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Sankalpa Day 14



Teaching can be fun
Today was one of those days
I can't help but smile

First thing this morning a girl came up to me and said their was a swear word in the pages she read last night.  "The assignment I gave?"  I asked.  Her reply was in the affirmative.  "No there isn't.  I read it," I continued with authority, "Show me."  She turned to the page with the word, "bitch."  Oops!  I guess 1) I don't really consider it a swear word.  2)  I didn't notice it.  We had a great conversation about why it was OK in the book but perhaps it wasn't something you would say to someone.

During my prep period, general music is in my room.  They were taking notes on The Sound of Music.  The teacher was explaining how the children sometimes played tricks on the governess.  One girl asked what she meant by tricks.  After a little conversation, it was clear the girl thought tricks as in prostitution tricks, not pranks.  The girl was being sincere.  It's what came to her mind.  She didn't know!

Finally, my day ended with my eighth grade boys after school reading program.  I gave them links to websites that listed the top news events of 2013.  They all had to choose one, a different one, and read about it.  Topics in the room ranged from gay marriage to the Cleveland kidnappings to Syria.  One boy was researching the Oklahoma tornado.  He was asking me a question about the formation of tornados and another boy started telling him about it coming from low pressure and high pressure colliding, etc.  His classmate answered more succinctly than I would have, so I let him proceed.

Towards the end of the after school session, one of the boys asked if he could share a trailer for a documentary film with me.  I said that I would love to see it, and several of us gathered around his computer.  It was for the Blackfish movie.  As we watched it, some of the guys had questions.  Another young man that had been silent for most of the hour explained it with this analogy.  It's like if a little kid was closed in the bathroom for most of her life, and all she could do was come out and dance then go back in.  She'd go crazy.  It's mean and unfair.  True that... It's mean and unfair.


Comments

LH said…
I want to see that documentary.

Sounds like a very wonderful day.

How cautious are you about books with swear words? IT's kind of hard to avoid isn't it?
1:02 AM
mm said…
LH--I am somewhat cautious about books that the entire group is reading although I guess I wouldn't have considered bitch a swear word. In fact, I used it a couple of times during discussion to show that it depended on its use. When it comes to individual reading, I really leave it up to the reader. It would be horrible if kids didn't read Eleanor and Park because of the language.
6:16 PM
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