Being 16

I am surprised by the amount of information 16 year olds don't know. I gave out a test today, and I was asked a serious of mind boggling questions. Now, mind you, these are private school relatively intelligent kids. Question #1 : What does investigative mean? Hmmmm. "Investigate" is a middle school word, maybe even an elementary school word. Did the adjective form confuse them? Could that be it? Do they not recognize the word used by many television shows. Hasn't anyone seen CSI? Hasn't anyone read a book? Question #2: What is point of view? Hmmmm...I am writing this blog from MY point of view. This is first person because I am using the word "I." Question #3: When the question says, "What is the role of women in the text," what does that mean? My response: "It means what is the role of women in the text." Student response: "Oh." There is a reason I teach. Part of the reason is to develop a sense of humor, learn patience and try not to cringe with each question. Score: Students: 3 Me: 0

There was another event today that made me laugh and sigh all at the same time. Let me preface this event with an admittance. While I try not to focus on my appearance too much, I do get somewhat frazzled if I don't have enough time to get ready in the morning or if I forget my watch, makeup, jewelry, etc. I am as girly and concerned with superficiality as the next person. I like to blame it on society. It makes me feel better. Nevertheless, I would never go out of my way and be late to work if I forgot one of the earlier mentioned accessories. There is, however, I sixteen year old in my honors class who believes firmly in jewelry and earrings, so much that she wants to return home when she forgets one of her accessories. She told me in class the other day that she regularly makes her dad turn the car around in the morning if she forgets her earrings. Can you imagine? You are halfway to a 20 minute commute to your child's school. There is no school bus because she attends a private school. You drop her off on your way to work. All of a sudden your child says, "Dad, I forgot my earrings. We have to go back." What should the obvious response be there? Mine would be "No," plain and simple. No explanation needed. Not this father. He turned the car around to get the earrings. She claimed that she has also called him while she was at school to bring in her earrings because she forgot them at home. And instead of protesting, he brought them to her! Am I the only one who thinks that there is something wrong with this scenario? Today, the girl came into my classroom sweeping her hair behind her ears to proudly show her earringless lobes. "Look Ms. V" she said. "I don't have earrings in and I didn't make my dad go back and get them!" This was a shining moment in this girl's life. I suppose that people have different success stories. I couldn't help but smile. Even though I may not agree with her dad's choices in the field of earrings, who could resist the animated, smiley grin of this obviously happy girl? Wouldn't we all just hope to worry about whether or not we come prepared to work or school with jewelry. We can only hope.