.

The students around me made jokes about the "service in this restaurant". I reminded them that Russell was one of them and a volunteer, not some waiter to be ordered around.

Ah well. I have no doubt that Russell will get even with some of them later. Several were "friends". Yeah, they'll get theirs...

A Wonky Turkey Day

It's that time of year again.  Today was Turkey Day at the continuation high school.

The administration puts on a school-wide movie to entertain the students while we wait to be called.  The TV in the classroom has to be hooked up to the in-school "network" for us to be able to see it.  When I finished showing 1st period a video in the VCR, I had to switch the cable so that instead of connecting to the VCR, it connected to the in-school "network".

It's harder to explain than to do.  When the teacher told me that he was going to send over the school's tech guy to do it, I told him that I could manage.  I did.  Unfortunately, there was some interference in the picture.

The students were annoyed by this (we could see the movie, it just wasn't completely clear).  They wanted it fixed, so I called the office.

I told them: "The picture is a bit wonky.  Could someone come and take a look?"

Michelle thought my word choice funny.  She had never heard the word "wonky" before.  She wondered if it was a real word.

I was startled.  She'd never heard "wonky" before?  I understand when these students haven't heard long academic words before, but "wonky"?

I spelled the word for her.  Told her that it was indeed a real word.  She took my word for it.

The tech guy did come, and rather quickly too.  However, the problem righted itself just before he got to class, so he wasn't needed.

(This wasn't my first Turkey Day.  I blogged about previous years here and here.)

Unexplained Technical Difficulties

Today was Turkey Day at the continuation high school. We sit in class, wait to be called, go eat, and then return to class. Dismissal is at noon. And I get paid for this.

This is the kind of day where no work gets done. (My students had today as a make up day for any work that they had not finished. So, surprisingly, some actually did work.) To pass the time, the administration puts on a movie for all of the classes.

There is a cable connection in each classroom. Since they only do this once a year, that connection is not connected to the TV. But I knew where it was, so I went about getting that set up.

I verified that the cable was connected to the wall. I verified that the cable I was using was the right one. And I tried to connect it to the TV. No luck.

After connecting, disconnecting, and reconnecting that cable, I finally got a picture. It was a little snowy, so I tried to tighten the connection. That's when I lost the picture entirely.

I finagled the thing some more, and I got it to work. Everything went fine for about 15 minutes. Then for no explicable reason, the picture went to snow and the sound went to white noise.

I managed to get it to work again. I went back to my seat. Then after another few minutes, the picture and sound went out just like they had the first time.

I was nowhere near the connections. The students had not gotten out of their seats, and they were nowhere near the TV. I lost the movie for no reason.

Not that it mattered. They weren't watching the movie.

Finally, after doing this three or four times, they called us to eat. After we got back, I didn't bother trying to get the movie back on.

Turkey Day

Today was Turkey Day at the continuation high school. They serve the students (and the workers in the district office) a turkey...um...meal (way before noon, so brunch?) the week before Thanksgiving every year. And since three of the teachers are in charge of the thing (setting up, supervising, etc), subs are needed for the day. Bonus: we get to eat, too.

I have been to Turkey Day a couple times now, so I know the drill. I also know how the students react. It's the same every year.

First, the students don't want to do anything because it's Turkey Day. Then, after they've refused to do the activities assigned (nothing too taxing or terribly academic), they complain that they're bored. Oh, and did I mention the school-wide video? That's on in the background, but they don't watch it.

They complained about being at school, and they complained that the food is never any good. Then, when our turn wasn't called, they got anxious and upset. They seemed to think that the office forgot about us. Never mind that the office called (on a loudspeaker so every student heard this) and told us that the schedule had been changed and that we would be going a bit later than our assigned time. I assured them that we would be called, and eventually we were.

I enjoyed the meal. They seemed to enjoy it as well. When our turn had finished and it was time to return to class, the complaint was that they didn't have enough time to eat. I offered to let them take back a plate to the class, but no one took me up on that offer. And then the students moaned and groaned about having to be in class until dismissal time (noonish).

During clean up (subs had to help clean up, but that was cool as we were being paid for our time) I talked to the teacher from next door. We compared notes for the day. And her students had the same complaints as mine. Why am I not surprised?

But I do love Turkey Day. Free food. Early dismissal. And I got paid for this.