Happy Accidents

Not every kid is going to love my class. Obviously. Occasionally, however, something surprising happens. Sometimes an offhand comment pulls in the interest of my toughest cases. For example, today while discussing Christopher Marlowe and Sir Walter Raleigh one of my students (one the ones who "hates" my class) said: "Did you ever think how rich these guys would be now? I mean Shakespeare!"

Me: "Do you mean if they were still alive today after writing their work in the Renaissance or if they were modern writers and writing today?"

Student 1: "I don't know? Does it matter?"

Different Student (2): "I guess it depends on if you think their stuff is that good, that it would sell today."

Student 1: "Did Shakespeare write bad plays?"

Me: "Well not all of them are wonderful. Have you ever heard of Titus Andronicus."

All the Students: "No."

I then proceeded to give them a brief overview of the plot. The reactions were interesting. They were shocked that something like that went on the stage in the Renaissance, completely icked out, and wondering why we don't teach Titus instead of Hamlet.

Eventually we moved back to the day's lesson, but a couple of my boys who hate my class were talking as they walked out the door  and  trying to figure out if they could get copies of Titus our school library.

It was a fun moment.