I try to make my classes interesting, appealing, and memorable. Last week this included having the students reenact my 1960s-era elementary school Cold War bomb attack practices, where we students had to crouch up against the walls with our hands clasped together protecting the backs of our necks, while the teachers ran up and down the halls telling at us to get down and stay down. Surely this would help my Texas History students remember that San Antonio has lots of military bases, right? Or maybe they just decided that whatever happened to me back in San Antonio in first and second grade had scarred me for life.
Anyway, after our bomb scare reenactment, we ate sardines. You see, we had read in our health book that sardines are great for your teeth and bones. None of the students had tried sardines before, so I decided to broaden their culinary repertoire, and help them have stronger teeth at the same time. They all had great attitudes and ate them, and we even had to share them with the high schoolers who couldn’t resist coming over to see what we were doing.
