Do Not Talk to Aidan

It was 5th period.  We had roughly 20 minutes left of class.  The assignment was a worksheet on the order of operations (pre-algebra class).  Two students were finished and one other was finishing up at this point in the period.  

Being a middle school special ed class, I had been dealing with behavioral issues all day.  They were shootin' on each other.  During a particularly loud exchange I noticed that one student had only done three problems.  Three!  These were not long problems.  There were probably 40-odd problems (or more) on the assignment.  

I asked Aidan about how much work he had done.  He told me all about how he had not gotten any sleep the night before due to a mosquito in the house, a barking dog, and some other excuse that I've already forgotten.  He was not tired enough to put his head down on his desk and sleep.  No.  He was one of the main instigators in the class discussions.

So, I told the rest of the class: "Do not talk to Aidan".  Aidan was now off limits.  They could talk to anybody else.  Aidan had some catching up to do.

Of course, the minute you tell students not to talk to someone, that someone becomes fascinating.  But for some reason the class decided to comply.  I only got one girl (Gina) who turned to Aidan to say "hi".  The rest of the class made it into a game.  Aidan no longer existed.

Well, Aidan then had to talk just to talk.  I told the rest of the class to ignore him.  They did.  Then I noticed that Gina had done only a couple more problems than Aidan, so I told the class: "Do not talk to Gina".  

Aidan managed to do maybe three more problems.  Gina got a couple more done as well.  The rest of the class?  Only two others didn't finish.  (Even this guy finished.)

My note named names.  Aidan and Gina were singled out for doing more talking than working.  I have no idea if it'll make a difference.

Number Alignment

I just noticed something this week.  I thought I'd share.

High school is four years: freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years.  9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades.  

This year's seniors are the class of 2009, or '09.  The juniors are the class of '10.  The sophomores--'11.  And the freshmen are of course the class of '12.  

9, 10, 11, 12.  Twice.  

It's just too bad that their year of graduation does not correspond to their grade.  But it is a cool occurrence nonetheless.  

Rant Continued

I picked up one of those telemarketer calls.  You know, the ones I was complaining about yesterday.  I got a computerized message that was not even for me.  It was for some guy I had never even heard of.  So, they've been calling my phone number so much that I remarked upon it, and it was the wrong number.

And that was the only phone call I got today.

Telemarketer Rant

I have been receiving an insane number of telemarketer calls today.  (I did not work today.  I've been fighting a bug since Sunday, and I felt that I'd best rest today so that I don't get full-blown sick.)

I haven't been picking up, so it is supposition that they were telemarketers.  But the caller ID gives me phone numbers that I do not recognize.  I only pick up calls from people I know.  And every time I experimentally pick up for a number I do not recognize, there is a long pause...and I hang up because I do not want to talk to a telemarketer.

It is a waste of time to call me.  Whatever they are selling I am not buying, and no amount of hard sell is going to make me change my mind.  

Because of caller ID, I see that many of these phone numbers are repeats.  After a week of me not picking up, you'd think they'd get the hint--I'M NOT GOING TO ANSWER.  But no.  The computer keeps calling.

So, I got at least a dozen calls today.  Only three were calls that were actually for me.  I began to wonder.  Did my do-not-call registration run out?

It turns out that you can check that sort of thing.  I did.  My registration is still active.  So, what gives?

Irony

I had a choice of two assignments--either 7th grade science or ELD (English Language Development).  Both are good teachers, so I decided to go with science since I had an English class yesterday.

When I got to school, I learned that another sub had been put into the science class.  This sub had been scheduled for a teacher who was due to be out tomorrow, not today (gee, that happened to me just last week).  So, I was an extra sub.  Oh joy.

Luckily, the office had projects that needed an extra set of hands.  But first I was sent to an English class.  The sub who was there just got word of a family tragedy, and she wanted to go home.  They had another sub coming in to cover, but she hadn't gotten to school yet.  So, off I went.  

The first sub passed off the stuff (keys, computer password) to me, and she left.  Then the class' actual teacher walked in.  She was getting the lesson plans set up.  The bell rang, so the teacher started her class.  While she was busy with the students, the sub who was going to cover the class for the day walked in.  I passed off the stuff to her, and I left.  (I wonder how the teacher reacted when she turned around to find a different sub.  I didn't say goodbye.  I wasn't going to interrupt her for that.)

Back in the office, I waited for my new instructions.  Then the phone rang.  There was another assignment at the elementary school.  I don't do elementary.  So, a sub already in a class was called to go there, and I went to replace her.  

Where did I end up?  In the ELD class.  If only I had picked the other one...

Cheating

I know it was cheating.  I don't care.

I was going to be in the computer lab all day with freshmen.  9th graders.  In a room with computers.  I didn't want to take any chances.  I knew that I was going to want names if anything went wrong.

The attendance program has this nifty little feature--you can see pictures of the students in the class.  I printed out these pages for each class.  And I took them with me to the computer lab.

I walked around the room with my little clipboard with sheets that had pictures of all the students.  So, of course nothing went wrong.  The classes were wonderful.  The students were on task (creating Power Point Presentations for book reports that they are going to give in about a week).  The students were even polite (mostly).  

But I felt in control, and I guess that's the whole point of having the pictures with the names.  It was a nice day.

Another Skunk Sighting

I leave for school 'round about 6:30 AM most mornings.  I generally have other things on my mind as a means to make me move in the morning.  So, I was distracted by some thought or other as I pulled out of my garage.  I pulled up to the drive, turned on my left blinker, and made the usual glances to make sure that the street was empty before I pulled out into it.  

I looked to the right.  Then I turned to the left.  And out of the corner of my eye I spied a big, bushy black tail that had a white stripe on it.  Oh great, the skunk.

The skunk was going the other way into the bushes.  My windows were closed.  And hey, I was in a car.  So, all in all, this was the least troubling skunk encounter that I've had.  (This was the first encounter, and this was the second.)

Considering how many times I've spotted the creature, I'm pretty sure that there is a colony of them living in the area.  Oh, that's a troubling thought.