That Will Be "Professor Baby" to You, Young Man

I'm at an interesting blip in the history of my career in which I find myself teaching students who have probably been to my house. Fall semester 2009, for example, in walks Makenna, who briefly dated my son Daniel when she was a freshman in high school. They went to "Backwards Dance" or something. I still have a picture of the two of them dressed up in straw hats and cowboy boots. The previous spring, Cynthia sat in my classroom, best friend of Taylor, former girlfriend of my son. This semester, it's Arya, who played football with...who else? Arya remembers coming to my house for a team dinner. I suppose I should remember Arya, but he played defense and it was all I could do to remember the kids who played offense with Daniel.

I admit to not always welcoming the idea of teaching my kids' friends. Part of me wants to treat them harder, the way my mom did when she was our Girl Scout leader, holding us (her daughters) to a higher standard. The other part of me wants to nurture and coddle the way I might my own kids. I dread grading their papers, especially when they're below par. Worse, of course, is calculating the final grade. If God forbid I have to assign a non-passing grade, how can I look them in the eye next time we happen to run into each other? What if that run-in occurs in my own living room? Suffice to say, if any of my kids' friends ask if I'm teaching English next semester, I try to steer them away.

I still have a couple of years to go before the next cycle of students who graduated with my kids filters through. Then I'll be in the clear, happy and anonymous. Meanwhile, Arya has been a hoot. He's the kind of person who can't bear even a second's pause and must fill the silence with the sound of his own voice. His writing is much the same. He'll write that the author "gives many examples and illustrations." Why not just say "examples" and be done with it? Loquacious doesn't even begin to describe him. He's outgoing, gregarious, impulsive, and a bit crass. This morning he accidentally called me "baby." Standing before him at my podium I said, "That will be 'Professor Baby' to you, young man."

He laughed. We all laughed.

I hope he passes my class.

Unlearning to Read

Interesting article in the LA Times about books/publishing/digital books and the changing face of "reading." 

I see it all happening and marvel, but I'm also (naturally) resistant to change. 

I see the inevitability of it all but share the concern of those who see the dwindling attention-span of the you-tube generation. 

I meet these kids in my English classes and force them to sit and read long uninterrupted blocks of words (reference to funny Onion satire). 

But am I fighting a losing battle?

"Electronic Reading Devices are Transforming the Concept of a Book,"  by Alex Pham and David Sarno Los Angeles Times (July 18, 2010)

How Do You Spell...

The rookie police officer was cruising down the street and came upon a dead dog. He picked up his phone, dialed the local pound and said, "Ma'am, there's a dead dog lying out here in the middle of the street."

"What street, officer?"

"It's in the 300 block of Wetickdahattchie."

"How do you spell that, sir?"

"Just a minute, and I'll check."

When the officer finally came back to the phone, he said, "It's Lee Street, L double e."

(Taylor Reese, Humor Is Where You Find It)

 Source: Richard's Grammar and Composition Blog