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So I only had ten minutes with each freshman class today, but they were intense. Or not. I said Hi, took attendance, and asked if anyone had read any good books lately. Very few of them had. I was shocked. But those few had read some quality stuff like Animal Farm, I Heard the Owl Call My Name, The Diary of Anne Frank, Catcher in the Rye, something by Agatha Christie. I was impressed. Then I asked if anyone had seen a good movie lately. A cool breeze seemed to rustle through the room; eyes lit up. Almost everybody had something they could name (and, no doubt, talk about if we'd had the time). They'd seen The Blair Witch Project, The Sixth Sense, American Pie, Big Daddy, Kids (on tape - yikes), Eyes Wide Shut (accompanied by his aunt, "It was stupid"), Detroit Rock City, Deep Blue Sea, The Thomas Crown Affair, Mystery Men. Just about everything that's out now. Many of these, of course, had huge ad budgets aimed straight at the teen market. Nobody pushes books so ferociously. In one class I used the word "extrovert" and got nothing back. So those lucky folks got a little assignment to come in tomorrow knowing what it meant (along with "introvert"). Some groaned. I love it. One kid came in, sat, and said "This room smells better than any class I've been in." I had just been cleaning a few spots with a product containing a New! Fresh Lemony Scent! Chalk one up for me and my silly room. But we'll be lucky to keep that rep if I don't find a way to get my windows open. It got kind of warm as the morning progressed. I've submitted a maintainence request form for help. My long, tall room still poses logistical problems with the seating arrangement. After trying some pretty clunky set-ups, I settled on an elongated rectange of nine rows with three seats in each. This lets me walk all around. Nobody is ever too far away. The only serious drawback is that kids at one end can't see kids on the other - could, in fact, go the whole year never knowing who was down there. If we never mix it up. Which raises another issue I haven't had to face in the past six years: these kids don't know each other. I told them that I thought this was not so bad because it gives them a chance to start fresh without being tied down to their past self. They've now got a chance to become somebody a little different, maybe closer to their true sense of themselves. I can't keep from putting myself in this camp, too. My identity is not as shifty as theirs may be, but this recent move has me wobbling a little perhaps. Tomorrow's the first big day. I wonder what kind of creature a sophomore is. |
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J. D. Salinger |