Thursday, January 8, 2009

A Sonnet, or Why I Like Teaching

I've complained about teaching before, but sometimes it is a real joy.

Occassionally, a student will turn in something like this (reprinted with permission):

A Sonnet

It's hard to concentrate on my homework
with all the things stressing me out right now.
My sister's in my ear, going berserk
and I'm so hungry I could eat a cow.
The chair I'm sitting in feels like a rock
and I still have some calculus to do.
My Facebook friends keep urging me to talk.
[Sister's] shooting Nerf darts at me too.
Seriously this homework really sucks!
I want an ice cream sundae, right now please!
I'm thinking hard but I keep getting stuck.
All of this stress is weighing down on me.
And worst of all, when I'm done with this here,
Mr. Polson's making us read Shakespeare.

Ah, assignments like this warm the cockles of my heart.

8 comments:

Jamie Eyberg said...

that put a smile on my face. :)

Rebecca Nazar said...

Brilliant. I tutor high school dropouts, prepping them for the GED. Man, when I find that poem or essay topic that sparks their imaginations, there's nothing more satisfying.

Anonymous said...

Okay, so, as a teacher...please explain to me the allure of Shakespeare. I never liked the man...

K.C. Shaw said...

I love it!

And dude, I'm so glad you're making them read Shakespeare. :)

Aaron Polson said...

Barry - it's simple: the dirty parts. Shakespeare is naughty.

That, and the language. I wouldn't like it as much if I didn't teach it...the language is just wonderful.

You want horror? Read some of the speeches from Macbeth or Hamlet.

Mostly, it's the naughty parts.

Rebecca Nazar said...

Yup, yup, naughty bits.

Katey said...

Whoa, that's totally cockle-warming! Hahaha!

Naughty parts though, I totally agree. And Hamlet is hilariously frightening.

BT said...

Very cool.

I have seriously been considering swapping my vocation to become a teacher of English. An opportunity to work with young minds, do lots of writing practice, read Shakespeare, have plenty of holidays at the same time as my kids so I don't have to figure out vacation care stuff for them - where's the down side?

Reading Shakespeare in high school opened a whole new world for me. I absolutely fell in love with the classics then. Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, King Lear - love them still.