No (Legal) Cure

What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder. 

On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news. 

Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

Since I've been down with a cold for the past couple weeks...

What if you got sick, but the only treatment for it was illegal?

(I kind of cribbed this one from Star Trek: Picard. While it wasn't a major plot point, it was an important detail in season 1. Then again, it was kind of critical.) 

Envisioning the Next Step

Niece's birthday is this Thursday. Her sweater will not be done in time. (Even if I did manage to finish it, I then have to mail it, so...)

But progress has been made.

After consulting the example photo: 

(I have to keep reminding myself that my version is not going to look like this as I'm doing a lot of guessing. But it's frustrating all the same.) 

I figure now is the time to square the circle. And hopefully she'll get me her measurements soon, as I think it's about as wide as it'll need to be. I've made progress, anyway.

And until I have measurements, I can catch the back up to the front.

Eye sweater previous posts:

• Eyeing a New Project
  
• Seeing Some Progress
• Second Sight

Not a Freshman, Not a Senior

I've had Marcellus in various classes over the years. He was in Mr. J's fourth period computer science class.

I had been in the class a couple days (so, this was back in March) when something about freshmen came up. There were a couple freshmen in this class, and for some reason I thought Marcellus was one of them. (Which makes no sense as I had had him in "various classes over the years".) Although, to be fair, he is short, so...

When I said something along those lines, Marcellus corrected me, informing me that he was a senior. I apologized for my mistake, and I verified his grade level in the attendance software. 

Marcellus was lying. He was a junior. 

I did not call him on this, however. It was unimportant. It wouldn't even make the blog, except...

Thursday. Legacy day.

The seniors had "checked out". Officially. Their grades were finalized, and they were beginning their senior activities. The first one was them going back to visit their elementary schools wearing their caps and gowns, letting the kiddos there know that one day they too would be in the seniors' shoes. 

For the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, class was as normal. As fourth period had eleven seniors, those students were absent (for school business) while the rest of the students were there.

As I started taking roll, I mentioned that there were a lot of absences. The students remarked that the seniors were gone. (I knew this. There were more students missing than would be accounted for by the missing seniors. It turned out that several students were just late to class.) 

This was when the other students "noticed" Marcellus. 

"Wait. Aren't you a senior? You're supposed to be gone..."

At which point Marcellus sputtered and flailed for some excuse. 

They were joking, of course. They had to know Marcellus wasn't a senior. But apparently it's been an ongoing bit that Marcellus claimed to be a senior, so him still being at school had to put an end to the game. 

At least next year Marcellus won't by lying. And hopefully I'll remember that even though he's short, he's not a freshman.

Working the Study Guide

Thursday. Second period math.

Mr. J wasn't giving a cumulative final. Their final test was to be the last chapter test of the school year. And to prepare for that test, Mr. J had left a study guide. 

(Ms. L, the co-teacher of the other math classes, showed me a copy of their test. The study guide was a problem for problem duplicate, the only difference being the numbers used in the problems.) 

I gave them the study guide. And I prefaced the period with, "You know how you get the test, you look at it, and you go blank? And then you tell me you don't know what to do? And I tell you I can't help you? Today, I can help you."

Many of the students took advantage of this help. 

They also were able to utilize their notes. They had a formula sheet that they could use on the test, and they were making notes on that. So, they were making good use of their time.

As was Ava. 

Ava was on it. She was working through those problems. Asking questions. All of it.

At the end of the period, Ava asked if she could come back during lunch for help with the last bit of the study guide. 

Part of me snarled. This girl... She could be little miss attitude so much of the time. But when she wanted something, she was as sweet as could be. 

I kept the snarl inside, though. Because I'm the adult. 

Ava did return at lunch. I did help her with the final three problems. And she did seem to understand what she was doing.

I really do hope she does well on the test. Her grade is still hovering between D and F. She could (barely) pass the class. That's on her. I won't deliberately tank her chances.

(When I'm grading things, I don't notice the names on the papers. Seriously. And if I do notice, I won't mark something off for students I don't get along with. If they give me the right answer, or even if they get in the ballpark, I will give them the score they earned.)

The Mad Scramble

It was Tuesday of the penultimate week of school, and I was back in Mr. J's class.

This was not a surprise. When I took the long term assignment, I was booked for the initial two months, and then these last four days of May. Before leaving the class, on the transition day, I asked Mr. J about it. He confirmed he was taking this week off. (Something about his wife going back to work. He didn't give much detail, and I didn't ask for specifics.)

In anticipation of this reprise, I didn't return the classroom key nor did I return the tablet I checked out for use in the class. I left it on campus, in a cabinet in Mr. J's classroom. (Technically I could have taken it home as it was checked out to me, but I felt more comfortable leaving school tech at school.) 

Before the weekend, Mr. J had emailed me the lesson plans. I went through and printed out the pages I'd need. I perused the lesson just so I was ready. 

On Tuesday, I made sure to leave a bit early so I could retrieve my borrowed tech and set up for the day. (While on the long-term, I tended to leave things ready for the next day as I tend not to be all that alert first thing in the morning.) 

Everything went according to plan. I got checked in, got into the classroom, set up my tablet, and got things ready to go. 

Only, there was a small problem.

The pages I had printed were not the pages containing the notes the students needed. 

Mr. J had sent me a copy of the students' notes. But the copy he gave them and the copy he gave me were not the same. 

(In my copy, pages 15 & 16 were notes on finding the area of regular shapes. In the students' copy, pages 15 & 16 were notes on finding the volume of prisms.) 

Oops. 

I knew there was going to be some hiccup. I'm fortunate that it wasn't a bigger deal.

As luck would have it, I had previewed their online assignment and found the pages that contained those notes. I printed those as well. And it turned out those were the notes I did need. 

Once I figured out where the glitch was, things went smoothly. I got through their notes, and they got a chance to work on their last new assignment for the school year. 

The next class period they would get the study guide for their final test. (The teacher isn't giving a final. The last chapter test is the last test for the class.) 

The school year is almost done. Well, actually, by the time you read this, it will be done. Today, June 5th, is the last day of school (although I'm always a week behind on the blog, so this week I'll continue to have subbing stories). 

Non-Profits

What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder. 

On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news. 

Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

What if insurance companies weren't run for profit? (That is, what if what was paid in that wasn't used to meet claims or pay personnel was set aside for other years or paid back to the customers as dividends?)

Second Sight

I did not make much progress on the eye sweater this week. I came down with a cold. Plus, I had a migraine for a couple days, too. Resting was more of a priority.

I did manage a little something, though. A second eye.

Why? The sweater has a front and a back...

Considering all the trouble I had with the first eye, and knowing that I'd have to do it a second time, I decided it would make sense to do both at roughly the same time. Since I'm changing colors throughout, I didn't have to have a second skein of any of the yarn. 

And, actually, I can do both front and back roughly concurrently, so they should both look similar. I don't know if that'll make things go faster, but it'll feel like it went faster. (Some knitters will knit two socks or two mittens as the same time for similar reasons.) 

Hopefully I'll make more progress this week. Ideally this cold will be gone. And it's the last week of school. I only have one day scheduled, so I might not have all that much work to do, which means more time for crochet. 

But saying such things has a way of making them not happen, so we'll see how things go.

Eye sweater previous posts:

• Eyeing a New Project
  
• Seeing Some Progress