Stay Fresh

Days before breaks are always fun.

Today, one of my juniors is looking at his shoe, he's honestly contemplating it pretty hard. "I wish they made something so shoes stayed fresh." 

Me: "Like the smell?"

Student: "What? No? They don't smell bad." He proceeds to sniff his shoe, then offers it to me and says, "Do they?"

Me: "I'm not smelling your shoe. What do you mean by fresh?"

Student: "I mean, like when your feet get hot in it, I just wish they had little fans in there."

I laugh, we go about our business. A couple minutes later he says, "Or a shoe air conditioner..."

In ten years when someone invents shoes with fans/air conditioners on the inside, it'll probably be my kid. I'm so proud.

Patience and the Need for Hearing Aids...

   Demonstrative speeches tend to be a little time consuming due to the setup and tear down aspects. Especially when it's a food related speech. Today my kids were a little off in addition to getting speeches ready. We had the first round playoff game last night for football and it went great, which means the kids are thinking about football, not English.

   One of my kids was trying to hurry every one up, even though he has already given his speech. But he was supposed to be helping his twin sister with hers; she would use him to demonstrate how to escape an attack.

Student: Hurry up, guys! Let's go, guys! Come on!

Me: Relax. Student, patience is a virtue.

Student: Well, she might, but not on purpose. We've practiced.

Me: (Long pause, where I just look at him in confusion.) Wait, what?

Student: Wait, what did you say?

Me: Patience is a virtue?

Student: Oh, I thought you said 'Paige is going to hurt you.'

These kids of mine...

Math in English Class?

   Sometimes when we have some free time, I let my kids work on homework. Today is one of those days. One of my sophomores was working on IXL and asked me a question. I said that even though I'm not good at math, I knew that squared and to the third weren't the same thing. My student replied, to the third is cubed. I just laughed and said exactly, I'm not good at math.

   Another student goes, "So the third is cubed. So November third is November cubed." Completely straight-faced.

   We all laughed. Sometimes, these kids of mine crack me up.

Politics in English I

   I rearranged my room recently, and I put them in pods. Honestly, one of the bravest choices I've made in my teaching career. It's a mixed bag in terms of behavior and student reaction.

   Today in English I they were working on argumentative papers about a modern controversy or issue. It's interesting to say the least....

   So my kids are working away and all of a sudden two hands shoot up, a boy and a girl who are currently sitting right next to each other. In unison they said, "I can't sit by him! He likes Trump!" "I can't sit by her! She supports Hillary!" This led to a class wide debate on last night's debate, the current issues, the main concerns. While it's overwhelming and sometimes a little hard to bite my tongue when they're SO opinionated and SO strong in their belief that the view they have is the only one worth having, I have to give it to my freshmen that they are very well versed in what's going on around them. It's impressive to me, because when I was their age I couldn't even tell you who was the South Dakota governor, let alone what was going on in national politics.   

Gaze-boo?

We started demonstrative speeches today in the English II. Which is...always interesting. Usually it results in a lot of food, which I never complain about.

Anyhow.

So my kids are googling topics, because of course, and one of them is reading them off.

Student: "How to build a gaze-boo."

Me: Not looking at the list on the computer, "Pretty sure that word is gazebo."

Student: "I'm pretty sure it's gaze-boo."

Student Two: Looking over Student One's shoulder, "Yeah...that's pronounced gazebo."

Never a dull moment with my sophomores.

Creative Kids

It's interesting to see how my kids process things in terms of doodles and drawings. As an English teacher, I realize that not every student processes or can easily put into words how they see things, so sometimes doodles are an interesting insight into their thoughts.

Plus, this student is an insanely talented artist.

Plant Feelings?

Happy school year!!

My kids are already off to a running start with making me laugh intentionally (or unintentionally) in class. I have a feeling that we are in for an interesting and fun-filled year.

English II is required to do a semester of Speech. Rather than let them stress about it for a semester while trying to do literature and writing, we start right off with it. Last week, during our first week, they did impromptu speeches. For the speeches I drew names out of a hat, then the student drew a topic out of another hat. Complicated, I know.

The faces of the students when they drew the topics were hilarious. The topics were all over the place, and when you're given less than a minute to think about what to say, it can be a little overwhelming. I do have to give it to my kids, though, they were great sports about it!

Anyway, one of my students came up to draw her topic and gave me a panicked/confused/what the heck? kind of face. The topic she drew was "Plants have feelings too."

Student: I'm not one of those PETA people, I don't agree with this. What am I supposed to say?

Me: PETA is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, not plants...but okay. I got you. You can say you disagree and explain why.

She pauses, weighing her options.

Student. When you rub a plant's leaves or stem it feels really soft. (After she finished, her classmates and I agreed that this is where we thought she was going with it. The physical feeling of a plant.) This also makes the plant feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. (She continued on...ending with...) You know how sunflowers turn their faces to the sun? It's because they're thinking about their bright futures.

Nailed it. Fantastically done, English II student! A great example of how to go with something, even when you weren't 100% sure about a topic, and do a great job.

I have to say, I'm pretty proud of my English II students.

The Little Things

Some days you want to swear and pull your hair out. Some days you just have to laugh. Some days you have to take a picture of a vocabulary quiz and share it with the internet. 

Some days I have to remind myself that even when my kids are aggravating the heck out of me and pushing every button they can possibly find, they just want to be seen as individuals. Funny, caring, smart, struggling, overwhelmed, totally human individuals who need to remind people--sometimes in the most unlikable, un-human way--that they aren't just a score or a test or a filled desk. That they are a person, and sometimes, they're just a person who likes to doodle on their vocab test.

Sometimes, You're Reminded Why...

As any teacher can and will tell you-loudly, near tears probably-the end of the year is...hectic, crazy, hard, exhausting, draining-I have a list of adjectives that would work for this. The weather changes, the kids know the end is near, extracurricular activities pull the kids from school. It's a crazy time in the world of education.

So like most teachers, I'm drained. Throw in the fact that I'm eight months pregnant and I'm doubly drained. My kids are antsy and lacking much in terms of motivation; and it's at that point that I'm asking myself "Why did you want to be a teacher again!?" And then, moments like today happen. One of my senior boys, who I've now had for two years, came to talk to me quick during my English I class. This student is usually quiet, quick witted and sarcastically funny, but it takes some pull to get him to show that side of himself. ANYWAY. (I guess students aren't the only ones with little focus.) He came to see me during English I, just to tell me that he'd got great news-he's received a full-ride scholarship that covers the cost of ALL of his schooling, books and equipment included. And he didn't know who else to tell, but he knew I'd be happy for him.

Oh, that's right. Moments like the quiet kid sharing great news with you first because he knows you care are why I chose to become a teacher. I'll take the headaches, the exhaustion, the antsy kids for moments like this one.

Rome is Burning?

In my English II class we're currently reading Julius Caesar. One of the kids asked if Caesar or Brutus was the ruler when Rome burned. I said, no that was Nero, he played his violin while Rome burned. That exchange brought up the following....

Student One: Wait....so is Rome still around?

Me: Yes...you can't burn a country out of existence. It more burned the culture out of existence, but not the land mass.

Student Two: Rome's still around--it's just extra crispy.

Well then.

Baby Names

I'm having a baby in June, my students are mostly thrilled. In addition to having a tally on my board about what gender baby is, they have tried their hardest--and silliest--to name Baby S. Today as I'm sitting here before class starts, one of my juniors runs in.

Student: Mrs. S! I have a name for your son!!

Me: Okay? Hit me with it.

Student: Grahm. And his middle name should start with an R. Grahm R. S. As in Grammar. 'Cuz you're an English teacher.

I'm impressed.

Fun with The Iliad

To make this make sense: my freshmen are currently blogging as characters from The Iliad, to keep things fair and avoid fighting-because apparently everyone wanted to be Achilles-we drew for parts. This is comical in itself, as we have a male Helen and female Zeus, among others. In fact, the following quote was by one of my boys who drew Andromache, Hector's wife. Today, as he was trying to write a blog post about his "husband's" fighting during the chapters we read he goes....

Student 1: Well, who was my husband even fighting?

Me: Ask him if you can't remember.

Student 1 (Progressively louder): Husband, oh husband!! HUSBAND! HEY! HUSBAND! (Finally walks over to "husband") Oh, husband whom I love so much.

Well, at least they're getting into it. :)