4.15.2009

Snapshot

This is a post I wrote back in December. It was in my drafts. Somehow I didn't publish it. I was just talking with my sister-in-law about the ridiculous amount of information we teachers need to hold in our brains at all times, and this demonstrates that point exactly:


Me, from across the room: "No, don't use that laptop. Someone just put it away it's lost all its charge by now. It's going to shut off"

I traverse the terrain of 3-inch binders and clumsily covered textbooks, wondering why I hadn't insisted that they be put away what with the laptops being present and all. I pull a laptop from the bottom of the cart, unhooking it with deft movements of a fish thoroughly
in water; "here, use this one. I don't think anyone's used it today so it should be all ready to go."

And my student, dumbfounded: "How did you do that? How did you see that from across the room?"

Me: "Well, I'm a teacher. That's my job."

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I get a kick out of using their street lingo on them. They are always shocked and I say Do you think I am not listening when you talk ? Daaag...

teach people not books said...

my favorite is "don't sleep on this [insert assignment, essay, test, quiz, project]." oh, and "you're going to have to be on your grind this week, because we've got a lot of work to do."

i put a big "DO WORK" sign on my clock. they love that.

the funny thing is, there's more lingo in my natural speech than theirs in some cases, since they're from the land o'plenty and i'm. . . not. things like "my bad" and "i'm not playin' with you right now" come out pretty naturally.

Ms. X said...

i feel like this paragraph embodies my entire day every day. do you remember when that crazy SpEd professor (who shall remain nameless...) used to go on and on about "with-itness," and how it's the most important part of teaching, and everyone would just be like, "what is this asshole talking about?"

i think this paragraph is what he was talking about. not such an asshole after all, i guess.

teach people not books said...

yeah, i thought that it spoke volumes, too. did you ever see someone doing their job, and doing it well, and think "i know exactly the zone they are in right now--exactly how their mind is feeling?"

that's the best feeling.

Kelsey said...

Haha. Nice moment there.