2001-09-25
I can get a dog!, posted at 3:18 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com It was another decent day, though nothing special. My kids made me laugh a lot today, which is good. In 2nd hour, a kid asked me if I had had a "shape-up". I didn't understand him, and asked him like three or four times to repeat himself. He was motioning to my head, and I thought he was referring to hair gel or something. However, I eventually had to admit that I had no idea what he was talking about. Everyone laughed. So did I. A "shape-up" apparently is a haircut, which I did get over the weekend. One of the boys said, "We'll get you hip by the end of the year, Mr. M."My 2/3 period was massively truncated by ID photos, but they went in groups, so I was really able to hang out a lot with the kids who were left. 'Twas fun. I think we mutually got to know each other quite a bit.
In seventh hour, after I told the kids that one of Nathaniel Hawthorne's only friends was 14th President Franklin Pierce, one of them asked why all the Presidents have been white. I told them it was a good question. Then a girl said, "We ain't never had a woman president either." Very soon, I had a rowdy class discussion about whether or not we'd have a woman or a Black President first. It was interesting, even though it had nothing to do with "The Scarlet Letter."
My opinion? It all depends. Before the terrorist attacks, I thought Barbara Boxer was a good dark-horse candidate for 2004. I love her. Patty Murray too. But Erin is under the opinion that there won't be a Democratic female President in our lifetimes, but there might be a Republican female President. Which is an interesting, and probably valid, prediction.
But with the terrorist attacks, I think we're even less likely to have a female President than before. Hillary may throw her hat into the ring sometime in the next decade or so, but I'll never forgive her for it if she does it in 2004. I like her, but she promised not to. I don't think she could ever win, anyway - too devisive.
I think that two faces on Bush's Cabinet - Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell - are key to the issue. Rice has charisma to spare, seems to be as sharp as a tack, and we may be seeing more and more of her as the military effort goes on (she's the National Security Advisor, I think). If Powell ever decided to run, he'd win in a heartbeat. I don't think he's interested, though.
In 7th period, with my Freshmen, we actually had a good class discussion. The journal topic was for them to define Racism, Prejudice, and Discrimination. It was supposed to springboard more into our reading of "To Kill a Mockingbird," but instead it turned into a huge class discussion all on its own. They did pretty well with it, waiting for their turns to talk and actually listening to each other. While it did eventually turn into a friendly shouting match - as this class full of loud, confident, African-American, Maya Angelou "Phenomenal Woman" type of girls often does - it was nice while it lasted. I enjoyed the fact that me, a white teacher, could elicit the types of responses from the predominantly African-American class that I was. But, I think that sometimes I am much overly conscious of race than the teens that I teach are - the result of a long time in residence life and tons of diversity training. My white knapsack is unpacked.
In other news, my landlord has given me permission to get a dog, in exchange for a $200 deposit. I think that's totally fair. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I am so freaking excited.