Busy day. I continued my Of Mice and Men discussion with my sophomores, focusing on the value of dreams. In the book, George and Lennie yearn for their own place, where they can live off the fat of the land. It's a pipe dream really, but they find themselves on the verge of realizing their dream when Candy, an old man on his last legs, agrees to throw in with them to buy a place. It's a moment we all dream about, making the impossible possible, but George chokes. He chokes because he never really believed in his dream in the first place. It was just something to talk about when he was feeling sorry for himself.
Pretty depressing, right? Let's flip the script.
As I mentioned yesterday, my club hosted a rap battle this week. Eight contestants signed up last Friday. Of the eight, I knew three, and of those three, one stood out...and not for his verbal dexterity.
He's a goof ball. A nice goof ball. And I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't worried for him.
But he wasn't worried. When he signed up for the contest, he put a crown next to his name. And when I ran into him on Monday, he spit a few rhymes for me. They were pretty good, but I could tell he'd painstakingly written them the night before. Not good.
This was a freestyle battle, which meant you had to think on your feet.
Boy, was I wrong about this kid!
Here's why:
EXT. SCHOOL'S QUAD, RAP BATTLE - DAY
Two MCs square off against each other, GOOF BALL and a KID wearing a BEANIE.
GOOF BALL - You're wearing a beanie cus' you got no hair!
Goof Ball points at the Kid's CROTCH.
Goof Ball - But everyone knows you're also bald down there!
The Crowd goes WILD!
END SCENE
Brilliant stuff? No? Effective? Very. This kid knew his audience (15-18 year olds).
The Goof Ball had a dream. To win the rap battle.
Today we crowned him king.
He didn't choke cus' he was too busy laughing.
And that in a nutshell is why I still like teaching.
Signing off.
Birds-Eye
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