Sharpening Pencils: Awkward

My English Class was having a discussion about collectivism or something like that, and we were all taking notes. A student in the class (lets call her Julia) got up to sharpen her pencil.

All of a sudden the entire class got silent.

Nobody really knew why, except, perhaps, for Mr. U, who could see her as she walked toward the pencil sharpener. But he didn't start talking again, so nobody else did either.

Slowly people began to turn around and we saw that Julia had just reached the pencil sharpener, and was now noticing that the entire class was staring at her.

"I just wanted to sharpen my pencil!"

-Marianne

Is insulting community really so terrible?

I was in Open Art Studio, one of my electives. The teacher was talking about how there was only one more class because the next one would be replaced with community. Community (formerly known as B block) is a completely pointless class that replaces an elective every once in a while.

Everyone in the class was upset. We were all saying "Why don't we just skip community?" and "I wish we had more Open Art classes."

One person said, "But community is completely pointless!"

Suddenly the teacher's face became surprised and astonished. She stared ahead, her mouth open.

Nobody could figure out what was going on. Was insulting community really so terrible?

We all looked at each other, and people started to laugh. The teacher was still frozen - her astounded face becoming very funny. We still had absolutely no idea why she was so upset.

Eventually the teacher explained. "My plants are dead," she said.

We looked around the room and, sure enough, every plant, of which there were many, was dead.

-Marianne

My Effort to Single-Handedly Save the Blog from Death

So I've decided to make an effort to single handedly save the blog from death, because everything deserves to be saved from death.

Just thought I'd tell you.

-Marianne

"There's a Picture Attached"

My English Teacher is one of those teachers that confiscates your phone if it rings during class and keeps it for a while, so the class was all intrigued when we heard a noticeable vibrating sound in the silence after one of my teacher's, we'll call him Mr. U, comments.

"TJ, give me your phone," Mr. U said.

TJ reluctantly took his phone from his pocket and held it out to Mr. U. Mr. U took it before TJ even got a chance to see what it was.

The entire class watched Mr. U. Depending on what it was, punishment could range from phone confiscation for a day to detention to I-take-your-phone-and-keep-it-until-your-parents-take-it-from-me.

"Hmm, a text message." Mr. U looked at it. "Is this from your girlfriend?"

The class watched TJ's face turn red.

"Oh, there's a picture attached," Mr. Y fiddled with TJ's phone a little, then a serious expression came over his face.

TJ's face was bright red and he looked extremely worried. Everybody was barely holding back laughter over TJ's face. I don't think anyone in the class had ever seen him look this scared.

"TJ, see me after class." Mr. U tucked the phone into his desk, his face still serious.

TJ looked as though he were on the verge of tears - or fainting.

There was a silence in the class for about ten seconds, nobody knowing quite what to do. Should they laugh at TJ's expression or should they try their hardest not to so that TJ isn't even more embarrassed?

Then Mr. U offered an answer to everybody's problems. "Just Kidding," he said, smiling.

I swear, the class was laughing for ten minutes.

Describe the significance of Marbury v. Madison...

Around November:

In history class we're studying a bunch of important Supreme Court cases from the early 1800s, under Chief Justice John Marshall. I go to gym; my gym teacher, who was pregnant, has just given birth so we have a substitute.

"Hello, I'm your new teacher," he says. "My name is John Marshall."

Wait, like the Supreme Court justice? I think to myself. After gym class is over I say to my friend, "Did you notice his name is John Marshall? Like the Supreme Court justice?"

"Oh, you're right!" she says. "That's so wierd! I wonder if he knows."

"Yeah, I don't know. Well, he's a gym teacher; he probably doesn't know much history."

"Yeah, but John Marshall is pretty famous. Maybe we should ask him about it..."

***Fast forward to today, second to last gym class of the term:

20 minutes on one of those bicycle machines is boring. I decide to read through the skit I have to perform today in Spanish to pass the time while I bike. After all, I've heard that studying while exercizing helps you remember things. Then my aforementioned friend asks me a question about history. We start quizzing each other for our history mid-term coming up on Friday.

"Do you guys have some kind of a test coming up?" Mr. Marshall asks us.

"Yes," we tell him. He asks what its on and we tell him its on American history from the begining to the Civil War and reconstruction.

"You're in luck," he says. "I'm a certified history teacher."

"You are not," says someone else in the class.

"I am," he says. "I have a degree in history and a degree in exercise education."

I don't know whether or not to beleive him but he soon proves he's telling the truth by quizzing us on history. He asks us questions about the Federalist Papers, and Articles of Confederation, and the War of 1812...

As we leave class, my friend and I comment on the funniness of the situation. Suddenly, I recall that conversation two months ago and I realize that he must know that he has the same name as the famous Supreme Court justice!

I always enjoy meeting someone with unusual combination of interests. Like, how often does a person want to be either a gym teacher or a history teacher?
-Rebecca

And she's really pretty

Sadly, I forgot the blog's birthday. Thinking it was January 7, I was holding off to perhaps write a happy birthday blog post. However, the blog was in fact created on January 3. Aw, I missed it! So here is a belated birthday post.

A couple days ago my English teacher asked us to anyonymously answer some feedback questions about the class. The questions ranged from "How does the instructor encourage your interest in the subject?" to "Twitter the class: describe the class in 140 characters or less." Our teacher, Ms. M, sent us to the computer lab to type our answers for maximum anonymity, and left us alone.

The first question we began to ask each other was, "Are you writing it in the second person? Or are you going to refer to Ms. M as "the instructor"? Most people chose second person, and we began writing.

"I should end my answer to #1 with 'And Ms. M is really pretty," joked my friend Maddie.

"That would be pretty funny," I said. Someone suggested that we all request not to have tests. "Maybe if we all write it she'll listen to us," he said. When I finsihed #3 and realized the following question was labeled 5, I didn't know what to do. Should I number the next one 4, or 5?

"What are you doing about question 4?" I asked Maddie. After momentary confusion she realized what I was refering to. "Maybe I'll make up an answer for 4," she said,

"You should answer it 'Ms. M is really pretty,'" I suggested. However, she didn't take my advice, instead writing "4. OBAMA!!!!!"

When two people in the class began threatening to attach each other's names to their responses, one of them said, "Okay, will you write "Ms. M is gorgeous" in one of your answers?"

As far as I know he actually did it. Sadly, I didn't have enough time in the class period left to come up with a clever tweet for the last question. So, we all turned in our responses and wondered what would come of it.

The next day:

"I read your responses, and I'm already trying to incorporate some of your advice into what we do in the class," said Ms. M. "From what you've written, it seems that you all think this class is too easy."

Everyone looked at everyone else. Who the heck implied that!? we were all wondering.

"We said this class is too easy!?" someone asked incredulously.

"I knew we should have united," said someone else.

-Rebecca