Shop Class; Monday, First Period [11/19].

[special_rabbit]

See, now, the thing about weekends like this last one that put Amaya in a bit of a troubled spot was that she felt you could never really tell how long, exactly, it was going to last. Usually just a day or a weekend, sure, but not always, you couldn't just bank on it, which put her in the awkward position of not knowing whether she'd have her usual teenagers or a bunch of kids. And having a bunch of kids using heavy shop equipment just seemed like a bad idea.

It wasn't a big class, no, but having one Beaker in said class was enough.

So she was more than a little relieved to discover they'd all seemed to have reverted back to their expected ages again. "Oh, thank the stars," she breathed out a sigh of relief. "Back to normal again, I see. Well, good, though I hope any of you who did wind up all small and tiny this weekend had a good time of it."

She'd hated when it happened to her, herself, but she knew the mileage would vary on that sort of thing.

"Since I wasn't sure how old you'd all be when you came shuffling in here today, I had two projects prepared. One is much more suitable for little children, but, if you'd still prefer that one, you're more than welcome to go for it." She wouldn't judge. "There's supplies and instructions set aside on that table over there for popsicle stick boats, on account of the holiday coming up, which has to do with some people called Pilgrims coming over to this land on boats."

She shrugged. Cut her some slack, she's not from here.

"But since I don't have to worry about setting a bunch of little kids out there with welding guns," they were still kids, but not little kids, it was a big difference, "we're going to go ahead and make metal spiders with old spoons!"

Were the two even remotely related? Nope! Metal spiders from old spoons just sounded cool. "Now, since we're welding, I obviously can't show you very well how to do it, but it's pretty easy to work out, just please make sure you've got all your safety gear on, because welding can get dangerous if you're not careful. You're going to cut the handles off the spoon, and then weld the spoons together. It'll help it vice it to fill in the sides a little easier, too. Then cut off some of this wire here for the legs, bend 'em to the shape you'd like, and then weld 'em on to the underside. You can use some extra wire or I've got some copper to sort of add some decorative touches to your spider, maybe make a few of 'em if you've got some extra time. The concepts are pretty simple, really, but it's a good way for you to get more comfortable with welding and understanding how it really works.

"So, if there aren't any questions, I'll just let you all get to it."

The Circle of Life, Monday Third Period

[stickitupmyjinx]

"Are your eggs dead? I bet one of them is dead after this weekend," Wade said the moment class started. "We just spent the weekend abusing the Amazon Prime account we stole from that cop neighbor."

If Brian ever stopped being on the run and checked his credit score he was in for such a surprise. "I'm not even sure what we're going to do with some of the stuff we ordered," Vanessa admitted. "Well. I have a few ideas. But enough about that! Tell us about how your attempts to murder your classmates' eggs went."

"And for the lesson thus week..." Wade trailed off, tying to cone up with something. "Oh yeah, American Thanksgiving is this week. That's a thing."

"But we already celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving," Vanessa said. To the students, she explained, "It's like American Thanksgiving but you have a big dinner instead of spending it in line to get a deal on a TV."

Wade immediately held up a hand to high-five that burn on America. "Honestly, we're surprised you showed up this week, so let's go with freebie class."

Vanessa returned his high-five without looking and said, "And if you're going to have to deal with your family this week you can bitch about that. We totally won't understand, because neither of us have families, or at least not ones we're on speaking terms with, but we'll nod and pretend to listen."

"My suggestion? Alcohol." Wow, Wade was doing great at this teaching thing.

"Lots of alcohol," Vanessa agreed. "Any questions?"

How to Make Friends & Influence People | 4th Period | Monday

[built_fjord_tough]

Fjord was... quiet today, standing a little off to the side of the front of the room, arms crossed over his chest, frowning. A little.

"Sometimes," he said, at length, "things happen that'll leave the people around you a little bit out of sorts." Not that he was listing examples or anything, but he figured people could use their imaginations. "Today, we're going to talk about giving people what they need in order to recover from whatever those things might be."

Carter was also frowning, but it was very much because he was restraining himself from fussing over Fjord.

"It's important to consider what they need, rather than what you want to do," Carter said, smiling at the class, since he didn't want them to think both their teachers were unsettled today. "Your inclination might be to rush in with hugs and offers to talk, while what they might need is quiet and space to think. And vice versa, leaving someone alone when they want to talk could just make things worse. It's about tailoring your reaction to their needs—though, of course, they are also responsible for communicating their needs to you in the first place."

"Not that they'll always necessarily be able to," Fjord noted. "Sometimes, when a person isn't doing well, reaching out to other people seems like the most difficult thing in the world. Like they're an inconvenience, or they'll only be throwing themselves out there just to get hurt even more. It can be a complicated thing, trying to figure out what the best way to approach a hurting friend might be." He paused a moment. "I suppose the same thing applies here as it does anywhere else. If you aren't certain what a person needs... ask. If they say they need space, give it to them. At the very least, they'll know you care."

"And that's really the important thing," Carter added. "Letting them know that you care and that you're there if they need you. Now, we'd like you all to take a few minutes to write down the things you like people to do when you're feeling down, or hurting, or scared. If you'd like to discuss them with your classmates after, or with either of us, please feel free but this is not a necessity."

Fjord lifted a shoulder.

"Don't even need to write 'em down if you're not feeling secure about the possibility of sharing," he replied. "Just think it over, at least." A pause. "And help yourself to the cookies and fish, of course."

It was pretty much the expectation, now, wasn't it?

They had promised cookies in their class description—the fish was merely them adapting to their students' needs!

"Maple bars today," Carter said cheerfully. "Help yourselves!"