Tuesday, June 26, 2007

What Makes my Students Proud

Boy was I surpised.

In my summer school class of eighth-graders to be, we were practicing writing and the prompt asked them to tell about an accomplishment they were proud of. I expected things like getting the big hit in a ball game, completing a difficult routine in dance, or earning their own money to buy their first bike.

I was waaaaay off. Here are some of the actual (unedited) "proud" moments:

"One foggy morning it was still kind of dark and it was Friday so I sneak a gun into my backpack it was an M9."


This one was titled, "Lights Out".

"I knocked that white girl out! It turns out she wasn't so tough but her army of skanks jumped me but I could take these clowns anytime."


And yet another.

"Jonathon started saying stuff about my mom so I said stuff back and he got mad. I punched him in the face and he fell. That day was one of my proudest accomplishments."


Just another reminder that I might have more important things to teach than writing.

6 comments:

Laura said...

Just...wow.

Hang in there!

Laura

Jennie said...

That was refreshingly cute and weird at the same time! I liked the "her army of skanks jumped me." HAHA!

On a serious note, Good luck with your students..

UGN said...

Thanks for the wishes of luck. I know that I actually had a fight when I was in 7th grade, but it certainly wouldn't occur to me to be proud of it. In fact, I felt pretty dumb.

Jennie: Yes, I must admit that the girl who wrote about the "army of skanks" really did write in her own unique voice. I complimented her on the flavor in her writing while admitting that I wish she didn't have a subject like that to write about.

Ginene said...

That was funny. When my son was in the third grade he made student of the week and he had to answer little questions about himself and when they asked him what was his favorite subject, he wrote "LUNCH". I couldn't stop laughing. The teacher thought that was the funniest thing.

Anonymous said...

I believe that children are our future...

Well, I did anyway until I got to this post. AY YI YI!

UGN said...

I'm not a seer, but maybe your future includes guns and fights :)

Hey, thanks for dropping by!