Snow and Track Meets

Ok, so it's not really snowing, but it LOOKS like it is. This is cotton from cottonwood trees and it is completely evil. This stuff blows everywhere and it has been so warm for the last week and a half that it is stacked up on the roofs and in every nook and cranny. It really looks like snow. I am pretty allergic to it though, so that's fun. In the picture below, that is all cottonwood on the ground.

It's on the roof as well....like I said, it totally looks like snow.

Here's a closeup of the little buggers.

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One of the things I do to make a little extra cash is work after school sports events. Last year I was trained how to use a computer system for track that takes pictures at the finish line. It is, quite literally, a photo finish system. There is a special camera that can take anywhere between 200 and 1000 pictures a second. It puts these very narrow pictures together to form a picture of the finish line at the time people cross it, so we can get very exact times.

The other guy who runs the photo system and I were hired by a local youth running club to work the timing system for their invitational track meet. I was pretty nervous about it for lots of reasons, but it went great. I have decided that little kid track meets are the AWESOMEST!!!! Those kids are better trained than the high school track kids at the meets we run at home, and the meet was run incredibly well. They seemed to be impressed with us as well, and apparently some of the other groups there asked about hiring us also.

So, despite the fact that I got sunburned on my right side only, it was a great day, I made a little extra money, and I spent the day doing something new - and better yet, doing it successfully.

Now if only I was this motivated to grade papers.

Running in Circles

Today was the first track meet of the season. I can't remember if I have mentioned this before, but in order to make a little extra cash, I work various sporting events. I take tickets for boys and girls soccer, and sometimes football, work the chain gang for home football games, run the clock and scoreboard for basketball, and run the photo finish software for track.

Which brings me to an interesting point....and a small lesson in sports etiquette:
1. the people at the gate don't make the rules or set the prices - don't yell at them when you are unhappy about something
2. the scoreboard at a basketball game is not the official score. The only official piece of information on the scoreboard is the time. The person sitting usually to the left of the scoreboard operator is in charge of the official book, where the official score, fouls, and timeouts are kept.
3. there isn't an invisible soundproof barrier between you and the scorekeepers. When you say things, we can hear them, including when you discuss your sex life, your neighbor's sex life, or the physical inadequacies of the kids on the court - and all those topics of conversation are incredibly irritating.
4. it is not my job to break up a fight between parents - but I will (and have!), to prevent your children from being humiliated by you.
5. some referees ARE better than other referees, but I have NEVER seen a referee be deliberately unfair. They have a very difficult job, cut them a break...or at least reduce the amount of inappropriate language you hurl in their direction....which again, scorekeepers can hear.

And finally, if you are a teacher, one of the best ways to eliminate or reduce classroom management problems is to attend their sporting events. They know when you are there and getting to know their coaches outside the classroom can give you a tremendous amount of leverage when you need something from those students.

So there you have it....high school sports etiquette in a nutshell! Have a great weekend everyone! 2 weeks until spring break......not that I'm counting. =)

Homecoming Parade and Game

That's right, a parade. The school I teach at is almost 100 years old, and the stadium is only about 3 blocks from the school, so every year there is a parade down to the stadium. The band plays and marches, the cheerleaders march, the choir marches, and each class creates a float on the back of a tow truck that incorporates the theme from the walls and their prince and princess. Then everyone marches down to the stadium where the Alumni Association sponsors a free tailgate party, and then, of course, the game.

Here is the senior float. Their theme is Sleeping Beauty and they made a cardboard bed.
This is the junior class, their theme is The Little Mermaid...but they didn't plan particularly well, and everything kept falling over. Imagine that, here in Seattle and all, that the day might be windy and things made of cardboard and tape, roughly the shape of sails, might blow away.
The sophomore float, obviously their theme is Snow White.
The freshman class, whose theme is Beauty and the Beast.
The game was COLD COLD COLD. It is supposed to be about 22 degrees tonight and it was hovering about 35 at game time. Some of the girls were wearing short dresses and heels, but the seniors have figured out how to work the system....this one was wearing jeans and boots under her dress. =)

We lost the game to a decent team. I will say this though, there were 5 calls against my team for 12 men on the field (those of you ignorant of football, there can only be 11). It is ridiculous for a team to get 5 of those calls in a SEASON, much less in one game. Ah well.

Dance tomorrow night....VERY small cheer. EXTREMELY SMALL. I hate going to dances. I have to stay up WAY past my bedtime.

Friday Football Feelings

For a little extra cash, I work various games (football, basketball and track) doing several different things, like taking tickets, timekeeping, or doing photos at the finish line. I have learned a lot of things about a lot of different sports and I find that it helps with classroom management when the kids see me out of the classroom at a game cheering them on or whatever. One of my favorite things to do is work the sideline at a football game. My actual job is on the chain gang...the people who hold the ten yard chains and the down box on the side of the field. I have learned a LOT about football, refereeing, and I have the best seat in the house.

So Friday night was the first home game for my school and I worked the sidelines. One of the things you learn is that if the players start possibly looking like they might come your way, you drop those stakes and run the other direction. They are wearing pads, you are not. Run away. Or have surgery, one or the other. I've already done surgery, so I usually run away. Last Friday, a football player came thundering out towards the sidelines, so I dropped and ran, but misjudged his trajectory and he crashed into me. Fortunately he was nearly stopped by the time he rolled into me, but it was still a little painful. I did not fall, thankfully, since that would have been hugely embarrassing, but he did get my pant leg all sweaty. Gross. =)

Peanuts, Crackerjacks, and garlic fries?

So apparently one of the traditions here is a staff baseball game. It is a little different here, Seattle is actually proud of their baseball team, as opposed to Dallas, which mostly sighs in resignation when baseball season (also known as the season of shame) rolls around every year. In Texas, we all got free baseball tickets for one game. Not so much here. So, I was invited to the game, but initially didn't want to go, because I HATE baseball. It is so mind-numbingly boring. But, I got peer-pressured into buying a ticket from someone who couldn't go, so since it was only $11, I thought, why not! On my way down to the office to buy the ticket, I ran into the vice-principal, who asked me to cover Friday school from 2:30-5:30. Then Friday rolled around. First of all, it has been an unusually cold winter, with the usual Seattle grayness, but Friday it started warming up. It went from 40 degrees on Wednesday to 80 on Friday, so of course, the kids were going crazy. Added to that, my classroom is on the third floor, and the building does not have air conditioning (it's Seattle, you usually only need it about 5 days a year). I have windows, but they neither open or look outside, so it just gets hotter. And then, I had to lecture, so the projector was on all day....so let's add another 10 degrees to the room temperature. When I finally left at 5:30, my classroom was 80 degrees and humid. I rode with some friends for drinks (I didn't drink, but I had a lot of fun anyway), and then we went to the game an hour late. For those of you unfamiliar with Seattle, the ballpark is in the middle of downtown, and the train tracks run under the stadium. Oh yeah, and parking is TERRIBLE. Since we were so late, it was really hard to find parking, and we ended up having to pay $20. Argh. Anyway, we finally make it in to the stadium, and our seats were on row 324. Guess how many rows there are in the stadium....that's right - 325. We were sitting in the row in front of the very top row behind the home to 1st base baseline. So we climbed up a couple of hundred steps, getting hit on by some drunk guys on the way up, and made it to the top. The game was fine, I guess, as boring as I was expecting. Basically, baseball consists of fat guys wandering arouund swinging sticks. But the company was awesome, and it was really fun to hang out with my friends outside of school. Since we ordered as a school, we got our names up on the scoreboard and stuff. It did suck that I hadn't had a chance to eat dinner, so I got a hot dog (props to Colleen) for $4. And speaking of food, I don't know if this is a Seattle thing, or a baseball thing, but they serve these garlic fries here. It is a dish consisting of equal parts french fries and garlic. It sounds gross, and smells horrible, but actually doesn't taste bad (at least the three fries I tried weren't bad). Anyway, all in all, it was a fun experience I wouldn't mind repeating, and I KNOW the weather was better here than it would have been in Texas. Drunk teachers? Memorable.

Time Flies

It is truly amazing that a kid that complains that they can't get to class on time, and has 12 or 13 tardies, can run a 5 minute mile. Seriously. I have been working track meets lately, and having a blast, and one of the things I like the best is seeing the kids outside of school. I like going to the games and meets and things, and I have found that I have fewer discipline problems when the kids see me participating and being involved in their lives.