New Voters?

Friday at the continuation high school.  Most of the students either bought out or just didn't show, so the classes were even smaller than normal.  It was a very peaceful day.

Unfortunately, this doesn't make for an interesting post.

It was Tuesday or Wednesday when one student started railing against politicians.  He was dissatisfied with the state of what he heard on the news.  It was too much Tiger Woods and not enough stuff that really mattered.

I asked him if he was going to vote.  No.  (Well, first I asked if he was over 18.  He was.)  He wasn't going to buy into all of that.  I told him that he could vote the idiots out of office.  He wasn't interested.

Various election subjects came up during the week.  Many of the students were mixed up about the various races.  I clarified that there was a governor's race and a race for the Senate.  (They thought Whitman, Brown, and Boxer were all in the same race.)  They had seen the ads, but I don't think they were paying attention.  And they weren't going to vote anyway...

So, I was surprised yesterday when one girl started in on who she was going to vote for.  She was really fired up.  She had one issue that she was interested in--the death penalty.  She's against, and that's her only criterion for who she's going to vote for for governor.

I stood there and let her talk.  I pointed out that there were other races as well and that she should research where those candidates stood on her issue.

I was glad that there was one student who was into this election.  It's so much better than apathy.  I don't even care if I agree with the students or not.  I just want to see them involved.

There is one thing that they are fired up about, though.  Proposition 19.  So, I was surprised when the boy sitting next to this girl told me about the evils of that proposition.  Of course, he's not registered to vote.

(I've been hearing about Proposition 19 from them for months.  Mostly, the sentiment I've heard is pro.)

It's too bad that the topic didn't come up earlier.  Those who are over 18 could have gotten registered and voted if they had only known about it before the deadline.

A Few Blog Updates

As I was writing my post on Monday, I had a thought.  I sub at the continuation high school a lot.  There are about 15 teachers there.  Why don't I label those posts with regard to which class I was in? 

Things kind of snowballed from there.  Today I thought it time to point out a few of the "improvements" I've been making to the blog. 

First off, I went through and tried to label those posts with the class they belonged to.  I wasn't completely successful as sometimes the post wasn't about the class but was about some other aspect of the school.  (This week I've been in the government class.  I've also spent a lot of time in one of the English classes and the science class.) 

Then, I started a glossary.  There are certain terms specific to the schools/area where I work, so rather than explaining them each time I use them, I think it'll be easier to link to that page.  This is a work-in-progress.  The list isn't yet complete (I wonder if it ever will be), and I'm still working on getting the formatting right. 

Finally, I linked to a couple short stories I posted on scribd.  These are on the sidebar under "My Short Stories".  Please check them out.  Feel free to tell me what you think. 

That's the thing about a blog.  It has to continue to be a work-in-progress.  There are always things to add.  There are always ways to improve. 

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. 

A Little Chaos

Today was one of those in-between days, weather-wise.  It wasn't terribly cold, but it wasn't too warm.  I kept the door open, and that kept the classroom temperature at about the right spot.  It's nice not to have to use the air conditioner sometimes. 

Then a bee flew in the room. 

It was fourth period.  The class was working quietly.  Well, all but this group of one boy and three girls.  I had been trying to get them to talk less and work more, but all I managed to do was annoy them. 

The boy was the one who spotted the bee.  He freaked out. 

One girl wanted me to close the door.  Another boy found a spiral notebook, and he went after the bee to kill it.  Of the talking group, the boy and two of the girls ran out of the classroom, standing just outside.  They were sure that they were going to get stung, and they refused to return to class until the bee was dealt with. 

Of course, that's when the principal came by. 

I managed to talk down the boy who wanted to kill the bee.  I explained to the girl that if we closed the door, the bee couldn't get out. 

The bee made its way back, landing just above the open door.  I was able to shoo it out using a piece of paper. 

The three students returned to class.  Someone shut the door.  Slowly, calm was restored. 

I don't know why they have to freak out so much about things like this.  Dealing with a bee in the classroom is hard enough without the distraction of having to calm the students, too. 

As for the principal, he came by because of a cell phone incident earlier in the period.  He didn't comment on the bee.  I guess I'm not in trouble. 

After the Break

I was surprised to get a call to work this morning.  Mondays have been rather dead lately.  But the continuation high school is back in session, so I shouldn't have been that surprised. 

The continuation high school has been out the past three weeks for their fall break. 

It's funny.  Every year in July and August (for I usually end up subbing for them then) the students complain about having to go to school in the summer.  I remind them that they get these nifty little breaks at different times during the year.  Everyone else has to go to school in October.  They don't. 

My arguments don't help.  However, I don't hear them complaining about getting a break now.  I haven't even heard them complaining about having to come back.  My guess is that I haven't been listening closely enough. 

I'm covering the whole week in the government and economics classes.  I've subbed for this teacher many times before, so I'm familiar with the routine.  And they are familiar with me.

Not Enough Time

Today I covered a biology class.  The teacher left three study guide worksheets for them to do.  The assignment was due at the end of the period.

Sometimes, teachers leave assignments that the students can't possibly finish, and they make it due at the end of the period.  I appreciate the consideration.  The teacher wants to make sure that the students don't have time to goof off and make trouble.

Unfortunately, the students haven't figured this out.  They seem to think that they have to figure out a way to finish all that work.  They seem to think that if they don't finish, they'll be penalized.

So, they figure out a way to get all the work done.

They break into teams.  Student one does one worksheet, student two does the second, and a third student does the third.  Then they swap and copy.

I know this trick.  I was on the lookout.

If they do it in teams, they finish in the amount of time that it takes to do one worksheet, and then they have that time to goof off.  The teacher needn't have bothered to put together the extra work.

I tried to tell them that if they didn't finish, it wasn't going to be the end of the world.  They just needed to do what they could get done.  The honors students didn't finish.  Some of the students in the regular classes did.

I did my best to catch the copiers.  At least I didn't have the behavior issues (well, I did in one class, but that's another story).

One Forgotten Detail

It was raining this morning.

When I got to the classroom juggling umbrella, school bag, sub book, and keys, I saw a post-it on the door.  I got in the classroom, unlocked the door, turned on the lights, and headed for the teacher's desk.  I found the lesson plans and read through them.

The warning bell rang.  One student came in.  Then another.  After I had a handful of students in the room, the next student who came in commented on how few students there were in the room.  Then someone else commented on that post-it.

Oops.  I meant to go back and remove it.

The post-it read that the teacher was in the computer lab.  We figured that much of the class must of ended up there.  I sent a student to go and retrieve them.

After the student left, the phone rang.  Yep, the class was there.  The computer lab person said she'd send them back.

The computer lab wasn't too far from the classroom.  The students returned quickly.  I heard comments that they had seen the lights on, but hadn't thought to come in.  A couple of them were embarrassed at the mix up.

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

So, I marked them all tardy...just kidding.