More Tales of Students...And Other Ramblings

More on Matt. At the end of class yesterday as he walks out he gives me a hug. I think it was an outward display of his enthusiasm for life in general, as well as the beginning of vacation. Not having many social skills, it probably didn't occur to him that this might make his classmates think he's even more odd than they already do. It was rather awkward. I have never had a student try to hug me before. I might have to have a little conversation with him some time about this. As much as I appreciate the gesture, it's probably not a good idea to have students trying to hug me all the time...

More on "Anne Frank," who I'll call Lucy. She told me the other day that she didn't know the swastika was an offensive symbol. In fact, a classmate of hers had told her that it was a Jewish symbol, and that she should draw some. Then, when a teacher approached them, her classmate told her to hide/erase it quickly, because it could get them in trouble. "I didn't know it was bad" Lucy proclaimed. I hope her gullibility doesn't really get her into trouble some time. On a totally different topic, she's trying to set me up with her study teacher. In fact, Lucy suggested to me, with a mischievous smile on her face, that this teacher is my "crush." I didn't know that "crush" can be used as a noun, but apparently it can.

For the last day before break I had all my U.S. History classes play what I called "History Telephone." It was a variation on the game a number of friends and I played a few weeks ago, in which you draw a famous phrase or term, pass it along, have the next person identify what they think it is, pass it along, have the next person draw it, etc. In this case I gave them historical terms or phrases that we have studied this year to draw. At least one student groaned that they had to do something related to history. Three of my classes had been rewarded the right to a party because they had averaged above a certain grade on part of their test. I think this student wanted to just party. But they played the game, and most of them seemed to really enjoy it. As was to be expected, there were some pretty hilarious disasters as the terms got drawn and misinterpreted along the way.

Memo to the world: it seems that few high school students have any qualms about cheating. For example, I have one of my U.S. History classes the first period of the day, while the other three come at the end. The first class did not average above the benchmark, so they were not allowed to bring in food for a party. (I still gave them candy and we played the game.) One of my students in this class came in and started complaining about not being able to have a party. She said it was unfair, because they were the first class, so they had less time to study for a test throughout the day (gotta love the logic of that one!), and the other classes got to hear what was on the test from the first class. She said she knew that students from the first class share information with other students about what is on a particular test. This isn't a big surprise to me, but it's still disappointing to hear. Sometimes I try to foil that by giving different versions of tests. Other times I have not, but have told students that cheating is not worth the guilt their conscience will feel for the rest of their lives if they know they received a grade they did not deserve. I'm afraid this (healthy) reminder is ignored by most students, but at least they have been warned.

Students: Ya Gotta Love Em

I like it when students make me laugh. Well, at least I think I do. One of the more recent instances was quite hilarious, but in a twisted kind of way. It had to do with a student I'll call Matt.

Matt is, to put it frankly, a little odd. I think he knows it, but I'm not sure. On the first day of school I warned my students that I had scored two points shy of insane on an insanity test. Matt approached me shortly after to let me know that no matter how crazy I am, he's crazier. He made it sound like he thought it was some sort of competition, and relished the idea of taking on a teacher in a contest to prove his worthiness of a "totally crazy" title. Ok, alerting my students of my craziness was not for the purpose of starting a competition. Rather it was to keep them on their toes, and maybe encourage them to have a little curiosity for the next class.

Despite his oddness--maybe because of it--Matt is a good student. He's glad to participate in class, and sometimes makes over the top comments that annoy some of his classmates. I think his social skills are a little lacking, or maybe he just doesn't care that some of the things he says are so ridiculous that other students just shake their heads in disbelief at what he says, or at his enthusiasm for doing something. But that's ok. They can/should learn to tolerate people who are a little different. He often strides in to class and salutes me with a "Greetings, Mr. -----." Yes, he literally salutes me. He does this to other teachers as well, from what I have heard.

Matt has no inhibitions whatsoever. When I assigned a group project awhile ago on the Civil War, he decided to put on skits. The problem was that not everyone in his group wanted to act. So he did some himself. Well, some of his groupmates participated, but he kind of stole the show. They were basically one-man dramas, in which he did everything from rolling around on the floor pretending to be sleeping next to other soldiers in close quarters, to stabbing himself with a fake knife which he had brought in before school for my safekeeping so he wouldn't get in trouble. His over the top approach, and utter lack of bashfulness, was hilarious.

But that wasn't what I was thinking of when I started this post. Matt is also very blunt. This leads me to the story of the sweater. Recently one of the other teachers in the department asked me if I had any interest in a sweater he was looking to get rid of. He had used it in high school, which was a time when he wore clothing which was very much too big for him. Now one to dress a little less baggily, the sweater he had was too big for him, but might be ok for me. And this isn't just any ordinary sweater. It's 100 percent pure new wool, handknit, and made in Ireland. So I decide to wear the sweater to school one day. And it is a little big even for me, but I think it works. (Maybe I should have consulted my Mom first for her opinion. But hey, I'm a big boy now. So I didn't wait for that.) Well, a couple of girls in my study hall made fun of it, and laughed at me. One girl said it looked like I was wearing a dress. Ok, I can handle that. After all, they are just freshman, so they're not as conditioned to control what they say. In other words, their social skills are lacking, but it's to be expected.

The day goes on, and Matt comes to class. He strolls in, takes one look at me wearing the sweater, and says in a matter of fact manner, something like "That sweater makes you look fat." He seemed totally oblivious to the fact that this might not be a socially acceptable thing to say, especially to a teacher. It was like he was observing the weather. Two of the girls sitting in the front who heard the comment could hardly control their laughter. I joined in. It was pretty hilarious, in part because I know he had no intention of insulting me, yet he said something that could be taken that way. I told him that some people needed alcohol to throw away their inhibitions, but he needed none! (And I suppose it could be a compliment in a way, if it means I don't normally look fat, but only did that day!)

Blogging Randomness

Reader be warned, this will be a very random post.

Rehearsals are continuing for the play I'm directing. I don't think I mentioned the play before: The Diary of Anne Frank. As rehearsals continue I'm starting to think more and more that the girl I cast as Anne is an almost perfect fit. Well, maybe too perfect. The other day I was telling her how I wanted her to act airheaded at a certain spot, and she responded in all seriousness with "What's airheaded?" I was tempted to say something like "Just the way you are," but refrained. I guess she doesn't need much coaching in that department. And today, when she heard a classmate was going to a concert, she asked if they were going to see the Beatles. I told her I heard that Elvis was having the concert. She really did know the Beatles are no longer together, but it sounded really funny, and was very much in line with the types of things she says. Apparently there's some imitation Beatles group that she knew of, and was wondering whether they were the ones holding the concert. To her credit, she also knew Elvis was dead (or is he??), and actually caught on to the fact that I was teasing her. But it took her a little while...

I mentioned I'm in A Christmas Carol. It's going well, but keeping me very busy. My days this last week basically went like this: School from 7-2:30. Anne Frank rehearsals after school (three days a week at least). Grab a bite and quickly cook up the next day's lessons. Then A Christmas Carol rehearsal for anywhere between 2 and 4 hours. Then bed. Oh, and the night I didn't have rehearsal I sent off a description for my essay submission to the academic journal, so the review process should be in the works (normally takes 2-3 months to hear back).

Thankfully the show is pretty easy. The director has recognized that many of us are not dancers, so he isn't having us learn any dances to do. So it's just music and lines to memorize in a week. We're singing some pretty neat songs, including an arrangement by John Rutter of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Did you know figgy pudding plays a prominent role in the song? Performances will be rewarding, me hopes. We have fourteen of them, plus one radio show. I won't be able to do four school performances (I tend to be otherwise engaged during the school day), but should make the other eleven. There's something nice about doing a show so many times. It makes the work so much more worth it. And it means thousands of people get to hear some traditional Christmas music, which is always a good thing.

I gave a test to my U.S. History classes this week, and offered them the option of playing the extra credit music game. To my (eventual) amusement, my first class opted not to hear me sing! Guess they didn't want to tolerate my morning voice. But it gave me a great opportunity for me to make fun of them, both to their faces and to other classes. All the other classes wanted the chance for extra credit, so I sang "One day more, another day, another destiny, this never ending road to calvary, these men who seem to know my crime will surely come a second time, one day more." The responses I got included Rent, Cats, Chicago, Sound of Music, West Side Story, 42nd Street, Phantom of the Opera, Oliver Twist, and even one wannabe brownnoser who answered with "U.S. History is awesome." But no extra points for him, even if it was creative. A handful also correctly identified the show.

I also threw out a little brain puzzle for extra credit, and was shocked at how few people got it right. To be fair, the test did take a lot of people most of the period, so many who answered may have been rushed. Can you solve it? This is it:

If Thanksgiving must come on the fourth Thursday of every November, on which dates in November is it impossible for Thanksgiving to fall?

This should be easy for you all. If you really can't figure it out, email ednolbmai@hotmail.com for the answer. Then post a comment saying you are stumped and sent the email.