This morning before classes started I had a lot of tech to fuss with because of a guest speaker Skyping in (which was great), and my kids and I were late getting out of the house this morning (which wasn’t great but wasn’t too bad either), and there was just a lot of stuff to do and people to talk to and things to deal with, and so the long and short of things was that by five minutes before class started, I still hadn’t gotten any breakfast.
That’s not good, especially since I wasn’t going to get a break until lunch.
My students told me, “Go get some breakfast!” It was Waffle Wednesday in the cafeteria, my favorite. My very favorite. The only breakfast I love.
I’d like to get some breakfast.
“We can start class ourselves. Go get some food!”
I thought about it. Okay, sure, you probably can. Here’s what I want you to do. Yesterday each of you wrote about one of five analysis questions. Find the others who had your question and talk about what you came up with. When I get back, each group will present their analyses to the class. Sound good?
“Yes, go eat! Get a waffle! Don’t skip the whipped cream!”
Oh, don’t worry, I never skip the whipped cream on anything.
I went. Got a waffle. With whipped cream. When I came back ten minutes later, they were all doing just as they were supposed to. I sat down and ate my waffle while they regaled me with some really good ideas about the stuff we’re reading and the moral questions it poses and how those themes relate to other elements of our culture.
Sometimes, my students are the best.
Sappho's Torque 
Ohhh… tell your class I wish I had gotten waffles too.
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Definitely. The waffles are the best! They’re large and shaped like Texas, which is ridiculous, but they are SOOOOO YUMMY.
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Shaped like Texas? That’s awesome.
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Indeed it is, because they are large and fluffy. They are best with butter, syrup, and whipped cream, although some people like to put strawberries or blueberries on them. We have a waffle bar on Wednesdays. Tuesdays and Thursdays we have an extremely well stocked omelette bar. The only problem is how long it takes to make them, even with four going at once. The line before school is just so long, you see.
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Moral: If all teachers quit their jobs and let the students teach themselves, everything would be fine.
😀
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Oh, you anarchist, you… 😉
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Well just think about it. The logical extension of what you just did is to leave them alone more. 🙂
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