10 Weird Things While Teaching Comp to 8th Graders

This week I've been teaching composition at a summer program. This voluntary program is tailored for at-risk and low-performing youth and offers mathematics and writing for the soon-to-be 8th graders.

I was in charge of the composition sessions.

Maybe it's the fact that I don't usually work with middle schoolers. Or maybe it's the fact that it's summer in the South Bay in a classroom with no AC. Whatever the reason, these kids did some weird things.

1. One kid threw a water bottle at me while I was writing on the blackboard. When I privately asked him why he did it, he responded, "It just felt right, you know?"
2. One guy took off his shirt during class. Granted it was hot, but undressing? Really? All of guys thought it was weird, but some of the girls thought it was becoming.
   
3. While I was speaking about body paragraphs, one kid, probably unfamiliar with asymmetrical balance of the the college classroom chairs that have hinged tabletops attached, toppled end over end while leaning his desk on two legs. It was hard not to contribute to the raucous laughter.
4. I lost control of the class when I said, "You must end every sentence with a type of punctuation. More often than not, it will be a period." Apparently, the kids very recently learned about feminine biology.
   
5. During my talk about how body paragraphs are like hamburgers, one kid purposefully wiped his forehead with his middle finger. When I look at him in confusion, he nodded his as if to say, "That's right. I'm bad."
   
6. One kid spelled the word essay, "assaey."
   
7. Because my class was right after lunch, one kid left a half-eaten hotdog on the chalkboard tray.
   
8. When I asked if there were any questions regarding the grammar lesson, one kid asked, "What are you?" When I finally decrypted his meaning, I responded, "Half Chinese and half Japanese," and I was greeted with a disgusted face and a "That's weird."
   
9. He may have been joking, but one kid tried to steal my sunglasses.
   
10. One kid asked me to refer to him as "The Time of Times." I'm still not sure what he meant.