Elephant in the Corner

Wearing earrings, ironing pants, and pinning a mess of hair up can do wonders for a girl trying to look like a professional adult. I thought maybe if I dressed the part then it would be easier to pretend that I knew how to act the part for my first formal observation today.

Being the preplanner that I am I had already created all that I needed for my lesson and used my third period class as a pre-performance warm-up. That word, "perform," was thrown around in my follow-up meeting. I thought it strange how what we teachers do is considered a performance. I have thought of it as that before, sure, but to have another tell me that it was a "remarkable performance" may have rubbed me the wrong way. I am still thinking on that. My "remarkable performance" included opened with me asking my darlings to write in their journals and answer the questions:
Is any one human life more valuable than another?

After that we discussed their answers briefly. Then we did an exercise where we imagine that there is a burning building and on top of this building are people such as a pregnant woman, a child, a doctor, a businessman, a woman of color, a teacher, a construction worker, a professional athlete, etc. The students were told that only one person could get out at a time and it was up to them, individually, to decide what order these people could escape. Blowin' their minds, right? Right! It's what I am here for.

They had real trouble with this, which makes me figure that their strange little bodies house some pretty decent hearts. After most of the class had finished we discussed some answers. For the most part the pregnant woman was first, the child, and the woman of color. I then questioned why, in our society, we have end up feeling this way: women and children first...manly men marching out of the fiery rubble last. I don't even know. We were just talking.

Next I provided them with some more descriptions: pregnant woman is on probation for drug abuse, the child is an orphan, the doctor is Dr. Kevorkian (whom they do not know!), the businessman raises tons of money for all types of charities (vague, vague, vague!), the woman of color was Oprah, the athlete, Michael Vick, the teacher was their favorite (me), and the construction worker was a single mother of two. This really got them. We discussed our preconceived notions about careers, we discussed how we truly do place a value on life based on different factors, and we discussed how it made them feel that I was screwing with them so much. I loved it. They were thinking.

My observer was pleased.
The kids are learning stuff. I think?
My CT was pleased.
I am real tired.

My cat's name is Sully. A wise woman asked that I name it that and I fear if I choose not to accept this suggestion my life will be less rich and I may be cursed for forever...however long that is.
That and she said it was a "gweat" name!