Women Get What They Want

Over the summer, my senior students had to read a book, A Year of Living Biblically. First of all, I LOVED this book and highly recommend it. It was one of my favorite books I read all summer. It's a hilarious journey of a man who decides to live the Bible literally for one year.

There is a chapter in the book that talks about women and their monthly cycle. In Biblical times, men could not touch their husband during their cycle and for a week after their cycle because they were considered unclean.


Once school start, my students had to write an essay. One student wrote the following:
Another reason Jacobs had to interpret the symbolic meaning is that women used to be not very cleansed. They used to be very dirty and back then it was acceptable to not please your wife for 30 days. Now a days woman are very clean and will usually get what they want. If Jacobs had to follow what the Bible says he would probably not have a woman around in his life. 

I was cracking up as I read this. There are so many things wrong with this paragraph that I don't even know where to begin, but what really made me laugh was, "Now a days woman are very clean and will usually get what they want." 

New Name

We have a class period in the middle of the day called Access. It's similar to homeroom or a study hall, and it's required for all students. Students can do their homework during this time, or if they need help on a certain subject, they can go get one-on-one help from that specific teacher.

Today during Access, I was playing on the computer while my students did their homework.

I heard someone say, "Ms. Nichols!" I turned my head to answer her question, and this student was laughing uncontrollably . She says to me, "I said, 'Mrs. Martinez' like three times and you didn't answer, so I tried 'Nichols' instead. You answered to Nichols but not Martinez."

I guess I still haven't gotten used to the new name.

Paul?

One of the hardest tasks of a new school year is learning names. On average, I teach about 140 students a semester, and only a handful of those are repeat students whom I already know.

I pride myself in learning names quickly. From the first day of class, I create a seating chart so I know their names, and I make sure to address them by name every time I call on them. I can learn names in about a week or two.

Last week, a senior raised his hand to answer a question. I said, "Paul, right?" I didn't wait for him to respond because I was confident I was right on the name. "Go ahead, Paul."

He answered my question, and we went on with the day.

The following day, Paul came into the room. I said, "Hey, Paul, how are you?" A fellow student snickered, so I asked, "That's your name, right? Paul?" His classmate assured me I had the right name and Paul sat down without saying anything.

For two weeks, I have been calling Paul Paul. But yesterday, after calling on Paul again, he said, "Ummm, my name is Tim, not Paul."

Now I know why that student snickered, and Tim has a new name. Everyone calls him Paul now!