Part of my teaching "shtick" if you will, is sharing about myself. I teach humanities/writing/English/literature...so it's important to have buy-in on the subjective nature of self in order to get kids to create personal writing....or writing that is worth a damn at all!
One of my students (an 18-year-old male football player and runner) had gotten a little behind in AP Lit, and he's been working really hard to bring up his grade and catch up on assignments. To further paint this picture, he's a tall, polite, handsome guy who isn't from the metro area like the majority of my kids. Sometimes he says stuff in class discussion that's just "country"-- he's not mean-spirited in any way, so it makes it funnier to me that he's a super-competitive athlete too.
He approached my desk and said, "Miss G, I need to bring you something for helping me out lately."
I said, "You know that's not necessary, just keep doing what you're doing-- moving in the right direction."
"But I want to. Don't worry about lunch tomorrow. I'll bring you Chick-fil-A."
Pause.
"Oh wait. You don't eat chicken. Cuz you're allergic. That's a shame."
Pause.
"Okay, I'll bring you McDonald's."
"No wait. You always eat healthy food like salads and vegetarian stuff. That's too fattening."
Pause.
"Fine, MIss G. I'll just go outside and pick you a leaf. Would that work as a lunch for you?"
At this point, I was laughing...because it was so earnest. In the interest of saying thank you, he was thinking out loud a gift for me...and I was realizing that apparently they know all about my poultry allergy, my vegetarianism, and that I attempt to eat healthy.
Wonder what other gems they've got stored up about me! ;)
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