The Art of Honesty, Tuesday 4th Period

[jedigrammarians]

Aphra was sitting at the front of class, feet up on the desk, not a care in the world. "Well, that class last week was a doozy of a thing, wasn't it," she said. "I'm hope you're all ready with your homework."

She grinned. It was a totally friendly and sincere one too. "So, kids, now that you've had some time consider it over, what did you learn from last week's class?"

Shop Class; Wednesday, Third Period [01/30].

[special_rabbit]

"Welcome back, everyone," Amaya greeted the students with a nod as the period began. "I hope you're ready to get back to work. Especially since now we can start using those forges we worked on last week and get a real feel for how forge work really comes together.

"Today, we'll be making metal biscuits, which I don't recommend actually eating, unless hard aluminium is something that's already a part of your normal diet. You can see we've got ourselves a few buckets of old and empty aluminum soda cans here," she gave one such bucket a little kick to make the contents rattle slightly, "which we'll be melting down into our metal. So not only is it pretty neat, but it's also a good way to recycle. Go ahead and grab your foundries and I'll show you how we're doing this, and then you guys can just go at it. And remember, safety first, so please make sure you've got some heat resistant gloves while you're working and some goggles wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

( Mini Metal Muffins! )

"We've got a little more time, so feel free to melt down some more cans and use a variety of the pans to try something else or try melting down what you've made this first time around and do a second pour with a purer metal. Don't forget to save a little time at the end to empty out the ashes in your forge before you leave as well, and let me know if there's any questions, of course."

An Excuse for Field Trips, Wednesday, 4th Period

[furnaceface]

Today's class was told to dress warm. Not sweltering; whatever they were wearing on the island would be adequate for the trek. They were also told to wear good hiking boots. Not necessarily because they were going to be doing a lot of hiking, though that was certainly an option, but on this particular excursion, proper footwear was going to be a must.

Hannibal was once more in his (designer) jeans and a button-up shirt, with heavy hiking boots on and a large bag with him. "Welcome," he said to the class. "Today, we are heading to Africa. Earth is, in places, a very active young planet, and we're taking advantage of that."

//While America gets buffeted by one hell of a cold snap, we figured we'd embrace a little bit of heat today,// Jono added. He was wearing his usual leathers, because who the hell wore designer jeans to an active bloody volcano, Hannibal? //Or, ah, a lot of it, as the case might be. We're visiting Mount Nyiragongo today, skipping the hike up in favour of catching a portal to the summit, so that we can spend some time watching the lake.//

It was not a water lake, no. Don't be silly.

"You'll want to be careful," Hannibal told them. "Mount Nyiragongo has the largest lava lake in the world. It should be quite impressive; it will also kill you very quickly if you aren't careful. We won't be that close, but in case you are tempted, I suggest you don't."

He would have Bob bring you back to life long enough to make you fill out your own paperwork; see if he wouldn't.

//Where our portals let us off is about as close to the lava as you'll want to get.// A pause. //As close to the lava as we want you to get.// Jono had met their students. //The lava in that lake is exceptionally fluid. We'll have enough time to portal out in the case of the flow getting a little moody, but if you're too close in, so bloody help me I'll be irritated if I have to fish you out.//

He wouldn't resort to Bob bringing you back, but he would make certain there was something appropriately scathing in your eulogy.

"If we were hiking up, the group would be offering dinner. As we're not with a group, I will be providing a picnic lunch - or dinner, as it's several hours later there than here. Apart from that, we will be simply enjoying the view." And the sound, and the tremors. "It should be quite something."

The Future Is Swell! - Wednesday

[imafuturist]

"Hopefully the really interesting desert movie from last week has influenced your mini murderbots demolition car designs today," Steve said, smiling.

"So, today we get to put any ideas from it or on your own into reality!" Tony added, gesturing around the danger shop to where their cars had been saved in the program just as they'd been left.

"So we'll give you the first half of class to fabricate and then the second half to fight each other's bots," Steve said.

Tony beamed at that, raising a clenched fist in a little pump of celebration. "It'll be fun! Of course, safety protocols will stay on for you."

"Did you make one too?" Steve asked Tony, smiling.

"There might be one to represent the teachers for additional challenge," Tony replied with an answering grin.

They might be a little competitive. Maybe. A little.

"This is going to be fun," Steve said, clapping his hands together. "Okay. Get to building!"

Intro to Dance, Wednesday Period 1

[arboreal_priestess]

Class today started with the lights low and another screen at the front. Don't worry, kids, it wasn't another movie day, Verity just wanted to show a quick movie clip.

"So, the waltz," Verity said as the clip played. "In our day, it's considered one of the fanciest of the old-fashioned dances, lovely and formal. When the Vienniese was introduced in the 18th century, however, it was considered quite the scandal. Dances before that were group affairs, partners switching with a lot of intricate steps. This was a one-on-one dance, where the partners held each other scandalously close. How times have changed."

After stretches, Verity had the whole class stand in line in front of the mirrored walls. "So, today, we're learning the box step for the waltz. The waltz is slightly different than a lot of other dances as it goes in 3/3 time. One-two-three, one-two-three." She counted out the time for them, tapping her foot loudly to show the rhythm. "Today, we're learning the waltz box step. It's very easy. You start with your weight on the right leg, step forward with the left. Then take a step to the side with your right leg, and lastly, bring your left leg together next to your right. Step forward, step to the side, bring your legs together. Then, you do it backwards: take a step back with your right foot, step to the left, and then bring your right leg in. You should be back to your original starting position."

She demonstrated, dancing in a small square: forward, to the right, feet together and then backwards, to the left, feet together.

"We're going to practice this way all at once, but remember: whoever is leading starts going forward with their left leg, and whoever is following starts backwards on their right leg. You should always be mirroring what your partner is doing. Keep that up and soon you'll be waltzing. Leaders, right hand on your partner's lower back, left hand holding theirs. Followers, right hand on your partner's shoulder, left hand holding theirs. Dance a couple of boxes, then switch who's leading and who is following."

Look at that, kids, you were waltzing! Hopefully.