The Swap

I arrived to school on Friday, and the co-teacher began by asking if I wouldn't mind... 

Eighth grade math. They were to have a test the following week, but both the general ed and the special ed teacher had been out the previous class (for a meeting for the whole math department), and things hadn't gone so well with that sub. Although, as soon as she asked it, I remembered her asking me the same thing the last time I covered the class, last school year. 

Ms. W asked if we could swap. She'd teach Ms. S's classes (the classes that weren't co-taught but were doing the exact same thing as the co-taught ones), and I'd cover her classes. (One period of learning center, and one period of success.) 

I've always been rather flexible with work. I've had days where I came in expecting to sub for one teacher but was switched to another class for reasons. The previous week the secretary had emailed me asking if I was willing to swap gigs. Sometimes it turns out I'm covering one teacher for half a day and another teacher for the other half. My job is to fill in for absent teachers, and I'm perfectly okay with going where they need me to fill in. 

And besides, this was a way easier day than the one I'd been expecting. 

Although, it meant I didn't have a "home base" at all. Four different rooms. (Well, three, but I was also asked to cover an extra period that day.) 

But that's a minor issue when I can go where I'll do the most good that day. It's way better to have the teacher who knows the material and is familiar with the test making sure the kiddos are ready rather than insisting on following the classes I was assigned for the day. 

It's one reason why I enjoy subbing. The variety. 

One Small Detail

Wednesday. Seventh period success, eighth grade. 

Success is about teaching the kiddos study skills. There's some social/emotional stuff as well. (I've talked about covering this type of class before.) 

The class was across the way and a couple doors down from the art class. There were some familiar faces. And I knew what I was in for. But the teacher, while small, is mighty, so I wasn't anticipating any issues... 

They had an assignment online. I had them log in. They found the assignment, only the assignment didn't contain any assignment. 

That is, the assignment existed, but the teacher had forgotten to attach the slides that the students needed to do the assignment. 

It was a good-sized class. Full. And these sorts of students don't take to waiting too well. Let's just say they came in loud and not having something to focus on meant that instead of settling down, they got louder. 

I don't like to bother teachers when they're out, but this was a time when I was glad the teacher had left her cell phone number. I texted her... 

Before I went to text her, I had told the kiddos to work on missing assignments. Were they? Of course not. They were treating the time like free time, with half the kiddos sitting on the floor, and others were roaming around, getting into mischief. Sigh. 

Eventually, we got me logged into her account, and I was able to upload the slides to the assignment. Whew? Well, not so fast. 

Usually, when we assign the kiddos something, we "make a copy for each student" so they can edit the files. They each do their work and submit. But (something I learned the hard way a couple years ago) you can't give each student a copy when you attach something to an assignment already assigned. You can only do this when the assignment is being created. 

But earlier in the week (or was it last week? it's all starting to run together) I covered a class where they made their own copies of an assignment and attached it. So, I went to talk the class through what they had to do. 

As I explained, I got a couple good questions, so those who were following along were able to get the assignment to work. But after I got them started, I got more questions... 

Some students were able to get this to work. Others needed me to walk them through it. Individually. Sigh. 

Eventually I got to every student who couldn't figure it out on their own. Or, at least the ones who were asking. So, hopefully, they were able to complete it. 

Technology. Makes some things easier, makes other things harder. 

At least I knew enough to take away the excuse that they were unable to do the work. 

Six Seven

Six is sharp, said quickly, intonation ascending. Seven is said more on a sigh, with the "sev" drawn out. While there is no wrong way to "six seven", there is a general consensus as to how it should sound. 

I first mentioned this whole thing two and half weeks ago. Since then, it's exploded. It wasn't even a week after that post that I first saw it on Inside Edition or some similar show. And, as I explained to my roommates, they didn't even scratch the surface. 

The problem is middle schoolers are so impressionable, and they will mimic and repeat ad infinitum anything that catches their ears. (They will sing commercial jingles. I have a particular memory of the "five dollar footlong" ad being repeated by one seventh grader years ago. He would not stop, just sang it over and over and over again.) 

Every. Day. Every. Hour. It's pretty constant now. 

As far as fads go, this one is fairly harmless. Just irritating. Because at this point it's ubiquitous. If I'm around middle schoolers, I'm going to hear it. (I hear it with high schoolers too, but not to the same degree.) 

So, now it's become don't-set-them-off. I was calling for kiddos to return their computers, and I deliberately counted down. Although, calling, "eight, seven, six..." had the same effect. Just uttering "seven" with regards to something will do it. (No one is saying "six" for any reason anymore.) 

The last couple days I've started singing "5309" at them. (If you know, you know.) They don't hear me, but I like it. 

It's just a matter of getting through. Because, something that exploded this hard this fast? It's going to die just as quickly. 

Right? It's going to die? Soon? 

Please tell me it's going to die soon. 

I'm so done with this. 

Let Them Eat Ballroom*

*Phrase borrowed from ‪@ecmclaughlin.bsky.social‬

The federal government has been shut down almost a month now. They couldn't get a funding bill passed. This one is personal to me, because at issue is subsidies for health insurance. Without them, my insurance premiums will double next year. Yeah, double. I got notification this week. 

There are others whose premiums will go up way more than mine. And mine is not insignificant. 

Inflation is ridiculous right now. Groceries have gotten way expensive. As has everything else. All while the current regime is kidnapping people and sending them to concentration camps. And sending troops into peaceful cities because the cities oppose the dictator. 

They have money to do that, but they don't, apparently, have money to fund SNAP. So, as of November 1st, those who need those benefits to eat won't. 

People are going to starve. Because the regime wants to give billionaires tax breaks. 

But they have money to tear down the White House. 

Make it make sense. 

(It makes sense. They want poor people to die. I don't know what that gains them, though. If there are no poor people, who do they have to do their grunt work?)

Weekly Sweater Update

I once again had a week where I felt like I didn't get much knitting accomplished. Here's where the sweater is now:

If you see all the strands of yarn hanging off, those are from knots I found in the ball of yarn. I cut them out, and I'll wind in those ends eventually. The ends on the side of the work are where the first ball of yarn ran out and I joined a second. So, things are coming along. 

It feels like I haven't done much, but last week I was here: 

I gained a couple inches, anyway. 

Sweater Tracking:

• Starting the Sweater
• Getting to the Back
• Missed Deadline
• Distractions from Knitting
• A Month Late
• Inching Along
• Tracking the Growth

Keeping Up with the Cool Boys

Friday. Sixth period seventh grade science. 

They had an assignment on geology. It was done in stations. That is, the class had three different activities to complete with a third of the class doing each activity. I timed them, having them move on to the next activity after 15-20 minutes had elapsed. (I was familiar with the assignment as it was the last thing I did with seventh grade science class last year as I finished up my 30 days.) 

Because Ms. W said it didn't matter who was in which group, I asked for volunteers to start the rock measuring station. (There were rocks that they were to "observe". They had to draw them, use a ruler to measure them, weigh them, and roll them.) Of course, the boys who volunteered... 

Yeah, so it didn't go well. The boys played around. They should have been measuring rocks. They were making jokes. (Not that you can't joke and work, but seventh graders. They can do one or the other, not both.) They were running. They were mock fighting. You know, the usual. 

I reminded them they had limited time. And when the timer went off, I told them it was time to move on to station two. 

But no. They weren't finished... 

Yeah, they weren't finished. Not shocked. But that was their fault for wasting time. 

I stood over them and shooed them back to their seats. Time. Was. Up. 

Hugo wasn't happy. Hugo had been trying to work, but the other boys... It's hard to work in that kind of chaos. I was sorry, but time was up. I told Hugo that he had to go back to his seat. He burst into tears.

Hugo pulled it together and went back to his seat. As did the other boys. I got a new group to the observing rocks station (a much calmer group), and we moved on. 

What I had forgotten was that Hugo had a one-to-one aide. Before going on his lunch break, he told me that if something went wrong, I was to send Hugo to his case carrier. Which I didn't do, because forgot. (There was lots going on. I am not shocked I forgot.) 

When the aide returned from his lunch, he asked how things had gone. And I told him. 

The aide proceeded to take the rest of the period to get reports from the other students as to what went down. Sigh. Apparently, Hugo's meltdown was a level 1, which was good, as Hugo has been known to lash out when he gets upset... 

I guess I dodged a bullet. 

Of course I let Ms. W know what went down. Her response was that Hugo "wants to work with the 'cool boys' but does not actually handle the chaos very well". 

Those are the "cool boys"? Yikes. Seventh graders really have terrible taste. 

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.