This and That

the D building at school, where my classroom is

I am finding the second year of teaching a bit easier, but there are some moments that cause me to pause and think, "What on earth am I doing?" One of those moments happened today, at the end of a class of eleventh graders.  I am now in the second year of teaching this class.  At the end of the class, as the students filed out one of the girls looked at me and said, "Hello!" The worst part is she wasn't even being flippant, she really just thought she was saying "Goodbye!"  As they went out the door one of her friends explained the error to her and she seemed surprised.  Sigh.

This year I am teaching three new tenth grades.  I think I enjoy tenth graders the most even though they are the most challenging for me.  It strikes me that my tenth graders still have a little bit of child in them.  I have found that my eleventh and twelfth graders are more weighed down by the world.  In tenth grade, students are still willing to play games and quite frankly, still have fun. This year I decided to do something a little different in my tenth grade classes; I let all my students choose English names.  This is common in American foreign language classes, but not in Romania.  I told students that they could choose any English name, but that it was optional.  In my first class, the girls did not want names, but I loved the boys choices.  I didn't give the boys any ideas; these are their choices, in the order they chose them.

• Jimmy Carter
• Eminem
• Brad Pitt
• James Bond
• Jean-Claude Van Damme
• Bruce Lee

I love the eclectic nature.  Every time I start the class and ask if Jimmy Carter is here, I can't help but laugh.