Opening Lines

School started at the end of August. At this point, my classes and I have moved beyond the honeymoon phase and we are genuinely getting to know one another. This means that my new students are not so new anymore and they are learning my lines. While I don’t have any students three times this year, I have a handful of seniors twice. Several have already noted that they heard a saying or joke in theatre only to have it repeated in English. I told them that I wasn’t going to charge them extra for that!

The first few weeks of school were plagued by special schedules. We had shortened periods for an extended homeroom, then open house night and later, pep rally. The late arrival day that is usually our Monday schedule first showed up on a Friday! As a consequence, my sense of what would fit in a period was all messed up. In one class, the bell cut off an activity and the kids were wonderfully patient as I quickly tried to tie a bow on it. Although it was only the second week of school, they said as they were leaving, “You forgot to say, ‘Thank you for flying Science Fiction!” They may have been right!

I believe my “thank you for flying” line originated in my Humanities class more than ten years ago. It was a substitute for “class dismissed.” It is disrespectful to stand up and leave in the middle of a discussion, meaningful activity, or a  sentence!  No one will be late in class if we leave the classroom twenty seconds after the bell! “You are dismissed” is not the way I want to end class. I don’t want the class to be abruptly cut off, and I want it to end on a good note. Most of the time, we end with a review of what we’ve done, a preview of what is coming up, and a clarification of the homework. I like “thank you for flying” for because it expresses my gratitude to my students, is an appropriate metaphor, and usually elicits a smile. Let’s end class with a smile.

I want my classrooms to be filled with laughter. I will tell dad jokes and I am silly to set a light and safe tone in class. So I replace “bless  you” or “gesundheit” with “no sneezing.” I smile and make it clear that I am joking. Yes, there is danger in such sarcasm, but I smile and joke after saying this. Perhaps it is a very small lesson in irony.

My students are now very familiar with the opening lines of the song, “Misty.” I don’t sing much of it. I don’t really like the song, but “look at me” is a great way to bring the group together. After we have talked in our pairs, written our journal entries, or finished the small group task, this line is a nice way to get us all looking and listening in one direction. My old Hebrew teacher used to say that he couldn’t hear us unless he had his glasses on. It is true: if all students are looking at me, they are most likely listening, too.

At some point, I was told that a Freudian slip on purpose is called a Floydian slip. I have used several of these throughout the years. “Okay, my vict – students…” is perhaps my oldest. It acknowledges my power as the teacher and lets me make fun of myself a little. I have sometimes accompanied it with the statement that, despite my class, my students go on to lead somewhat normal lives. Well, that’s my line!