Ah the Joys of Teaching

I love teaching really. There are many many things I thrive on. I'm never bored for one. Also being responsible for others usually snaps me out of whatever funk I'm in. Sometimes I just really enjoy teenagers. (Crazy, I know.)

Our electives often focus on either sports or creative activities. My Tuesday/Thursday elective is Jewelry Making and Metal Working. Today, in my elective, there was a lot of chatter. It's been a tense couple of weeks and the side chatter was a little out of hand. Most of it was benign, but part of my job is safeguarding the privacy of the students and keeping gossip in check on school grounds. After several general warnings to limit side conversations that were collectively impeding my co teacher, I said to one of the primary instigators of random conversation:

"Jeez, you really can't not talk today, can you?"

He turned to me and with a big grin said triumphantly, "Is that a challenge?"

I looked at him for a long moment, blinked once, and said, "yes."

I love teenagers, especially smart ones. I could see the message from some part of his brain teletyping one vitally important update to another part of his brain. The message read, "oops!" The look on his face was virtually indescribable.

So there he sits, in a jewelry class, silent. The low buzz of conversation continues around him. However, one of his peers had the only pair of high strength cutters in the room that he really needed to complete his project; she was also very focused on riveting two pieces of metal together. 

Very focused.

There he sits, silent. He waves at her. He taps his foot. He tried banging the desk and ripping up pieces of paper. Somewhere around the time he starts desperately looking for a pen, I start giggling. I couldn't help it. Here's a kid, who I really appreciate and enjoy, but I know he'd really like to "win" a round against me.

Unfortunately, my giggles draw the attention of the rest of the class. So soon there are six pairs of extra eyes watching this kid trying to to get the attention of a very focused other kid. There is a whole side conversation going on between two girls about my "evil laughs" and when it's time to run. 

Two and a half minutes later, in a voice way too loud: "Can I have the cutters please?"

The other student, "yeah sure, here." She didn't even look up.

The whole room erupts in gales of laughter.

My student looks at me. I'm sure I'm grinning like a fool. "Yeah, yeah. You win," he says, but he's smiling.

I love teenagers.