Too Fast

Friday. Middle school. Fundamentals of engineering.

Their assignment was to sketch out an alphabet that looked roughly like this:

I projected the alphabet on a screen at the front of the room. But I could only get two to three rows on screen at the same time, so periodically I'd have to scroll.

About half the class was diligently working. The other half of the class was playing. (This is typical in middle school electives. This is typical in middle school required subjects, too.)

At about the middle of the room, there were two girls who were all about the games. They started off by finishing off their lunch. (The diligent workers confirmed that they weren't allowed to eat in class.) Then they were gossiping, checking out their phones, chatting with the others in class, and pretty much doing things that were not on task.

But they remained in their seats, so while I kept an eye on them, I didn't do much more than periodically remind them that they had an assignment.

As the workers finished up the first row of letters (after like 20 minutes), I moved the screen up...

"Hey, wait. I wasn't done yet."

One of the girls wanted me to move the letters back. She had only finished the "A". She told me I was moving too fast.

Hmmm... So, scroll back so the goofing off girl can get caught up. Or keep things moving forward for all the students that were making progress. Difficult decision...

When I wouldn't move the letters back, the girl asked if she could go to the library to print out a copy of what she needed.

(The letters were on the teacher's website. Those who had phones could access the example that way. The teacher didn't trust them with Chromebooks when she wasn't in the room. After seeing the classes, I completely understand why.)

She returned without the hard copy. The library was "too crowded" and she couldn't get access. Her friend then decided to try... And also returned without a hard copy.

Now, they could have worked ahead. So what if they missed A-D? They could still continue with the other letters on the screen instead of wasting their time...

Oh, what am I saying? It was all about wasting their time.

I went ahead and signed up for the A to Z Challenge starting April 1st. (I'm #514 on the sign up list as I write this.) Not that anything is really going to change. You'll just notice how each day goes one further in the alphabet.

And... Happy birthday, Chris. (Feel free to wish my little brother a happy birthday :)

Library Famous

I was back in Ms. B's special ed class. It was Friday, but the lesson plans were from Tuesday. And she had taken her laptop computer with her.

(Later I learned that she was supposed to be out for a one-day training, but she had subsequently come down with the flu. The word "hospitalized" was bandied about.)

From my previous sojourns in her class, I pretty much knew what the drill was. We'd be fine. But I pondered the lack of computer.

What did I need the computer for? To take roll. That's no biggie, as I could just as easily input the roll via my phone. But then there was 5th period and their routine of watching CNN 10. Which we couldn't do via my phone.

I hemmed and hawed. Looked at the clock. I had time.

At the beginning of the school year, I learned that subs can check out Chromebooks from the school library. Some classrooms have no computer. Since we subs need to take roll via the online system, we actually need computer access during the day. This is the solution.

How many classrooms have no computer? Since the beginning of the school year, I've needed to check out a Chromebook three times, including this day. So, it's not a huge issue.

(Every teacher is issued a laptop by the school. Understandably, they don't always leave it in the classroom when they are not there.)

I headed into the library.

I should mention I was wearing a pair of my bauble earrings. (This is so common that normally it wouldn't merit a mention.) Mr. E, the school's librarian, took one look at me, declared me "festive", and insisted that a picture of me must be posted on their Christmas display. (They had a "fireplace" and "tree" built out of math textbooks.)

I blame the early morning. I allowed this.

At the end of the day when I returned the Chromebook, Mr. E informed me that my photo was on the display. I did not look. I took his word for it.

So, I guess students who venture into the library... Nah. No one pays attention to things like that. Do they?

(Having the Chromebook proved very useful several times during the day, not only to watch CNN 10. I'm glad I made the trip.)

Snobs

Once upon a time, I had a blog over on MySpace. Remember MySpace? Anyway, I had several technical difficulties (such as going to hit publish for a post and having the whole thing disappear), so I switched over to Blogger, where I've never had a whole post disappear on me never to be seen again.  

Eventually I deleted the MySpace account. Then, one day I went to link to a previous blog post only to discover that the post I remembered had been on the MySpace blog. Oops. While many of the posts were best forgotten, there were a few that I liked. And that's how my repost Tuesdays were born.  

At this point, I've reposted most of the posts that I remembered fondly. Now I'm on a mission to repost everything. (Okay, not really everything. There are several really stupid posts that I'm not going to bother with.) I'm nearly there.  
This post is originally from June 12, 2007. 

The lesson plan said to take the class to the library and the librarian would instruct the class. 12th graders. AP English. It's the end of the year, so they're done. It didn't even occur to me until they said it, "He's going to put us to work". Yep.

The librarian wanted them to pack up the books. The library is going to get redone over the summer (paint, new carpet, the works), but first the library has to get cleared.

The first group jumped right in (well, after some encouragement). They didn't really want to work, but they made good headway. Then the next class came in. And they whined.

"But we're AP. We shouldn't have to do manual labor."

Boo-hoo. Poor babies. Cry me a river.

I was an AP student. And after high school I had a job in retail. I've moved, so I've had to pack. And most of them will encounter such tasks later in their lives. So, I had no sympathy. Besides, getting up and doing some physical work is a nice break from the usual subbing day.

But then they got a really good system going. They got a lot done. And so now I'm beat, but it's a good sort of beat. I got a good workout today.

The library turned out really nice. It was more of a face lift than an overhaul, but it was sorely needed.  

V Not L

I was glad to get the call this morning. I've been spending way too much time by myself, and the result hasn't been pretty. It was good to get out of the house.

I got to school, got the key, and I headed to the classroom. On the way there, I spotted the teacher on his way to the classroom. Uh oh.

Turns out that he wasn't going to be out today. So, I trekked back to the office.

The secretary was surprised. She searched through her paperwork. The teacher hadn't requested today off. She had no idea how she had made such a mistake.

The secretary wondered if she just requested a sub for the wrong teacher. We had to wait until the final bell to figure that out. At that point, they were looking for a bunch of students standing outside waiting for a teacher who wouldn't show. When we didn't get notified that a class was missing a teacher, the secretary sent me to the library.

When the school or the sub caller makes the mistake, I still get paid for the day. Many times, the school can find enough individual periods where a teacher had to leave early, had a meeting to get to, or some such to fill out a day. If, like today, this was not the case, then I get sent to the library.

I like the library. It's a nice assignment.

The library assistant showed me what I'd be doing: attaching bar codes to a set of workbooks that just arrived. But before I could get settled, a call came in from the secretary. They found the class.

The secretary wrote down the wrong name. They weren't close in pronunciation, but I could see how she could write one down for the other. Instead of covering a math class, I was sent to cover chemistry. Not a bad switch.

I got to the class. One of the assistant principals had started things. He got them going and he took roll. The class looked at me questioningly as the transition took place. As soon as the AP left, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

I explained the mix up (they were sophomores and juniors). They were as entertained as I was.

Roving Around

Yesterday, I got called at the usual time. The sub caller assigned me an art class. But when I got to the school, there was no art class. I was given a roving assignment.

It was very strange. The vanishing assignment used to happen to me all the time, but ever since it's been all early morning wake-up calls, I thought this sort of thing was over. Ah well.

I don't mean to rant. It's been that sort of week. (And I'm not ranting about the thing that's really bothering me right now, so if I sound angry, it's actually over the other thing.)

First period I got sent to the library. That's the go-to assignment when they want to give us subs something to do. It's our make-work. They usually have something that needs doing. Yesterday I got to put away books.

It was fun. The library was empty except for adults and one library TA. I got a chance to peruse the library's fiction selection.

It wasn't a vast collection. The Harry Potter section was well stocked as were Stephen King and Goosebumps. The Twilight books had a spot, but it looked like most of them were checked out. (I reshelved one.) And various classics were well represented.

I managed to finish the reshelving before the end of the period. And then I was off.

I kind of like roving days. It breaks things up. I got to cover two periods of special ed, two periods of math, and a period of oceanography. It was an interesting day.

Filed Away

I worked in the library today. I wasn't called to be a library helper. I had a two day assignment for today and tomorrow. Turns out that the teacher will be out tomorrow and Thursday.

Classic Mercury retrograde screw up. And I thought I was going to get through this one without an incident. Oh well.

I was put to work re-alphabetizing the fiction section. It's not that the library wasn't alphabetized before. In a week, the students have managed to mess up the stacks. Apparently, they can't be bothered to put a book back where it goes if they decide they don't want it after all.

It was kind of a tedious exercise, but I did it anyway. I'd get through a couple shelves and then take all the books that didn't belong there and put them where they belonged. (Example: I found Dostoevsky in the M's.) I started with the A's and got through the Q's.

Before I left I checked in with the library assistant. She told me the trouble they'd been having keeping the books alphabetized. Not only that, the students were having trouble finding books in the fiction section. Apparently, they don't understand the whole alphabetized-by-last-name thing. That, or they don't know their ABC's.

Sometimes it shocks me the stuff they do not know.