REJOICE! IT’S ENGLISH CLASS!

(written December 2006; revised June 2009)

This morning I’m wondering if my students might actually sometimes rejoice during my class. Admittedly it seems a little far-fetched to think of anyone actually rejoicing during English class, but maybe it’s possible. After all, the word simply means “being happy ”, and I surely do hope my students feel happy at least occasionally during my classes. I hope they have a smile on their faces at least some of the time they're with me. Perhaps this is not as implausible as it may at first seem. Maybe my students can rejoice in my class simply because they feel satsified -- satisfied that things in Mr. Salsich’s English class are the way they should be, and that respectable feats are accomplished. My class is not a playground nor an amusement park nor a place where kids can throw up their arms and dance, but perhaps it’s a place where they can feel fulfilled because something good and right is happening. That might be worth rejoicing about. Today I’ll keep a close watch on how often my students smile. I’ll do a “smile survey”, and maybe I’ll be convinced that the kids are, in fact, doing a reasonable amount of cheering as we go through our lessons. They won’t be jumping around with glee, but they might be feeling quietly contented that Room 2 is not a bad place to be. That could be cause for at least some reserved rejoicing.