I didn't get a jersey...it's confirmed

they hate me. During homecoming week it's tradition for varsity football players to ask their favorite teacher to wear their "away" jersey on the Friday of the Big Game. Last year I was asked to wear one, but not this year. It could be that my odds were significantly lower this year because I only have three football players between two classes of seniors. Last year I had about 8 meat-heads per class, and I had three senior classes. So my chances of getting a jersey this year were slim; even so, it still stings a little. And of course all my students ask, "Are you bummed you didn't get a jersey?" To which I love responding (in monotone of course), "Yes. I'm destroyed. I don't know how I'll ever carry on."

Then I got to thinking, am I meaner than last year? It's a tough call because I really, really disliked last year's kids. They were...pretty much evil, but they were smart. They knew how to use their brains (even if it was only to manipulate and berate) and could at least do their work without expecting me to think for them. I can deal with smart and evil. I can NOT deal with apathetic and dumb. I think I kind of scare this year's seniors because I make them think and they know I get frustrated (and sometimes snippy) if they ask me a dumb question. Don't you dare say, "But there is no such thing as a dumb question" to me. That is the stupidest statement/poster ever invented. OF COURSE there are stupid questions. Let me give you a few:

1. We've been reading silently for 5 minutes and someone blurts out, "Are we doing something right now?" (no joke)
2. I'm giving directions or delivering a lecture and someone blurts out, "Can I go to the bathroom?"
3. The agenda is written on the board and someone asks, "What are we doing today?" or "Do we have homework?"
4. We're reading a novel and we're discussing themes or elements of literature when someone asks out of no where, "Can we watch the movie?"
5. I hand out homework or an in-class assignment and someone asks, "Can this be extra credit?"

See? It's possible. I've never had a class that asks so many of these questions as often as my current seniors do. I roll my eyes so much that at this rate they're going to roll out of my head before Winter Break. This alone is probably why they don't like me...no one likes to find out they're stupid.

It's actually quite disconcerting how hard they work to not use their brains. I despair for our future every time I hand out an assignment and a student asks, "Do I need to keep this?"

This is why I run.