For the Quilters

One day as the Algebra II/Trig Honor students were busy working on a test review, I was sewing hexies. I've subbed for these students before, and they know I can help them on their assignment if they have questions... but until they ask me questions, there's not much for me to do.

But, as I sat there hand-sewing my scrappy hexagons together, one of the students asked me what I was making (I get asked this often...). I told her it was a quilt (at this point, most students comment that it's going to take forever to make a quilt like that...). She then proceeded to ask me if I wanted fabric. Um, yes please ;)

Well, it turns out that her mother used to sew, but she doesn't anymore and she's looking to give away her fabric (Score!). I got her email address and emailed her the next day. In the email, I told her that my neighbor and I like to sew and quilt quite a bit, and that there's a group of ladies from my church that quilt every Thursday from 9 until noon (I added that extra bit just in case she didn't actually want to give away her fabric to just anyone).

I had the right hunch because the mother did want to give away fabric to a group that helps local charities. After calling the lead quilter just to make sure they do accept donations, I picked up the free fabric. Look at that stash! I know, I know, I should have taken pictures of the actual loot, but I didn't want to stare too much, knowing that I had to give the fabric to a greater good. (I did take out the non-cottons, since the quilters only take quilting cotton! I didn't get a whole lot but just a few things that will be great for costumes in the future).

To be honest, it was sooo hard not to steal a few pieces of fabric. Those four bags are full of random, fun cottons! I did see some great patriotic pieces that would be a great table runner, but I resisted. I have plenty of fabric in my own stash, and someone was generous enough to give fabric away for FREE with just the idea that it would be quilted and given to a good cause. Isn't that awesome?! There was no way I could sneak a few fabrics knowing that doing so I'd be sneaking fabric away from a warm quilt for someone in need.

Now that school is done for me, I look forward to joining the quilters on Thursdays... I'll be sure to take pictures of the quilts we put together! I just love the idea of quilting for charity... doing something I love, but helping those in need... and sharing God's love through it all :)

The End of Another School Year (Sub File #9)

 Even though the students have until next Thursday, my first year as a substitute teacher is over! We're off to visit my California siblings tomorrow for a quick weekend trip and then next week, we'll be at a neighboring city as Grizz has a job training all week. I wouldn't have to join him, but it's a full week of paid hotel rooms and lots of chances to explore a new city AND play with all the fun photos I'm hoping to take in Cali :) Even if I did stick around home, I'm sure I wouldn't get called in to sub as the high schools are only doing semester tests next week.

It's been a crazy year of learning and growing. I don't know how many school days this district has on its school calendar, but I walked into a school building 136 days this past year (if I add half days together, the days I was paid for was 131.5).

I may not have had my own classes in my own classrooms, but I was able to see how other teachers set up their classrooms, how they handle being gone for a day or two, their rules and expectations, and even how they write their lesson plans. This will be helpful for when I get my own classroom again!

• I've been through fire and lockdown drills - even a real shelter-in-place (the precautionary step before a full-out lockdown). 
• I've had to break up a fight.
• I've had to tell students to stop telling their drinking stories. 
• I've seen the lightbulb turn on while helping students on math problems. 
• I've wowed honor kids with my mathematical knowledge. 
• I've wowed myself with random bits of knowledge I remember from non-math classes. 
• I've been thrown into Spanish, French, orchestra and choir classrooms. 
• I've watched countless Mythbuster movies as well as movies about ebola, planet Earth, western expansion... even The Polar Express, Remember the Titans and Gatos en Botas (Puss in Boots!). 
• I've caught students trying to "mess" with the substitute, but I'm sure I've fallen for jokes/pranks/likes that I didn't catch. 
• I've made teacher friends... teachers that know I can handle actually teaching while they're gone... teachers that have invited me to a bridal shower and to their end-of-school-year get-together
• I had students recognize me outside of the classroom, and smile at the same time :)

What a year :) AND if something in the district doesn't open up this summer (they're trying to save money, so I doubt anything will) I'll be back at it next year!

*Until then, I have a whole summer to keep the apartment ACTUALLY clean, make fun suppers for the husband and of course sew and be crafty... and of course hit up the occasional antique store, thrift store and garage sale. YAY FOR SUMMERS!

Hexagon Progress

I now have 11 and a half double hexagon flowers sewn together! I'm just using all my scraps (which include the scraps I stole from my mom at Christmas). I'm still enjoying sewing these at school... the students always ask me what I'm making. Some actually seem interested, and most usually have a story of their own - "my grandma used to hand-sew quilts all the time," "my class made a quilt in middle school," "my mom is trying to get rid of all her fabric," "I still have the baby quilt someone made for me... it is so heavy." And so on and so forth. I love it that the students have at least some connection to sewing and/or quilting!

(The double flowers are not sewn together yet... I just laid them out to see them all together... and when the parents visited this past weekend, we had to lay them out again so Mom could see them all together, too!)

I'm getting an idea for spicin' this thing up, which may or may not include some embroidery... stay tuned ;)

Sub File #8

As usual, I've been busy lately... some days go really well, and some don't go so great (isn't that the way with any job?!). Thankfully, even on those not-so-fun days, there are little things to make you smile!

Having students wave and say your name in the hallway...

Having students smile and recognize you (and call you by name) at a restaurant...

Having students say that you're they're favorite sub...

Having students ask if they saw them yesterday ("Yeah, that was me waving like a crazy man out of the passenger side window of a truck!")...

Having a student ask you (calling you by name) a math question in the library while they're at lunch and you're subbing for a different class...

When students ask me a math question at all (this means that care about their assignment AND they trust my math knowledge!)...

Sure, most of these are based on that fact that students are recognizing me and learning my name, but in a school that has about 10 math teachers, it feels good that they know my name! It also doesn't feel too bad when students say I'm their favorite sub ;)

A Little Bit of Catching Up

 Random Thought: It's just a little more than a month before our 1 year anniversary! Time has just flown by...

I don't like not blogging for so long (sorry for the double negative!)... I always have thoughts about what my next blog post should be, but my sewing projects have gotten the best of me lately. With Mother's Day coming up, I have several projects that NEED to get done, and of course I can't share what they are until after the recipients open them up. So, no new projects post yet...

The last week or so has been really straining while subbing. I subbed 6 days for one teacher - a teacher I've gotten to know pretty well this past year (he's at the 'good' high school where the math department eats lunch together). The reason he was gone for so long is a sad one. Prayers for the family for sure. But he's back, and hopefully I didn't mess things up to much for him in the classroom!

Now, I'm a science teacher for a few days... the kids are doing experiments with plants. One or two groups are trying to grow plants by watering them with orange juice. Now the orange juice is fermenting or something and the room STINKS! It's really bad. But, since I sit in the room for 8 hours everyday, I don't even smell it anymore. I just try not to think about how I smell. Yuck!

This weekend is going to be a fun one! I can't wait to show pictures when we get back... it includes biking and snowshoeing! Woohoo!

But, I must go cut more scraps up for my hexies. We're watching another movie tomorrow. Today we watched one about plants. It was narrated by Oprah. Tomorrow its about the hunters and hunted in the animal kingdom. Sewing for me please :)

Instagram Catch-Up

I thought it was about time to catch-up with my instagrams... Enjoy!

 Last weekend, we had a game night at a friends house. Grizz and I were the last two left in our poker game... Guess who won?!

 Yup! I did! Look at all those Q-tips I won!!

 This hallway/bathroom pass in a classroom that I subbed in last week made me giggle. If you ever wanted to get me and my future classroom a Christmas present, this would be perfect.

 The youth of our church will put on a breakfast between the Easter services this coming Sunday. Grizz bought the eggs from the Hutterites last year, so he volunteered to do it again. Since last year, however, the Hutterites have built an egg processing plant that's a co-op between all the area colonies.

Why does that matter to us? Well, that meant that the 30 doz eggs we bought from a single colony weren't washed (typically, the eggs would have been sent to the co-op, but since Grizz has connections through work, we got a deal, and if we would have bought from the co-op, we would have had to pay full price). So, yes, Grizz and I spent an hour and a half in the church kitchen washing 360 eggs. We made it fun by singing songs and talking about high school (including but not limited to our individual experiences with the Physics class egg-drop contest... ah, memories).

 Way back in March, it was PI DAY. I wore my pi day shirt... Thankfully, I was subbing for a math teacher. Sadly, this town does not celebrate pi day very well. I held a party last year for my kiddos; but nothing happened out here. The shirt was all I could do.

 While subbing one day, two girls brought me an apple and a rose... some teacher appreciation thing. I enjoyed.

 Snow. After several Spring-like days. It melted a few days later.

 Flowers from Grizz! Just because :)

 Science classroom. I was a Chemistry and Physics teacher this day. The Chem kids did a  lab about molarity and dilutions and such. It was a good review for me...

Signs of Spring: YAY FOR DAFFODILS!

Sub File #7

Wow-Oh-Wow. It was an interesting day to say the least...

I'm not going into details, but today I had to break up my first fight. No, I didn't jump between punches, but I did raise my "angry teaching voice" and they stopped. I got the two boys into a hallway, where another teacher who was familiar with one of the students took over. I very much appreciate that teacher!

I texted a few people about the episode, and of course Pop says "Fun!" And, weirdly, it was kind of fun to show them who was boss. Grizz has yet to hear my "angry teaching voice" and he always bugs me to let him witness said voice. I'll keep it for a special occasion! Ha.

Anyways, after school I walked around an antique mall for an hour and then went on a run for 20 minutes. Thankfully, my heart isn't pumping has quickly and the adrenalin rush has subsided... Time for church! :)

Sub File #6

How students try to hide their phones or ipods:

Sweatshirt on their laps? Yeah, their phone is hidden in the folds.
**I've even seen them trying to hide it in their ball caps on their laps.
Reading a book? They might be just acting like they're reading... the phone is really there instead.
Purse or bookbag on the desk? More than likely the phone is hidden near or underneath it.
Hands on their ears? They're trying to hide the earbud cords stuck in their ears.

Tips for the students: I know what you're doing. Especially when the lights are off during the movie and all of a sudden there's a light glowing on your face... phones give off light :)


This may sound like a bitter post, but really, I'm just trying to help the students out... you know, trying to let them know that they have to come up with new ways of hiding their toys. Teachers know.

Sub File #5

Last week, I was a home-ec teacher. I always look forward to days as a home-ec teacher because I am comfortable around a kitchen and around a sewing machine. 

Well, this time I didn't have to do much. I watched some students put together a home-interior design board (for the house that the industrial-tech students are building), and I watched some "America's Test Kitchen" episodes. Nothing too tricky.

Until, that is, a student walked frantically in the room. She became even more frantic when she realized her teacher was gone for the day (she wasn't currently enrolled in home-ec classes, but she had the teacher in previous years). Then, she frantically asked me if I could sew. "Um, yeah, actually." is all I responded with. I was very curious in what was wrong in this high-schooler's life.

Turns out, her birthday wasn't long ago, and she received a very fragile Japanese over-sweater-thing (she never game me it's exact name). She tore some seams open on one of the garment's lower corners, and she was fearful of what her mother was going to say. (she had actually ripped a sleeve seam earlier and her mother had NOT been happy).

I told her that I would try to help re-sew the seam if she came in after school. I did get the bottom seam sewn with a invisible hem stitch, however the side seem was quite unusual. 

In my {limited} experience, I have never seen a seem like it. There were folds and pressing lines and one hidden seam. I tried doing a running stitch between all the layers, but it was too complicated. 

So, I told her to leave it in her locker - her mom would never have to know - and to bring it back to the home-ec teacher the next day. I probably could have faked it with two invisible hems - one in the front and one in the back, but I didn't want to make it worse either.

She was disappointed, but she was thankful I tried.

Moral of the story: bring a sewing kit... you never know when a student will come with a random story and a need to have clothing fixed. 

Sub File #4

Joys of a Science Classroom

You just never know what to expect upon entering a science teacher's classroom.  

(FYI: these pictures were all taken on my iPhone, so I apologize in advance for poor quality)

For instance, today, I was a Biology teacher. Here's what I encountered in the jungle...

I told you it was a jungle... plants everywhere and vines hanging from the ceiling. Some vines even had ornaments - paper DNA models!

A snapping turtle named Scuba Steve. He's a big boy. Sorry you can barely see his head... his water was dirty...

 Yup, there was even a pet iquana.

 Not sure of the name of this thing, but he can be quite distracting, moving around in here while the students were testing!

 I think there was about 5 different fish tanks. One housed these weird, little guys.

 European mounts (I know that because of Grizz... it's when it's just the skull and no skin on the mount)

 Lots of bones and specimens in jars.

 And even a King Crab on display...


As you can see, I had plenty to look at as I walked around and monitored the testing students. But just a quick note to my brother (the one who is student teaching in a bio classroom this semester), please, if you decide to go this crazy in your classroom, keep the fish tanks clean and the bones dusted. Blech.

It's the Weekend!

I hope you like the new look; I was tired of the dark and dreary brown. This is much more spring-like :)

Yay for the weekend, right?! I'm pretty excited. Laying low tonight, some shopping tomorrow and Neighbor's birthday party here on Sunday night.

At any one point this weekend, you'll find me either sewing this, or finishing Neighbor's birthday gift. I'm quite excited about the gift, and I can't wait to share it with you after she opens it!

After Monday's interesting orchestral morning, I enjoyed being a math teacher the rest of the week. I love how I can keep up on all aspects of the math classroom - in any one week, I could go from teaching 7th grade story problems to helping Calc students find integrals. Love the math :)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Substitute File #3

Just call me the musical math teacher...

A few weeks ago, I was a choir teacher for the morning. I enjoyed watching a musical with the first period, had a prep the 2nd period and then still had 3rd period and part of 4th before I could go home.

3rd period was a group of girls, many of whom I have had before for math classes. They were to break up into altos/sopranos1/sopranos2 and sing along with a CD that their teacher put together of the teacher playing their part on the piano for three or four songs. The sopranos went to some practice rooms, and the altos stayed in the main choir room. I followed along a bit with the music as I sat in the back of the room. They were struggling with following one of the songs - it had a lot of repeats, a Coda, and a DS sign thing. I tried to help them (it was quiet simple really, since the music would say go to measure such and such whenever it jumped around). However, they didn't really feel like accepting my help... sometimes there are problems when they know you're a math teacher (umm... as if math people can't sing or play instruments)

4th period was fine, since I only had to be there for half an hour before the regular teacher came back... pretty much just crowd control!

Anyways, this morning, I accepted the position of a middle school music teacher. Let me tell you, I was quite surprised this morning when I realized that the usual teacher expected me to conduct... and it wasn't choir and it wasn't band... it was ORCHESTRA! Um, I didn't grow up with an orchestra in my school (my graduating class had 42... kind of a small school).

Thankfully, it was small strings group - I had 18, 23 and 24 students in the three classes I had to conduct. Also thankfully, it was all the same music; thus, I was pretty familiar with the music come the third class. In the sub notes, it also said I could choose students to come up and lead the group - SCORE!

I hid my insecurity with conducting a group of musicions by helping the conducting student follow the score and keep beat. I was pretty proud of myself for remember the hand motions for 2-4 and 4-4 time :)

Math is still my love, but hey, math people know music too!

Sub File #2

Today is a short one.

I didn't work on Tuesday as Grizz was still recovering and I didn't get called in yesterday (I really appreciated this - I cleaned like a maniac. AND loved it!) But, I was ready to work this morning and I welcomed the call that came around 6:30. Sub Lady asked me to work for the same teacher as the one I worked for last Wed, Thurs and Fri (let's call her Mrs. Stamp). I had already been given the heads up that I would be asked back for Mrs. Stamp, so I wasn't surprised (nor was I overly excited... she has small classes, but they can be somewhat difficult kiddos who struggle with math).

So, I arrived at the middle school, signed in, and went up to the room. Lo and behold, Mrs. Stamp is already at her desk, working away. Hmmm... this isn't right. She had told Sub Lady that she needed a sub tomorrow and next Tuesday. She happily updated me with what was going on tomorrow and next Tuesday as I am most likely working for her then. Wonderful.

Back to the office. Secretary called Sub Lady to tell her the mistake. I sat around for about 10 minutes waiting to here from Sub Lady if there were any other openings (I was already dressed, so I might as well work!). She called the Secretary to tell me that there was a music teacher out at an elementary close by. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Can you see me in a room with squirrely little children, trying to keep control in a music room?! Um. No Thanks. That just won't do.

I waited around for another half hour and then called Sub Lady myself. No more openings, but we did get me booked for Mrs. Stamp tomorrow, a different middle school math teacher on Monday and Mrs. Stamp again on Tuesday. Goody.

So, now I'm back home, catching up on my internet reading. What will I do with my day?! Since I cleaned yesterday, I have ALL day to be crafty! Be excited!!

PS: I'd usually wouldn't mind that I was dragged from my warm apartment to go sit in a middle school office while Sub Lady decides what to do with me... However, our apartment's parking lot hadn't been plowed yet and the sidewalks hadn't been shoveled. I was wearing flats. DO YOU KNOW HOW COLD YOUR FEET ARE WHEN YOUR SHOES AND SOCKS ARE COVERED IN SNOW?! They still haven't warmed up! Lesson learned: don't count on the snow being moved yet and wear pants that are long enough for your nice dress boots.  Or, ask your mom if you can borrow her moon boots ;)

Old-School Style

I've been wanting to write this post since the first time I subbed over at the high school in the middle of town (there's two here, one in the middle of town and one much closer to us on the edge). The one in the middle is much older than the other...

I start smiling every time I walk down it's hallways. Well, sometimes I giggle and sometimes I can't believe it hasn't been updated since the thing was built - or maybe I can't believe how poorly they have updated the few things they have. Anyways... description time.


Wood floors. Not the modern kind either... the kind that you find in old gyms and in old movies: thin strips and lots of wax on top.

Chalk boards. Ok, so maybe only a few of the rooms have chalkboards, as most have whiteboards. But, the one classroom I'm thinking of in particular had chalkboards on three walls. The board at the front of the room even had a moveable section (reminiscent of Miss Honey's classroom in the movie Matilda). Of course, the chalk boards wouldn't be complete without the thin wood trim around it... and around the entire room... and around the entire hallways... and doors... yup.

Hallways. Picture this: white molding on the vaulted ceilings, hanging light fixtures with brass trimmings, built in lockers, oak handrails down the middle of the wide staircases, out-of-order white ceramic water fountains...

 Last but not least, the auditorium. I've only been in here once to look after a study hall, but it is a combination of SDSU's Rotunda classrooms and Donor Auditorium (where the PRT plays are held). There are desks bolted into the multiple levels (higher as you get farther from the stage), a dusty gold curtain, huge light fixtures, light sconces on the wall, and old tiled floors.


This is not a post to poke fun at old buildings - I love old buildings! I just had to share my observations at one of the schools I sub at. And, I thought maybe it would bring back memories for my parents' school days :) and for my younger crowd... just envision Grease!

The Joys of CREATING

So earlier this year, I was on a reading streak... I couldn't think of anything else to do during the prep periods as a substitute teacher. It wasn't until I was stuck with a dilema - what should I do during a study hall or during a well-behaved class who doesn't need me walking around checking up on them? I still wanted to have an eye on the students, but I felt that reading took away my concentration (I feared that I would look up from an interesting part of the story and see the kids jumping on the desks or something).

The solution?! CROCHETING!

Momma taught me how to crochet when I was in elementary. I primarily made scarves for myself and blankets for my dolls. I did venture into reading patterns by making two hats once - one turned out fine, the other one turned into a doll's hat (I still haven't figured out why that one was smaller than the other... oh well!) Since my doll-days, I've made a few more scarves, but I never took the time to do anything bigger than that.

Well, then came the substitute teacher time in my life... since picking up the hook again, I've made another scarf for myself, some doll-things for little relatives, and slippers for myself.

The slippers idea came from pinterest (of course). There are plenty of patterns online for different types of slippers, but I think I found the easiest one. I made one foot last night and finished the other foot today during a prep period. I used the lovely baby-colored yarn because I have a lot of it (thanks Mom!) and I didn't want to use expensive yarn until I knew that the pattern would actually work. When I try making another pair, I plan on making a few changes, but for the most part, I love them!

I've been playing around with the idea for my next project for awhile now. Grandma made the Christmas stockings that I grew up with, and I never thought I'd be good enough at crocheting to even try to make my own. BUT, I really want similar ones for Grizz and I - plus, the parents will need a few more with all the new additions we've add in the family (the in-laws and the Cali-babies!).

So, I scanned the internet for patterns. Turns out, they appear to be rather easy. Here's the pattern I plan on using... LINK. It is almost completely made out of granny squares (something I guess is rather common in the crocheting world, but something I've never even tried before).

Today, because I had two planning periods, I tried making a granny square with my baby-yarn to practice. It wasn't perfect, but I know it's something I can improve on. Now, I have something to do during my prep periods, and it should last me awhile. Each stocking requires 12 squares, and if I make them for the parents (if Mom doesn't beat me to it... I think my excitement about crochet is creeping back into her!) I will need to make 7 stockings. Woot woot!

Here's the granny square from today... it's prettier in Christmas colors!

Sub File #1

Well, my worries of not having enough to do were unnecessary. Since August 31st, I've only had a day and a half off! Whether teachers were sick, had a death in the family, sick kids at home, district training, field trips or plain just needed to take a few days off, I've been there to cover them.

Things I've learned so far...

Bring a book to read - all teachers have a prep period and I've begun to realize that many have two periods without classes... Thus, I get a lot of reading in. I would blog more during my free time, but I can only stand typing on my phone for so long :)

Get ready quickly - I've been called as early as 5:55 and as late as 6:30 when I'm required to be at the school at 7:30. The closest school takes me about 7 minutes to get to while the farthest takes me 20 minutes to get to. The best days are when I'm told the day before where I'm needed so I know I need to wake up and get ready

It's ok to arrive early - sometimes, sub plans are harder to find than usual (thank you to the department head for calling the teacher and printing the notes off for me!) and other times, you were told to go to the wrong school. Case in point: I arrived at the closer of the two high schools a little before 7:30, only to be told that I had been told wrong... the teacher I was supposed to be subbing for was at the other high school (15 minute drive away). I was ready by the time school started, but luckily, the teacher had a prep period for the first hour!

Be prepared for anything - some classrooms are quite exotic. I've been a biology teacher twice now. Both classrooms had live animals in cages, jarred specimens in glass cabinets, stuffed heads on the wall and bones everywhere. One even had greenery draped from the ceiling. Yup, that was interesting!

I'm sure I'm forgetting other lessons that I've learned so stayed tuned in for more thoughts from the "Sub Files!"

And it begins...

Again, no judging the blog typed from my phone! I'm just hanging out in a classroom during my lunch... I finished my book during the prep period, so here I am with nothing to do!

First three days of school for the kids = first three subbing jobs for me! The regular teacher had a death in the family, so I took over her classroom for a few days. It's quite nice to be in the same room all three days as I am on the verge if knowing all 123 or so student names! I've been blessed with the other teachers here as they have helped me decide what to do each day and they just make sure I know I'm welcome here and greatly appreciated. The regular teacher didn't have time to make actual lesson plans, so it's been up to her team teachers and the other science guys. Everything has worked out! It's great being in the classroom again! (and making money again!)

Anyways, Grizz's family is coming for the weekend, so the apartment is clean and the shelves are stocked with supplies to make some bars after school today. Only a few more classes to go!