Deep Sleeper

It was seventh period at the continuation high school. Science class. They were supposed to be working on Punnett squares, but most weren't doing much of anything. Basically, it was a typical day.

I had not had a break since about noon. This is not typical, as the teachers usually have their "lunch" period sometime in the afternoon. But I was picking up an extra period as the teacher had to leave early. Because of the scramble, I had not had a chance to hit the restroom, so by the end of seventh period, I really, really needed to go.

It was about 3:15. The kiddos tried to leave. The bell hadn't rung. But another teacher had let his kiddos go, so I dismissed the class, and then the bell rang.

I was ready to be out the door when I noticed that one of the kiddos was still at his desk. Asleep. Sigh.

I totally should have noticed that earlier, but oh well. I went over to wake him up.

"The bell rang. Time to go."

No movement.

So, I went to gently nudge his shoulder. No movement. Louder, "It's time to go." No movement.

Deep sigh. I can't leave the kid alone in the room. But I really have to go. How to wake him?

I tried turning off the lights. I stomped around. Nothing was waking him. Finally, I got into his face and told him it was time to wake up.

And finally, he did.

He rubbed his face. Shifted position. Got out his pencil. And made a pretense of working...

So, yeah, not awake.

"The bell rang. It's time to go."

Finally, he got the message. He kind of staggered out, not quite conscious.

I feel kind of bad for pushing him out the door like that. It was clear he wasn't quite with it yet. But, I really, really needed to get to the restroom. I'll save my gentler wakings for when that isn't so urgent.

Strongest Friend

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 your best friend got super powers?

Shark Scarf Solution

Ever since receiving the request, I've been stumped. Until this past Thursday...

I first mentioned the problem here on December 30th. Middle nephew requested a shark scarf to go along with his shark hat. (I finished up shark hats for his younger brothers in January.)

How does one make a shark scarf? There were some patterns, but I didn't think they worked well with the hat. Not as an ensemble. And the request was for an ensemble, kind of.

By last week I had kind of given up. I went out and bought some heavier weight yarn than the hat, but in the same color, so they would work together. My thought was I would knit a triangle-type stitch pattern to mimic teeth and call it a day.

On Thursday at work, I had some time and internet access. On a whim, I searched "shark tooth knitting pattern". The "tooth" part is different than the previous searches. Well, that, and I had specifically searched "scarf".

I found a very interesting scarf in that search, but it was on Pinterest, and Pinterest was blocked at school. But that led me to looking at the page from that search, which got me to this post with a bunch of shark knitting patterns, and that led me to the shark blanket. (Sorry, this link is only visible if you have a Ravelry account, but the shark blanket is on the previous link if you scroll down the page a bit.)

The shark blanket was made using a washcloth pattern. They made twelve blocks, tiling them 3 x 4. One column could work as a scarf...

And an idea was born.

Alas, the yarn I bought would have made those blocks 16 inches (40 centimeters) wide, which is way too wide for a scarf.

But... If I do the blocks sideways, the width works for me, and I'd have to make fewer of them to complete something scarf length.

(It's either that or buy finer yarn. I'm not buying finer yarn.)

I finished my first block on Friday...

I think I'm going to add a couple rows on the bottom and top just to give the shark a bit more "breathing room". But otherwise I think I've got it. The back even works...

The plan is to knit five of these, sew them together, alternating "right" and "wrong" sides (because scarf), and hope that middle nephew likes it.

I'll show it off when finished.

(There were a few turtles sunning themselves while I took photos...

I couldn't resist including the picture.)

It's nice to have a plan. Now that I have a plan, it shouldn't take too long to complete the scarf. It's the planning that takes forever.

Misplaced Anger

"Oh, I remember you. You're the sub that hates me."

via GIPHY

I... Uh...

I did remember the girl. Because last time I had seen her... she had said the exact same thing. And, well, I don't remember any animosity.

She insisted that I hate her.

Eighth grade math. It was co-taught, so some of this was directed at the special ed. teacher. Ms. C said perhaps the girl talked too much. I explained that I hold no anger towards the girl, but the girl seemed to think I did.

Actually, she rather enjoyed the idea that I hated her.

Okay, fine, then.

It was towards the end of the period that the girl explained why I hated her.

It was a Wednesday. The girl had asked if she could yell out "hump day". I said no. As the bell rang, she did anyway...

I vaguely recall the incident. Kind of? It could be one of those recalls that happen when someone tells you of something that happened in your presence and you only remember it via their memory.

So, anger? No. I was likely irritated. At the time. But I don't carry that anger for more than the length of time it takes to write in the note. (Likely, this didn't make the note to the teacher. I probably sighed in exasperation and was glad the period was over.)

But, middle schooler. They think the whole world revolves around them. And they think that we spend more time contemplating them than we really do. I mean, I'm only recalling this now because I knew it would make a good blog post. If I don't see her for a month or two, I'll be blindsided by my supposed hatred of her next time, too.

Guest Conductor

There haven't been a lot of planned absences lately (trainings, conferences, meetings, etc.), so I've been getting gigs last minute (the dreaded early morning wake up call). For the most part, these teachers are falling ill, so lesson plans are kind of sparse and/or makeshift.

Wednesday. Band.

The class was expecting a rehearsal. They even knew what piece they were to be working on. But I was a musician (oboe). I didn't learn conducting.

As luck would have it, that was the day a teaching student was beginning his observations. No one had told him the teacher would be out. When it was clear I was out of my depth, he volunteered to rehearse the group.

via GIPHY

And... Things went well. Really well. One doesn't begin teacher training until having spent time learning the subject concentration, so he had already trained to conduct.

I spent twelve years playing in bands. That period felt like a rehearsal.

Some days I really luck out.

Feigned Ignorance?

There haven't been a lot of planned absences lately (trainings, conferences, meetings, etc.), so I've been getting gigs last minute (the dreaded early morning wake up call). For the most part, these teachers are falling ill, so lesson plans are kind of sparse and/or makeshift.

Tuesday. Woodshop.

I've covered for this teacher before. Because they don't use power tools in his absence (safety issue), the kiddos are stuck doing bookwork. But because of technology, the the teacher was able to assign a new chapter from home. (It was his second day out. A different sub had covered the prior day.)

Third period was construction tech. They were working on an "estimation packet".

They got the packet out, but then claimed they didn't have enough information to do any work. Deep sigh.

I found blueprints. They claimed they'd already used them. So, I reread the lesson plan, and the words Google Classroom stuck out. None of them had gotten the computers out. I encouraged them to do so.

Sure enough, there were more specific instructions online. There were links to videos demonstrating what they were to do.

And yet, they still claimed ignorance.

Now, they could have been telling the truth. Something might have been missing. They might have needed more information to complete this assignment.

But I rather doubt this. It seemed to me they were taking advantage of a sub day to goof off--a long standing tradition.

Deep sigh. This is why I write detailed notes to the teacher. Teachers rarely appreciate the kiddos sudden ignorance.

Going Obsolete

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 you learned your blogging platform was being discontinued? (No, I haven't heard anything. It's just a random question.)