Tongue in Cheek

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Should They Walk?

In Wenatchee, a town with a single high school of 2,100 students, the school board will decide whether or not seniors may walk during the graduation ceremony if they have not passed the WASL, the state’s test required for a diploma.

In the state of Washington students must complete and pass the required courses, complete a culminating project, and pass the three sections of the state test (the WASL). If a student does not complete all three of these requirements, a diploma will not be earned.

I think the school board should first decide the purpose of the graduation ceremony. Is it simply an all-inclusive ceremonial function for all seniors, or is the ceremony a recognition of accomplishment involving only those receiving a diploma?

The potential difficulty I see arising is if students may walk during the ceremony without having completing all three requirements, which ones should be waived for ceremony participation? Is the state test the one to be set aside for participation? If so, why not the other two?

Currently, 100 seniors (about 20-25% of the senior class) would not be allowed to walk. This could be embarrassing for the students and the school. I guess we’ll see how serious individual schools and districts are about holding students entirely accountable for their successes and failures.

I hope the Wenatchee school board decides to allow all to participate or only those meeting the graduation requirements.

Lacking Cultural Literacy?

The other day in class I had The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” playing on the stereo, and one of the students asked me “Who screwed up the song?”

At first I was going to laugh, but then I noticed the question was sincere. I realized he was referring to the new Smashmouth version from the film Shrek.

I felt very, very old.

P.S. I heard a rap song using the beat from “Stand By Me,” which is almost as bad as another artist I heard using The Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar.” Ugh!

Cultural Literacy?

The other day in class I had The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” playing on the stereo, and one of the students asked me “Who screwed up the song?”

At first I was going to laugh, but then I noticed the question was sincere. I realized he was referring to the new Smashmouth version from the film Shrek.

I felt very, very old.

P.S. I heard a rap song using the beat from “Stand By Me.” Ugh!

Thesis Papers

At my school we typically teach the standard, 5-paragraph thesis paper. We use the inverted triangle to begin, include quotations in each supporting paragraph, and conclude with the opposite of the introduction–pedestrian, yes, but effective for beginning writers.

I have, as of late, experimented with other types of essay and am now curious what others do.

What do you teach in your school when teaching the thesis paper?