A to Z 2024: N is for National Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day

 For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

April 16th is National Wear Your Pajamas To Work

National Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day was started 10 years ago by PajamaGram.  It is held on April 16th each year to coincide with Tax Day being April 15th.  The idea was to make April 16th a more casual relaxing day for those who may have been up late the night before finishing their taxes.  

Pajama days are very popular at schools.  When there is a spirit week at one of our schools or the alphabet countdown that happens at the end of the year.  There is usually a pajama day.  Before I was a building sub and would go to different schools each day, I would often sub when there was a pajama day, but I wouldn't usually be aware of it until I got to school day.  When I started doing long term subbing, I would get a little more heads up about the coming events.  Maybe for Christmas this year I will ask for Captain America pajamas and then the next pajama day I can bring my Captain America Build-A-Bear AKA Captain Abearica AKA Steve Pawgers to school as well.  

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Song of the Day is Nothing But The Wind by Pierce Pettis

I would like to clarify that when I say that the song is by a certain artist, all I mean is that that artist performs that song on the Spotify playlist.  In the above video, Pettis correctly attrributes the song to the late great Mark Heard.  Speaking of the Spotify mix tape, here it is so far...

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To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A to Z 2024: M is for Microvolunteering

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

April 15th is International Micro-volunteering day 

I think the best way to talk about this day is to use FAQ format.  I used to do this quite a bit in the early days of my blog.  The last time I did so was  here back in 2012 when I was blogging about the A t0 Z challenge. .

The FAQS of Life: Micro-volunteering  in Frequently Asked Question Format

Q: Do you know what today is?

A: Yes. 

Q: Are you going to tell me?

A. Perhaps if you asked me, rather than  asked me if I knew.

Q: What is today?

A: It's International Micro-volunteering Day.

Q: Is Micro-volunteering a thing?

A:It must be, if it wasn't, it wouldn't have a holiday.  

Q: When did it become a thing?

A: it's been a thing for almost 20 years.  The term  was first used in the U.K. In 2006 and had migrated to Spain by 2008.

Q: What is Micro-volunteering?

A:This answer is from ot's Days of The Year Page, The idea of micro-volunteering is simple: individuals take convenient, bite-sized actions in support of a good cause and often perform their activities or service from home. 

Q:  How did the day start?

A: Well the day started a minute after 11:59 p.m.   Some people were fast asleep, some were well on their way, others were working 3rd shift jobs, still others, ...

Q: When did International Micro-volunteering Day start.

A:  10 years ago it began when the day was created and promoted by the Help from Home Foundation.

Q: Como se dice International Micro Volunteering Day en Espanol?

A: Día Internacional del Microvoluntariado.

Q: Do you have any suggestions for micro-volunteering?

A: Yes

Q: Are we back to that joke again?

A: Yes

Q: What suggestions do you have for micro-volunteering?

A: I thought you'd never ask. One suggestion is to volunteer doing task that you already know how to do, so there is little to no training involved.  Another is to keep your activities to things that can be done in thirty minute to 2 hour chunks. One examples are to volunteer to read at a school, or day care center, or nursing home.  When my daughter was homeschooled, she would volunteer on a weekly basis for about an hour and a half a week, working at the P.B.I.S (Personal Behavior Incentive System) store at my wife's school.  Children would earn a kind of currency for following the code of the school and then would be able to trade that currency in for prizes.  As a full time substitute teacher, I would imagine there are boundless opportunities for micro-volunteering?

Q: What are some suggestions that could be done from home?

A: My daughters both crochet.  One is in a crochet club.  Some members of her club crochet hats at home  for premature  babies or people having chemo.  People can have baking parties on the holidays and find organizations to donate their creations to.  

 

Q: Do you know why IMVD (International Micro-Volunteering Day) is on April 15th.

A: No, but it is the same day as Tax day here in the U.S. and if I were choosing the day, I would choose April 15th because micro-volunteering is not meant to be taxing.

Q: Did you think of that yourself?

A: Yes, Yes I did. And before you ask yes, that is a Phineas and Ferb referemce.

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I didn't plan this, of course,  but today's song of the day is a frequently asked question of sorts.  The Song is Man or Muppet from The Muppets (2011)

 

M is the 13th letter of the alphabet so my spotify playlist is now half full

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Today was a lot of fun, no question about it.  Micro-volunteering can be fun as well.  In the comments tell me some things that you already know how to do, that might be great as a micro-volunteering opportunity. 

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

Obligatory Eclipse Post

There was an eclipse earlier this week, maybe you heard of it. My school was able to watch it and we hit 94% totality in Algonquin, Illinois. My Son Charlie went to Sycamore, Ohio which was in 100% totality for a cubing event. They provided glasses for all their participants and took a break from the competition to experience the eclipse. 

He just came home yesterday from the event and we haven't had a lot of time to talk about it yet.  I was able to find some footage on  You Tube, maybe you've heard of it (I know I just made that joke in paragraph one), of the Eclipse as it appeared in Sycamore on Monday. 

 

Time Lapse of Eclipse

Eclipse in real time.

📚 Kids Read Aloud | INTERRUPTING CHICKEN by David Ezra Stein

Today at school was the readathon day. Instead of having core classes (Math, Social Sciences, ELA, & Science) are middle school students were able to read in those classes and have teachers and other staff read to them as well.  

As a building sub I don't usually know who I'm going to be that day.  Today I subbed for a paraprofessional in one of our SPED classes.  This particular class is rather low functioning so the books read to the students were geared for much younger children. There was one book the teacher read called Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein. The title reminded me of the old knock knock joke:

A: Knock Knock

B: Who's There

A: Interrupting Cow

B: Interrup

A: Moo

I was able to find a read aloud version of the book on you tube.  This is not that difficult of a thing to do.  I have considered in the past having an A  to Z challenge of children's books being read aloud on you tube videos.  

Here is one of the versions I found on You Tube,

60 Years in 60 Days: 1989

 In The Spring of 1989 I took a class, I forget what the actual name and course # was but the gist was that it was the course where education majors got their pre-student teaching experience.  Over the course of the semester you travel to a school,  are assigned a teacher and a class room and you observe  and assist in the class room culminating in preparing and giving a lesson essentially being teacher for a day.  I forgot how many visits it was it was either 6 0r 12 in a 6 week period.  

I got to know the students pretty well, and one of them was going to be in a local theater play.  I told him that I would attend.  Back than my wardrobe was pretty exclusively jeans t-shirts and I had a pretty good sweater collection.  I had one suit and a few dress shirts and a couple pairs of slacks.  Each day I would go to school,  I would wear the same outfit, my suit.  I would then go back to the dorm and put it away until the next class.  When I went to the play I was wearing my regular out fit of Jeans, Turtle Neck and Sweater.  

The play was really good.  It was Agatha Christies Mouse Trap and my student did an excellent job.  I went up to him after the show and the first thing this kid (who by my math is now 50ish) says to me: "Mr. Roller, You're in civilian clothes!"

I was thinking of that story today, because my youngest daughter has a starring part in her school play.  I wore Jeans and the show t.shirt to school today and wore the same thing to the production.  I don't think I've ever worn a suit to teach school.  I guess I just wear civilian clothes.  

Reflections on the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee Winning Moment

I just finished watching the finals of the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Before I announce the winner and the winning word I'd like to talk about my involvement in the bee.   

I spent the first semester of the 2022 2023 school year as a long term substitute teacher in a 6th and 7th grade autism classroom.  My group of students studied the same curriculum as the rest of the students in our school.  All my 6th graders and 7th graders  participated in a classroom spelling bee, which is the first step in the Scripps spelling bee program. 

I drilled my students for several weeks held a few practice bees and even had a scrimmage with another classroom.  It was exciting to see all my students grow in their spelling during this process.  At the end of the semester they found someone to take over the class and I moved on to my current position as a building sub in a k-5 building.  When the 2nd semester began my 6th grade winner and my 7th grade winner participated in spelling bees for their grade.  Unfortunately both of my former students got out on their first word.

Tonight I was turning off the television when I saw that the Scripps final bee was about to air live.  This brought up memories of my former class.  As a substitute teacher I may never get another opportunity to conduct a bee, but it was one of the high points of my educational career.  

The finals were amazing.  The students were polished, poised and prepared.  I especially liked the parts where the judge would affirm the incorrect speller on the amazing run they had just finished.

Dev Shah of Largo, Florida win the competition.  Here is how it happened.  

 

The winning word was psammophile.

It's A Boy Sub!!!

 This is my 5th school year being a substitute teacher.  I started about 4 years ago near the beginning of the 2nd semester of the 2018-2019 school year.  In the school district I work in there, are 3 types of substitute teaching jobs.  Substitute Teacher, Long Term Sub, and Building Sub.  A substitute teacher is exactly what you think it is.  You come into a school and replace the teacher that is gone that day.  A long-term sub replaces a teacher when they are gone for 4 weeks or longer.  This is often due to maternity or paternity leave but these are not the only reasons.  A building sub is assigned to a particular school and is the first line of defense when teachers call in sick the day of school or perhaps leave during the course of school.  I spent my first 2 years as a regular sub, I have been working primarily as a long-term Sub since February of 2021 and last month started my new adventure as a building sub.

One advantage of being a long-term sub or a building sub over a regular sub is that the base pay is better.  An advantage to being a building sub over a long-term sub is that often times a long-term sub has additional duties like grading students and preparing lessons that a building sub does not have.  I really enjoy being a building sub because I get to know all of the kids in the school and my day to activities are extremely varied. The best part of my current position is that I work with my wife.  She is a School Psychologist in the district and I work at her school.  Most days we drive in together which is not only a great way to spend time together but also a great way to save money.

Most days I don't get my assignment for the day until I'm on my way to school.   Some days I'm subbing for multiple teachers due to meetings or trainings, others I'm in for just one teacher.  The latter occurred earlier this week.  I went into the classroom and was sitting at the teacher's desk reviewing the plans that had been laid out for me.  I heard a commotion brewing in the hallway.  On this day the teacher had come to school, realized she was too sick to teach, and left before the school day started.  She was not able to leave the building before being spotted by some of her students.  The commotion I heard brewing was the students discussing the prospect of who their sub would be.

The kids are supposed to sit by their cubbies until the teacher lets them in their room at a certain time.  Buoyed by their excitement at the prospect of a sub they kept popping up and looking through the glass window in the door to see who their sub was.  One by one I heard the delighted shrieks of "It's A Boy Sub!".  At that moment I knew what my next blog entry would be titled.

This is my 5th week at the school and most of the students know who I am by now.  So when the comments switched from it's a boy sub, to it's Mr. Roller, I met them at the door and let them in a few minutes early.  

While there are certainly more female teachers than male ones in my district, there are still quite a few men teachers.  What there aren't a lot of are male subs.  I've only encountered a few in the time I've been subbing. Even so, I didn't really expect that kind of reaction from my students that day.  I think that one of the reasons I like being an educator, especially a building sub,  is that most every day I experience the unexpected. 

Love, 

Dave

A Poetic Ending to a Semester of Subbing

 

The 2022-2023 school year is my 5th school year as a substitute teacher.  Since the Spring of 2021, I have been mostly working as a long term sub. A long term sub usually replaces a teacher on a leave or fills in a vacancy caused by a teacher's departure.  I have done both.   This means I'm filling in for the same position every day until that teacher returns from their absence  or the vacancy I'm filling in for is staffed.  This year I have been subbing for a special needs classroom since the beginning of the school year.  I have had 2 classes (1 group of 6th graders) and 1 group of 7th graders in one class room.  In addition to teaching 4 subjects on 2 grade levels, I have been preparing lessons, grading papers, , making report cards and basically everything else a "regular" teacher does.  It has been some of the most challenging and most fulfilling work I have ever done.  

The length of most long term sub positions are known in advance.  Generally you know how long, give or  take someone personal, sick or maternity leave is going to be in advance.  Filling an unfilled spot does not usually come with a knowable end date.  My principals were pretty sure they were going to have me for the full school year as in the first 4 months the job was posted a total of zero people applied for it.

When I came back from Thanksgiving break, I was greeted with the news that a teacher had indeed applied and been hired for the position.  It was bittersweet, my students all have various degrees of difficulty adapting to change.  Many of them did not take to the idea well.  I on the other hand, was very glad that a SPED certified teacher would be taking over at the beginning of the next semester at the same time as being saddened that such a wonderful experience was coming to an end.  

In the last 3 weeks of school I worked hard with the students that we would finish well.

In our English Language Arts class I wanted to teach the students some poetry so I found this lesson on Acrostic Poems  from  Youtube  utilizing Brain Pop which is one of my students favorite educational websites. 

 

After the video, I went to our board and "we" created this poem using SCHOOL as our acrostic.

                                                Students and Teachers

                                                Classes and Chaos

                                                How much is 7 times 3?

                                                Old friends and new ones

                                                Open their minds up

                                                Learning begins with me.

The semester is over.  I have said goodbye to my students and just need to go back next week, log in their final grades and do a few other thing to transition the classroom for the next teacher.  As for me, I was able to get a long term position for the next semester as a building sub.  I'll be going to the school my wife works at but will be most likely in a different classroom each day.  It is what I had hoped to do at the beginning of the school year but I am so glad to have spent August to December where I was.  

Thanks to for Patricia J Franz  

for hosting

the last Poetry Friday of the year.  

My advice is  

check it out 

just by clicking here.

A Third Grade Perspective on the New Year

I have been a long term sub for art since the beginning of the school year. I teach one thing to the kindergarten through 2nd graders and something different for the3rd through 5th graders; Sometimes I will even break it into 3 levels. I have wanted to do the same project for some time now and with the 2nd semester starting at the new year I found my perfect opportunity. I had all my students make posters for the new year. For the kindergartners, I kept it simple :we folded a paper in quarters  and wrote 2022 with 1 number in each quadrant.  I then instructed them to draw and color circles in one quadrant, squares in another, triangles in the third and hearts in the 4th.  

With the 1st and 2nd graders I had them write 2022 on their paper and then color it in, When that was completed, I  taught them a little about collage.  Instead  of  using pictures, we cut out shapes and then glued them around the 2022.  

 

With the 3rd through 5th graders I taught about the 7 elements of art, (to read an excellent piece on why the elements are important click here) which are:

Line

Shape

Space

Form

Color

Value 

Texture

I then ask them to make a poster about 2022 and incorporate at least 3 of the 7 elements of art.  

The students have produced some excellent work.  This third grader's response shows how many of our kids are eager to get out from under the cloud of Co-vid.

While they are working or when they show me their finished product, I point out the elements that I see they incorporated.  This one has at least one example of  color (the co-vid molecules), value (the cloud and the rain), shape (the mask), space (spacing is used very effectively in all of the panels) , line (the rain) and texture (The mask).  When I point out these elements I ask if they planned them.  Many say they have and many have not.  At the end of class, I advise how most art work has at least 3 if not more of those elements.   Finally, I  encourage in them to look for these elements not only in their work but in all manners of art.  

I found out this week that the school has hired a new art teacher.  I am very glad for the opportunity I have had to teach these students for so long. I have not only seen the growth of the students but my growth as an educator..  I share the hopefulness of this artist for the coming year.  I wrote several pieces last year about surviving 2021.  My recent successes among other things have inspired me that 2022 could indeed be the best year ever and it is possible to thrive in difficult times.  

12 new to me movies for 2022

 This post has been adaoted from a January 2015 post.

At the end of each year I like to reflect on the year past and prepare for the coming year. I have been thinking quite a bit  about some of my goals and whether I have achieved them this year. One goal I  set each year and have so far failed to achieve is to watch 12 movies I have not seen before.  

I like movies and have worked at a movie theatre since 2019. Besides watching new movies at the theatre, I tend to watch my favorites over and over.   I also like  to watch movies that are new to me and discover new favorites.    On many occasions I have attempted  to watch 12 new to me movies in the course of the year.  I may have accomplished this goal in the past, but I have always failed to chronicle it.  Next year,I will try again to  write a post each month about the "new" movie I have seen.

Let me explain the parameters I have placed upon myself.  When I say new movies, I do not mean 12 2022 movies at the theater.  I mean 12 movies released prior to 2022. Also, I don't only want to              watch movies made in my lifetime, I want to explore through all the eras of cinema.  

Here is how I am doing it:  I was born in 1964 and have divided that time in 4 periods and then divided the time prior to my birth into 2 periods.  These periods are: 

2007 through 2021
1993 through 2006
1979 through 1993
1964 through 1978
1949 through 1963

Pre 1934 through 1948

I will attempt to watch 2 movies from each era, and report back here each month with a review.  I was recently subbing for some  high school English  classes saw an assignment for a movie review.  I am going to use that assignment as the template for my monthly reviews.

• I will rate each movie on a 1 (worst movie ever) to 5 (best movie I have seen) scale.
• I will provide a 2-3 sentence summary of the movie.
• I will share 1 theme from the movie.
• I will write one thing I liked about the movie and 1 thing I disliked about the movie.
• I will say who I think would make the best audience for this movie.  

The thing I like most about this type of review is that it is only supposed to be 1 paragraph.  I have failed many times in the past not to watch the movies but to chronicle them as I have had unrealistic expectations of the quality of such a review and the time it takes me to make a longer review. \

Last Thursday I finally watched The Matrix (1999) for the first time.  It was playing at my theatre in anticipation of Matrix Resurrection which opens soon.  When I told my wife that it was showing she noticed it was also on a streaming service we subscribe to so we watched it together after work.

Here is a  review of The Matrix following the template and giving me some practice for the task at hand next year.

In my opinion The Matrix deserves 4 of 5 stars for being a thrilling innovative and entertaining film that kept me on the edge of my seat. The Matrix appears to take place at the turn of the 20th century but the main character Neo discovers that all is not what it seems. His discovery leads him to another reality and to a choice of which reality he should follow.  Once Neo makes his choices he uses his new powers for the good of humanity.  One important theme of the movie is the concept of fate.  One thing I really liked about the movie was the fast paced frenetic action.  I disliked the intense violence of the movie, I was not aware that this series of movies are all R rated, I think the violence could be ratchetted  down a little for a PG13 rating instead.  This movie is best suited for sci-fi  fans who like post apocalyptic action films that are both dark and hopeful at the same time.  

A Parking Lot Filled with Clown Cars

 Adventures in Substitute Teaching

I recently listed my work as a substitute teacher among things I'd like to post more about here. There is certainly no dearth of  topics in that regard so let's start with one of the things that has surprised me about my job as a sub, all the running.  

I primarily teach in elementary schools.  It seems like all  of the elementary schools in my district   could be called Forrest Gump Elementary because wherever most students are going they are runn-ning. 

Most of the running takes place when individual or small groups of students are walking (and I use that term loosely) in the halls during or between classes, for example on their way back from their locker or the bathroom.  This also happens before or after  school  on the way to or from lunch or recess,  or on  their way to or from specials (STEM, P.E, and Music to name a few).  If it seems like it happens all the time it's because it happens all the time.  I stop students from running at least 30 times a day.

Before you get the impression that the running is all done in the hallways there is plenty of running in the classroom itself.  I have students who are just going 10 feet to the pencil sharpener but as soon as they get up, they are sprinting. 

 This is where I get most conflicted with my job as an educator/traffic cop.  I have been the long term art sub at my school since the beginning of the school year.  I have 4 rules I tell my kids.  The 3rd is be safe, and running in the halls, classrooms, and stairs is,  in the words of Ralph Nader, unsafe at any speed.  My conflict stems from the fact that the first and last of my rules are have fun.  As a teacher, I never want to crush the childlike spirit in my students.  There is a natural exuberance that comes with being a kid.  My oldest daughter never walked anywhere until she was about 7.  Until then she skipped everywhere she went.  She was homeschooled back then but regardless  I would have not have wanted to be the teacher who had to tell her to stop skipping everywhere. 

As the art teacher,  I travel every day into the student's classrooms pushing a cart with supplies for our activities.  As I mentioned, I stop at least 30 kids a day from running while rolling from class to class.  These are often the same students over and over again.  I'll stop a  kid they will walk a few steps and then just start running again unaware or not caring that I still have eyes on them.  

The biggest bang for your buck, running wise , at our school is at 2:10 when students begin to get dismissed for the day.  I teach a class downstairs until 2:05 and as I walk my cart to the elevator, the hallway is like a parking lot filled with clown cars. Children pour out of every classroom to go wait for their parents cars to pick them up, followed by a second burst of kids through every door to get in line for the busses.  While many kids are walking a good sized and speedy minority is off to the races.  The process repeats itself when I get off the elevator on the second floor.  

 

I have run in 3 5k's this semester and I have to admit that somedays I just want to run down the hall with them and I can't deny that some of them show some really good form.  Perhaps I should get off my safety kick, get a stop watch in  hand and start recruiting these kids to colleges on a track scholarship.  

Things I'd like to post more about.

 Blog Insider: A look behind the curtain at HSD

Tonight's Episode: Some things I'd like to post more about.

When I first started blogging I kept a notebook with all the blogging ideas I had and would cross them out when I wrote about them and add more as the ideas come to me.  This got to be a bit of a problem as I would often not have my notebook when I got an idea and often could not find my notebook when I was working on my blog.  Also, not all of my ideas were blog worthy.  Some were time sensitive and by the time I got to writing them down they were no longer relevant.  Some just worked better as an idea but did not make sense when they saw the light of screen.  

I have decided to make one of those lists as a blog post to give me a reference point I can't leave in my other coat and also to give the readers (if there are still any out there) an idea of what sort of things are interesting me these days.

• I would like to write more about my work as a substitute teacher.
• I would like to write more about my ADHD.
• I would like to write a little about the combination of my ADHD and my work as a substitute teacher,  
• I have began recompiling my list of my 100 favorite movies.  I would like to write more about the particular movies and my process in compiling the list.
• My wife and I have have lost over 100 pounds this year.  I'd like to write about my weight and my goal to stop yoyoing and get down to my weight in high school.
• I would like to share more poetry here.  Which means I'd like to write more poetry.  
• I would like to take more pictures and post more pictures.
• I would like to write more about my faith.

There are certainly other things I'd like to blog more about, but at this present moment these are the forms of content I'd like to delve into more in the future.  

I am also thinking of making some wholesale changes in my my blogging presence  at the beginning of the year.  I currently have 4 blogs active and am finding keeping those active more and more challenging.  I once commented to someone that as long as I am posting at least once a quarter on each blog I would be satisfied.  I have certainly been doing that but I'm noticing some redundancies and have spending a lot of thoughtspace on how to more efficiently scratch my blogging itch in the months and years to come.