This is Not Sewing

       So the other day I passed the rule in most of my classes, no more cell phones in class. I said they would be given 5 minutes at the beginning of class, and MAYBE 5 minutes at the end. They heard that they could have 5 minutes at the beginning of class and then be immediately back on their phones once they rushed through their work that they cheated on. No. Hard no. I did tell them if many individuals continue to try to cheat and abuse the privilege of having phone time, they will all have to put their phones in phone jail. I am sick of these games. Many of the kids are actually trying to learn the work. They are struggling, because it's a weird concept (sort of) with a bunch of rules in it. So they ask for help. And when the paras and I are helping, the ones that put in maximum effort to cheat will pull out their phones and look up the worksheets. I am an overworked substitute, so I don't have time to make/create all of the worksheets. Not everything I need to put on a worksheet is in the worksheet creator programs. So I find worksheets. And then the kids go find them and copy the answers. And it makes me mad. Finding ways to get around them cheating should not be part of my job. But apparently it is. 

     Now there will be new rules. Many of them won't like it, and I really don't care. I am trying to teach them and having to try to police the cheaters while simultaneously trying to help the kids that are trying to learn, is not always possible. So now they will be required to show their work. And if they don't, it's an automatic zero. Sorry, not sorry. It's a math class and I need to see your work, so if you make a mistake I can try to figure out what you did wrong. Do I care that you don't like to show your work? Not even a little bit. You can write out your steps, even if you are doing part of the work on a calculator. That is a thing. I also honestly don't care if they get the problems wrong. If they do, it just means they need some help figuring things out. Getting things wrong is an opportunity to learn. Finding the answers to the worksheets online and copying down the answers and pretending you are a math genius is not actually helping. And the argument of "it doesn't matter as long as I get my work done" is total BS. Yes it matters. The reason we are doing PRE-Algebra in 3rd term of Algebra 1 is because you don't have the skills to move forward, because you are too busy cheating. 

    I know it might seem like I am in a bad mood, but I really am not (today). I am just frustrated a bit. And baffled. So many kids are willing to put in maximum effort to cheat. Why not just put in the same amount of effort to try to learn... so you don't have to cheat? I don't understand that. It is also still causing me some pretty serious burnout. The frustration, the amount of work I do while I am at school, and the weather. It is all piling up and making me want to do nothing when I get home. 

    

     Which is why I have a photo of cat beds and the title of this post is "This is Not Sewing". Cat beds are cute and fun, but don't actually requite any sewing. I have been meaning to pull out the sewing machine and get two doll outfits sewn for a week. And that hasn't happened. I am just not motivated to do it. I don't know why. My newly repaired machine should be just fine. I should be able to fairly quickly get the clothes done. And then... they will be done. I will have to dremel some dolls before I can get them dressed, but I need to get the clothes sewn. I need to do anything in relation to getting them done. I really am struggling to make myself work on dolls. I am not even sure what it is. I need to snap out of this.