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Teaching Diary 7
Feb. 3rd, 2021 04:14 pmIt's been a while since I had one of these, but today had some moments too good to let pass into memory.
AP Psych students are doing that egg baby project. I have agreed to crochet a little sling for one student's egg, in exchange for a coke. (Several times, she left class, only to get a few feet out the door, shout "my baby!" and run back.)
While reading The Pearl by John Steinbeck, one student tried to spin out a deep conspiracy theory about a minor background character, so in the name of proper literary analysis, I had to talk him down from that. But I told him he could write fanfiction about it, and he got so happy!
Finally, we're in the Regionalism/Realism/Naturalism unit in American Lit, so we read "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte today. It's in our textbook, so I figured it was okay. Anyway, the first few paragraphs describe a few of the titular outcasts as well as the reason they were cast out of town. We were parsing the somewhat florid language of the first few paragraphs when we came to this: I regret to say that some of these were ladies. It is but due to the sex, however, to state that their impropriety was professional, and it was only in such easily established standards of evil that Poker Flat ventured to sit in judgment.
Mr. Oakhurst was right in supposing that he was included in this category.
Well, one of my students got so excited because she thought that Mr. Oakhurst was cast out for his "professional" iniquities, and she shouted, "yes! Equal opportunity prostitution!" just as the school principal walked into the room.
Never a dull day when you're working with kids.
AP Psych students are doing that egg baby project. I have agreed to crochet a little sling for one student's egg, in exchange for a coke. (Several times, she left class, only to get a few feet out the door, shout "my baby!" and run back.)
While reading The Pearl by John Steinbeck, one student tried to spin out a deep conspiracy theory about a minor background character, so in the name of proper literary analysis, I had to talk him down from that. But I told him he could write fanfiction about it, and he got so happy!
Finally, we're in the Regionalism/Realism/Naturalism unit in American Lit, so we read "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte today. It's in our textbook, so I figured it was okay. Anyway, the first few paragraphs describe a few of the titular outcasts as well as the reason they were cast out of town. We were parsing the somewhat florid language of the first few paragraphs when we came to this: I regret to say that some of these were ladies. It is but due to the sex, however, to state that their impropriety was professional, and it was only in such easily established standards of evil that Poker Flat ventured to sit in judgment.
Mr. Oakhurst was right in supposing that he was included in this category.
Well, one of my students got so excited because she thought that Mr. Oakhurst was cast out for his "professional" iniquities, and she shouted, "yes! Equal opportunity prostitution!" just as the school principal walked into the room.
Never a dull day when you're working with kids.
