The assignment I took for today at that furthest school was art and drama.  Interesting combination as usually drama is the realm of the music teacher.  It was actually a pretty easy day.  School started at 8:00, so I was there at 7:45.  My first class? 9:30.  That’s right, I had over an hour and a half to kill reading, answering nature’s call, eating free food in the lounge…

This is teacher’s appreciation week, so the PTO provides food all week for the teachers.  Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to offend the PTO by not doing my part here.  Bagels, doughnuts, fruit, juice- a second breakfast!  Okay, I didn’t eat that much, but suffice to say I was satisfied with my mid-morning snack.

9:30 rolled around and the first of three classes came in.  Now three doesn’t sound like much, but remember this was art and drama so I had to teach two of the classes both, so it was really more like five classes- still an easy day though.  This first class was 2nd/3rd grade, and it turned out I had subbed for this class before earlier in the year, which had its own interesting tale of two subs showing up for this one job.  The teacher had requested a particular sub, making the arrangements herself, then proceeded to put the job in the system as sub needed but not filled so I took that job when it showed up.   The principal chose to side with the system, so the requested sub had to do work elsewhere in the building.  She wasn’t too happy because this apparently was the second time this had happened to her.

Anyway, back to today they just completed a project for art- in fact all three classes did, though differing projects of course- and then I got to teach some drama.  Well, play some drama games with them.  We did a game called “Change Three Things” which was n observation game.  They partnered up and observed each other for several seconds.  Then they turned around, changed three things about their appearance then turned back and tried to figure out what changed.  It could have been something as simple as closing an eye, or as obvious as, well I will use one of the students as an example for this- one boy unbuttoned his shirt and put it on again, backwards.  Yes, he held up the game doing this- it took as long as you can imagine.  Now if it was a t-shirt like most kids wear it would have been quick.  Oh, well.  This was a pretty wild group so we only did one round of this.  Next we moved on to a murder-mystery game, where one person is throwing a party (his/her choice of type of party) but there is a killer at the party.  They walk around shaking each others hands while at the same time acting like the type of party it is- pizza, tea, whatever.  The killer would “kill” someone by tickling another player with his/her finger while shaking hands.  The “victim” would wait ten seconds before “dying” dramatically.  The ten seconds being so we wouldn’t catch the killer in the act.  Of course, being 2nd and 3rd graders this more sophisticated game didn’t go quite so smooth.  Sometimes they would forget to wait ten seconds or the killer would forget to be discrete.  And of course everybody wanted to guess at once.

6th grade was only art, so I will move on the the last class, 4th/5th grade.  This class was supposed to be a pretty bad class, but to be honest, aside from a few boys who just wanted to make origami “fortune tellers” because they were finished with the project then go and bug everyone around them with their fortune tellers, I had more trouble with the 2nd/3rd grade class.  In any event, for drama I didn’t get to choose the mystery game, so for them we did skits about three items.  In groups they would pick three unrelated items (example: frog/basketball/telephone) and make a skit around these three things.  The trick was they were not allowed to say the names of these objects in the skit.  When a group finished, the rest would try to guess the three objects.  Of course the goal was to make the objects easy to guess and this would be an indicator of how well they got their message across in the skit.  In the end, many were easy to guess but there were a few tough ones.  In all, I would say they did a pretty good job with it.  Only some audience participation left something to be desired.

Well, I was able to find another job in the same district tomorrow while writing this.  More free food I hope.  😀  Same school as the rejected job, a school I will be at on Friday as well.  So far four days in this same district this week.

When I got home from small group last night, I did a check again for jobs, and came up with one district that had two postings.  One was closer, one was one of the furthest schools from me.  People who know me know my love for driving, or rather how much I love to not have to drive much in traffic.  So the choice was obvious of course- I took the second one.  Say what?  You’re thinking, “Didn’t he just get through saying…?”  Well, yes, but I mentioned in one of my comments a couple of days ago that there is a position I vowed never to take again.  This was for one of those teachers.  ELL at that one middle school is a nightmare I wish never to repeat, err, again.  I actually subbed for these teachers (two ELL teachers on the team) a few times but I finally had enough last year.  My theory is that discipline is far more strict in Mexico (these were primarily Hispanic kids) and so when they come to the US and enter our education system, we are far more limited on what we can do for punishment and so it’s like a cake-walk to them.  Our worst is no problem to them as long as they only break rules and not laws in which case they finally have justice meted toward them.  In any event, coupled with typical low-income for this area they are very difficult to work with.  There is another middle school in the district, but oddly enough I have never actively chosen to not sub for ELL there.  Maybe the difference is the grades are separated over there but all combined at the first school.  6th-graders learn how to play the system sooner from the 8th-graders since they spend a lot of time in the same room.  In any event, as possible proof of this theory one of the days a student actually threw his binder at another student’s head (in retribution).  In front of me while I started to deal with the initial problem.  Besides this, there was just a constant lack of respect overall.

Never again.

So of course that same position just showed up for tomorrow, but no alternative assignment.  I am still looking for something for tomorrow…

Of course there are even worse positions.  A nearby district actually has a lot of gang activity at their middle schools, though it is really not as bad as what I hear of from the city.  I no longer sub in that district.

Also from Worthyboards comes this hilarious real-life humor- thanks, Glory2000!

TOP 7 MORONS OF 2007

1. WILL THE REAL DUMMY PLEASE STAND UP? AT&T fired President John Walter after nine months, saying he lacked intellectual leadership. He received a $26 million severance package. Perhaps it’s not Walter who’s lacking intelligence.

2. WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS: Police in Oakland, CA spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself inside his home. After firing ten tear gas canisters, officers discovered that the man was standing beside them in the police line, shouting, ‘Please come out and give yourself up.’

3. WHAT WAS PLAN B??? An Illinois man, pretending to have a gun, kidnapped a motorist and forced him to drive to two different automated teller machines, wherein the kidnapper proceeded to withdraw money from his own bank accounts.

4. THE GETAWAY! A man walked into a Topeka, Kansas Kwik Stop and asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Apparently, the take was too small, so he tied up the store clerk and worked the counter himself for three hours until police showed up and grabbed him.

5. DID I SAY THAT??? Police in Los Angeles had good luck with a robbery suspect who just couldn’t control himself during a lineup. When detectives asked each man in the lineup to repeat the words: ‘Give me all your money or I’ll shoot!’ The man shouted, ‘that’s not what I said!’.

6. ARE WE COMMUNICATING??? A man spoke frantically into the phone: ‘My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart’. ‘Is this her first child?’ the doctor asked. ‘No!’ the man shouted, ‘This is her husband!’

7. NOT THE SHARPEST TOOL IN THE SHED! In Modesto, CA, Steven Richard King was arrested for trying to hold up a Bank of America branch without a weapon. King used a thumb and a finger to simulate a gun. Unfortunately, he failed to keep his hand in his pocket. (hellooooooo)!

Well, I thought I was teaching at church today, but I found out otherwise- right before I was going to teach.  As the kids sang worship songs, I went into an adjoining room to look over the lesson again.  When I came out, the family pastor was there with his Bible ready to teach.  Oh well.  I was actually going to ask him last night, but I talked to another teacher who said he saw on the email the ones who would teach this weekend and he thought my name was on it- also that the email said that this month would be the same schedule as last month.  So I decided not to bother John.  It looks like I should have bothered him after all.  Plus when I talked to him afterward I think I may have sounded like I was shifting the blame to that other teacher I talked to when in fact it was me who decided not to talk to the one I should have.  I hope I’m just being critical of myself.  Anyway, one of the kids I saw earlier this week made it to church, but the other one didn’t.  Oh well, I hope he shows up next week while I still remember his name. 😛

Well, perusing Worthyboards I encountered this Godtube video I thought I would share.  It’s about fitting into church.  Just so you’re prepared , it was in their humor forum…

[godtube]https://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=a7bedeb99312cc5d7f4e[/godtube]

I also learned of another video site while looking for a teaching example- it is called Teachertube!  Needless to say, I will be looking through some of these videos, hopefully to post about here!

Just one joke, but an interesting one.  Yes, even Christians can laugh at jokes about hell.  As usual, I claim no ownership whatsoever of this stuff I dredge up on the ‘net:

Dr. Schambaugh, of the University of Oklahoma School of Chemical Engineering, Final Exam question for May of 1997. Dr. Schambaugh is known for asking questions such as, “why do airplanes fly?” on his final exams. His one and only final exam question in May 1997 for his Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer II class was: “Is hell exothermic or endothermic? Support your answer with proof.”

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

“First, We postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass. If they do, then a mole of souls can also have a mass. So, at what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving? I think we can safely assume that once a soul gets to hell, it will not leave.

Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for souls entering hell, let’s look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, then you will go to hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people and souls go to hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change in volume in hell. Boyle’s Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in hell to stay the same, the ratio of the mass of souls and volume needs to stay constant. Two options exist:

1. If hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter hell, then the temperature and pressure in hell will increase until all hell breaks loose.
2. If hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the quote given to me by Theresa Manyan during Freshman year, “that it will be a cold night in hell before I sleep with you” and take into account the fact that I still have NOT succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then Option 2 cannot be true…Thus, hell is exothermic.”

The student, Tim Graham, got the only A.

Memory for remembering scripts that is.  We all know about my memory for names and faces by now.  Memorizing scripts used to be a breeze, but now I just can’t seem to get it right.  I had two weeks this time, and it was better, but I still changed a few of my lines because I couldn’t quite remember them.  I know part of this is actual rehearsal time- we seem to be able to run through it an average of 1.5 times before the performance- but even with this handicap I feel I had a better handle on the memorization at the beginning of the year.

Today we also had a crisis getting props together.  There was supposed to be a squirt gun, for example, but I had to improvise by using a flashlight instead (cool flashlight by the way, in the shape of a cordless drill so I think it worked).  Also I had to make a backpack have some semblance of a rocket jet pack using some printed graphics and rolled-up paper tubes.  Of course the tape on this and another prop failed.  I will have to bring duct tape for the two groups tomorrow.

And now, I have to study the lesson for tomorrow’s 4th/5th grade class- it is my turn to teach again, and this time I have more than a half-hour notice so it needs to sound like it. 🙂

Usually I go a long time between seeing kids from my church in their natural daily habitats.  Tuesday was the super day, way out of the ordinary.  Today I ran into another one, apparently whose memory was not as good as the one I ran into on Tuesday.  This time he wasn’t in my class, but he was in a nearby 4th grade classroom.  I passed him in the hall, then turned and did a double take- I actually recognized him.  At the same time, he did his own double take, but he wasn’t as sure.  When I went to pick up my class from fine arts, there were two other classes in the same room, sort of a special fine arts day.  His class was one of them, and his teacher was already leading the class away.  He asked if he knew me, maybe from church.  I just smiled and said, “I’ll see you on Sunday, Brandon!” (okay, I guess first names are okay- I’ve been a bit paranoid on identifying people).  Then he knew.  At the end of the day I gave him a high five.  So on Sunday, I will see two fourth-graders at 11:15 who I encountered this week, maybe three if Daniel (from Tuesday) brings his friend again.

As far as the day went, it was very easy- no teaching at all.  Ordinarily this wouldn’t make me happy, but it’s been a long week and I was ready for some rest.  I even made two errors this morning since I was so tired.  This morning went like this: fine arts (combined classes), math test, fine arts (single class), finish math test, lunch.  That was it.  The afternoon was a little more complex with SSR (silent reading), spelling test, reading test, computer lab.  Yes, they took three tests in one day- not a fun day for them.  I guess I did do more than babysit in the afternoon.  I of course had to give the words and sentences for the spelling test, and additionally I had to proofread and correct papers on the computer before the kids printed.

In any event, I am glad for the weekend.  I enjoy what I do (mostly) but I need the break.  Before I sign off, I should mention that all went well except for a couple of boys.  One was constantly talking, even during the math test in the morning, which he did not have to take since he was in a different math class.  Unlucky for me the teacher didn’t tell me what he should do so I had to find him something to do.  He said he finished the poetry project, didn’t have a book, and wasn’t allowed to read one of the books in the room because they had to be “checked out” and he had lost a book so he couldn’t check out another.  I didn’t think the teacher would mind, as long as he didn’t bring it home, but no dice.  Sigh.  He was actually elsewhere for most of the afternoon, so that time went better.  The other boy was really only a problem while the first one was in the room- they kind of fed off of each other.

Well, that’s it for now.  Time to torture myself by taking out my contacts, then winding down for bed.  Yeah, I know- Friday night.  Well, I still haven’t gone back to the singles group.  They have a movie night tonight, I am David, but I think I have seen it and I just didn’t want to go.  I really need to force myself next time.  Why the torture?  Well I just made my self some salsa, 3½  pasta-sauce-sized jars of it.  Made with habanero, serrano, jalapeño, and other hot peppers, tomatillos, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro.  The hot pepper juice of course clings to the skin for several hours, so hot pepper meets eye and…  If I don’t post tomorrow it may be because I’m blind from this.  Anyway, goodnight.

You have spoken (or rather, not spoken- that is, no comments) and it seems that my links posts are not welcome.  Whether it be the links, retrogaming, or whatnot, I guess I need to stick to the teaching posts.  Right then.

Today I was a teaching assistant.  It’s okay- in the district I was in subs get paid the same whether it’s teaching or assisting, unlike the other three districts where assistant subs get paid far less.  In one district, in fact they get paid half the amount of teacher subs!  I was actually supposed to sub in a junior high, but they canceled so I got my choice of this position or a preschool teacher.  No choice at all…  Of course, when I got there I was in charge of three kindergarteners, so maybe not a win after all.  Well, it really wasn’t bad at all.  The three actually worked very well and I didn’t have to intervene a great deal.  This was a special education class, so I wouldn’t have expected that considering my experience in these rooms in the past.  Unlike the regular kindergarten students these three were there the entire day.  They were mainstreamed into the same classroom twice in one day which one would think would give them them the same instruction twice, but they must have worked out a schedule with the kindergarten teacher because while they were in there a total of almost three hours between morning and afternoon they did not repeat any instruction.

In the morning following announcements I brought them to the regular class where they worked on an assessment of their number and letter skills as well as their self-image, and then followed with science.  I feel I’m missing something, but it is so late I can’t think of what.  Anyway, they had to color and label the parts of a flower.  Oh yes, there was a worksheet that they completed and got checked off for as well.  Finally recess, then I brought them back for calendar and computer time where they typed up (with the help of the specialized software) the calendar info and practiced writing their addresses and phone numbers.  By coincidence, two of them had the exact same numerical address, though of course the street was different.  A teacher was supposed to be there to help, but she had observations to do and they were short a sub, so they pulled her sub somewhere else.  Probably because I’m a “certified” sub and could be with them without a regular teacher.  Anyway, as a teaching assistant I had to go with them to lunch and help where needed.  When they went out for lunch recess I finally got my lunch.

In the afternoon I went to a music class with a second-grade girl for a half-hour, then it was back to the three tykes.  In the afternoon K class they did reading and math.  Get this- they were given decks of cards and played war!  I guess number recognition was the key here, but after a couple games of mostly standard war they added the two numbers together instead, but then still won the cards or not by regular war rules.  Back to the self-contained class again, and back to the computers.  This time I had to watch them use the computers to make sure they went through the program the way they were supposed to.  Finally, the teacher came back, had them pack up, did a couple of dance songs (chicken dance and hokey-pokey) with them, and then finally they were ready to board the buses.  Whew.  Long day, and long post.  It is now past my bedtime for eight hours of sleep.  Goodnight.

What’s the use of coming here if not to get a look into my life?  Such a look into my life might include some of the websites I visit often, including some message boards. Just click on the title to go there and see what this sub likes to read and do.

Worthyboards: This is a Christian message board. It is part of a larger ministry, but I tend to stay on the message board. I don’t post often being more of a lurker, but if you see any posts by Qun Mang, that’s me. There is a prayer forum there so if you need a lot of people praying for you, sign up and put a post there. There are also some forums you can’t see until you sign up, and one or two you can no longer see once you do!

MAMEWorld.info: This is the message board for MAMEWorld.net, posted in my last retrogaming post. It primarily deals with the arcade game emulator MAME, but people sometimes post about retrogaming in general there. Just do yourselves a favor and walk carefully in the Loony Bin. This part of the site is not safe for work, if you get my meaning. I try to avoid certain posts on this part of the site, but there is much posted here that is actually interesting so that’s why I visit it.

English Amiga Boards: All Amiga, all the time. This board is everything dealing with the Commodore Amiga, a very popular computer in the late 80s/early 90s. That is, popular in Europe, not the U.S. English refers not only to the language, but to where the site is hosted. I had an Amiga 500 back in the days. A certain administrator had an Amiga 3000. You can also visit the main site, abime.net. From there you can find information on just about every Amiga game, read old Amiga magazines, and more.

Internet Movie Database: Most of you regular readers already know of this site. If there is anything to be found about a movie, you can find it here. TV shows as well, but the next site is a little better for it, excepting in some cases the forums. IMDB forums seem to be more popular, however you have to sign up to even read the IMDB forums let alone post in them. I’ve been using this site since before it became a website, when it was a database you downloaded from the internet and read via software you install for it.

TV.com: Same as above except for television shows. Their search engine stinks though. I typed in an exact title once and the search came up empty. I typed in a couple of key words and suddenly the show was found. Here you can read about the characters, the actors, episode guides, news about the shows, forums you don’t need to sign up to read (just to post), and more.

Geek.com and Neowin.net: A couple of sites with computer-related news.

Majorgeeks: Lots of software for Windows computers, including both shareware and freeware. If you need an application, try this site. They also have some news at the end of each daily roundup. They seem to be based in Florida, so a lot of news revolves around that state.

Well, I think that’s enough for today. Maybe I will post some more another time. There are also the sites I mentioned in my previous post, so check them out as well.

I have mentioned in the past occasionally running into students who I know from church. The most interesting response one has ever given me was a few years ago in a district I used to sub in. It was an afternoon position and the kids just came back from lunch. Then one boy just shouted out, “Hey, I know you!!!” Well, as is often the case working with so many kids, plus my faulty memory when it comes to names and faces I only vaguely remembered him, but at least I knew from where I knew him, so I said so then slyly looked up his name. From that point on I got to know him better at church, as well as his brother who would enter the 4th grade the following year. Today I found myself in a similar situation. He didn’t blurt it out like the one a few years ago, but quietly let me know. Unfortunately my memory of him was no better than that other time. In my defense I should say that I work two services and interact with about 80-90 each weekend. Some I interact with more than others, and he unfortunately was one of those others. No sly tricks this time though, but I mentioned that I may have to have him put in my cabin at camp this June so I remember him better.

So of course this wouldn’t be as interesting a post if there wasn’t more to this story. After the kids had PE in the morning, they came back and switched classes for science/social studies (my class went to social studies, another class came in for science). So then another boy told me he remembered me from church too! After telling him I didn’t recognize him, he confessed he’d only been there twice as a guest of the first boy. So, not as much coincidence then since the first boy was involved. Later, after lunch, you guessed it… I ran into someone else from my church. What three in one day? Is God telling me something? If so He will need to be clearer unfortunately- this mind of mine isn’t seeing it. I actually ran into someone from church picking up his daughter for a dental appointment. In fact, I had worked with him one year in AWANA. He was the new director of TNT boys (Truth in Training, 3rd-5th grades) and I was a leader. Anyway, care to guess which class his daughter was in? Just by my asking the question you know it was mine. She didn’t know me though as far as I know- it’s possible she goes to the service I don’t lead in. I’ll have to find out.

Speaking of AWANA, I had one of my bigger memory freezes with the former director of the 3rd-5th grade boys. After about six weeks of working with him once a week, I saw him at a churchgoer’s get-together at someone’s farm. He saw me and said hello, and I recognized that I knew him, but I suddenly couldn’t place where I knew him from! Ah, that mind of mine- short-circuits from time to time. Once I said so and he told me, it was the biggest duh! moment ever.

Well, until next time.

Update: Here’s a story about someone with a memory opposite of mine:

Would you like to remember every day of your life?