Over spring break, in a moment of inspiration, middle school teacher Cindi Rigsbee had a revelation that many of her students might be getting bored in her class and that she needed to open up and engage them on the subject. The resulting classroom conversation, on the first day back, is an instant teacher-blog classic:
I opened my mouth to talk about my boredom epiphany when Christian said (across the room to Matthew), "Did you see Wrestlemania? Man, that dude was BIG!"
Christian. Matthew," I said. "I want to tell you about my idea. We're going to talk about why kids are bored at school and..."
Nicole piped in. "This is boring."
Nicole," I said. "How can we work around being bored so that we can get our educations and get good jobs in our future?"
I want to work at Hooters," she answered.
Then Breana jumped in. "Over Spring Break, I went skating, and my brother's friend was there. His name is Damon but we call him 'Cookies.'"
OK, then. So much for that idea. ...