Conversation in class...

Jay: "I know the answer!! I know the answer!!"

Me: "Well, Jay, why don't you share the answer?"

Jay (sitting back in his desk): No, I don't want my group to yell at me. They think I'm an idiot."
(Which is true--they do think he's an idiot, but no one's judging him for it so we're all okay in the knowledge that he is one.)

Ryan: Jay, look around you. Do we look like the type of group that's going to yell?"

Pause as we all look around. I don't know what they see, but I see one 17-year-old boy reclining on a bean bag under a table and ten 17-year-old boys lounging in their desks, heads bent so far forward it almost looks like they're sleeping, mile-long legs stuck out into aisles, candy and pop bottles strewn around their desks, backpacks piled up with mounds of stuff falling out. I think to myself, Oh my God. What a mess this class is. Then I look again and see that they're leaning so far forward because they're looking at textbooks and trying to come up with answers for the review which they are all partaking in to prepare for the test tomorrow. I see that no one is making fun of anyone for stupid answers (and let's face it, there are several). I see the boy in the bean bag hop up every time someone answers to mark a score on the chalkboard. I see that out of their backpacks fall textbooks for my class, free reading books for my class--I see that they came prepared and ready to learn in the best way they know how. I have to respond.

So I pull out my bucket of prizes and ask, "Who wants candy?"