Thursday's Thoughts

In order to get to our cafeteria, one must navigate an area where a certain portion of the student population likes to hang out.. It is a section of hallway next to an exit. The hall slopes down and has a nice section of in-set windows that make perfect benches.

I was just on my way to get some breakfast pizza. There was a student of mine visiting with some of the other trailer parkers.

This is what I heard he saying, loud enough for all to hear: “I love Jack Daniels. It’s great in Red Bull.”

When she saw me, she said, “Oh, hi Mr. Reynolds.”

The others laughed.

I said under my breath but loud enough to be heard, “And you wonder why you struggle to pass your classes and attend summer school."

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On the flip side of that, I will now begin writing a letter of recommendation for a former College Comp student who is applying for a scholarship.

What a range of characters in public education.

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KoKo has email now.

That’s going to take some getting used to.

What fascinates me is the voice she uses in her writing. It is very reminiscent of her mother’s voice.

It is much more adult than I anticipated.

KoKo loves forwards, so I now have a place to send all of the ones I get (which I usually delete). One had to do with the wonders of our country.

She states how she really liked the Northern Lights display. Evidently, though, there were also some pictures of teepees and wigwams. This didn’t escape her notice, for she joked “are you trying to make fun of me and my family sorta?”

Since her father and his family don’t think twice about dropping the n-word, I once asked her what they would say about racial slurs aimed at Indians (KoKo’s father’s side of the family is – obviously – Indian). So we have had a running joke about that ever since.
Then I read her other message. She was commenting on a slideshow I sent her poking fun at our president (it shows him reading with a young child and holding his book upside down. Then there is another one with him attempting to peer through binoculars that are held upside down). KoKo wrote “Bush is such an IDIOT.”

That’s my girl!!!!

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Wonders never cease. The aforementioned “Red Bull and Jack Daniels” student just finished reading her story for Science Fiction. She asked if I had another other stories or books by the author because she really liked it and wanted to read more.

Of course, as I’m grading their work today, I see that while she might have read the story, she failed to turn in her work!

Wonders never cease, right?

That’s the thing with teaching . . . you just never know what is going to happen. Students are so damn complex sometimes. Just when you have given them their last chance, they come through. Or just when you think you’ve made progress and turned the corner, it all falls apart.

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On the brighter side, one student decided to create a soundtrack for Book 1 of TKM as part of her Book 1 final assignment. The assignment called simply for students to select songs that would work as a soundtrack for Book 1. They also had to state why they selected the songs and how they would tie into the novel. I offered bonus points if they either emailed their playlist to me or burned a CD. She chose to burn a CD.

She has been bugging me to see if I have graded it and listened to it yet. Well, today I finally got around to it.

Here are her songs and the rationale behind them. Now I’m not saying these all work or that I would have chosen similar songs, but the fact that she was engaged in the assignment and did some reflecting on the novel’s characters and events is evident.

1. “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”/Meatloaf. “How the narrator remembers her childhood.”

2. “Oh Yeah”/Yellow. “When Dill meets Scout for the first time.”

3. “The Boys of Summer”/The Ataris. “They are making their escape to Boo Radley’s house to help him escape.”

4. “Cherry Pie”/Warrant. “Dill wants to marry Scout.” An odd choice here!

5. “We’re not Gonna Take it”/Twisted Sister. “The Cunninghams’ won’t accept anything from anyone because of their pride.”

6. “Jack and Diane”/John Cougar. “Jem and Scout’s relationship.” This is another odd one since Jack and Diane are high school sweathearts and Jem and Scout are brother and sister????

7. “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”/Andy Williams. “Christmas time at Finch’s Landing.”

8. “My Favorite Things”/Eddie Fisher. “When Francis is bragging about what he got for Christmas.”

9. “Come Home Soon”?She Diasy. “When Scout is waiting for Dill to come back to Maycomb to marry her.”

10. “School’s Out”/Alice Cooper. “When Jem and Scout are between school years.”

11. “Hit me with Your Best Shot”/Pat Benatar. “When Scout is being Mr. tough throughout the book.”

12. “My Hometown”/Bruce Springsteen. “Describes Maycomb.”

13. “Witchy Woman”/The Eagles. “Aunt Alexandra.”

Not bad. Not bad at all.