I'm serious.**
If people don't start chilling out, or at least quit complaining about EVERYTHING, I may end up hurting someone.
While the adults I'm subjected to day in and day out are driving me to the brink of violence, my kids are keeping me sane. Of course they're getting antsy for school to be over and counting the minutes till we're free (all 2,750 of 'em...yeah, I'm counting, too), but they've been that way for about 8 months now. I'm used to it.
And I can tell them to quit it.
Seniors are simultaneously thrilled and terrified by their impending graduation. It's like pulling teeth to get them to work right now, but they're doing it because they have to. If they don't pass my class, they can't graduate. And I'm not afraid to remind them of that when they start to slack.
They've been working on their final project for the last month, and we've been doing it all by e-mail. They work on a draft of a portion of the project, send it to me as an attachment, I use the "insert comments" portion of MS Word to edit and give feedback, then save and resend to the kid. The jury is still out on whether I am brilliant or stupid for doing it this way. It's been good because I can get them to do multiple drafts of things when it's all electronic, but it's bad because I've been chained to my computer for a month and I can't stand another minute to do a blog entry. It's good because we have saved a TON of paper and printer toner, but it's bad because I have been chained to my computer. It's good because kids get almost instant feedback and can work from home, but it's bad because I have been chained to my computer. (Are you seeing my problem?)
But, back to my point. It's at this point in the year that I start to forget all the annoying things they've done, and start to miss my kids terribly - and they haven't even left yet. Every year at this time I think to myself that I've got the most amazing students, and nobody could ever be better than these kids. But I say it every year...they can't all be that amazing, can they?
And while they say (whoever "they" are) teachers don't have favorites, it's really not true. We have favorites. We can't help it. I try my hardest, though, not to let any of the kids know. As far as my kids are concerned, they would each tell you they were my favorite. That's the way it should be. They should all feel equally special and important.
But I'm not going to lie, I do have my favorites.
Here are the highlights of a series of e-mails between me and one of my goofy senior boys - and yeah, he's one of my favorites. I think you'll see why by the end of the exchange.
He’s been telling me that he’s sent me electronic copies of parts of his project but I haven’t returned them. I’ve been telling him he’s crazy. I have gotten some of the pieces he's referring to, but not all of them. Of those I received, I returned them all within 24 hours. Finally, the other day, I asked him if he could show me his sent mail folder. We quickly realized that I was right (was there really any question about that?) and he was wrong.
Here’s the exchange from a few days ago: Orange is what I wrote, blue is what he wrote, green is my commentary. (Please excuse his horrible grammar and spelling...it's taking a lot for me to leave it alone and not edit it. Rest assured that he doesn't write like that in class - there's just something so informal about e-mail. Either that or he's allergic to the shift key and spell check gives him hives.)
From: Kristina Hocking
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 11:26 AM
To: T
Subject: RE:
You didn't fix the paragraph of explanation...are you trying to give me gray hair? :)
6/10
From: T
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 3:49 PM
To: Kristina Hocking
Subject:
sorry i think i got it this time :) and i would never give you grey hair mrs.hocking that would be terrible
From: T
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 3:59 PM
To: Kristina Hocking
Subject:
ok i just sent you revised pieces of great grandmas quotes and the I am poem. hopefully we got all this worked out :) but i got a question for one of the written pieces it says that you can do a newspaper article? how long does that piece have to be because i was thinking of doing a wedding announcement
From: Kristina Hocking
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 4:02 PM
To: T
Subject: RE:
A wedding announcement wouldn't be long enough for a written piece...but if you included a picture from the wedding, you could definitely do it as a visual. If you want to do a newspaper article, it needs to be about something newsworthy, and that can be hard to find sometimes.
I got the other two pieces. Pretty sure you are trying to give me grey hair...or at least confuse me!
From: T
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 4:08 PM
To: Kristina Hocking
Subject:
ok thats what i thought. but thanks ill figure something out. and no i am not trying to give you grey hair you're my favorite teacher come on haha.
From: Kristina Hocking
Sent: Thursday 07, 2009 9:02 AM
To: T
Subject: RE:
T -
Gray hairs...I can feel 'em...
Mrs. H
7/10
(The text we are discussing in our e-mails has been copied and pasted below. The brackets and kh with a number are my embedded comments. You can see them as footnotes below his text. I LOVE the insert comments feature of MS Word! Saved about a million and thirteen trees this year!)
Lenore’s famous sayings
By T
"Would you like something to eat or drink?"
Lenore always wants people to be well fed and feeling good, so this is practically the first thing she says whenever anyone walks into her house. Typically she offers cookies to her visitors. Grandma [kh1] has had a cookie jar in the same place on her counter for as long as anyone can remember. When I visit her, I [kh2] always get a cookie.
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away."
Grandma [kh3] always says she wants her grandchildren to be healthy. Part of this is eating healthy foods. When we visit, she only allows us to eat one cookie. If we want more, we have to sneak into the kitchen and the cookie jar. [kh4] .[kh5]
"Always strive your hardest to be what you want to be and you will achieve it."
Grandma [kh6] always talks to [kh7] about your future and what you’re going to do. You can't find a time to visit her when she is not interested in what you are doing [kh8] She just wants me to succeed in my [kh9] life.
"I am too old to remember or even know that."
Every time Grandma [kh10] gets stumped by a question, she blames her age. She never wants to admit she may not know something, so she uses this excuse. My grandma [kh11] is 94 years old so she has a hard time remembering some things, but she's a smart lady and is still pretty sharp.
When I think of Lenore, these are the sayings that come to mind. [kh12] She says these things on a regular basis to her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. Lenore is a great lady. You can always count on her to be a good listener. If you want someone to talk to, go visit Lenore.
[kh1]She
[kh2]I can feel the gray hairs…no first person! He’s been telling me that he’s sent me electronic copies of parts of his project but I haven’t returned them. I’ve been telling him he’s crazy. I have gotten some of the pieces he's referring to, but not all of them. Of those I received, I returned them all within 24 hours. Finally, the other day, I asked him if he could show me his sent mail folder. We quickly realized that I was right (was there really any question about that?) and he was wrong.
Here’s the exchange from a few days ago: Orange is what I wrote, blue is what he wrote, green is my commentary. (Please excuse his horrible grammar and spelling...it's taking a lot for me to leave it alone and not edit it. Rest assured that he doesn't write like that in class - there's just something so informal about e-mail. Either that or he's allergic to the shift key and spell check gives him hives.)
From: Kristina Hocking
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 11:26 AM
To: T
Subject: RE:
You didn't fix the paragraph of explanation...are you trying to give me gray hair? :)
6/10
From: T
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 3:49 PM
To: Kristina Hocking
Subject:
sorry i think i got it this time :) and i would never give you grey hair mrs.hocking that would be terrible
From: T
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 3:59 PM
To: Kristina Hocking
Subject:
ok i just sent you revised pieces of great grandmas quotes and the I am poem. hopefully we got all this worked out :) but i got a question for one of the written pieces it says that you can do a newspaper article? how long does that piece have to be because i was thinking of doing a wedding announcement
From: Kristina Hocking
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 4:02 PM
To: T
Subject: RE:
A wedding announcement wouldn't be long enough for a written piece...but if you included a picture from the wedding, you could definitely do it as a visual. If you want to do a newspaper article, it needs to be about something newsworthy, and that can be hard to find sometimes.
I got the other two pieces. Pretty sure you are trying to give me grey hair...or at least confuse me!
From: T
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 4:08 PM
To: Kristina Hocking
Subject:
ok thats what i thought. but thanks ill figure something out. and no i am not trying to give you grey hair you're my favorite teacher come on haha.
From: Kristina Hocking
Sent: Thursday 07, 2009 9:02 AM
To: T
Subject: RE:
T -
Gray hairs...I can feel 'em...
Mrs. H
7/10
(The text we are discussing in our e-mails has been copied and pasted below. The brackets and kh with a number are my embedded comments. You can see them as footnotes below his text. I LOVE the insert comments feature of MS Word! Saved about a million and thirteen trees this year!)
Lenore’s famous sayings
By T
"Would you like something to eat or drink?"
Lenore always wants people to be well fed and feeling good, so this is practically the first thing she says whenever anyone walks into her house. Typically she offers cookies to her visitors. Grandma [kh1] has had a cookie jar in the same place on her counter for as long as anyone can remember. When I visit her, I [kh2] always get a cookie.
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away."
Grandma [kh3] always says she wants her grandchildren to be healthy. Part of this is eating healthy foods. When we visit, she only allows us to eat one cookie. If we want more, we have to sneak into the kitchen and the cookie jar. [kh4] .[kh5]
"Always strive your hardest to be what you want to be and you will achieve it."
Grandma [kh6] always talks to [kh7] about your future and what you’re going to do. You can't find a time to visit her when she is not interested in what you are doing [kh8] She just wants me to succeed in my [kh9] life.
"I am too old to remember or even know that."
Every time Grandma [kh10] gets stumped by a question, she blames her age. She never wants to admit she may not know something, so she uses this excuse. My grandma [kh11] is 94 years old so she has a hard time remembering some things, but she's a smart lady and is still pretty sharp.
When I think of Lenore, these are the sayings that come to mind. [kh12] She says these things on a regular basis to her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. Lenore is a great lady. You can always count on her to be a good listener. If you want someone to talk to, go visit Lenore.
[kh1]She
[kh3]Lenore
[kh4]More gray hairs…I, me, we, us, etc. = first person
[kh5]This is a short explanation…talk about her health, or something…it just needs more
[kh6]Lenore
[kh7]Who does she talk to? A wall?
[kh8]Add a period
[kh9]Seriously…two more gray hairs…
[kh10]Lenore
[kh11]There’s another gray hair…
[kh12]At this rate, I’ll have a head full of silver hair before we get you graduated…
He sent it back to me fixed, finally, along with this note.
From: T
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 11:21 AM
To: Kristina Hocking
Subject:
i think this is now done to your extremly high expectation level. please dont let your hair turn grey.
sincerly t aka your favorite student
(Bold, isn't he? Announcing to me that he's my favorite. He's right, he is one of my favorites, but he doesn't know that!)
**I'm not really serious. I can't hardly kill bugs in my house. I'm all talk and no action. For now.**
1 comment:
LOL! That is too funny!! I am glad you are able to joke with them, it makes things more fun. :) I love MS word!!
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