252/365

they came in today
looking worn and
slightly broken- just after lunch
a thursday, fourth week
of a new school year. no real summer
holiday, not the kind they’re used to
traveling the world, visiting family
italy, lebanon, turkey.

they have the best
corn there, one girl told me last week.
i know. do they dip it in salt water like
they do in iran? we both smiled.
culturally responsive teaching
is mostly just asking questions and lisenting,

but back to the fatigued brigade today.
we were meant to learn about what makes a text
complex, so they could choose books for book clubs,
sweaty and distant eyes, there was no way
we could proceed. we’d set up protocols for
a democratised classroom, so i resisted the urge
to push through with my curricular agenda.

after acknowledging their mood, i asked
what do you want to do?
take a break, lay our heads down, play a game.
we chose a quick game of category splat,
had some laughs, found an inside joke
that made fun of my mistake and we were ready to go.
had a great class- they worked hard. selected their books
and we “got through it all.”

no one likes to be bulldozed
when they are exhausted.