Dunce

On This Day In History
1953: Soviets crush antigovernement riots in East Berlin

Quote Of The Day
"It was a revolt that was courageous, spontaneous and supported by all classes of people and is one of the major landmarks of the history of German and European freedom."
(Johannes Rau)

Well that was fun.
After a regular English and Maths lesson, I gave the class the Victorian classroom experience which they requested last week. They can't say I didn't warn them!
First lesson - Religious Education. Rote recital of Psalm 23 five times with full deconstruction heavy on the fire and brimstone.
Second lesson - Maths: Rote recital of the seven and nine times tables forwards and backwards, followed by selected children reciting said tables from memory to the class.
Third lesson - Reading: Rote recital from a Victorian primer, followed by selected children reading out loud at the front of the classroom.
Fourth lesson - History: Rote recital of the kings and queens of England.
Fifth lesson - Handwriting: Rote recital of the alphabet followed by writing first the capital letters A to Z and then the lower case letters A to Z on their whiteboards.
Sixth lesson - Music: Singing the whole of Onward Christian Soldiers five times
Final lesson - Rote reading of The Lord's Prayer five times.

You can imagine their relief when I announced that the Victorian classroom experience was over. We followed up with a very relaxed debriefiing with lots of laughter. They deserved it; I had been calling them by their surnames; they had to stand behind their chair whenever called on to speak and end each utterance with, "Sir." They had to ask for permission to drink water.

No one had to be sent next door to be caned (of course, that wouldn't really have happened, they would have been told by the teacher to pretend theyhad been caned and act crushed upon returning to the classroom.) I never had to make anyone wear the dunce's cap, either. When one child made a few mistakes reciting the seven times table in front of the class I considered making her wear it, but I felt too sorry for. (I know, soft bastard!)

Only one time I almost broke character. When I collected the class from the playground after lunch, one child asked me, "Did you enjoy your lunch break, sir?" I responded, "Your question is irrelevant, girl. I do not waste my time responding to irrelevant questions." Mr. Green, who was standing next to me, whispered, "Who are you? A Victorian teacher or the Borg Collective?" I had to stifle my laugh.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I love my job.

Hard Times