"Good" Class

It was one of those fun roving days, where I was only in a class for a period or two. My day was to end covering two periods of 7th grade math.

The teacher gave me the rundown of the assignment while the first group was supposed to be working on their warm up. Then she left for her meeting, and I got ready to go over the rest of their worksheet. (They were finding the measure of the missing angle in a triangle.)

It was a bit of a train wreck. They wouldn't settle enough to let me go over what they needed gone over. Several students wouldn't remain seated. And a couple of those kept floating to a seat that was not theirs.

I had been warned that the second group was worse. So, during that passing period, I took a deep breath before letting them in.

Now, they weren't good. I still had attention issues. But they remained seated. In their assigned seats. And it was easier for me to go over what they needed gone over.

Their teacher returned 15 minutes before the end of the period. She asked how they were. I told her that this group was better than the period previous.

"We're the good class?" one student asked incredulously.

Well, I wouldn't call it good...

(They ruined it, though. On my way out, half a dozen of them started roaming... At least I know it isn't just me.)

Do you remember your 7th grade math class? (That's 12-year-olds for those not in the U.S. system.) Did you ever have trouble sitting still in class?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Fishing for Answers

12th grade government. The teacher left them a movie, and then she did the genius thing of leaving them a "questionnaire" for after. That is, she left them a sort of/kind of quiz to make sure they didn't sleep through or talk through the whole thing.

Because I have had way too many instances of ignored movies, I enforced the "individual" part of the assignment rigorously.

Question one asked: Who was the attorney for the plaintiff?

I had gotten most of the papers turned in. One boy handed me his. Stopped and did a double take. Asked for his paper back. I assumed he had forgotten to write his name on it (a common occurrence).

He turned to me and pointed out question one. His was blank. I expected the "what is a plaintiff?" question. (It wouldn't have been the first time I'd gotten that question that day.)

Him: "It was either..." (he pointed to all four of the choices).

Me: "Yes, it was one of them."

Him: "His name was..."

Yeah, clever. He tried three versions of this, expecting me to fill in the blank for him. I kept dodging the question. I know this game. And he was on his own.

But in the end, I did help.

Me: "Who was suing? Right, and her lawyer was...?"

He made what sounded like a guess. Except, it was the right answer, and he seemed to sort of recall it. However, I did not confirm nor deny it. ("That's what you think? Then put that answer down.") Nice try, though.

Have you ever seen Runaway Jury? What sort of movie would you think a government teacher would leave for her class when she was out? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Early Day

Spring break starts early at the continuation high school. So, they have an extra week for "intersession". Basically, it's like summer school, but for a week. They can earn extra credits while the school is technically on vacation.

Because of this, it's rare to get called in to sub on these days.

But, Mr. A had a meeting and was only going to be gone part of the day.

The first group finished. We had a break. And the second group came in. (There were only two "periods" for the day--each 3 hours long.)

The second "group" consisted of two students.

I got them started. Shortly thereafter, the counselor came in to register the students for class. When she saw there were only two, she decided to cancel the class. (There needs to be a certain number, or else it isn't worth it to run the class for the week.)

No students, no need for a sub. Which meant I was done for the day. Before noon.

Yup, that was a short day.

Have you ever gotten a surprise early dismissal? What did you do with the rest of your unexpected day?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Digital Armageddon

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 all our digital information (Internet and files on our own computers) was wiped out and irretrievable? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Crochet Donuts

...are apparently a thing. I had no idea.

Last week, I previewed what the donut looks like after the form has been crocheted, but before it's been sewn together and stuffed...

I really thought there'd be more to it than crocheting a sphere with the ends cut off. *Shrug*

Good thing I looked it up on the internet.

Oh my. Seriously. Do this. Google "crochet donuts". Or look them up on Etsy. Pages. And pages. Wow.

So, yeah, I made a couple. They look like this...

Cute, huh? I used this pattern with a couple modifications. I used slightly bulkier yarn and an H hook. And I started with a chain of 20.

The "frosting" was added by starting a new color on round 7. The "sprinkles" are just a sort of running stitch using variegated yarn (before stuffing).

I did make one in the pattern's original size...

Size difference for comparison...

They're kind of cool. And weird.

Did you have any idea crocheted donuts were a thing? Would you want a crocheted donut?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Banana Berry

Saturday is random picture day. Today's picture is my usual order at Jamba Juice.

It's the treat I get on the days that my writing group meets. I think sometimes I look forward to the smoothie more than the group. Sometimes.

What's your usual order at your favorite drink vendor? Do you belong to a writing group?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Avoiding the Art

Special ed geometry. It was a good sized group, and they had an assignment that I thought was pretty cool.

They had been learning shapes--the specific shapes that one learns in geometry. Not just your garden variety square and rectangle, but the parallelogram, the rhombus, the kite, and the trapezoid.

The assignment had them using at least one of each in a design that they were to come up with. They got to draw it, color it in, and make it as creative as possible. The idea was to make it like a tile.

I passed out the assignment. And every single one of them turned it over to the back, where there was a word search.

I explained the assignment. It was fun! They got to draw. They just had to use the correct shapes. (I'm not much of an artist, but I would have loved an assignment like this.)

Them? They kept working on the word search.

So, I explained that the word search wasn't their assignment. Nope. It was worth nothing. The art project, however, was what they needed to do.

Reluctantly, they turned over the papers. Grumbled. Sketched out something. Complained that they'd rather do the word search.

via GIPHY

Some days, I wonder about them.

Have you ever thought something was so cool, but when you shared it with someone else, they looked at you like you were crazy?

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