Guest Blogger: Roberto! Michael Jordan's Steakhouse

I loved the food at Michael Jordan's Steakhouse. I really enjoyed the appetizers, and the fish and dessert were great. The service was good, and I'm looking forward to my next visit with the same awesome company!

Is it Friday Yet?

All middle-school teachers have had some version of this experience.

You are in the middle of a dynamic lesson where what you have planned has come alive in a way that you didn’t expect.  The faces of your students are knotted in concentration. The mesmerizing glow of laptops and phones has, for a moment, lost its magic and the devices lie abandoned in pockets and book bags.  Hands shoot into the air as students wait patiently (and not so patiently) to speak.    

In the back of the classroom you see someone slowly lift her arm.  She is slumped down into her chair with her meticulously highlighted hair fanning out against the whiteboard.  Her down jacket is zipped halfway up as if she hasn’t decided if she is going to go or stay.  Her very posture communicates a subtle, yet stylish, distain for your class, or the idea of school in general . . . the distinction really doesn’t matter.

As is often the case, this is a student who has strong skills, but for whatever reason, has been disconnected from your lessons.  Until now she has been immune to all of your usual tricks to get students to care about literary devices or the factors leading to The Civil War.    Humor is met with a smirk, flattery goes ignored, and disappointed sighs do not penetrate her diamond-studded ears.

But there is her hand. You wait a moment before acknowledging it for fear that she is just stretching.  Finally, you call on her; excited that she may have finally connected.  Thrilled that she may, at long last, be interested in something that you are talking about.  You say her name, imagining future classes where she earns perfect scores on quizzes and completes extra credit projects just because she wants to.  You wait for her to speak, practically holding your breath in anticipation, and she says.

“Can I go to the bathroom?”