So, I chaperoned the prom Friday night. They looked so beautiful and grown-up and unsure of themselves all at the same time. And the lovely colors: acid yellow, lime green, coral, reds, burgundy, pinks, and oranges that do not work on light skin, but that look absolutely gorgeous on coffee and chocolate coloring. The dancing was less questionable than normal and one of my favorite students asked me to dance (I said no). I think he asked just to see what I would say.

It was raining at the end so all of the gentlemen brought around their cars and umbrellas for their dates. I was very proud of them.

One thing I noticed was that not only did the girls have to find unique dresses, they had to have unique hair dos as well. Amazing. A few of my girls went for long hair, others had their hair tightly curled or relaxed and styled. Another thing I noticed was the range of tuxes. Black, white, one brown and some long or with tails, and most matching with their dates.

What was most exciting about this prom was the severe storm that we had experienced just that afternoon. They have now confirmed five tornadoes during that storm and most of my seniors did not have power in their homes as they were preparing for the dance. There are still so many trees down that Jackson Public Schools canceled school today. Miraculously, no one was killed in the storms and with all of the juniors and seniors leaving school early to get ready for the dance, there certainly could have been.

And I now have the day off. Sigh. It is very nice.

A speaker came in to my class yesterday and today and discussed conflict resolution. They could bearly contain themselves during her talk and every once in a while blurted out "That doesn't work!" before I could shush them. As soon as she left, they looked at me like "We'd better be discussing this."

"Why won't it work, guys?"
It just isn't like that. You can't just let someone walk all over you. You gotta stand up for yourself. If they say something, then I'm not responsible for what I do.

"Raise your hand if you have former friends that you still don't talk to because of something that they did?"
five or six
"Raise your hand if it's still weird when you see them at the store."
five or six

"Will some of what Ms. Chancellor said work?"
Maybe a little, but most of it's stupid. Yeah, some. People just don't understand.

"I almost got into a fight once. Wanna hear about it?"
...
I write on board--Get Over It.
"That's the motto I live by, guys. Just don't get offended by it. I either think, 'Do I really care what they think' or 'Maybe they're right. I have been a jerk today.' Either way, I don't have to say something back and it's that 'something back' that starts fights anyway."

"It's probably good that I have a thick skin or I would be constantly offended as a teacher. I have heard 'I hate this class,' 'I hate you!' 'Why don't we have a black teacher!' 'I hate everything and it's because of this class!'"
People actually said that to you? Was it this year?

"There are also times when people are right. That's usually why something hurts us. It's because it's at least partially true. Do you guys find that you're more hurt when it's kind of true?"
Yeah.

"Do you know why I take it? Do you know why I work on hearing them out?"

" I read this quote in Proverbs: 'The fool does not listen to instruction' or basically: 'fools get angry when someone criticises.' I don't want to be a fool, so I hear people out."

"So, wha da ya think?"

I feel rather abandoned by friends on xanga at this point. I have so many who seem to be moving or like me forget to post anymore. I told my sister that I had stopped writing anything: stories, in my journal, on xanga. And she told me that I did write. I wrote tests and speeches and handouts and lesson plans and no wonder I couldn't write anymore.

I went on a blind date on Saturday. My first ever. There was only one false start. 15 minutes before my date should have been there to pick me up, a young man came up our walk. This is him, I thought. He looks slightly stiff and a little nervous. I opened the door and mustered up a very nice, Hello!. And he handed me a pamphlet and asked me to consider voting for Ron Howard. I shut the door and sank down onto the floor. My real date came 15 minutes later. Just on time.