Saturday, February 17, 2007

Poetry and its consequences - A Rant Pt. 2

Okay. So, to recap, I'm too lazy to recap. Go and read the previous entry, you sloth.
We were all really mad because the Spanish teacher found time for 3F, and gave them choreography and all, but ignored us. "Why???" we asked. Why?

---A note to my parents: The rest of the post basically describes our immature response to the Spanish teacher's treachery, so read it with this in mind: I know it wasn't the thing to do. And our ages vary between 14 and 15, so we got away with it. Sort of. ---

When we got back to our classroom, we were sooooooo angry. For a few minutes we debated amongst ourselves what to do, and then people took their poems, which we all had nicely photocopied and stapled, and ripped them up, scattering the pieces all over the wooden platform that the teachers' desk is on. They took the desk and turned it upside-down, and tossed the teachers' chair on top. "Thanks for your help" was scrawled on the board. Two guys pasted a crumpled page of the poem - the third page, to be exact, the page where disaster struck- on the door, and after another guuy highlighted the paragraph we forgot. Somebody emptied the trash can as well.
We were venting our anger so well, and then the prefect came in and interrupted us.
"Who did this?"
"Everybody!!!"
"Okay. I want one person from each row to clean this up."
Nobody moved.
Enter Math teacher.
"!!!"
Our Math teacher is sensible and actually understands us, so he was all,
"Look, I know how you feel. Yadda yadda, I've got to give you your grades for the bimester, so why don't you all help clean this up? Then you can talk to your Spanish teacher."
He said some other stuff, too (the "yadda yadda" bit), but I forgot what it was. Anyway, it was something that calmed us down, because we all went and tidied up, like obedient little sheep.
Then it was recess, so we went off.
Then we returned to our classroom and messed it up again, preparing it for the Spanish teacher, before going to the Computer room for English.
Once English class was finished, we went back to our classroom, and after a few minutes the Sp. teacher got there, and after a pause entered, picking her way through the sea of ripped-up poetry, before moving more papers aside on the desk, which we left standing this time, and depositing her books on it.
Then she turned around to face us and said,
"I want an explanation, now. Who did this?"
"Everyone."
"Ah!", she said, evidently not believing us, "so, the bad conduct report will be for everyone!"
Duh, what did you think, we think, but instead say "Yes."
"...Oh. ... Well, I don't know what you were trying to tell me with this" she gestures dismissively at the scraps of paper lying at her feet, "but it was very immature of you. I completely disapprove of it. Completely."

She then went through four stages:

1. This was immature of you. Grow up. (no, really. She actually said that. Which is not to say she was wrong, but hey)

2. It was all your fault. (not true! She was the one who didn't want to rehearse, not us)

3. Listen to me talk about how the other groups (namely, 3F and 3C) managed to learn their whole poem, with choreography, and how you should have badgered me, or the Music teacher, to help you; if you had, we would have helped you. (3F and 3C learned their poems because theirs were half as long as the one you picked out for us. And don't pretend you would have helped us, we know better. As for the Music teacher, he already said he wouldn't help us anyomore, and you know that because we told you)

4. Tell me what your arguments are, so I can shoot them down. (Edward Eager once said, "If you're going to argue [...] you want people to line up all their objections at a time; then you can knock them all down at once." Not only did the teacher have us do this, she also interrupted us halfway through each argument, which I find cowardly. Sorry, but it's true)

One guy stood up and said sorry, we were immature, we should have memorized the poem. True.
Then the teacher proceeded to act as if it were all settled and taught us class as if nothing had happened. And she twice interrupted to tell us that she had "No regrets" and did not "feel in the least bit guilty". What a nerve.
After she left, nobody I talked to was quite convinced by her arguments.

This concludes the series.

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