More than a few years ago, a former student returned to school to participate in a special program. Afterward, I gave him a tour of the new sections of the building that were constructed since he graduated, more than fifteen years prior. As we walked around, he quoted the little things I say in class. I was amazed at his memory. I was shocked that many of them I still say and that many of them I had forgotten, even though they came right back when he said them. Most of all, I was surprised at how these little lines stayed with him. More than a decade and a half after class had ended, he remembered my jokes, puns, plays on words, and silly sayings.
This past year, one student had to endure me three times a day. We had Freshman English, Theatre Advisory, and Homeroom together! It wasn’t long until this student began to do impressions of me. In fact, this student began to use my lines at the same time I would start to say them! The poor child got a triple dose of these “Hirschisms,” and shockingly, they stuck!
I suppose we all do this. We have our regular routines: the things we like to say in certain situations. With classroom teachers, however, it is a more complex. I get a fresh set of vict- students every year. Your family will roll their eyes when you use the same line constantly. My students do the same thing, but then new ones come along and I get to start all over! You can’t do that with your family or co-workers!
My lines are not static. Granted, there are a few (or more than a few) that are older than the students in my room, but some fade out and others rotate in. Some are very much connected to specific circumstances: a particular room, course, book, unit, or group of students. Others are timeless and multi-purpose!
For a little while, I have been harvesting my lines, and I made a list of them. I want to explore what they are saying about teaching, learning, my students, and me. They capture an interesting aspect of the experience I share with students. As the new school year begins, I want to think about how these silly sayings shape our experience together.
So, former students out there, what do you remember? What has stuck with you? I have my list but I will give extra credit bonus points if you send me a line that is not on my list. Email me, please!
No, I am not going to write about all of them. That would take far too much time. Some of them look different now than they did then; others are not for publication. Some require too much context and explaining to make sense. There are even a few that baffle me!
Right now, my list has around eighty sayings. That feels both like a lot and like very few. What do you remember? Let me know!
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