Is there a today’s equivalent of the old Mutt and Jeff duo? SpongeBob and Patrick? What do you call a dynamic duo of 7th grade boys? These are the kind that drive you batty, but there’s just something about them that makes it hard to get mad at them. Like Ponyboy describes Two-Bit. But they are exasperating at times. Sometimes the class beats me to shushing one or both of them. “Would you just be quiet?” “True that.” Oh yes, they’re those guys. I should move them both (they ended up next to each other because of my early-year, alphabetical seating chart), and I probably will soon, but somehow, their banter is rather amusing most of the time. Most of the time. Let’s call them (after an old comic book I have on the wall), Milk and Cheese – Dairy Products Gone Bad. M and C were bugging the other day, and I was pulling out some of my old-guy-isms. I’m a big fan of expressions like “Dagnabbit” and “Kids Today…” and “No Dice (Cheese Slice).” “Don’t make me get out of this chair. I’m going to have to go old school Catholic school on you guys.” “You mean like
Middle school teaching: Five shows a day, 180 days a year.
