Reasons I’m “Square” (According to my students)

The kids I teach think I’m lame. I suppose this could be true, at least to their teenage brains. I remember thinking all adults in authority were lame when I was a teenager (Rebel, I know). One of my kids called me “Square” one day and they all agreed with her. I was surprised they would use such a tame word to describe me, since “Square” is straight out of Leave It To Beaver or The Brady Bunch. After asking them why they have this opinion of me, I decided to compile a list of some of my favorites.

1. I don’t “turn up”.
2. I’m always correcting people.
3. I’m weird about people borrowing my pens.
4. The music I play in class sometimes is for “old people” and “reminds them of their grandpa”.
5. I have WAY too many legal pads laying around.
6. I refuse to use a wooden pencil.
7. I reference books more than TV shows.
8. I read “way too much”.
9. I have a “friend” who has experienced everything and visited every country.
10. I tell way too many stories.
11. I’m too technical in my explanations.
12. I’m single.
13. I don’t let them sleep in class.
14. We never have a “free day”.
15. I never dance.
16. I confuse them with words like “pedantic”.
17. The sentences and packets I give them for write offs are “way too long”.
18. I drink too much coffee.
19. I talk too fast.
20. My references to things from the 80’s and 90’s make no sense to them.
21. My explanations often begin with “Well, technically…”
22. I’m “too organized”.
23. I clean my board way too much.
24. I make “lame” jokes.
25. I ask way too many questions and give way too much work.

Ahh teenagers.