Student Highlight: D

I'd like to introduce you to D. A sweet, young, harworking student, D usually never says more than he needs to, and is perhaps my most innocent student. While sharing his Thanksgiving experiences, he perhaps said a bit too much...


"We got up at 5 to cook the turkey at my aunt's house. And my mom cooked the turkey and then we ate the turkey and the bones. It was a big turkey, and there was a bunch of other food. We ate it all! Then my mom got drunk."

The classics

When addressing a student in my school, they are (it seems) required to respond with one of the following (accompanied by translation):


"You VIOLATIN' !" (You are insulting me.)


"No he di-ant!" (No he did not!)


"You trippin!" (You must be mistaken.)


"Dat's grimy" (That is disagreeable)


"I'm TIGHT" (I honestly don't know what this one means)


"You TIGHT" (Still don't know what it means)


As a general rule, the addition of the word "Son" the the end of these responses would also be appropriate.

Kids say the darndest things

While walking home to my apartment, I overheard this gem near the neighboring middle school:


"Well yeah I've seen a DICK before."

Be a man

Advisory is a class for every new sixth grader in the school. The teachers of advisory are supposed to help students become organized, learn life skills, and build a better school community. I felt that one particular topic that needed to be addressed was what defines a man. A, who can only be described as a 40 year old man trapped in a 4' 5" sixth graders body, felt that being a man was a rather complex affair:

"To be a man, you have to grow up, and have a car. And you need a job, and a pretty girl. A house too, and kids. And you have to put the food on the table."