The Runner

Orientation at the continuation high school. This is the first class that every student who enters the school takes. (So, going in I know that all the kiddos are newbies.)

As they filed in, I stood at the front of the room. It seemed to take forever before the bell rang, but I don't start class until it does. I looked out the door, and I noticed a boy running through the front gate. He was headed our way.

I've mentioned before that the campus is small. The students don't really need the full four minutes they get for passing. At this point, the grounds were mostly empty except for the boy, who vaulted over the railing in front of the classroom.

He darted into the classroom and slid into a seat.

"Five. Blocks. Six. Minutes."

He was out of breath.

And the bell still hadn't rung. He had made it on time. Apparently after leaving very late.

He told his fellow classmates that he had run the entire way.

He turned to me and asked if he could go and get a drink of water. Which, of course, I let him get. So, he darted out to get it.

While he was getting the water, the bell rang to start class. (I still counted him on time. After that, he deserved it.)

Not Overheard

The class was one of those leadership-type classes that isn't ASB. (It's a kind of character building thing that serves as an elective as well as some extracurricular stuff.) On this day, they were going over the behavior expectations (code of conduct and code of ethics stuff).

So, it was discussion time. And we were at the continuation high school. (The other schools don't start until this week.) The part of the code of ethics about reporting criminal activity didn't go over well. ("We're not snitches.")

The discussion meandered, as discussions usually do, and we were interrupted by the phone. A student needed to go to the office. He left, and then he returned in a bit of a worse mood.

"I got some bad news and some good news."

The class wanted to know. The bad news was kind of expected. As for the good news...

"I can't say," and he indicated that he couldn't divulge the good news in front of me.

The rest of the class protested.

"What's said in here stays in here," someone pointed out.

The teacher has set the class up as a safe zone, where the kiddos can talk out their issues. And they have to know that what they say isn't going to be used against them later on. I get that. So, after telling me I couldn't "snitch" on him, he let us know about his after school plans.

The class laughed. And they looked at me. Apparently, I had a good enough shocked face.

Great. Something I can't let slide?

Yeah, see, that's the problem. I had no idea what he said. He was turned away from me, and mumbling a bit (and my hearing isn't always the best, especially in these circumstances).

So, I played like I heard. Gave him a stern look. And we moved on.

I so shouldn't have let him say anything. Sigh.

(The next day I had the same class, and he repeated that he got to smoke a blunt after school. Sigh. I think I was better off not knowing.)

The Price

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 ;)

Two related questions today. These are not new questions, and in fact you probably have seen this play out in several stories (movies, TV, books, etc). As I was contemplating today's question, I couldn't decide which scenario would be worse, so I decided to ask them both. Pick either one.

What if the only way to defeat your enemy is to sacrifice yourself? What if the only way to defeat the awful, terrible foe is to sacrifice your closest, dearest friend? 

Updating Pictures

I haven't much felt like knitting lately. But I have been taking pictures. It's "update the photos" time (long overdue).

First, I finally got some of those keychains that I was making listed...

Lavender Beaded Keyper Keychain

Copper Colored Beaded Keyper Keychain

Black Marble Knitted Keyper Keychain

Then I took some new pictures of my lip balm holders...

Lip Balm Cozy in Lavender

Bottom View of Multi-Colored Lip Balm Cozy

It's still a work in progress. (And I discovered I can list things on my Facebook page. I had no idea.)

If you're on Facebook and don't follow Zizi Rho Designs already, I would appreciate the follow. Thanks. And I've also been playing a bit with my Pinterest, too, if anyone is there as well. 

A Little Physics Quiz

The other day this quiz popped up in my Facebook feed:

How well do you know the basic mechanics of physics?

And I had to try it. Because, I certainly hope I remember something from my college major... 

Turns out I do. Whew. Glad I didn't waste those years entirely. 

Try it. See how you do. Let me know in the comments.

Looking It Up

It was Friday in the 12th grade English class at the continuation high school. Since most of the kiddos who end up at this school aren't terribly academically inclined, any excuse not to work is taken. And Friday is enough of an excuse. So, most teachers use it as a make up work day.

The class is reading The Crucible. They are given time each day to answer questions that go along with the play, but of course many of them are behind. So, their task for the day was to get caught up.

Second period whined, of course. Not only was the play hard to understand, it was boring as well.

After suffering through them giving me that look while I tried to talk up the play, I left them to their own devices...

And the phones came out.

I wasn't surprised. I walked around the room, peeking at papers while looking over shoulders. And I noticed something surprising on the students' phones.

Usually I see Instagram or texting or music apps or such. Videos have become popular of late. And games are always around. But that's not what I saw.

They were looking for the answers to the questions.

Yup, their phones were on CliffNotes or SparkNotes and the like. They Googled the questions on the assignment.

(I frequently see students Google the questions on their assignments rather than looking for them in the book. On the one hand, I'd rather they use the books to find the answers as the teacher intended. But on the other hand, being able to glean information from the internet is the future of figuring things out.)

At least they were on task, and on a Friday. Win?

Another Painting and Story

My uncle's been at it again.

A couple weeks ago I posted his videos depicting a trip to New Orleans in 1961. Today he's sharing another story from 1961, this one taking place in Little Rock...

If you'd like to check out his YouTube channel, his blog, or his Twitter, I'm sure he'd love your feedback.