You Might Be In Education If...

(I don't remember writing this so I must have seen it on an education listserv. Sorry I can't give credit.)

You might be in education if...

a. You believe the staff room should be equipped with a Valium salt lick.

b. You find humor in other people's stupidity.

c. You want to slap the next person who says, "Must be nice to work from 8 to 3 and have your summers free!"

d. You believe chocolate is a food group.

e. You can tell it's a full moon without ever looking outside.

f. You believe "shallow gene pool" should have its own box on the report card.

g. You believe that unspeakable evil will befall you if anyone says, "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."

h. When out in public you feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior.

i. You have no time for a life from August to June.

j. Marking all A's on report cards would make your life SO much simpler.

k. When you mention "vegetables" you're not talking about a food group.

l. You think people should be required to get a government permit before being allowed to reproduce.

m. You wonder how some parents ever MANAGED to reproduce.

n. You laugh uncontrollably when people refer to the staff room as the "lounge."

o. You believe in aerial spraying of Prozac.

p. You encourage an obnoxious parent to check into charter schools or home schooling.

q. You believe no one should be permitted to reproduce without having taught in an elementary setting for at least 5 years.

r. You've ever had your profession slammed by someone who would never DREAM of doing your job.

s. You can't have children because there's no name you could give a child that wouldn't bring on high blood pressure the moment you heard it uttered.

t. You think caffeine should be available to staff in IV form.

u. You know you're in for a MAJOR project when a parent says, "I have a great idea I'd like to discuss. I think it would be such fun!"

v. You smile weakly, but want to choke a person when he/she says, "Oh, you must have such FUN every day. It must be like playtime for you."

w. Your personal life comes to a screeching halt at report card time.

x. Meeting a child's parents instantly answers the question, "Why is this kid like this?"

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Encouraging Students to Be Mischievous

Jonathan, a student in my above average class, takes everything very seriously. He tries to be perfect. He rarely smiles and always has a worried look on his face. MiJun also is very serious and focused,

Last week I assigned a project where students were allowed to work in pairs. I heard Jonathan ask MiJun if she would like to work with him. I knew I could depend on them to do a good job.

As I walked around the room checking on student progress, my attention was drawn to Jonathan's laughter. Not only was he laughing but it was escalating uncontrollably. And MiJun was smiling in spite of her obvious attempts not to do so. I was not worried about these two becoming unruly, but I was very curious about the cause of the laughter. When asked, Jonathan explained that something MiJun wrote was very funny. Students, at the end of their "book," had to write a brief bio of themselves for the book jacket. Apparently MiJun had written something humorous. She didn't want to show it to me and seemed embarrassed and I didn't insist. A few minutes later, Jonathan brought it over to me to share. He was still laughing. I read it and laughed also. MiJun showed a good sense of humor.

I wound up telling both of them that I was very pleased that they had done something "sort of mischievous." I told them that they are both such serious students that I sometimes worry about their ability to have fun. I also told MiJun that I thought she was good for Jonathan because he doesn't smile enough and that it made me very happy to see them both smiling.

So...a glimpse at an infrequent teaching experience.