Cows

   For the past three years, I've used cows as an example while working on outlines. They always laugh. I make up facts, they're way exaggerated, the kids laugh. It's a good time. (For me at least.) And this year for informative speeches one of my sophomores is actually doing a speech on cows! I'm so proud!

T.Jefferson and T.Swift

We're reading the Declaration of Independence in English III. To make it relatable to high school juniors I said it was basically a breakup letter. Jefferson says, hey we need to break up and here's why.

One of my generally soft spoken boys said, "So...Thomas Jefferson is the Taylor Swift of his time."

Exactly.

We're Baaaack

Four weeks in, and I have so many stories I could tell already. First, I'll just say that I did miss my kiddos over the summer, but I enjoyed some time with my actual kiddo, age one. In addition to starting school back up, I decided to take on grad school--sometimes I wonder if I'm certifiable. Ha. 

So...a few brief moments: one of my juniors sneezed into his shirt and lost his gum...then just sat there and looked at it for a minute while I was dying of laughter. We talked about cows and shoes in speech class (making outlines and bibliographies). I tipped my chair over last week...and one of my kids had to leave the room in case I was hurt because he was laughing, one checked that I was okay before he started laughing. 

And like I said, we're only on day one of week five. 

I have a new freshmen class, and we're starting to figure each other out. Today we were reading King's "I Have a Dream" speech. We talked about where racism was prevalent, and I referenced historical trials, and facts. I mentioned that in the times of segregation, if black families couldn't move into white neighbor hoods, or if they did people would move or the value of the houses decreased.

One of the boys looked at me and said, "Hey! That's in a song."

"Is it? I'll take your word for it."

"It is! It's from Colt 45!"

I don't know if you know Colt 45, but it is a HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE song. However, I know the words because I was a teenager once. So I go through some of the lyrics in my head, and realized he was right. Which I admitted out loud. And then laughed. "You're absolutely right 'When Afroman walked through the white land, houses went up for sale.' But no more Colt 45, it's really not school appropriate." Sometimes the connections that they make are so relevant, but catch me off guard. 

Teenagers. Let me tell you.