Hog-Doggin' It

I picked up the University of Alabama's campus paper, The Crimson White after a long day of taking on the 7th graders, and was appalled to find this article. I had never even heard of a "hog-dog rodeo." Ugh! I thought stuff like that was what people who sterotyped people from Alabama as being backwards and ignorant made up in the telling of some sort of redneck joke. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. My, my.

Anyway, last night was the McNair Scholars Program Spring recognition program. My mom and brother and a friend from church came--it was really nice. The main thing was that our articles were finally published, and they presented a copy to each of the scholars. It felt so good to flip through and find mine in there, in print at last! I won't even go into the hours of research, transcribing, translating, writing, rewriting, listening to tapes, etc. that it took to form a final product. It was a nice little affair (although the main speaker's presentation sort of took a detour into a political diatribe--uh, oh), and gave me a chance to get really dressed up and have a good time.

Next week will be the last week of student-teaching, and the week after that--"Pomp and Circumstance" will be playing softly in the background as I march up there, snatch up that diploma, and give President Witt a high-five saying,"See yaaaaa!"

Oh, one more thing. There's a student in my 6th period who I just know has potential. I can tell that he is extremely intelligent. But he has a little image to uphold, gets into trouble because of his attitude, and doesn't do his work. This is not by any means excusable behavior, but I can tell he's bored. He's not being challenged. Sometimes the expectations we have of students directly affects their performance. No, not sometimes, it's a fact that it does all the time. Educational research has proven it. I wrote him a note today while they were watching a film. I bascially told him that he is an extremely intelligent young man and that I know he can do better. I said that I can tell he's bored in class and needs something to challenge him. I also said that he needs to at least try. He needs to put forth his best effort. I proposed to him that I find him some interesting books to read or some material that would interest him (I have this crazy idea of getting him into Harlem Renaissance Lit), and lastly I let him know that if he ever needs help with anything, he could always come to me. "Sincerely, Miss Smith," I signed it. When the bell rang, I gave him the note and said,"Keep this and read it when you get home." He looked at me, took it, and gave a funny sort of half-smile. I wonder if he'll read it and what he'll think. Will he take me up on my offer? As my mom always says, we shall see.