My my, teaching is hard work. But it can be fun. And one of the things that you learn early on is that there are many different kinds of intelligence. Knowing how to use a colon doesn't necessarily rank high up the list, though it's a handy skill from time to time.This year I have a class of adults who, for one reason or other, slid through school managing not to attend very much. The other day I asked them to do a bit of writing. They were mainly rather anxious about this but gamely settled down to it. Some of them decided to use one of the college laptops, others pens. The laptops aren't in their first flush of youth and can be a bit slow to load up.
One of the students sighed in frustration: "This computer's taking ages to get going."
A large, tattooed young man with his legs crammed under an adjacent desk gazed sorrowfully at the few words he'd so far written on a piece of paper. "This pen," he muttered, "isn't awful fast either."
Oh dear, this is too funny! These moments of humour must make up for the difficult times a teacher goes through!
ReplyDeleteDroll fellow!
ReplyDeleteThat's such a great story. As Gina says, those are the moments that keep us in the job ..
ReplyDeleteWonderful. Especially hearing his accent in my mind's ear (I hope I have it approximately right).
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ReplyDeleteI didn't think about the accent!
ReplyDeleteIt would've been funny in an ordinary Aussie accent too,.
Love it!
ReplyDeleteLove it ... and haven't we all had days that could be summed up by that comment!!
ReplyDeleteHahaha! Your quips from school never disappoint Isabelle!
ReplyDeletebwah ha ha!
ReplyDeleteI have pens like that.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I taught at an Adult Literacy class on one evening a week. Two of my favourite 'students' were young farm workers who had done their best to dodge as much school as possible. They were never going to turn into great readers, but I went in one night to cries of "I've been doing homework, Miss." They made me guess, but insisted that they had each written something and put items in the post. Their first ever Valentine cards! They were so proud. So was I!
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