The Spider

The Halloween knitting crocheting continues. 

I went online in search of something seasonal to work on, and I stumbled across this pattern for an amigurumi spider in a web. I kind of like how it turned out...  

It still needs eyes. Or does it? 

The body worked up easily enough. And the legs, done in I-cords (although, I actually crocheted them, too), went easily enough. My troubles came later. 

The instructions have you insert wires into the legs and then attach those legs to the body. But my legs were flopping around like crazy. 

Turns out, the wires need to be attached to the legs somehow. If I hadn't wound in my ends before inserting the wire, I could have saved myself a world of grief by using those ends to tie down the wires. 

Then, the legs need to be really attached to the body. Not just tacked down. Once I went back and sewed those legs all the way across the bottom, the legs bent and molded just the way I'd hoped they would. 

So, mistakes made, but that means those mistakes won't be made on a second critter. Wish me luck.

90's TV Shows

This week I went for the TV trivia...

Can You Match the Actor with the 90s TV Show?

I got 100%. I only had to guess on a couple, but the funny thing was, many of those shows I did not watch. Seriously. I was aware of them, clearly, but only inasmuch as that the show existed and certain actors were on it.

How did you do?

Also, I'm at Unicorn Bell all this week. I'd love it if you'd stop by and say "hi".

The 51st State

I covered Mr. H's class again this past week. And there was not a blog-worthy thing that happened. Unless you want to hear about kiddos talking rather than working. Yawn. So, I'm going #ThrowbackThursday to something that was blog-worthy. Mostly because as I was in the room, I remembered this incident and had to reshare. This was reposted on September 27, 2009.

It was near the end of the day. I had two students just sniping at each other as much as they could (though, to be fair, they spent most of the period quietly working). The boy was calling the girl stupid while the girl was berating everything the boy said.

It was a government class, and they were studying Congress. I tried to draw the conversation back to the topic at hand by asking where the largest congressional district was (it was a question on "Jeopardy" a little while ago). The answer: Alaska.

So, the girl comes back with, "That's our 51st state."

Now, I hate to have to side with the boy here. I was trying not to take sides. The girl wasn't really that stupid (she was on task, after all). But...

I explained that Hawaii is the 50th state. I explained that there are only 50 states. But the girl insisted. She was sure that there were 51.

"Count the stars on the flag," I said.

But then the bell rang, and she was out of there.

Sometimes, the students scare me a little.

Also, I'm at Unicorn Bell all this week. I'd love it if you'd stop by and say "hi".

Oblivious

Math class at the continuation high school. They all work at their own pace on a program that takes them through whichever course they're on (algebra or business math).

It's generally an easy day. Most of them can work on their own, going through the examples from the program. Occasionally someone will need a bit more help (which gives me something to do).

They are not to be surfing the internet. (He does allow them to listen to music, so most of them had a music site going in the background with their earbuds in.) And when someone would stray, I would stand over them, and that was generally enough to get them back on task.

7th period. I noticed one boy was on something that was definitely not math related. So, I approached.

Once I stood behind him, I saw that he was playing a boxing game. I said something about that not looking like the math assignment. No response.

He was sitting at the corner computer. I was directly behind him. And he had earbuds in. The way that station was situated, I couldn't get into a position where he could see me from where he sat. (Although, I would think that my presence right behind him would have been noticed.) So I tried again.

The girl sitting next to him tried to alert him to my presence. She tapped him on the shoulder. When he ignored that, she tried more emphatic means of getting his attention. Which he also ignored.

I waved a hand in front of his face. This he ignored, too.

Finally, he realized that I was behind him, and he took an earbud out. I told him to get back to the math. He attempted the stalling tactic. "Can't I just finish this game?"

Since he made some pretense of getting to work (he did turn off the game), I was going to let this slide. (The teacher is very strict.) But then at the end of the period, he really ticked me off.

I have this thing about students writing on the board. The boy pulled out the dry erase marker. I told him not to. But those earbuds were in again. And he completely ignored me (or didn't hear me, but I think the earbuds were an excuse) and wrote on the board anyway.

Another student (on the way out the door) said that I was going to "give" them a bad note. Nope. Just the ones who were clearly not getting anything done.

Also, I'm at Unicorn Bell all this week. I'd love it if you'd stop by and say "hi".

Not So Innocent

At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)

What if that one seemingly innocuous thing you did the other day actually helped out "the enemy"?

Also, I'm at Unicorn Bell all this week. I'd love it if you'd stop by and say "hi".

Not Cute Creepy

Busy week ahead. I'm over at Unicorn Bell all week, talking about writing groups. Feel free to drop on by and tell us of your experiences.

I've been kind of between projects. I'm not sure what to work on, so I went in search of some Halloween patterns. I pulled out the pumpkin pattern as these got lost in the move...

And I went to try again the jack-o-lantern version...

Which still looks creepy. And not in a good-creepy way.

I guess I have to bite the bullet and figure out how to...gulp...embroider some eyes and mouth holes. Does anyone have any embroidery experience? Any ideas? Help...

#1 Movie

Not a quiz today, but something fun to do. I found this via Entertainment Weekly. You put in your birth date, and it tells you what the #1 movie was:

#1 Movie on Your Birthday

I was born on a Saturday, and the #1 movie was Shaft. 

What was the #1 movie when you were born?