ka-put

I have kicked all of my ambition out the door. We got in a fight. Ambition was saying I should grade those papers that have taken up residence on my desk for two weeks and search a little harder for those vocab quizzes that I suddenly cannot find. In return, I told ambition that I've had enough of being a productive and valued citizen, thank you very much, and I would rather relinquish all my brainpower to getting a suntan instead. All the while my comments to my students have grown sassier, "I'm sorry for the emotional trauma that is being caused by my giving you a ten-minute homework assignment, but send me the therapist's bill. It's a risk I'll take."

Honestly, where did those quizzes go? They just took them on Monday. This is terrible.

I figured something out. When my college professors told me to always give my students a "why," I was living in the land of idealism. Yes, I thought, I will always explain to my students succinctly and beautifully why they are learning how to properly use a semicolon and how it will enhance their lives. Then, at the end of each week, we will hold hands and join together in a song about the greatness that is Academic Writing. Now I have seen the light: When I tell them why, it gives them reason to question everything I do.

Let me illustrate:
Students: "Miss Morreim, we haaate reading day, why do we have to read? This is soooo lame. Mr. Hanson's class gets to go outside. Why can't weeee go outside?"
Me: "Reading improves your vocabulary and research shows that it improves your writing skills more than any other activity."
Students: "whinewhinewhine"

A better response:
Students: "Miss Morreim, whine whine whine whine whine?"
Me: "Because I said so. Deal with it."
Students: (in desks, reading quietly).

How did those quizzes disappear? I'm losing it...