kazu googoo

the lost art of note passing

in middle school i found that the quickest path to being seen as the "sensitive" guy was by joining the girls in their favorite game... note passing. any fellow note passers will understand the inherent risk associated with the practice and that is the interception of said note by the teacher. now that i'm on the other side of the equation, i find myself at a sort of mental crossroads. do i intercept the note? do i simply give a look to the offending student? do i confiscate the note and recycle it? or the worst of all scenarios, do i snag the note and read it to the class?

to the credit of my students (or perhaps my teaching style) the note passing thing hasn't come up in my class. sure i've given a few girls the "cease and desist" look, but it is anything from pandemic. so i was surprised when a note was volunteered onto my desk the friday before spring break. so what secrets would be revealed? what new insight would i have into my students and/or their perception of me and my body odor? well, it seems that the art of note passing is lost on our text messaging generation:

NOTE EXTERIOR:
First Side: "Don't let Anybody Read This!" (covered in green and purple ink in geometric patters.)
Second side: "2: 'Student A' aka 'insert nickname here' Don't let anybody read this please! Heart: 'Student B' aka 'nickname 1' aka 'nickname 2' (this time purple ink with a green shaded background)

okay, so at this point i'm thinking that this is going to get pretty good. the type of stuff that would make a coffee table book like "found" how wrong i was...

NOTE INTERIOR:
"Hey Student A,

I am sort of excited (scribbled out text) for Spring Break! I just am really excited to go to seaside (maybe)! But I am gonna miss 'student C' a lot!(underscored several times) And U and 'student d'! But I probably will be able to see U and 'student D' during Spring Break! But 'student c' probably not but maybe cuz I am gonna ask my mom if I can go see (more scribbled text) a movie with him, U and some other ppl! It would be a lot of fun! Well anyways write back! G2G! Love ya bunches!

P.S. I LOVE 'STUDENT C' (massively underscored)

P.S.S. Call me tonight!

Heart, 'Student B' aka 'nickname 2'

Write Back (underscored)"

So there you have it. Was it just me or were the notes I wrote in middle school so much more relevant? I was writing about starting a school-wide recycling campaign, sending food to Ethiopia, reducing the national debt, and finding a cure for altzheimer's. this seems so trite in contrast.

i hope that pleased the voyeur in you all. at least the spelling was good. i can't say the same for myself.

posted by kazuhank @ 12:12 PM