Books Boys Might Read

Whenever I go to the bookstore I always hit the young adult section to see what's new. Most of the time I leave with an armful of books, but I've noticed something rather vexing. A lot of the books tend to sparkle and shine with playful pastel colors. To be blunt, these are books directed at girls.

Now before you make fun of me for my reading choices, keep in mind that it's professional development (and some of the books are good reads if you can get over the frilly covers.) Furthermore, there just aren't that many books directed at young boys and men. There are plenty of books for young girls, but not as many for boys. Boys tend to read less than girls do and their reading ability lags behind their female counterparts. Part of this has to do with the assumption that girls are a better market than boys are. Perhaps this is only fair though. Most teachers privilege boys in their classroom over girls by calling on the girls less than the boys. It's something I struggle with myself.

I like to think of myself as a book dealer. I gauge student interest and loan out books. I even loaned out my first graphic novel to a student and he read it in one night before returning it. (He was actually reading it during class, so maybe I should have given it to him after school, but I digress.) I've found that it's much easier to appease the girls in their reading selections. They make my job of finding books for them easy. While the girls will read books about boys doing activities stereotypically associated with the male sex, the boys, on the other hand, are much more resistant to reading about girls or "the mushy stuff" as they like to call it.

This is something of a problem when I try to convince the boys in my class that there are books ot there with topics they are interested in. Though there aren't as many authors writing for young adult boys, I wanted to go ahead and list a few that I recommend.

Gary Paulson
Paulson's books tend to center around the outdoors or wilderness survival. He's the author of the popular Hatchet series. Most of his books are directed at the 10-14 age range. A middle school English teacher should have a large selection of his books on hand.

Robert Cormier
Cormier is one of my favorite authors, hands down. He writes dark and intense literature which has been controversial. He is a rare example of an author who writes young adult literature well enough to simply call it literature. His books have merit in their own right regardless of where you put them in the library. Depending on the book, the age range can be as young as 12 though some should be read by an older, more mature reader.

Robert Peck
The other famous Robert of my list, Mr. Peck writes captivating and simple prose. He paints his characters with a thick brush, using deliberate but steady actions. The topics of his book range from light to serious though most of them provoke good discussion. I've only read a handful of his books but I'd place them at the 12 and up range.

Louis Sachar
Before his monster smash Holes, Sachar was well known for his Wayside School Stories. I loved those books in elementary school, and Holes was a nice transition to the older kids. Both boys and girls tend to like Sachar, though the boys have especially warmed up to him. His audience is mainly middle school though.

J.D. Salinger
I'm not a huge fan of Salinger. His short stories just never appealed to me and there always seemed to be this undercurrent of adults interacting inappropriately with children and teenagers. Still, the man has some talent and Catcher in the Rye does seem to attract male readers to the story. Salinger could be introduced at any high school age, though 10th and 11th seems ideal to me.

Eoin Colfer
Author of the Artemis Fowl series, Colfer has successfully created a series that blends fantasy with modern day intrigue. The characters are entertaining and complex, though I don't see it as winning too many awards for outstanding literary merit. It's good writing, but has some trouble standing up against the Literature with the big L. I'd recommend Colfer for ages 10-16.

Orson Scott Card
Card is something of a counterpoint to Colfer's fantasy with his science fiction writings. The Ender's Game series is almost ruthless and primitive in some ways, but it's exciting and interesting all the same. I'd introduce this to boys 13 and up.

John Marsden
Now I'm only familiar with his Tomorrow when the War Began series, but all the students in my class really enjoyed it, not just the boys. The series details the events surrounding the invasion of Australia by mysterious outside forces. Be warned though, there are some sexual scenes in the series which may not be suitable for less mature students. I'd introduce this at 8th or 9th grade.

Jack London
Another classic author who boys may like, London's focus on animals may hook young male readers. The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and Seawolf are all good reads that boys may enjoy. Boys who like hunting, action, blood and gore will enjoy London's books because they're heavy in that. Who knows, they might also gain a better appreciation for life in the process. I'd suggest London's books to the 13 and older crowd.

Jerry Spinelli
Spinelli is a talented author though his Maniac Magee series is best suited for young students. Like Sachar, Spinelli's books deal with subjects like racism and discrimination in appropriate ways which aren't preachy. Spinelli also recently wrote a book called Stargirl and Love, Stargirl, though the boys in my classes have been less than fond of that one.

Nancy Farmer
I've only read one of her books, House of the Scorpion, but that's enough for me to suggest her as an author to check out. Her book pulls no punches and is disturbing yet exciting. It's a fast read even though the book itself is rather large. I enjoyed her complex characters and the moral and philosophical questions on the nature of humanity which she posed.

Joe Scieszka
I'm mainly including Sciezka in this list because he's a large advocate for "guy reading." Check out his website. I've only read his Stinkycheese man story and while it really wasn't my cup of tea, I can see where a 12 year old boy would enjoy it. I'm not sure how I feel about his method and approach to getting boys to read, but his heart's in the write (sp) place.

There are of course other talented authors writing books aimed at boys, but these are just a few which I have more familiarity with. I'll write a post about books for girls later. When I get around to writing my own fiction, I'll probably have it aimed toward young adults and hopefully it'll be enjoyable to both sexes.

Rolling with the Punches

Some days your students are simply going to get the best of you. There are more of them than you and if you're not careful, they'll conspire to bring about your downfall. I say that half-jokingly, but there's a good deal of truth to that statement as well, because your students can make your job much more difficult if you let them.

If you have a rowdy class, some days you can roll with the punches and other days you come up spitting blood and teeth. Today, during my last hour, was a dental reconstruction day. Something to know about my last hour is that it's composed of 8th graders who don't take band. As luck would have it, this leaves me with some of my more active personalities at the very end of the day. Having to see the same students twice a day can be difficult. If they had a bad hour with your earlier in the day, it's most likely going to carry over into the next hour. On top of that, your last hour of the day is always going to be a bit more lively. Students are watching the clock as they covertly stretch their calve muscles in preparation of sprinting home. The last thing on their minds is the lesson plan.

Today I just couldn't get them to settle down. All through class I kept asking myself what I was doing wrong. I hate giving out homework as a punishment for misbehavior. I also dislike having my students write as a punishment because it conditions them not to like writing. In retrospect I think I should have started withholding privileges. I let my students go to the bathroom when they want and they can eat and drink as long as they clean up the mess. They love their soda. In fact, at the end of the day when the soda machines get turned back on, almost every student has one. Taking away the soda privilege could really get them listening.

I always wonder whether my response to student behavior is fair. Most likely, it's not going to be fair 100% of the time, though all but one of my students reported in the end semester anonymous survey that I had been fair with my dealings with them. To be honest, classroom management can be extremely frustrating. I've spent the last few posts atop Mt. Idealism telling these teaching strategies, but it's not always like that. I made a few mistakes today that hopefully I don't repeat.

Here's a list of what I didn't do right 7th hour:

1. I asked for a volunteer to type the notes on the overhead projector. I selected a student who was less interested in typing notes and more interested in making jokes and rude gestures when my back was turned. I was trying to give him the opportunity to positively contribute to the class, but he didn't really seize that chance.
2. I didn't take him off note typing duty fast enough.
3. The overhead projector can cut off access to parts of the room if you're afraid to walk in front of it and get in the way. I should have done my normal patrols of the classroom.
4. I didn't settle the class down early enough.
5. Today was a student presentation day and I didn't set up the classroom expectations for behavior clearly enough.

Ok, those are some things I could have done better. Now is the time to take a deep breath and let it all go. Everyday is a new ballgame and Monday has the potential to be different.

Teachers and Facebook

I am reminded that I am not too far removed from my student's age on a regular basis. We listen to similar music, go to similar movies, and even wear similar clothing when not in school. I'm not trying to say that I'm particularly cool, just that the generational gap between my students and me is easily bridged. Give it a few more years and it'll grow into a chasm.

One of the dangers of being so in touch with the culture of young America has to do with the fact that I as well as my students are fairly connected to the social networking scene of the internet. In my case, it's Facebook. I've been using Facebook since its inception a few years back and I have no plans of giving it up in the near future. It's a convenient way to stay in touch with friends as well as share pictures and information. On Facebook, users create a profile where they can add information about themselves, post photos, and write messages on other user's public "walls." Recently Facebook opened up their site to third party applications, which translates into even more inventive, and in some cases contrived, connections with people. Individual users can control who can view what information on their profile by inviting or being invited into a "Facebook friendship" with another person. I apologize if what I just said repeats the obvious to you, but not all my readers are familiar with the Facebook interface.

The problem I've found is that some of my students want to be friends with me on facebook. At first I was surprised that they found me, but I was even more surprised that they wanted to add me as a Facebook friend. Ultimately, I turned down the invitations and told my students that I couldn't be Facebook friends with them. There's nothing inappropriate on my profile or in my pictures. That's not what I'm worried about. What prevents me from becoming "facebook friends" with my students is not wanting to cross that teacher-student boundary. In a sense, it puts students on equal ground with you in an arena where equal footing should not be the norm. Let me repeat this again, Facebook is a SOCIAL networking site. It's sole purpose is to connect individuals socially. In social situations with students, there can and there should be a discrepancy of power. While I'm supportive of treating students fairly, I also support the idea of professionalism.

While it wouldn't be impossible to maintain this standard of professionalism, why set yourself up to that added scrutiny? Once you put your digital footprint on the internet, it's almost impossible to erase. Hypothetically if you were accused of abusing a student, having the courts find out that you're friends in the same social networking site is not going to look good for you. It's simply a difficult position to defend and justify. Things will look especially bad if the court orders Facebook to hand over the records of your viewing history in order to see what profiles you had been looking at.

I can honestly see some benefits of being facebook friends with your students. For one, it could increase rapport. Two, it could increase your credibility as someone to be trusted. Three, it could give you an ear to the ground on the going ons in your school. However, rapport and credibility can both be strengthened and increased in other ways. Also, I know enough about what my student's do in their free time without having facebook fill in the gaps for me.

Though I believe it's possible to safely be Facebook friends with your students, it's not something I would recommend for the young teacher. Trying to establish your role and position as an authority figure can be difficult enough without Facebook undermining it. I may change my mind in the future when my temples are shot with grey and I start telling stories about walking to school 15 miles in the snow, but not right now or any time soon.

Brainstorming: The Value of an Error

For most people, solutions to problems don't always make themselves readily apparent. In fact, not even the most gifted individuals hit the mark on the first try every time. After all, to err is human. I've found that individual brainstorming is a great way to generate possible answers. Just write down the first thing that comes to your mind and try not to weed out any of the suggestions mentally. Just let your common sense do that afterwards. Who knows, perhaps you'll find a gem in there yet. Brainstorming isn't just something to do as a teacher, but something to encourage students to do as well.

If we're trying to educate a generation of students who can solve tomorrow's problems, they need to be willing to generate errors, and not just one or two, but many. Brainstorming creates these errors in a relatively safe arena, but these errors aren't failures. There's something to learn from each one. Perhaps one solution lacks the elegance that is needed. Maybe another solution lacks a certain morality. Maybe another solution isn't even addressing the right topic. However, what does the suggested answer bring to the table? Every answer has merit in its own right.

Now, try to bring this brainstorming mentality to the classroom and treat class discussion as a time to brainstorm. Finding value in a student's response can be a tricky situation at times. There's a reason the whole phrase from Alexander Pope, "To err is human; to forgive is divine." It's simply harder to forgive less then perfect answers. Now, the goal isn't to praise every answer, but to acknowledge how it still contributes to the conversation and discussion. Students will provide a multitude of wrong answers, but they can still help point us in the direction of a right answer. It's not easy. It requires patience, a discerning ear, and the ability to just pause for a moment to really take in what was just said. It's easier to just say, "wrong" and call on the next student, but the only thing anyone learns in that situation is to that you need to have the answer the teacher is looking for next time. Evaluation is on the top of Bloom's taxonomy behavior. Knowledge is on the bottom. They're both needed, but let's promote the higher order of thinking.

One of the reasons I'm bringing this whole idea up is that it took me a while to think of a name for this blog. I ran a lot of ideas through my head, but it was only when I sat down and did some brainstorming was I able to really figure out what I wanted. I'm going to go ahead and show my brainstorming list. Some of the possible candidates were just plain bad. Other choices, while clever, didn't reflect the tone I wanted for this blog. Without going on too much more, here's the list of names that could have been.

Unteachable moments.

My students' pupil

Learning from my students

the teacher creature

brain surgery in process

Oh English

Wry education

Those who can't do teach

Reflective education

Audacious Education

Pragmatic Education

The Temerity of Teaching

Who Needs Tenure?

Unlearning how to teach

The teacher's learning curve

Learning the teaching curve

Elegant education

Learning the Unteachable

Irreverent Educator

indelible education

Noninvasive Brain Surgery

The noninvasive brain surgeon

The Educational Investment

evolving education

Sleeping in Class

Tutoring the Teacher

It's ok if you're boring, just don't let your class be

Winter break (Yes, I'm using the Pagan designation instead of Christmas) ends tomorrow and it's back to school for me and my students. I'm frankly looking forward to seeing them and getting back into the swing of teaching. Sure this break has been nice but there's only so much free time one can have without going batty. One of the things I'm really looking forward to is the addition of a projector in my room. Now all we need are VR helmets and we'll be good to go. One of my Truman education professors once said that the goal of class isn't to get the students to have fun, but to get the students at the end of the class period to go, "Wait, where did the time go?" In a sense, class should be engaging over fun, though there is a considerable amount of overlap and exchange between the two.

Due to the number of preps I have and the fact that I'm a first year teacher, I rely heavily on personality over hardcore planning to make the classroom engaging. This isn't to say that I don't plan, but I let my personality pick up the slack where my lesson plan may have yawned it's way through the material.

Of course, let's say that even though you have a passion for education, you're about as exciting as watching a glacier move. There's still something that can be done to make the lesson plan more engaging.

1. Provide opportunities for students to talk to one another about what is being learned.
2. Show connections between the learning material and the real world or other subjects.
3. Make the material applicable to something worthwhile. If you can't explain why what you're learning is in anyway needed or valuable, it's probably not worth teaching.
4. Vary the assessment process. Some students respond better if they're allowed to formulate their response in an artistic manner. I can barely distinguish the ends of a paintbrush let alone draw, but I still try to include artistic homework alternatives for students who are more artistically inclined.
   
5. Learn how to read your class. If they're bored or falling asleep throw a monkey wrench into your lesson plan and try something new. While you may be able to plow on through your planned material, it's not going to make much of a difference if nobody was awake for it. So take a field trip to the library or the gym or outside and on the way try and figure out how you're going to make the lesson work.
6. Use games as a form of engagement. Ripoff all your favorite Parker Brothers and Cable TV shows for the ideas and format. If the material is being learned, who cares if it was framed in a mocked up version of Temptation Island. (I'm not serious of course. You're better off modeling your games off the Bachelor or Joe Millionaire.)
7. Pull another teacher into your classroom to help team teach or share their area of expertise. If the teacher is uncooperative, find another teacher or threaten to give his students Red Bulls and donuts before they go into his class.
   
8. Make use of the internet and youtube for examples or illustrations. Kids love the internet and most of them will know which proxy sites to visit to get around the school filters.
   
9. Don't be afraid to show movies and videos, though it's better if these have to do with the lesson objectives.
10. And finally, if all else fails, frontal lobotomies for your bad students and puppies for your good students. Works like a charm, every time.
    

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

I didn't plan on starting a teaching blog; it just sort of happened. I often found myself writing about my experiences in the classroom as a first year teacher, but I didn't think I had enough material to really fill an entire blog by itself. Boy was that a silly thought. After noticing that my other blog had 1/3 of its posts centered around teaching, I realized it was time to find a more permanent home for my thoughts and reflections on education. I made this realization in November and it is only now in 2008 that I'm actually doing anything about it. I'd like to say that in the meantime, I was planning how this blog would look or what type of topics I would focus on, but to be honest, I just couldn't think of a good name for it. I'm not sure if the current name is the greatest, but it's serviceable and reflects the nature of the writing I plan on doing here. This blog will hopefully focus on my experiences teaching, education news, and perhaps the occasional cool English tidbit. I'm an English teacher if you weren't aware.

Every post prior to this one was imported from my last blog to sort of flesh things out and provide a basis for things. I considered just starting clean, but I thought since this blog grew out of my last one that I should at least respect that growth and transplant some of the structure over to here. Hmm, that makes me sound like more of a new age hippie then I intended.

In any case, the design and layout of the site should hopefully be changing. This is just a template for the moment. I have high expectations of this blog and we'll see if I can attract a readership outside of just a few personal friends.

Empower Your Troublemakers

So here's a quick classroom management/rapport building technique that I use pretty much all the time. Whenever I have an errand to run whether it's delivering a note, making copies, or going to the library, I always ask my more ornery students to do it. Now I don't do this as any sort of punishment. I usually say, "I think I need some copies made." By now my better behaved students are breaking their arms volunteering. Rather than choose one of them though, I'll pick the kid who was late to class and has a problem controlling the volume (and pitch) of his voice. Doing this provides an opportunity for this student to show that they can make productive contributions to the class and prove that they can be trusted. I suppose there may be a slight risk involved, but it's paid off pretty well.

This is just a small way that I can build some rapport with students. When they come back, they're usually better behaved and more attentive for the rest of the class period, which is kind of the point of sending them on the errand. Students learn best when they feel best. I'm not trying to say that this tactic fills them with euphoric joy, but I think it can serve to improve their perception of the class. Students enjoy being given responsibility, especially the ones who aren't given it very much. School isn't just about learning facts from a book. It's about becoming a responsible adult. Students are never going to become responsible adults if they're never given the chance to show that they can be or have the potential to be. I'm offering neither the carrot nor the stick to these students, merely personal choice.

In any case, being able to involve all students in the regular classroom serves as the greatest benefit. Teaching to the top 25% of the class whether that be the top 25% of grades, behavior, or likability is simply irresponsible education. I suppose that's one of my goals for the next semester, involving more of my students. Some of them deliberately make the task more difficult, but I solider on. It's a slow process that requires reflection, flexibility and daily adjustment, but every day is an improvement. By empowering my troublemakers with personal responsibility, I'm one step closer to teaching to the full 100% of my class.

First Semester Reflections

If I had to use one word to describe my teachings these days, it would be rapport. By now, I know my students really well. I know about their families, their likes and dislikes. I know what students can sit by what students. I know which students I can trust to sit by their friends and which ones need to be more isolated. I have developed that really lame term called "with-it-ness" which means you're with it or perhaps I should really call it "Got your shit togetherness." That term is less acceptable in educational fields though.

I don't think I've had to chew a student out for a while now. It took me a few months, but I eventually figured out that it just isn't productive. I've been tempted, but my patience has been increasing. At best chewing a student out will stop a certain behavior, but more often than not, it just shuts a student down. They are physically present, but no longer really there. Also they just resent you for the rest of the class/week/school year/life.

My threshold/tolerance for an acceptable noise level is fairly high during discussion. I try to curb it more when I'm lecturing or giving notes, but discussion time is more free flowing, though I still try to maintain some sort of control over who is talking. Sometimes it's still hard to distinguish between productive discussion and mindless chatter, though I think I'm getting better at it.

I've become much more extemporaneous as the semester has progressed. Sometimes my teacher sense tells that it's time for a change, so I'll halt what we're doing and switch gears. Last week during 7th hour we were reading a book and nobody was really paying attention. We finished the chapter and I said, "Ok, class lets go outside and build a snowman." Building a snowman turned into just having a snowball fight, but I let them throw snow on each other and burn some energy. It was harmless and I was able to see some of my students who aren't as socially adjusted smile and laugh. Afterwards, we went back inside and I tried to get them to write about the experience. Most of their hands were a little bit numb so it took a minute or two.

If something seems like a good idea, I'll most likely go for it. I've stopped class before so we can listen to a song on youtube or I'll find a news article that relates. I know we discussed reflection in action, and while I am doing that, a lot of times I'm just following my intuition as to what might be a good idea. I always have lesson plans, but every so often I'll toss them and try for something different. I suppose that's the beauty of teaching 6 different classes. I don't have to make them the exact same.

Towards the end of the semester I've also been differentiating my assessment for students. I've tried to give students the opportunity to choose their assignments. It's like a choose your own adventure story. Most of the time I'll give them the choice of doing just a pure writing assignment or one that is a bit more creative. The students who "know the game" often choose the writing assignment but the ones who are less confident in their ability to analyze and articulate their response in writing fair much better when there is an artistic element involved.

Next semester, I'd like to set up a few more systems for class management. I already have a homework file. I've found it's easiest to just write down an absent student's name on any worksheet, quiz, or test they miss and stick in in that folder. That way I know they have to make it up. I'm also going to create a bathroom sheet. Some of my students just go to the bathroom every single day. It's somewhat distracting when students are asking to go all the time. Three trips to the bathroom sound reasonable and after that, I'll make them color me a picture or something to get another pass.

There is a possibility that I could be getting a projector for my classroom which would be fantastic. I'm tired of having my students crowd around my computer for videos and music. I like incorporating various mediums into the day to day class so it's been a challenge figuring out how to do that in such a low budget classroom.

I'd also like to make my classrooms even more student directed. A lot of days I give them some sort of say over what kind of work and assessment we do, but sometimes it's just simpler to do it myself. The kids respond better though when they have something to do with it. Also, I am amazed at the amount of thought and effort some students will put into creative projects. Incorporating art and drawing has really helped pull some of my students into the classroom and I'd like to do that more. For me when I have to do a poster project, it's a chore, but some of my students really love it.

I've done an OK job of getting some of my less talkative students engaged in what is going on, but not the best. My system for calling on students is girl-boy-girl-boy when I can help it. At times it feels as though some of my students are being suppressed or ignored at the expense of my more talkative ones.

I'd like to crank up some of my classroom management as well. I've been getting slack with my creative writing class and I'm afraid they've been using that to their advantage and not really working. Creative writing has been my case study of when rapport can be used against you. I'm still the teacher, no matter how laid back the classroom may be.

All in all, it's been a fantastic semester. I've loved teaching these students and I'm looking forward to doing it again next semester. I'm considering where I want to teach next fall and I wouldn't mind sticking around for a few more years.

You Don't Learn Empathy From a Textbook

There are moments when I'm teaching when I can see that there is some good in humanity, that today's youth may provide some hope for the future. Yesterday we had a fire drill during lunch so all the students marched outside in the cold. My plan period is during lunch so I didn't have any students to watch. Being the good teacher that I am, I went outside to supervise and keep order. Most of the kids were pretty wired and bouncing around, but that's to be expected. After a few minutes we got the all clear and the students started to trickle back in.

While we were coming back inside I saw something that made my heart catch in my throat. I'm serious; I could feel the emotion welling up inside me and I had to bite back not to show it. One of my 8th grade students really impressed me that day because instead of running back inside or talking with his other 8th grade friends, he made sure this younger student with arm braces made it back inside the building. He helped her up the hill, opened the door for her and walked her back to her class. He was the only one who bothered to make sure she made it back inside. The girl's teacher sure didn't help and her Para was no where to be seen. Now, I've actually talked about this student before on this blog. He's the student who enjoyed reading this book about a female character, but felt the pressure from his male friends not to show it. He's a pretty normal teenage boy who likes dirt bikes, paint ball, and hunting. But what impresses me is his developed sense of empathy and maturity that you just don't normally expect from a 14 year old boy. He's a good kid. I knew that before, but seeing it in action reminds me what a great job I have.

Today I gave him a gift certificate for a free pizza for good citizenship. He just shrugged and said it was no big deal, but he kind of smiled when I handed it to him because he knew that he had done good and I think it pleased him that someone noticed and recognized that fact. He doesn't brute around the fact that he helps others in need. In fact, I've seen him help other students with homework though he doesn't make a big deal about it. One time, I watched him help a struggling reader read aloud during class by helping to correct some of the words the other student got stuck on. Now I'm not trying to say this student is a saint. He's got a stubborn streak a mile wide sometimes. He likes to talk, but that works both ways since he also participates in class discussion a lot as well. Good kid all and all though. He's going to grow up into mature and well balanced adult.

One of the best things that has happened to me since I've started teaching is that my complete and utter reliance on thinking has given way to an increased ability and willingness to look at the world through feeling and emotion. I'm invested in my students, every single last one of them, even the ones who get under my skin. It's impossible to be invested in your students from a purely analytical and thinking process. I see my students as a community of learners which I'm a part of. It's fun to theorize about best practice and pedagogical methods, but nothing in any of my education courses could prepare me for the human aspect of working with students.
People ask me why would I want to teach. The pay isn't great and the hours are long and hard. The answer is simple. It's because of the students; it'll always be because of the students.

Sexual Orientation: An Important Election Issue

Ok class, how many of you would be willing to vote for a gay president?
(six hands out of twenty go up)

Today during class we had a discussion about how ideas or concepts we aren't used to make us uncomfortable. Somehow we got onto the topic of whether or not people would vote for a woman president. A lot of the class said no, that women were too emotional. I asked the same thing about a black president, and most of the class said no, though there answers weren't very satisfying. It was when I asked whether or not the class would vote for a gay president that things really got noisy.

I was actually pretty horrified at the sentiments expressed. Even if the candidate was otherwise qualified, most of the students would not support him or her because of their sexual orientation. Nobody was able to give a decent answer about what this had to do with being a good president. They all pointed to their religious beliefs. I more or less asked whether or not it was ok to treat these people as subhuman because of their orientation and most of them didn't see a problem with it. After a while I asked whether or not they would vote for someone who committed adultery. They had less of a problem with this then the sexuality issue. What bothers me the most is the attitudes of some of my otherwise normal students. One in particular said that gay people made him so angry that he wanted to punch them in the face. Statements like that frighten me. That's how we have the Matthew Shepard incidents. That's how wars begin. That's how lynchings happen. That's how the Holocaust is allowed to happen.

At the moment, I could care less whether my students appreciate Shakespeare if it meant that they'd be more open and accepting of their fellow man. It's difficult to teach tolerance, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop.