2019-12-11 【Aiden in English】 “Alright class, settle down. Everyone pretzels legs. Zip those lips and hands-on-hips!” Mrs. Cowler breathed an exasperated sigh. I could almost see gray hairs sprouting from her head like weeds in the school garden. “Alright class, today we will be reading The Three Little Piggies…” She paused, waiting for a reaction. The class was silent. “...or we can read The Tortoise and the Hare… or The Lion and the Mouse. The choice is yours.”
“I want to read the Turtle and Bunny one!” “No no no, the piggies!” “Let’s read all three.” “Yeah yeah, all three!” “All three, all three, all three…!” A kid farted in the back. Everyone giggled.
“Students of Littlewood Elementary School! You are third graders, not preschoolers anymore! Grow. Up. Trevor, please use the restroom if you need to do that again.”
I smirked. Mrs. Cowler was funny when she got mad. Her face looked like a tomato.
Mrs. Cowler gave a ‘kids these days’ look towards me and the two other high school helpers sitting in the back of the library. “Alright, class! Let’s begin.”
She flips to the first story of a massive book of compiled children’s tales. “Alright class, it seems like we will be reading about three piggies first. Yay who’s excited…” Her feigned enthusiasm fell flat.
“Once upon a time, there were three little piggies...”
Having heard the story a dozen times, I dozed off.
I awoke to a smattering of applause. “Perfect timing,” my friend Tom whispered.
Mrs. Cowler, once a gray smudge, now beamed with satisfaction. That’s how it’s done, she seemed to say. “So who liked the story?”
“Meeeeeeee.” “I did, Mrs. Cowler.” “Oh my gosh, I loved it!” “I thought the story was stupid.”
It was the class comedian. Mrs. Cowler rolled her eyes. “Trevor, that is not a nice thing to say- hey get out from under there!”
Trevor, a skinny kid donning an undersized t-shirt, lay sprawled out under one of the tables, his belly button uncovered. His little friend Posse was giggling in fits.
“Mrs. Cowler, why does the wolf not eat the piggies?”
“Well, Trevor, if you were listening, you would know what happened.”
“I was listening, Mrs. Cowler. But why does the wolf not eat the piggies?”
“Because they built a brick house that the wolf couldn’t blow down. See class? This is why you should pa-”
“But Mrs. Cowler, why didn’t Wolf just wait outside the house for them to come out?”
“Trevor, do not interrupt others wh-”
“But why didn’t the wolf just wait outside the house until they starved?” Trevor sat up and pulled down his shirt. “The wolf is so stupid.”
Mrs. Cowler scowled. “Trevor, it isn’t nice to call anyone stupid. It hurts their feelings. I’m sorry, Trevor, but I’m going to have to write you up. Your behavior is just unacceptable. We might need to schedule a parent conference as well.”
Trevor deflated. His mouth did not open for the rest of the storytime.
Dismissed for lunch, the kids trampled out of the library.
“Please don’t run!” Mrs. Cowler shouted as she walked to the back of the library. “I am unbelievably sorry for today. Trevor’s behavior was completely unacceptable, but as you can see, some strong words can curb poor behavior. And of course, we will need to enforce a class policy that discourages misconduct like that, you know what I mean?”
The three of us nodded.
Mrs. Cowler continued. “So essentially, some discipline now allows the class to run smoother next time, and I find that children actually do remain well-mannered for a period of time after discipline.”
We nodded again. “He seemed to shut up, alright…” Tom whispered in my ear. Mrs. Cowler left us our report logs.
Date. December Twelfth.
Time. One thirty.
Event. In-class storytime.
Description. The teacher read three piggies’ tales to the class.
Takeaways. …
“Hey Tom, whatcha putting for takeaways.”
“Punishment works, I guess. How ‘bout you?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Alright then… I’m gonna put down something 'bout how punishment shuts obnoxious kids up.”
“Agreed.”
But as I went to write, I couldn’t help but pause and reflect. “Tom, the wolf probably could’ve waited outside, right?”
“Well, yeah, but that’s not the point.”
“Then what is the point? To listen mindlessly to an old lady mumble some bogus fairy tale with pictures?”
“Jesus Aiden, chill.”
The library door squeaked open and Trevor entered. He plodded to the middle of the reading space and casually asked (to no one in particular), “Any of y’all see a gray jacket?”
I responded, “Nah I didn’t see one.”
“Oh.” He spun around and trudged towards the entrance. His shoulders slumped.
“Hey, Trevor!” I called out, “Hey, keep up the good thinking. I like your style.”
“Thank you.” He left.
Tom turned. “What was that?”
“I felt bad because his creativity was unappreciated. Had to show some love.”
Besides, I thought, life only gets more stressful from here. If kids can’t express themselves now, they never will.
“Aiden, you’re weird.”
“Ok, let’s just finish our log entries please.”
After some thought, I finally decided on something short and simple. Takeaways. There’s a big difference between discipline and oppression. 【红霞译文】
“同学们，开始上课，每位同学要盘好腿、闭上嘴、背起手。” 考勒太太呼哧带喘地说，我差不多一眼就能看到她头上支楞的白发，宛若校园杂草一般。
“同学们，今天我们阅读《三只小猪》……”她有意停顿少许，静候课堂反应，大家沉默无声，“……或者《乌龟与兔子》……或者《狮子与老鼠》,你们自己决定。”
“我想看《乌龟与兔子》那本书！”“不不不，小猪！”“三本书一起。”“对对，全部三本！”“三本，三本，三本……”后面传来一声屁响，逗得大家哄堂大笑。
“木头小学的同学们！你们已是三年级的学生，不是学龄前儿童！川儿，站起来，如果你需要再来一遍，请到厕所去。” 我得意地笑着，考勒太太生气时挺有意思，脸像个西红柿。 考勒太太用看待《当代少年》的表情瞅了我一眼，两位高中生助教坐在图书馆后排。“同学们！开始上课。” 她翻到大厚本童话集锦第一个故事，“同学们,看来大家得先读三只小猪。吔，谁开心……”她收起强装兴奋的表情。 “从前，有三只小猪……” 已经听过这个故事十多遍，我忍不住打起盹来。 鼓掌声把我吵醒。“恰到好处”，朋友汤姆低声说道。
考勒太太刚才情绪低落，现在得意起来，她好像在问：“那么有谁喜欢这个故事？” “我——”“我喜欢，考勒太太。”“天哪，棒极了！”“我觉得故事编得太蠢。”
原来是班上那位活宝，考勒太太翻了个白眼：“川儿，话可不好这么说—嘿，爬出来！”
川儿干瘦，身穿小T恤，正四仰八叉躺在一张桌子下面，还露着肚脐，他的那帮狐朋狗友哑然失笑。 “考勒太太，怎么狼不吃小猪？” “哦，川儿，如果你听讲，就知道来龙去脉。” “我在听，考勒太太，但狼干吗不吃小猪？” “因为小猪盖的砖房狼吹不动，大家懂吗？这正是为什么你们应该参—” “但是考勒太太，狼何不守在门外等它们出来呢？” “川儿，不要打断别人问—”
“但是狼为啥不呆在房外等它们饿死？”川儿坐起来，朝下拽了拽衣服：“狼真蠢。”
考勒太太紧皱眉头：“川儿，说人傻不礼貌，这样有伤感情。对不起，川儿，我不得不记下你的名字，你的行为实在让人无法接受，我们可能还要开一次家长会。” 川儿一下子蔫了，后面的故事会他一言未发。 午饭下课时间，同学们连蹦带跳离开了图书馆。
“请别乱跑！” 考勒太太走到图书馆后面喊道：“今天我甚感抱歉，川儿的举止无法容忍，但忠言逆耳利于行，这一点大家有目共睹。当然，我们需要强化班级规章制度，以防此类劣行再度发生，你们听懂我说的意思吧？” 三位同学点头。 考勒太太继续说：“所以从本质上讲，当下严明纪律有助于日后教学秩序，我发现孩子们会听话一阵子。” 大家再次点头。“他好像哑巴了，真的假的……”汤姆在我耳边轻声嘀咕，考勒太太让我们填写报告表。 日期：十二月十二号。 时间：1:30 事件：课堂故事会 说明：老师在班上朗读三只小猪的故事 课外作业…… “嗨汤姆，留神课外作业。” “我认为是惩罚作业，你觉得呢？” “说不好。” “既然如此……我准备写惩罚如何让淘气包变乖。” “同意。”
可一旦动笔，我禁不住陷入沉思：“汤姆，狼大概不会在门外守株待兔，对不？” “是呵，但这不是重点。” “那么重点是什么？漫不经心地听取老太婆唠叨胡编乱造的童话图书？” “亲爱的儿歌，冷静。”
图书馆门吱嘎一声打开，川儿走了进来。他步履沉重地走到阅读区中间张口问道（并没针对任何人）：“有谁看见灰色外套吗？” 我回应说：“没有，我没看见。” “嗯。” 他原地兜了一圈，转身朝门口走去，肩膀朝下耷拉着。 “嘿，川儿！”我大声喊道：“嘿，保持良好思维，我喜欢你的风格。” “谢谢。”川儿离去。
汤姆转向我：“什么意思？” “我挺遗憾，因为没人赏识他的想象力，想给点安慰。”
另外，我觉得从此以后学习压力会日趋强化，如果孩子们现在不能表达自己的思想，那么将来也永远不能。 “儿歌，你真轴。” “好吧，先填完报告表再说”
斟酌片刻，我终于决定简短一些。 至于课后作业，纪律与强压之间区别极大。
Today in History(历史上的今天): 2013: Muscat Fortress, Oman(阿曼马斯喀特要塞风貌) 
Volleyball Gathering @ Montgomery Twp Community & Rec Ctr (蒙哥马利镇社区娱乐中心·排球较量 10-11-2019) Crosslinks(相关博文):
11th Grade Flash Story—Storytime(小小说—故事会) 10th Grade Short Story─Born from Blood(短篇小说─本能)
9th Grade Flash Story─Splash in a River(小小说─玉花飞溅) 9th Grade Short Story─Reunion(高一短篇小说─相逢) 8th Grade Flash Story─My Glory to Your Honor(初三小小说─为你骄傲) 8th Grade Flash Story─Sleep is Bliss(初三小小说─能睡是福) 6th Grade Flash Story─Crisis on Mulberry Street(初一小小说─桑树街危机) 3rd Grade Flash Story─Halloween(三年级小小说─万圣节) 11th Grade(高中三年级)
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