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4.22.2004 ||>
Many of my students are crazy. I have a couple of students though, that are particularly nuts. Obsessed with English, they do more than I ever did as a student and continually blow me away by how personally they take everything having to do with English and American language and culture.
In the 11th grade, we have been preparing topics for the national exam in English. They have to be able to write and speak about English-speaking countries, so I did what any teacher would do and delegated all the work to my students. My most insane student, Hope, after being put in a group, begged to be allowed to do a topic all on her own. So after I gave her one, she asked how long it had to be. Now, usually that means "how little can I write and still get an A?" but not her. She wanted to write 10 pages of information on Great Britain. Appalled at the idea of checking 10 pages of English and looking at the other students' panicked faces, I told her no. She whined and threw a mini tantrum. She asked me what I would give her if she wrote 10 pages anyway and I (jokingly) said she would get a "C."
Hope has also referred to one of my colleagues as "my Mrs. Orlova" (or the Russian equivalent). "Where is my Mrs. Orlova?!" has become a running joke with the English faculty.
The other uber-obsessed one is Ellen. She's adorable, mainly because she's little and not nearly so garrulous as Hope. She looks like this tiny librarian in training. The teachers have open lessons coming up, which are our annual chance to have everyone and their cousin visit a class of our choice. Torturous. Anyway, my Mrs. Orlova is doing a class where the students present music-as-poetry. I watched Ellen's practice recital for this class and she did the greatest interpretation of American pop songs that I have ever seen. She was so serious with her fluttery arm movements and artistic spins. To my mingled horror and amusement, the songs she presented were Chris DeBurgh's "Lady in Red" and Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time."
I suggested she might be better doing songs by women. I gave her some lyrics by Shania and other women. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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