Friday, December 14, 2018

Not a Challenge


World history class. Friday.

Ms. G is one of the strict ones. She expects certain behavior, especially when there's a sub.

Sixth period. I'd been warned there might be issues. I passed out the reading. They did not settle to silence as the other classes had. But rather than telling them to shut up...

"I've never been able to talk and read at the same time..."

This usually works. Alas, this time it did not have the desired effect. They got louder.

"That was not a challenge," I said.

And then they did settle to the requested silence. Phew.

Note to self: must figure out a different thing to say to sophomores. They didn't catch the nuance.

15 comments:

  1. I lol'ed a bit at you having to tell them it wasn't a challenge.

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    1. When they got louder, I realized they were going to play at trying to read and talk. But I know that trick.

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  2. LOL, yes, subtlety doesn't work with most kids!

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  3. Heh. It probably depends on the kids' parents on whether or not the kids catch that. I think my daughter probably would pick up on it. :)

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    1. The smarter kiddos do get it. And those who are used to a bit of sarcasm in their home life.

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  4. Of course they take it as a challenge. They want to see how loud they can talk to read at the same time!

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  5. Subtle was not in their vocabulary.

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    Replies
    1. I like to try subtlety because when it works, it means I didn't have to work as hard.

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  6. Yeah, what she said. You can’t be subtle with these kids.

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  7. I don't think anyone can talk and read at same time.

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  8. neither do I...I can't talk and read at the same time.
    have a great day

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  9. And this probably won't work the next time you try to use it and you'll have to come up with something else to get the desired effect you want.

    betty

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