I will give you a couple of situations/comments that I found entertaining during the course of Lecture #1:
1) Dealer #1 is way too cool for school and is surely a lover of the back row seating--it's just too bad that his seat happens to be in the front row, dead center. He is not thrilled and likes to express his "lack of love" all over his face and his demeanor. In my class, this sort of behavior only finds one at the root of most examples and positioned next to me while I am pacing (which also includes long pauses at his desk). I was talking about one of the main reasons why I love biology so much: the subject matter is so cut and dry. There are facts, there is right and wrong, it is black or white. This discussion naturally leads into my decision making processes (vs. Ben's decision making processes and how long it takes him to make a simple decision--because he spends so much time weighing out all of the options--and it drives me nuts! I explained, "I will just pick one option and run with it until it stops working, at which point I will just choose a different option-- more like trial and error." Dealer #1 found this hard to believe... or was just feeling bad for Ben and thought he should stick for him (based on his expression and demeanor, I am going to guess there was little concern for Ben). He speaks up and says, "Alright, if you had to choose between having all of your fingers or all of your toes chopped off, which would you choose?" (WHAT?!?) I tried not to let the gruesome-ness of this question phase me. I said "Well, I would have to think about that." Dealer #1: "Nope, you said you don't think about it--trial and error." Yep, he had me, and yep, he was proud of it. So I struck him/his desk with my papers in hand and told him I did not appreciate his showing me up!! That right there was our turning point for Dealer #1, it was from this point on that he participated in the class discussion with a smile (at least every once in a while).
2) Dealer #2 (and way too cool for school) female that sits next to Dealer #1. She has major attitude that slightly frightens me. We were talking about how we make observations with our senses and someone threw out the sense of smell. So I took a BIG whiff of her desk and asked her if she thought that this was a safe way to smell things in the science lab. Her response, "Nope." I congratulated her on her correct answer and then began showing her what safe smelling techniques are... wafting (waving your hand in front of the object and towards your face). Dealer #2 informed me that I was not even smelling anything. I pointed out that she clearly was not seeing my imaginary unknown substance. To which I made her find an imaginary unknown substance and waft with me. She was hesitant and convinced that I was joking, but after plenty of insistence she realized I was not moving on until she wafted... she wafted... (and even laughed with the rest of the class). Turning point for Dealer #2.
3) I was reviewing with the students/dealers and asking them to tell me some things that they learned today. My favorite answer: "That science is actually fun!" Gold star for her!!
4) A student in my AP Biology got into costume (dressed as a cell) for his Cell Simile Presentation... far exceeding my expectations... and that's how I like it!!
5) "Give me an example of a qualitative observation." Dealer #3 "[Mrs. K] talks really loud!" True fact... I love my subject and just can't contain my excitement!! However, my volume was so loud that former students of mine who are now in Chemistry across the hall came running into my room after class saying, "we knew you were loud but we could hear you clearly behind a closed door!!" ... "Yeah, makes me miss this class!!" Seeing my past students makes me miss them too... I had a pretty good bunch last year!!
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