KIDS, what's the matter with KIDS today?!

Two lessons have failed miserably and it is only Tuesday. I assigned my eleventh graders a project. They have to teach, each of them, one fifty minute lesson. (It is really to make them see how it feels) Yesterday one of the presenters was conveniently sick! I was fuming. OF course, like the fly by the moment girl that I am, I had something tentatively prepared, but boy did i let them have it. We read about Presidents Lincoln and Washington and debated on who was the better Prez. Washington won. My ninth graders are also starting to become honory. Ten of them skipped class last Monday. TEN! (The class is only made up of 15 kids!) This Monday I nailed them with a pop test. We brainstormed all the ways that you can say "skipping" in English. There are quite a few: cutting, ditching, missing, playing hooky, being truant, faking sick...My favorite was, "I slept in." "Till three o'clock in the afternoon?! I retorted. One girl Ioana asked me "Nina, If there are so many words for missing class, does that mean that American kids skip a lot?" I told her no. We don't, at least I didn't which probably makes me a nerd. "I liked every moment of class!" I lied. They laughed, and then whined when I gave them their quiz. Revenge is sweet.
To change the subject, I forgot to tell you about my visit last Friday to the soup kitchen. It was a success. I worked handing out care packages for the weekend and I am going again this Friday. The old woman in the kitchen joked that i should be out meeting boys not working in the kitchen. "You will be working in the kitchen long enough, when you are married," they warned me. "What are you talking about," I joked back, "that's what your husband is for." They all snorted and shook their heads. The naive American.