My students

I generally avoid talking about work - and I try (less successfully) to avoid mentioning my coworkers. That is on purpose. I am all too aware that this blog is public, and I don't want to say anything that I'll regret later (or that will be found by my students someday).

That said, I have been collecting cute interactions with my students for a post, and one such interaction today has finally warranted some writing.

I'll start with the smaller stories.

Story number one:

I was lucky and was placed teaching the two upper second-year classes. That means the overachievers. Even amongst the overachievers, though, there are a few charming but lazy students - one of which spent the first half of the term generally arriving an hour late for every class. He would always also make a nice loud entrance and come to the front to ask what I had missed. One of the first times he tried this, he started to ask what he had missed when he suddenly stopped mid-sentence. The smile fell off his face and his eyes got big. He leaned towards me just a bit and said: "You have yellow eyes!" He returned to his seat quietly.

Story number two:

For this story to make sense, I should mention that I got my hair cut last week. It had been getting pretty shaggy because I was nervous about navagating a salon with my terrible Japanese. It went fine, though, and I am newly trimmed.

The other day we had a send-off party for the travel abroad students. About fifty of them will be heading off to several schools around the U.S. for the second semester of the year. After two hours of speeches, the students had time to mingle and talk with their teachers, take pictures, and generally grin nervously. I had to teach special summer classes in the morning, so I missed most of the speeches, but I did arrive for the last speech where I was spotted and invited to give the surprise last speech (I'm one of the study abroad advisor's, so all the students know me well). I figured after two hours of listening to teachers, the students would appreciate some brevity. I wished them well, said a few things and that was that. Later, during the mingling part, one of the students who has been in my overachiever classes came up and said, "You're speech was short... oh! Like your hair!"

Last story (and definite best)

Today, I was putting together final grades. There are a few students who are not currently passing because they still need to make up some absences or retake final tests. One such student ended the term in need of one make up-assignment and a test re-take. I had run into him in the hall last week, and had informed him of both. He had forgotten the make-up assignment but he promised he would bring it by today and do the re-take his test that was offered earlier this week. At 4:00 he still hadn't brought his assignment. The re-take test day had already passed, but as I was sorting out grades I realized that I had never gotten his second test, either. I asked about it and was informed that he never turned up for the re-take. This gets complicated with school politics, but my boss and I finally decided that we would give him the chance to finish both by the final test re-take day on August 22nd. Then I realized he would be in Oregon (with me) on August 22nd. Perfect.

In a very tired, withdrawn way, my boss and I decided to go ahead and let him take the test in Oregon. (If he fails the class, he isn't allowed to do study abroad - and that just seems cruel at this stage). I sent him and email and explained. The school is closed next week for mandatory holidays, so there isn't any other time for him to take the test before we leave. This all made me grumpy for the afternoon. Why hadn't he just come to his make-up test? Geez!

While I was making a copy of the test for him to take later, who should show up? The afore-mentioned student came racing in the door, out of breath, with his make-up assignment very thoroughly done (and I had accidentally given him a reading that was way over his head, so his effort did win him some bonus points). I took his assignment, read it over and then explained: he now had the attendance mark he needed to pass, but his test score was so low, he still wasn't passing the class. I told him that the school was closed next week and there was no way to give him the test. I also explained that I had decided to give him one last chance to re-sit the test in Oregon. "Oregon?" he asked. Yes. Oregon. I told him I was sorry he would have to take the test in Oregon, but he had better study really hard and make sure he got an A on the test next time he took it. He kind of nodded yes, but had a funny look on his face. I went back to copying the test for him and he went over to talk to my boss (who taught him last year). I eavesdropped on him as he asked her to explain what I had just said. Apparently all he had understood was something like:

"bbbbb b b bbbbbb bbbbbbb attendance bbbb bbbbbbb bb bb pass bb bb b bbbbbbb test bbbbbbbbb low bbbbbbbbb wasn't pass bbbbbbb bbbbb b b Oregon b bbbbb bb sorry bbbbbbbbb."

He was apparently pretty sure he had just been told he wouldn't be going to Oregon.

My boss hadn't been listening to our discussion, so she asked me to come over and explain to her, which I did (much to the embarrassment of my student who had just been trying to act cool, like he understood). I explained that he had to take the test in Oregon, which my boss translated for him.

The look of pure relief on his face kind of made up for the hassle. He vehemently swore he would study his rear-end off.

I love my students.