Nothing quite like taking a nice 4 month break from the blog that I "was going to update at least once a week." Well, to be honest, I knew that was probably not going to happen. I had great intentions of doing that, and those intentions just kind of fell by the wayside. I subscribe to many great blogs and enjoy reading so many that I often wonder if my random thoughts would actually interest anyone. Maybe I can bribe my mom or grandma to read and "pretend' to at least be interested....hmmm.
Anyways, today I had something quite interesting happen in my room. Maybe you won't find it interesting (my one reader of this cryptic stone scratching), but I found it to be quite delightful. We were talking in class today about a story arc. Yes, that weird stuff that us English folk get all excited about. I was up at the board diagramming quite brilliantly (although my art skills might even be worse than my blogging skills) and I was getting excited. The lesson was actually going exactly the way that I wanted it to go- this rarely ever happens for me. Students were engaged, excited, talking about their ideas for their story, raising hands, etc.. Then, I managed a typo on the board. I was trying to write "problem" but what came out was "pooblem". Of course, to a group of 6th grade students, this was like Christmas came early. I noticed a few of them starting to chuckle and point at the board. Of course, in my excitement, I assumed that they were just thrilled with my lesson- silly me.
Eventually, I realized that I must have put something silly on the board- I turned around and saw it. Of course a male student raised his hand and asked, "Where exactly does the "pooblem" start, Mr. Morgan." I swiftly responded, "Well, I am not a health teacher, but I would assume that it normally would start in your stomach right after you eat, I don't know!" This caused a cascading roar of laughter, some delayed as students tried to wrap their brains around what I had meant. I eventually heard someone say, "You're so weird Mr. Morgan," to which I took great delight. We then had a great conversation about what exactly it meant to be weird. I told them that I was quite happy to be weird and they tried to figure out what I meant.
To me, being "weird" means that you are different, that you stand out. Being 6'4, a male English teacher, and coaching high school basketball, baseball and middle school football, I sort of assumed that they already figured out the fact that I didn't fit the typical "English teacher mold". I asked what they meant by me being weird. They went on to talk about how I will play ping pong with an imaginary person in the back of the room "while I bounce ideas around the room", that I like to talk in different accents during class, will sporadically dance, etc during class. I explained to them that being weird isn't something that you should be ashamed of, but rather something that you should embrace.
"How boring would it be if I fit the "normal" mold and just lectured and read from a book to you guys all day?" I asked them. Of course, they all replied that they didn't want that because English wouldn't be as much fun. So I threw this question back at them..."If 'normal' isn't what you are looking for in a teacher, then why are you all so fixated upon being 'normal' students and fitting in with everyone else in the school?" They sat there for a moment and I could see the wheels turning. Middle school is such a tough, tough age for students. Peer pressure to "be cool" and "fit in" is at an all time high. I don't think that there are many people who would go back to their middle school years, even for a large sum of money. I encouraged them to be themselves and to know that somewhere along the way there would be a group that would accept them for who they are, rather than try and mold them to be "normal".
This lesson that I was so excited that was going so well, and then ended up taking a turn, finished being even better than I could have ever planned!
