Spring Semester’s First Discourse

“OK, class. Good morning and welcome back to actual class. You’ve been away for the last three weeks doing fabulous intercession activities like rock climbing, community service and children’s theater. During this time, you were asked to spend 15-30 minutes a day in practice and review of the language you’re studying. By show of hands--and be honest--how many of you actually did this?”

[uncomfortable silence… Then, a half-hearted complaint.]
“Yes, I know I was the only teacher who gave you work over Paideia, but if you’ll remember correctly, I told you that it was a necessary thing. Without the continued habit of daily practice in place, you’re going to have issues keeping up with the faster, more complicated stuff we’re going to see this semester.”

[sniveling…]

“Look, you guys want to be able to do fun stuff, right? You like it when you can really play with the language, don’t you?”

[grudging agreement…]

“You like it when we play. I like it when we play but, if we’re gonna do that, we gotta have stuff to play with and you need to know what to do with it. Make sense?”

[more grudging agreement…]

“All right, so what are you gonna do this week?”

[collective sigh of resignation…]

That’s what I’m sayin’. Dig out your packets…