three easy pieces

1. A junior asked to use the hall pass, explaining that she "really had to go" because "this class has an aura that makes me have to pee." That, or it's just that the air conditioning is off again.

2. From now on, in any debate about civil liberties, the Bespectacled One's pronouncement that "Those who would trade liberty for security deserve neither liberty nor security" will henceforth be known as the Ben Franklin Smackdown.

3. Three latecomers to 11th IB English came up to me with a request to drop the class, whether from a presumed lack of ability, fear of demanding expectations, or the difficulty of completing a summer reading assignment in two short weeks. I refused to sign in each case, telling them to think about it until the end of the period, then talk to me again. Eventually I convinced, no, cajoled all three to stick it out. If that is my only success for the day, that's enough.