straight from the 'perplex them' school of classroom management

how to (finally) shut the kids up in 7 easy steps:

step 1: put on a film about nazi death camps for jews

step 2: start getting annoyed as the punk kids in the back row laugh at the scene of the nazi whipping a jew

step 3: start tearing up a the scene where the young goldsmith looks through a grimy window and sees the smoke rising from the pits where they are burning the gassed bodies.

step 4: silently fume as madeline and felicity start whispering and giggling together

step 5: tears begin to fall at the scene where a man realises his family has been killed (it's been a tough week...)

step 6: get raging mad when the students start laughing again when a jewish baby dies when its mother accidentally smothers it when trying to hide it from the nazis.

step 7: dramatically halt the video. turn on the lights. face the kids, wiping tears from your eyes and address them in a shaking voice..

oooh, i had them in deathly silence for at least ten minutes as i gave them an emotional lecture on how angry it makes me when ignorant fucks like themselves think they are in a position to laugh at human suffering. went on to elaborate on some specific instances of cruelty, torture and humiliation inflicted on the jewish people by the nazis. i likened the arrogance of the nazis to their own arrogance as students. realised i had perhaps taken it a little far at this point so i told them to get the hell out of my classroom and when they come back on tuesday they had better bring some goddamn respect. they shuffled out looking guilty as sin and didn't say a single word.

those little shits have signed themselves up for 2 weeks worth of empathy based lessons.

i'm sure they are all talking about what a nut job i am right now, but i don't care. that silence was lovely.. i would have danced on it if i wasn't wearing my impractical grown up shoes..