The Quote Journal

My theater class is studying medieval theater. Their big project for this unit is to present a mystery play to the class.

Working in groups of three, they have to adapt a script and stage a performance of their play. Right now they're in the writing stage, and they're using class time to brainstorm, write, and rehearse.

The students I have in this class are high achievers, and almost all of them are honors students. They commit to their work, but they do get off task from time to time. Today I walked past one group and one of the girls looked up at me, cut herself off in the middle of her sentence, and said, "But this is not about my bangs. This is about JESUS."

I laid my head down on my desk and laughed until I couldn't breathe. Then I pulled out a new notebook, opened it to the first page, and wrote down what she had said.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Just starting my Quote Journal," I replied.

"Nuh uh."

"Yup," I said, and flipped the cover so she could see where I'd just written the title (QUOTE JOURNAL) with my purple Sharpie.

Other students had begun to pay attention by this point, and they were all excited by the idea of making it into the Quote Journal.

For the rest of the period, they made the most outrageous comments in an effort to see their own words in black and white.

But so far, only one's student's got a quote in the journal. "But this is not about my bangs. This is about JESUS."

I don't know if anyone else can reach that standard.