You know, day two with students wasn’t so bad. Too much talking (from ME) and they know next to nothing about anything that surrounds them all the time. We’re working on that–they just need to get out more and realize that life didn’t just start when they were born, or start last year for some of them.
6th period closes my day. I have not taught regular English in 10 years, unless Creative Writing counted, and I used to fail half of those kids. But there’s nothing worse than seeing kids who want you to go away, to ignore them, to not act like an idiot and just give them a worksheet so they can put their heads down and do it and get some credit for it because that’s the way it’s always been done. Their other English teachers, maybe their parents or siblings, maybe their friends, maybe other classmates, have so conditioned them to just not have that wrong answer, or to go out on a limb and ask a question. I’ll have their backs all year, whether they want my help, or not.
I told my 5th period HONORS class–“Five minutes, ask me anything.” I did not get one question.
I told my 6th period the same. First girl asked me “Why are you so goofy?” I responded somewhere along the lines of “I get bored easily, and I’m tired because I’ve been teaching all day, and I act this way to stay awake and stay interested because I like English and want to demystify it for you in any form possible. I want you to know that someone who is “goofy” can still OWN when it comes English, and you don’t always have to look and act the part to get things done well.” I also wondered aloud if the class would like me to be like all their other English teachers and control them, and give them work that I wouldn’t do myself.
They were not hip to this idea.
Their first assignment is a letter of introduction. I wrote one as an example, read it to them, and told them that their job is to communicate to another human.
Communicate to another human, eh? We’ll see. If it’s honest, it will all be fine.