Weather Sense

I have very deliberately not been discussing the weather with y'all. I know much of the U.S. is buried in snow, and the temps have been bitterly cold. I'm sorry. It sucks. I'm wishing for an early thaw and an early spring. I can't even imagine how you all are coping. 

Tuesday. Sophomore English, third period. 

I was at the door, greeting students, as usual. As Jessica entered, she asked me to turn on the heat in the classroom. 

Jessica was dressed in jeans and sneakers, and she was wearing a tank top. No jacket. Deep sigh... 

At the end of the previous period, I checked the thermostat. It read 73 degrees. Knowing how many bodies raise the temperature in the classroom, I went to put on the fan. It was cool enough outside that there was no need for air conditioning. We definitely didn't need the heat. 

I told Jessica no. Then I asked her where her jacket was. 

She explained that when she stepped outside to leave for school, she noted how it was overcast and cool. But she didn't feel like turning around, going back inside, and getting a jacket. 

Her problem, then. 

The previous day, Jessica would have been dressed okay. The previous week, Jessica was dressed completely appropriately. Because the previous week, we were in the 80s. Yeah. End of January/beginning of February, and I had been wearing shorts. There were a couple days where we were pretty close to 90 degrees. 

But the weather reports had told us the temperature would be dropping. Rain was forecast for Tuesday evening. Our projected high was to be about 65 degrees. 

I pulled out warmer clothes. The rest of the class was dressed appropriately in long sleeve hoodies and the like. It wasn't bitterly cold, but it was not the day to be wearing a tank top with nothing over it. 

Jessica admitted she hadn't been paying attention to the weather reports. So, I warned her that the rest of the week was forecast to be cool. She might want to be bringing her jacket for the next couple weeks. 

This is very much a case of a lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine. I do not understand why it is so hard for teenagers to learn how to keep up with the weather reports. There's a default weather app on every phone. 

Feels Like January

It rained on Tuesday. 

Things had been cooling off for the last couple weeks. And the weather reports had warned us of rain. I had put an umbrella in my car the night before, and I was not shocked to wake up to water falling from the sky. 

Rainy days are an absolute mess at school. There's no real protection from the rain when the kiddos are changing classes or at lunch. And things flood. 

But we muddle through. Sopping wet. At least I had high school, so they weren't deliberately jumping in puddles. 

Some were disappointed that the rain let up in the afternoon. They were hoping practice would be cancelled. But, considering how hard it had rained, I pointed out that the fields were probably unsafe to practice on. 

We don't usually get rain this time of year. Rain is more a December, January kind of thing. Usually this time of year it's pretty warm and the Santa Anas blow through. We worry about wildfires. 

The next day it hadn't quite warmed up. Things were still damp. 

As the class was getting ready to exit, one of the students, complaining of the cold, commented, "It feels like January". 

I mean, it wasn't quite that cold, but I understood what she meant. 

The weather is a bit off. But not really in a bad way. I had to put my blanket on my bed and dig out my long pants. SoCal winter is coming.

Warm Knitting

I have often commented that if it were to snow here, it would make national news. So, you've already heard.

It's been cold. For us.

Which means that it's been a good time to work with the bulky yarn on my little pillow cover.

No, I personally haven't seen snow here. We've just had a bit of rain. (Well, more than a bit...) But some areas that are close enough by that they are covered by the same local news broadcasts have gotten snow, so I've seen the pretty pictures. And not so pretty pictures. We are not accustomed to this sort of weather, so things have been a mess. 

I hope to finish this before things warm up, as one of the reasons I did not like working with this yarn was because it was too hot. Well, that was closer to summer time. Now, this yarn is the perfect weight to keep me warm.

We're due more rain today. As the schools aren't really built for the rain, wish me luck. 

(Every classroom opens to the outside, so passing periods are passed in the elements. This means wet kiddos. All day. They track in mud. They are wound up because they are wet and cold. Everything is sopping wet. It's going to be a long day.)

Cold, Part 2

Monday after Thanksgiving break, I was called in to cover band (again). 

After a week off and chilly temps, I came to school prepared. I actually wore, well, not a jacket per se, but what I consider a jacket for chilly days. 

As expected, the classroom temperature read as 58°F (14°C). While it wasn't supposed to be all that chilly (our forecast was for 75°F (24°C)), I still figured it was cold enough to turn on the heat. 

Which, of course, didn't work. (The space heaters strewn across the room should have been my first hint.) 

So, I huddled in my "jacket" with the space heater blasting at my back. 

As the day wore on, it got warmer outside. Not inside, though. Man, those rooms really hold temperatures well. I even propped open the door to the outside, and it barely made a dent. By the end of the day, it was 65°F (18°C) in the classroom. 

I probably shouldn't have worn sandals. Sigh. 

As it was a two-day assignment, I would have done better the next day. Only, in the middle of the day I got an email from the sub caller. We day-to-day subs are now working from home until further notice. 

I wasn't surprised. COVID numbers are climbing fast. Now that we've been doing the distance thing for a few months, we subs know the drill. And the school can email us the info we need to do the job.

Cold

I live in southern California. We have a Mediterranean climate which means that we have very mild winters. If you've ever tuned in to the Rose Parade on New Year's Day (sadly, 2021's has been cancelled) and noticed the sunny day, yeah, that's pretty standard winter weather for us.

November isn't necessarily all that cold. On November 1st, I was still wearing my Capri-length pants and sandals to work. But the weekend before last, the weather took a turn towards winter.

The weekend was cold and rainy. Friday and Sunday we had gusting winds. It rained Saturday. 

The forecast for Monday the 16th was for a high of 85ish degrees (30ish degrees C). (My home city was more of an 82°, but the city the school is in was at 86°. I live closer to the ocean. Where I work is more inland. There's a temperature differential.) Spoiler: we actually got up to a high of 91°F (33°C).

Expecting warmer temperatures, I dressed for work in cooler clothes: Capri-length pants and sandals. Since we're doing school virtually, the kiddos don't notice. 

I arrived at school. The classroom temp was 61°F (16°C). I wasn't feeling cold, and I knew the outside temp would go up quickly, so I did not turn on the heat. 

Normally, I might have some temperature complaints, but I'd ignore them as the students would warm the room quickly enough. But as the students are at home, they weren't going to notice. 

A funny thing happened as the day progressed. The classroom didn't get any warmer. When I left to use the restroom, I was surprised at how much warmer it was outside. Upon returning to the room, I found the temp to be 63°F (17°C). 

By the time I left for the day, it was 9°1F (33°C) outside. Inside, it hadn't reached 70°F (21°C). 

I've complained in the past at how uninsulated the classrooms are. Turns out, I was wrong. The rooms can hold the temp pretty well. It's the mass of student bodies that heats things up.

69 Degrees

Thursday at the continuation high school. I was doing "testing overflow"...

(It's always something at the continuation high school.) The students had some district mandated testing to do. Because some students had the classes where the testing was happening twice (and they weren't required to take the test twice), they needed somewhere to go that wasn't the testing room for that second period. So, the school contracted a couple subs to watch over them. It was a very easy gig.

I had been relegated to the fire occupations room. (It's an after school career training thing that's run through a different entity but uses facilities on campus.)

The first thing I did upon getting to campus was to turn on the heat. Yeah, I know you all laugh at us here in southern California, but it was bitterly cold. When I got there, it was 54 degrees inside the classroom (Fahrenheit; so that's 12 degrees Celsius).

By fifth period, things were much warmer. The classroom had been comfortable for hours. (The heater got the classroom comfortable by mid first period.)

However, I was feeling a bit chilly. Tuesday I woke up feeling sinusy, and I had been feeling under the weather since then. I generally run warm, but I had been chilled all week. So, I wasn't trusting my internal thermostat.

I asked the kiddos in fifth period if they were cold. They were. But I had a feeling...

I could not see the thermostat from where I was sitting, so I asked them what the temperature read.

Someone went to look. And he started snickering.

I got him to verify what I then knew it had to be reading. 69 degrees. And then the rest of the students started snickering.

Oh dear. The maturity level...

I wasn't about to tackle that conversation, so I brushed it off by saying that was an adequate temperature. It's actually the temperature the thermostat is set to heat to. Now, I can adjust so it'll heat to 70, 71, or 72 degrees if I wished, but it seemed like overkill. It wasn't that cold. (Normally, I'd be quite comfortable at that temperature.)

Punishment, Unusual and a Little Cruel

In the first year of high school math, certain students who are struggling are given an extra period of what is called "math support". All the struggling students. Together. In one period.

This is how difficult classes are constructed.

But, I had two things going for me on this day. One: I had fair warning from the teacher himself and his co-teacher (who had taught all the previous classes that day). Warning and support. And two: another teacher "helped out" (read: did all the work) with the class.

One of the warnings I got was a little trick the teachers used to keep the class in line. Turning on the air conditioning was contingent upon the class' behavior.

I know many parts of the U.S. are getting into fall temperatures. However, I'm in southern California. On this day, our high was projected to be in the upper seventies. (Roughly 25 C.) With it being a sunny and warm day, and us being in a classroom with no open windows, the room got fairly warm. I had been running the a/c all day.

But, with the warning, I turned off the a/c before this class came in. (This class was immediately after lunch.)

Class got started. The other teacher who "helped out" showed up. (There was some question as to whether or not she'd be there on this day. As it sounds like she's doing this extra on her own time, I wouldn't have blamed her for not coming in.) I passed out their assignment, and they got to work.

Slowly, the temperature in the room crept up. And someone asked me to turn on the a/c.

The other teacher then used the a/c to her advantage. She informed the class that everyone had to complete two problems before she'd turn on the a/c. Several students had completed way more than two problems, but several others hadn't even written their names on their paper.

It took at least five minutes (maybe ten) before the stragglers finally finished their two problems.

I was urging them on. I run warm generally, and I was already dripping sweat. (This is normal for me.)

The class was still loud. Several only got those two problems done. But, that class could have gone a whole lot worse. I'm going to have to consider using the a/c to my advantage in the future.

Too Cold for School

Since everyone in the blogosphere kind of took the end of the year off, I saved my subbing stories from the last week before winter break for this week. I have no idea what the weather is going to be like when this posts, but before the break, we had a bit of a cold snap (for us). 

We southern Californians don't do cold well. And what we consider cold...

It was Monday of the last week before winter break. And it was cold. For us. With gusting winds. I believe our high this day was 61°, but this incident took place before we reached our temperature peak.

The heater in the classroom was broken. The teacher had set up two space heaters to compensate. When I arrived in class, the thermostat read 56°. By the time this incident happened, we were up to about 64°.

Carrol walked in.

Carrol... We've had dealings in the past. She's loud. Obnoxious. Rude. On a good day.

She was cold.

We were all cold. I wore a sweater to school. I don't normally wear a sweater, but I knew this room would be cold. The sweater kept me comfortable.

Carrol, who comes to this same class every day and knows that the heater is broken, complained about the cold. She took the space heater that sat in the front of the classroom and put it on her desk. She shivered.

"It's too cold for school."

Carrol then took out her cell phone and texted her mother. (Arguing with her about having her cell phone out would have been fruitless.) Carrol wanted permission to leave for the day. Because it was too cold.

She then asked for permission to go to the office. (Her asking for permission was considerate for her.) She explained that she's done this sort of thing before. She just needed to get her mother on the phone with the people in charge. I didn't really follow the logic.

If it had been anybody else, I would have tried to talk her out of leaving. It was getting warmer in the room. She had work to do. But I've learned that arguing with Carrol turns into a big, ugly mess.  So, I let her go.

A half hour later, Carrol was still on campus. (She appeared just as I was telling the teacher, who dropped by for something out of her classroom, all about this.)

All Wet

The assignment was for two days in a special ed middle school math class. During the rainstorm.

Did you hear? We had rain in SoCal. For two days. It was a nightmare.

(No, actually, it was kind of nice. We really need the rain, and so long as you weren't on the roads, near a burn area, near a potential mudslide area, or near an area prone to flooding, it was kind of nice to watch the water fall.)

Fifth period. The boys were all soaked.

Um, why?

Now, I get wet. Our schools are open to the elements, so when students go from class to class, they do so outside. No buildings. No hallways. Walkways. Open. With few overhangs.

But this wet was more than that.

"We were jumping in the puddles."

Of course.

Cold

"Girl Scout cookies! Get your Girl Scout cookies! Four dollars a box or five for twenty!"

On Sunday I supervised one of my niece's Girl Scout cookie booth shifts. Archer Girl is very motivated to sell. Last year she did a ridiculous number of boxes. I don't know what her goal was this year, but I'm sure she wants to beat last year's number.  

Two weekends ago, we had very nice weather. But at the end of last week, the temperature dropped. Saturday we had some major rain. Then Sunday the sun came out, but it remained chilly.  

It was cold for us. A forecasted 55 degree high is a very cold day around these parts.  

I broke out my heavy jacket. I've never worn this jacket before. I was glad I bought it, though.  

Our location was in the shade. And the wind blew. It was so windy that we didn't take the cookie boxes out of their cases for fear they would blow away. They might have. The wind was blowing that hard.  

Then the first of our three hours was slow. Very slow. We sold a grand total of three boxes.  

It was kind of a pathetic sight. The girls were bundled under several layers. They shivered in the cold. And Archer Girl is on crutches. (She broke her ankle.) You'd think more people would by sympathetic.  

Things picked up in the second hour. I don't think it was the girls looking pathetic, though. Girl Scout cookies are popular. It just took time for those who had not been hit up by another of the many booths that have been set up over the last couple weeks to bump into us.  

My job was to keep a tally of what was sold. At the end of the shift, I attempted to add it all up. My arithmetic skills are kind of weak, but I should be able to count hash marks, right? It was more difficult than it should have been.

Apparently, the cold makes me stupid.  

As we were driving off, Archer Girl asked me if I had seen her gloves. I hadn't. She was sure she lost them. Turns out that I put them in with our stuff without even realizing that I had done it.

We ended up selling...um, yeah, I can't recall. 60-something boxes. I was really kind of out of it at the end there.

It's supposed to warm up tomorrow. Maybe then something of my intelligence will return. Maybe?  

Freaky Weather

It's been another one of those days, so instead of boring you with it, I'm reposting this old one from March  27, 2007.  

This morning when I got out of my car the sun was out and the sky was blue. It did not look like rain. But something told me to take my umbrella anyway.

At the beginning of 5th period the sky was still blue, though the wind was blowing and clouds were rolling in. The white, fluffy clouds turned into bigger clouds, and those clouds eventually turned into dark, ominous clouds. Then it was time for lunch.

Things were just threatening for the first few minutes, but then the wind kicked up (even more, which didn't seem possible) and the rain started. And by "rain" I mean a pounding of water on the unsuspecting students who were all outside by this time.

It rained for 15, maybe 20 minutes. The wind practically tore my umbrella apart. I got quite wet, and I was outside for less than 5 minutes.

At the warning bell, I opened the classroom door. This is when it stopped raining. Everybody came into sixth period wet and dumbfounded. Apparently a tree near the soccer field had been blown over.

So, all during sixth period I watched the clouds blow away. The sun came out. By the time it was time to leave, there were white, fluffy clouds in the sky. The pavement was even mostly dry. Weird.

We're having another freaky weather week. Yesterday it was cold and rainy. Tomorrow it's supposed to get into the upper 70s. This has been one bizarre "winter". 

Not Weather Appropriate

Walking onto campus this morning, I passed a boy wearing a tank top and shorts. 

Then, in second period, a girl came in wearing shorts. I asked the obvious question. She told me that it was a warm day. 

I run warm. On any given day, I have the air conditioning on. Today? The first thing I did was turn on the heater. 

And yet, there are kids dressed for warmer weather. 

It's cold here. Well, cold for us. Most of the country would laugh seeing us shivering in heavy jackets in 50 degree weather. But since it rarely gets much colder, we consider this cold. 

Our high today is projected to be about 66 degrees--a fairly temperate day, but we're warming up from a couple previous chilly days. When I saw the boy in the tank top and shorts, it was about 50 degrees. I was shivering, yet he didn't seem to notice. 

I see this every year. The temperature drops, but the students still dress like it's going to be in the 80s. I've seen girls in short skirts and flip-flops. Boys in t-shirts. 

Then in the summer, they all still wear their long-sleeved hoodies. 

I really should stop paying attention. 

A Finished Cardigan

It turned cold last week. It was gray. A couple days it rained. And I was as thrilled as I could be.

Last Sunday, I finally finished that sweater that I'd been working on...

For much of the time I was working on it, I was sure that by the time I finished it, the weather would have warmed up, and I wouldn't get a chance to wear it. (I even said it in a post.) The weather did just that a few times. But then it would cool back down, and I'd wonder. Will I get a chance to wear it this winter?

I finished it just in time for one more cool down. I wore it every day I worked last week. And I loved every minute of it.

It's supposed to warm up this week. I don't mind now that I've had a chance to wear my new sweater.

Shopping for Calendars

I had a whole other topic planned for today, but this day kind of got away from me.  I went out in search of calendars.  I do this every year around this time.

It was the perfect day for it.  The sun finally came out after days of rain (although, I hear that we're supposed to have another storm coming in a day or two).  So, I was able to drive all over town.

First, I hit Borders.  It's the closest.  They had a pretty good selection, and the store wasn't very busy.

I was surprised by one woman who was there with purpose.  She was frantically looking through all the planners.  She picked them up one by one, looked through them, and put them back.  I found it best to step back and get out of her way.  I thought she might knock me down.

The lines weren't too long, and I got out of there quickly.  But they didn't have one calendar that I buy every year.  I thought about it.  The sun was warm.  I figured I might as well drive to Barnes & Noble.

Barnes & Noble was a different story entirely.  They had a bit less of a calendar selection, and there was a major crowd.  However, they had the one calendar that Borders didn't, so the trip was worthwhile.

And as long as I was in that shopping center, I figured I might as well hit the yarn store...

My calendars have been purchased.  It is safe for 2011 to begin.

Lining a Purse

It's a rather dreary Monday.  It's been raining for days.  Days, I tell you!  (This is So. Cal.  It's only supposed to rain for a couple hours at a time.)  The grayness is starting to get to me.

I have to go out later and buy bright orange fabric.

I've been working on a purse for a while now.  After I finished my Christmas knitting (which got done very early this year), I had time to work on something for me.  I had this pattern in a book I got for Christmas a couple years ago.  I'd been meaning to make it for a while, but until now I hadn't had the time.

I got through the knitting easily enough, finishing it in about a week.

But then how was I going to put it together?  I could either whip stitch it or crochet around the edges.  And it needed to be lined.  

I've been contemplating this for nearly a month.  I made a strap (because I hate I-cord, there was no way I was making the strap of the pattern).  Last week I cut lining fabric and sewed on pockets.  Yesterday I assembled the whole thing.  And I discovered that I hated what came out.  

I don't have a picture yet.  I'll photograph the thing when it's done the way I like it. 

The main problem is I hate the lining fabric.  It's a beautiful bright orange, but it's way too heavy for the purse.  It was what I had on hand from a previous project (a superhero cape that I made for my nephew).  I was trying to avoid a trip to the fabric store.  

Last night I went through my button collection to find a fastener for the flap.  I didn't find one that worked.  At least, I didn't find one that I liked.  So, I might as well go out.  

In the rain.  

Oh well.  I have to get groceries anyway.  (I'm out of eggs and milk.)  

There's no reason to make myself a purse that I hate.  If I hate it, I'll never use it.  What is the point of that?  

I Meant to Do That

Today's temps are supposed to get into the high 80s to low 90s.  It was a cool night and cool morning, so I left the classroom door open for 1st and 2nd periods.  At the beginning of 3rd period, I could feel the heat starting, so I turned on the air conditioner. 

I barely walked away when a student turned the a/c off. 

I turned around and turned the a/c back on. 

"Why did you do that?" 

She asked me that.  I told her I was warm.  She said that she was warm, too.  I didn't understand why she'd turn the a/c off then.  She said that she wanted to stay warm. 

I'm the teacher.  I win this battle.  If I want the a/c on, it stays on. 

I have to be the one to decide this.  No matter what, there are some students who will not be pleased.  Even when I try to be nice and not keep the room at the temperature that is comfortable for me (I generally run warm, so comfortable for me tends to be cold for most of the girls), I get complaints. 

Besides, I'm the one in the room all day. 

It was so much easier when the classrooms didn't have their own thermostats.

Random Mistakes

There are days when I shouldn't be allowed to knit.  Yesterday was one of them.

Maybe it was the heat.  It was such a mild summer that the sudden warm up rattled my brains (although, I had the air conditioning on all day).  Or maybe I was just having a stupid day.

I'm knitting two scarves.  Lately, I discovered that it's a good idea to have two scarves going at the same time.  When one gets so annoying that I want to chuck it through a window, I can put it down and work on the other one.  So, yesterday I started with this lacy number...

Things were going great for a while.  This scarf is one where I have to constantly count to remember where I am in the pattern.  Then I got to the end of one row where I should have had three stitches, and I had four.

I tried counting back to figure out where I had made my error, but I couldn't find it.  I had to rip out the whole row and try again.  Luckily, the second time it came out.  I figured after that, it was time to put down the scarf and work on the other one...

This one doesn't need me to be so careful with the counting.  But I got to the end of one of those center diamonds to find that the numbers didn't come out right.  I should have had eight stitches, but I had only seven.  I had to rip out the whole diamond and start again.

It was time to put away the knitting after that.

At least I finally finished the dinosaur sweater.  It took me a few days to get around to photographing it, but here it is...

And this is a back view (so you can see the hood)...

Cute, isn't it?  Now I can't wait for December.  Hopefully, the weather will have cooled off by then.

Chilly 4th

It's been way cooler than usual this time of year.  I like it cooler generally, but lately I've been downright cold.  And that's just weird for July.

Yesterday, I went over to my brother's house.  We did the usual barbecue followed by fireworks.

As the sun was going down (even earlier than that) everyone started scrambling for sweaters.  Even me.  This year, I actually brought one (since I remembered last year had been just as unseasonably cool).

It did warm up last summer, so I suspect that it'll warm up eventually.  I hope the overcast stuff goes away before the news people honor their threat to find a rhyme for this, like they did when the June gloom hit May and we got May gray.  I really don't want a rhyme for July.

Opportunity is All Wet

I ended up in that opportunity class again. The last time? I had five students, and they stayed fairly mellow. Today? I had something like nine students, and they would not do any work. Ugh!

They were punching the walls. They were antagonizing one another. They complained they were bored. I told them they could do their work. They didn't like that idea.

And then it started to rain.

The instructional assistant went out for some reason, and we could see the rain coming down. And suddenly, they were all fascinated by the rain. They had to look outside. They had to stand outside. And then they started to panic.

They had to walk home in it.

I reasoned that the rain might lessen or stop by the time they had to leave. They were dubious. And when it was time for them to leave, it was still raining hard.

Most called their parents for a ride home. I waited with a couple of them as they waited in the office for their rides. Then I went back to the classroom to write up the day. I cleaned up a little. And then I got ready to go.

I went outside to find that the rain had stopped. The sun was coming out.

I was right. The rain did stop when it was time to leave. When it was time for me to leave. They had to deal with the wet.

If they had been nicer to me, I might feel sorry for them. As it is, I'm sitting here chuckling.

Deluge

Today is a school holiday (I'm sure you've heard), so I'm sitting at home, listening to the rain. I've been watching the back patio to make sure that it doesn't flood (this has been an issue in the past). It's been raining rather hard, and the power got knocked out for less than a minute about an hour ago.

It's supposed to rain all week, and I'm kind of dreading it. One of the high schools was not built with rain in mind. This week will be a nightmare.

There are no overhangs. The roof extends above most classroom doors just enough to drip right on my head as I'm unlocking the door. If I leave the door open, the rain can blow in.

A couple years back the district gave the school money to build rain shelters in the lunch area (the cafeteria can not hold the entire student body--not even a quarter of the student body). But that isn't enough. Most students end up getting very wet, or they find a nice teacher who will leave his/her classroom open for lunch.

The rain is really coming down now. There was one day where it was about this bad. The school flooded.

Each building contains around a dozen classrooms. There are six main buildings in the middle of the school. Between each building is a small grassy area.

This one day, the entire grassy area was under water. The water extended over the sidewalks, and up to the classroom doors. I was not in a room where the water got that high, but the classrooms on the opposite side from me might have had water in the rooms, that's how bad it was.

I wish I had an image of this. It was spectacular and frightening.

So, I wonder about this week. It seems like it'll be a wet one.