Thursday

The day started terribly. We were notified of a staff meeting. Whenever a staff meeting is called at the last second like this, it is never good.

And it wasn't.

Our assistant principal informed us that a fire had destroyed our principal's house. It was a total loss. Luckily, he and his wife and grand kids were able to get out unharmed.

As soon as I informed Kristie, she said that she has fears about the same thing happening to us, especially with this terrible cold, which causes us to run the furnace almost constantly, and the age of our house.

By the end of the day, our assistant principal informed us that the school had already raised $2,000 for our principal.

****

With that, I began my first block Lit and Language 11 class with a sense of dread.

However, that dread quickly disappeared.

Yesterday, speaking of dread, I had to get a sub because I needed to get a crown ground off and have a new one ordered.

Since we had just finished Crash and compared it to To Kill a Mockingbird, I decided to have the sub show the film version of the novel.

Now, I'm split on this. I remember the first time I ever saw the film, though I didn't know it was TKM at the time. We were in Texas visiting my aunt. It was on TV and the family gathered in the living room to watch. I remember nothing other than the trial. That had me revited. Once the trial was over, though, I lost interest and I returned to venturing outside and scampering around the house.

Though it's an Academy Award winning film, I think it's just too dated for the majority of my students.

This proved to be the case when I asked them about it yesterday after returning from the dentist.

One of my most voracious readers, was not happy with it at all, though she had seen it in the past. She had imagined how it all happened and she didn't want some film intruding on that.

When I surveyed the class if we should bother finishing it, most didn't want to. However, a portion of the class really wanted to. So we compromised. I told them I'd put the film on, but if students wanted to read or work on something else, they could.

After the film, we reviewed for the final test. I had planned a Jeopardy style review session, but we didn't have enough time left in the period to get everything set up. So I just asked the class the questions and tried to select the student who raised their hand first.

I also handed out candy and super duper prizes as we reviewed.

The highlights had to be Kaine who basically kept his hand raised the entire time, whether he knew the answer or not. I had to admire his eagerness to get involved. But the most impressive was Whitney. She nabbed more things than anyone. Not only did she earn about five candy bars, but she cleaned up on the super duper prizes too (I saved those for particularly difficult 'bonus' questions regarding the novel).

"What is the full name of Uncle Jack's cat?" I asked.

A few hands shot up, and I called on them, but they didn't have a clue (yes, Kaine was one of those!)

Finally, Whitney sheepishly shot her hand in the air.

"Rose Aylmer."

"Correct," I said and handed her a super duper prize (I think it was a Kids Meal video game from McDonald's that KoKo wanted to get rid of). I set it next to the old coffee mug that she had already earned. Okay, what does he joke to Scout that he feeds her?"

Again, a few hand shot up, but they didn't know.

Finally, Whitney shot her hand in the air.

"Fingers and ears that he brings home from the hospital."

"Correct," I said, as several students around her groaned. I handed her another super duper prize.

"Alright, Whitney, let's see how good you really are. Try this one," I said and asked, "What instrument is Atticus quite adept at?"

Without a second's hesitation, "A Jew's Harp."

Now it was my turn to groan. "I've never had a student know all of the questions. Here you ask them, and I'll earn some prizes," I joked.

When we finished the review, I remembered and old dusty trophy that belonged to Kristie's former boss. He was cleaning out the office and was just going to chuck all of this old men's league basketball trophies when I thought, Man, those would make great super duper prizes and loaded them in my car.

Over the years, I had either given them all away or threw them out. But I still had one left.

I grabbed that out of my closet, hoisted it high, and handed it to Whitney, who turned bright red and looked like she wanted to crawl under her desk. Kaine thought he deserved it and was willing to take it off her hands if she didn't want it.

Whitney couldn't believe it. She was clutching it as she left my room and headed down the hall. I wonder how long she'll hold on to it?