Monday, January 07, 2008

New Man

Winter Term began tonight and it's the smallest class I've had in years so all the anti-immigrant folks should be pleased as punch. Call me a sucker but the boy who made my life a living hell spring term is back in my class. He came by three different times last term, with the sad puppy look going, begging me to let him come back. "I am new man" he told me repeatedly. I made it clear that I would kick him out in a heartbeat if he caused any trouble whatsoever and he swore he would be quiet and work hard. He showed up tonight in a fancy embroidered white shirt--a Turkish atonement garment, perhaps--and did his very best to sit quietly and pay attention. It was almost comical to watch him struggle to control his ever-running mouth. I had to remind him to settle down on a couple of occasions but overall I was pleased with his self control. I like "New Man" just fine. Hopefully he'll make it for eleven weeks.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Elisheva Hannah Levin said...

Oh, I am a sucker for happy-ending stories, so I do hope that New Man remains that, and does not morph back into Old Man status!

Happy New Semester! I'm often thought that if I were in charge of holidays we'd have a whole slew of these kinds of greeting.

Anonymous said...

It was wonderful to meet you and your delightful family live and in person yesterday! Good luck with New Man--I'm sure your combination of firmness and fairness will work wonders.