Ode to Cheaters, Crackers, and Strippers..in that order.

Most of my "bonding" moments that I have with my students happen in the cafeteria. It's not surprising. We're just sitting there in a semi-relaxed atmosphere, not worrying about verbs, vocabulary, or culture and quite naturally the conversation drifts to topics far away from lessons learned in the classroom. On this day I was particularly bothered, after just catching KA cheating on her make-up test. She was sitting in the hallway, right across from my door, which I purposely left open so I could keep an eye on her while she took her test. By pure coincidence I happened to look over at her just in time to see her pull out a cheat-sheet from her pocket. I stepped outside, asked for the paper, and politely informed her that she would be receiving a "0" for her test. She responded like most any student would do, she tried to fight it, but to no avail. I invited her back into the classroom to participate in the lesson, to which she replied, "Shut up, you stupid cracker!" As I reached for an office referral form, TH came and told us it was my classes turn to head to the cafeteria for lunch. KA ate hers in the Assistant Principal's office.

While my class was waiting in line, I was sitting at the table reflecting on this when I was slapped back into reality.

"I think I want to be a stripper, Mr. M," said LH, one of my brightest seniors who is already enrolled at DSU for the summer term and has really opened up with me since Christmas.

"Why would you do that," I quizzically asked her.

"Because they make a TON of money, and I need to pay for college."

I said, "You do realize that you would have do dance naked and have dirty old men groping all over you," trying my hardest to dissuade her.

"No, I want to do the whole behind-the-glass-window thing, they won't even be able to touch me."

Realizing that I was going to have to try a bit harder to change her mind, I tried lying to her. "They don't make as much money as you think they do."

She called my bluff. "Mr. M., I got a friend that is a stripper and she told me how much she makes. I could pay for my school stripping on the weekends."

Touche, I thought. "You're willing to drive all the way from Cleveland to Jackson or Memphis on the weekends just for a weekend job as a stripper? That doesn't seem too practical."

She responded unfazed. "Well, I won't really want to strip anywhere near where I go to school."

We talked about it for a little bit longer, and I think I changed her mind...or at least got her to think again. It was just surprising to me that one of the smartest girls in the school was even thinking about becoming a stripper. Nothing against strippers, but LH just doesn't seem to fit the bill. I just thought you needed to be a little more desperate to strip, and she SEEMS like she has things in order. Who knows.