There are many perks to being a teacher: working with hilarious students/colleagues, creating meaningful lessons, seeing students improve, etc.
One specific perk I get every November is participating in Rock and Cole. In the Rock and Cole project, students create their own mixed CD, matching five characters from the novel Touching Spirit Bear to five songs. (The project gets its name from Spirit Bear’s central character, Cole Matthews.) In the days leading up to the in-class concert, students scour book passages and song lyrics to find things that connect. On concert day, each student analyzes another student’s CD, trying to match the characters, songs, traits, and quotes. It’s also a pretty entertaining day, considering the desks are filled with 30-plus CD players, boom boxes, and headphones, and several students rock out as they work.
The best part for me is that I get to listen to all the CDs. New discoveries this year were Three Days Grace’ “Animal I’ve Become,” Shinedown’s “Second Chance,” and Dr. Seuss’ “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” (Somehow I’d never heard the full Seuss song!) Amusing episodes this year included digging out CD batteries that had been pinned in by bread crumbs and watching five CD players fail one poor child. Less amusing episodes included two students trying to deafen me with all-static CDs and hearing Owl City’s “Fireflies” and Daniel Powter’s “Have a Bad Day” twelve times on a continuous loop. So…much…sugar.
In the end, Rock and Cole may not be perfect, but it sure beats grading 125 essays!
Grade: A-
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