Firecrackers

The Firecracker Man must have come to Vashi. There have been firecrackers, big and small, going off in the streets throughout the evening this week. We passed by two young men setting up a 4-foot long string of little crackers in a courtyard on our way home today. 

Some of them aren't so little, either. Last night we watched a whole haphazard show of large, event-size crackers being launched from the central courtyard of a small apartment complex next to ours. Most of the crackers exploded just barely above the 3-story building. 

I set off some firecrackers in one of my classes today, too. 

I've been trying all kinds of ways to get this particular class to settle down, not interrupt me or each other, raise their hands to speak, and maintain a general civility in the classroom. Well, today I had had enough, and I stopped the loud raucous and made everyone get out their notebooks and write a page-long essay about the meaning of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Then I had each student stand up and read their essay to the class. Definitions they gave never went past "Respect means listening to someone when they're talking" and "Respect means obeying". 

So, I decided to really lay into them, enlightening them to the fact that they obviously have no idea what respect means, because it does not mean to listen, and it certainly does not mean to obey. 

They all took it like the teenagers they are, with a grin and puppy-dog eyes, or else assumed disinterest. They all tried to give apologies, and I just told them that I don't want apologies, because if they haven't learned what it means to be respectful, then I'm the one who's sorry, and I hope they can forgive themselves!! 

Sigh... at least it was the first time I've gotten a room full of teenagers to be completely silent!