WHY I TEACH-Part 17: The Wild Things

The following morning I got an email from Doug stating my review had been 5 stars and that we were signed up for every VIP event for the next 4 months. I printed the list out and distributed it to the guys at the next FBLA meeting.

“You mean we get to go to all these shows for free?” Terrance asked.

“You get to work all those events,” I replied.

“Like you aren’t shitting me, free?”

“That is such a weird phrase, why would anyone shit another person?” I asked with a smile.

“This is amazing,” another kid said. “What if we can’t work them all?”

“Work the ones you can. We can have from seven to twelve people working the stand at any time, so if you’ve got friends who would like to join, just let me know.”

“Can my girlfriend join?” one of the twins asked.

“FBLA is open to males and females.”

“Sweet!”

I handed out another sheet of paper. “This one is all of the events you can compete in for FBLA. You need to find one that speaks to you and we need to prepare you. There’s everything from tests, projects, and live events like public speaking or job interview, where you roll play interviewing for a job with a judge.”

Lots of staring at the floor and shifting.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you prepared before you have to do anything. I think we should start with public speaking. The normal FBLA public speaking event is four minutes. So just so you know how long that is, I’ll start the timer, please just sit quietly.”

Torture. Silence. Shifting. Forever.

“See that wasn’t so long, was it? They also give you a topic to talk about. So let’s try it out. I’ll set a timer and you just stand in front and talk about anything you want for 30 seconds. Who wants to go first?”

Crickets.

“Terrance, why don’t you go first.”

“What should I talk about?”

“Anything you want.”

“Like what?”

“Why don’t you talk about your favorite food to eat at lunch?”

“I don’t really eat anything in the cafeteria, it’s all disgusting.”

“OK, so talk about that.”

Terrance stood and walked to the front of the classroom.

“Cafeteria food is gross.”

When he didn’t say more I prompted, “You still have 25 seconds.”

“Like really gross. Don’t eat it. I’m pretty sure it’s all dog food.” Terrance stood for another second and then sat down.

“Very good Terrance. Who’s next?”

They all had a chance to stand up and talk and it was painful.

That night, as I listened to Stuart read a story to our youngest child, I had an idea. I filled a box with kids' books and took them to school.

“Alright,” I said to my first period class, “we are going to practice public speaking.”

Groans.

“I’ve brought in some of my children’s favorite books and you are going to stand up and read the book to the class.”

Fewer groans.

“You only have to read for three minutes. Who’s first?”

Crickets.

“OK, so why don’t you all come up and find a book, read it over at your desk, and then we will start presenting in five minutes.”

The kids slowly got up and began riffling through the box of books.

“Wait a minute,” I said as I stepped up to the box, took a handful of books, and spread them out on the table. “OK, now look.”

Amazingly, the kids were actually looking at the books, reading the titles, opening them up.

Smiles, lots of smiles.

Eduardo volunteered first. He had picked Is Your Momma a Llama? As he awkwardly read the story of a llama looking for his momma, the entire class seemed transfixed. When the timer rang, Eduardo set the book down.

“No, keep reading,” a kid called out.

“What happens?” another asked.

Eduardo picked up the book and finished it. When he went to sit down, one of the kids asked him to see the book.

“Can I go next?” Someone volunteered and read the whole book, which took around six minutes.

Then another and another until the bell rang.

“Can we do this again?”

“Yes! We can!”

To my astonishment, the same thing happened in the rest of my classes. Except, by fourth period, word has spread and the kids came in looking for the books to read.

The following day I handed my students a short survey about books in their homes. It was simple with one question. How many books do you have in your home?

The average for all of my classes was .5, as in point five—not even 1 book on average. These kids didn’t grow up with Hop on Pop or If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. There was no Goodnight Moon or Harold and the Purple Crayon adventures. No The Giving Tree or I Love You to the Moon and Back.

Mondays became our public speaking days, where classes of 24 high school students sat around reading children’s books, anxiously awaiting their turn to read to their classmates.