Election

September 21, 2011
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The boy seems to be liking middle school so far. The adjustment has been smooth, and he seems to have things under control and then some. Not like a lot of my kids. Wait a minute. I just mistyped kids as mids… hmmm, I might like that. Anyway, the boy seems to be acing middle school so… Wait again. His mom is over there making faces, and she’s all,

“Duh.”

“What?”

“Let’s see. He has his dad for two periods, he has his 6th grade teacher for one period (yes, his 6th grade teacher last year is back here at the junior high, so we dialed him in), he has another friend of the family in whose pool he has swum for another period. So he already knows four of his six teachers. Plus his father makes sure he’s first in line for lunch and showed him the ins and outs with the lunch ladies…”

(Aside: If my class before lunch is good, we always leave for lunch one minute early, because I like to be first in line. If they’re bad, only I leave for lunch. The rest of the yahoos sit until I have piled up my tray, so to speak. And then they get to be at the end of the epic line. That class is always my best behaved period. I made sure the boy was in that period.)

“…So I think he might have a few advantages. Not that I’m not proud of him for how great he’s doing, but c’mon….”

Point taken. But still, the boy is a joiner, a real go-getter. Not like his dad. He’s been playing intramural volleyball at lunch, he’s student council rep for his Homie Base class. AND he ran for ASB office.

The rules say that a 7th grader can hold only one of the three offices. He can be secretary/treasurer, but not prez or vice. Weird, I know. There were some other weird things about the election process I didn’t understand (three offices, but the kids could only vote for one person?), but since the Modern Family season premier is tonight, as well as a new Survivor, I won’t get into that shtuff. Plus, I don’t want it to look like sour grapes. And the boy did great.

All the offices were filled by eighth graders.

But let’s get back to his campaign. His posters featured zombies and the slogan “Prevent the Zombie Apocalypse — TB* Will Breathe New Life into ASB!” They were well received.

The speech was a good ‘un.  The tag line? “Vote TB: The Other Mr. Coward!” Nice, huh? Again, kudos all ’round.

One of the kids in another class thought it was funny that we had the same name. I confessed that he was my boy.

After expressing disbelief, she thought it was pretty cool. And then…

“But why did he say he was the UGLY Mr.Coward?”

You probably could have heard the collective duh across the street.

 

 

 

 

* TB = The Boy

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True That.

We had an open mouth quiz on chapter 8 today. One class has several boys who have a new phrase they’re trying out. Personally, I sort of like it. 4) On p127, we get an example of what seems to be foreshadowing. What is it? a) When Two-Bit says that Darry will kill him if Pony’s really sick. b) When Two-Bit says Darry could be a Soc. c) When Pony says he has a helpless feeling. d) When Two-Bit calls Pony chicken. e) When Pony says he’ll be well by tonight. “OK, number four. What’s foreshadowing?” The class takes care of that one for me. Most of them laugh, and one says, “I was wrong.” (Pony’s line at the end of chapter three, and a beauty example for them of foreshadowing.) “Oh yeah. Ok, so it’s C, right?” “True that.” “Number six. Darry, I mean Dally (they always mix up those names), right?” “True that.” (me, doing some “refocusing” of a gentleman off to the side) “‘Clark,’ could you focus your comments on the questions? Open mouth only applies if that mouth is talking about the questions.” “True that.” “And I think we’re done with that line, for today at [...]

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Mr. Coward has been teaching on the beautiful central coast of California since 1989.

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  • Kelly commented on “How cute. Like hobos…” (Also: Hank Williams.)I've just discovered your Website and it's been one laugh after another. I teach 7th grade English and we just finished The Outsiders. Now I wish I would have cranked out Hank Williams. The complaints and hysterics would have made my day.
  • Mrs. M~ commented on Rants and RavesThe no-name thing used to drive me crazy too. I finally gave up and now build in an extra minute every single time they hand in papers. As they hand them in row-by-row, I flip through them on the spot. If there is no name on the paper, I have the student
  • mrC commented on Rants and RavesThank you to all for the kind thoughts. Today was the first day in over a week where I was feeling close to being myself. And of course those pesky kids started making me all crabby again. @Mrs. M: I usually admit right up front that I ain't "on," and they'd best be wary of me
  • Meg commented on Rants and RavesI have the same problem with no name papers and it drives me nuts!!! Trust me, if there is someone out there with a good solution let me in on the secret as well.
  • mrC commented on It’s Go Time!@Sarah-Most excellent! Keep up the good work, and don't let any of them talk you out of it. Glad to hear your kids recognize the value too. Fight the good fight!
  • Mrs. M~ commented on Illin’Feel better soon! There is nothing worse than being at school and trying to be "on" when you feel like death.
  • Sarah commented on It’s Go Time!I just came across your blog...I am a second year teacher and I am currently reading The Outsiders aloud to my seventh graders. I read it to them last year, too. I catch a lot of criticism for reading it to them...but they LOVE to have me read to them. I actually had a group
  • joan commented on Illin’I'm on day two of out-with-the-crud. I needed the rest. Hope you're in tip top shape by Monday!
  • mrC commented on “The Sub Used One of Your Sticks!”That one oughta be strung up like they used to do to horse thieves.
  • Heather commented on “The Sub Used One of Your Sticks!”The last sub I had left no note at all and broke the arm of my spinny chair by leaning back in it so far that he fell in the floor. The kids all said he was the best sub ever. I politely asked the school secretary to never have him sub in
  • mrC commented on The Future of Space Travel@Heather: Gawd I hate that. I think I even posted about it awhile back. @Kelli: This reminds me of high school. I went to a Jesuit high school (all boys) and for our Friday football rallies, we would import cheerleaders from other schools to be a part of the rally. And the girls would always begin
  • Heather commented on The Future of Space TravelMy eighth graders just have the habit of prefacing every question with, "I have a question." And announcing "I'm done" when they complete an assignment.
  • Kelli commented on The Future of Space TravelIs it bad that I sometimes start my stories with "Okay, so...."...? I guess the kids have rubbed off on me. Sigh.