Tomorrow, here on Guam, is Thanksgiving Day. I had my sophomores read Civil Peace, a story about life in one of the war torn countries in Africa. The main character comes out of the war with only his wife, three of his four children, and a bicycle that he hid from the army. He finds that his little home is mostly still there and he is able to get it repaired with the money he earns using his bicycle as a taxi. In the story's climax they are robbed of all their money by gun toting thugs. He meekly surrenders the money and goes on with his life as if nothing happened.

The other story I had them read was Uprooting a Japanese American Family, a story of the west coast relocation camps during WWII. The main characters are a simple middle class American family who had the misfortune to be descended from Japanese. Everything was taken from them and in one fell swoop they end up living in a stall in a stable at a race track with only the clothes they could pack in the five minutes they were given to evacuate.

My intention, at this time of the year, was to make the kids appreciate their lives a little more by showing them how little others have and how quickly their comfortable life can be taken away from them. My efforts were a dismal failure.

The posters were, one and all, variations on the same theme. They love their parents, God, their friends, their sport, etc., etc. I had them present their posters and asked each of them if the poster would be different if they had never read the stories. To a student they each declared the stories had no impact on them at all. I finally started asking them what would be on the poster if they were the main character in either of the stories. They couldn't see the answer. I had to point out to them that their poster would be blank with only a few exceptions (God mostly). It didn't faze them at all.

This group of kids has to be the most superficial, uninteresting, self-centered group of kids I have ever encountered. If there is something new in the classroom they expect I will tell them before I tell anybody else. If I am in conversation with another student they barge up and begin talking to me as if nobody else is around. If I have one small food item in sight they expect I will give it to them. It is quite depressing. It's as if they never had to live through the 'terrible twos'.

Yesterday I took my bones to school and rattled them a little during home room. The students showed absolutely no interest in them. Today we had a pep rally and each team and each division in the school had their own cheer. The faculty also had a cheer so I took my 'storm' whistle and my loudest set of bones.

As we strode out into the middle of the floor I heard a chanting sound from the juniors seated on the floor. It turned out they were chanting "Burn-AM, Burn-AM". I blew my whistle and rattled my bones and we did our two cheers. Somebody made the mistake of handing me a bullhorn. I used that to trot out a growling yell. I was quite busy.

Later we reassembled in our home rooms and I had four guys wanting me to show them how to rattle the bones. It seems they finally realized the bones could fit into their hip-hop rhythms and that they are easy to make.

My juniors are reading Huckleberry Finn. I have assigned a project that can be either physical or academic. I have required them to submit a project description and follow that up with the actual project. They will have to conform to the description exactly. I want them to plan the project, not try to whip it out on the evening before it's due.

Many of the students want to build models of Huck's raft. Their interest cooled a bit when I explained that the model had to be to scale. I had to teach the meaning of scale several times. Yesterday I received the first project. It was a poster of Huck and Jim and the theme was the superstition used in the story. The two students did a great job. The poster is very colorful and right on the money but Huck has been translated into an anime character with the huge Japanese eyes.

I had to explain several times that the 'underground railroad' was not a subway system used to transport slaves north to freedom. A few of the students wanted to create posters that showed the rail lines used and asked where they could find maps show the routes used.

One young lady will be producing a model of the raft made out of Rice Krispies treats.

One group (I am allowing teams) wants to film the first half of the book. They will not listen to me when I explain they've bitten off more than they will be able to chew. I'm looking forward to seeing that when they finish it.

Next week will be very interesting.

Happy Thanksgiving all. I hope you enjoy your turkey or whatever you eat for the holiday. I was intending on baloney sandwiches but Wakana says we are going to someone's house for a real meal. Sigh. I guess I'll have baloney for Christmas.