Honest Conversations
My second hour speech class talked a lot. They moved around a lot. They needed music going all the time. They demanded my attention--good or bad. They wanted me to notice them, to talk to them, to like them. Many of them didn't get those things from other people teachers. One of our last days of class together, as they put finishing touches on their "Commencement Addresses", some of us got involved in a conversation about teachers and school. A very honest conversation. Most of them hate school and can't wait to "get out of here". They hate homework, boring classes, and lectures. When I asked them when was the last time they liked school, they told me elementary school (except for Mr. Cocky Wrestler, who told me he never liked school). Their teachers were nice and the work was easy. According to them, that changes in about fifth grade. In our district, that's the year they begin switching classes and teachers--and evidently, the work gets ha