The Almost Teacher

Two amusing anecdotes from the first two weeks of school:

1. A casual reference to personal matters (e.g., that my mother is Colombian, or that I have a twin brother), will often prompt students to barrage me with even more questions about my life outside of school. I made some amused comment about this phenomenon as my 10th graders were interrogating me, when one of them suddenly asked me, "What is your dog's middle name?"

I promptly responded, "Henry and Matilda; Algernon Henry and Begonia Matilda are my dogs' names."

He laughed, bemused, and said, "I tried to ask you a question for which you wouldn't have an answer!"

"I always have an answer," I proudly answered.

2. My 9th-grade students wrote a Letter of Recommendation, a more sophisticated sort of thank you, for their first major assignment in Lobo 101. They submitted a draft for editing, which they returned with a final copy to be mailed, so I could check that improvements had been made. Imagine my mortification (I don't think it has been greater except for the time I mispronounced "functioning" in front of an entire class), when I discovered that I had changed, "I really appreciate all of the time Mr. Barnaby spent helping me" to "I really appreciate all of the time Mr. Barnaby spent doing me." HOW did this happen? I DON'T KNOW. The student, baffled by my suggestion it seems, simply omitted the sentence entirely.