2019-12-11 【Aiden in English】
"Alright, class, settle down. Everyone pretzels their 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 read The Three Little Pigs." She paused, waiting for a reaction. The class was silent. "… 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 the two other high school helpers sitting in the back of the library and me. "Alright, class! Let's begin." She flips to the first story of a massive book of compiled children's tales. "Alright, class. We will be reading about three piggies first. Yay, who's excited…" Her feigned enthusiasm falls flat. "Once upon a time, there were three little piggies…" Having heard the story a dozen times, I drifted off to sleep. 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 nice 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 and starts. "Mrs. Cowler, why does the wolf not eat the piggies?" "Trevor, if you were listening, you would know what happened." "I was listening, Mrs. Cowler. But why does the wolf not eat the piggies?" "The wolf couldn't blow down the house because they built a brick house. 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 his shirt down. "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 must write you up. Your behavior is just unacceptable. We might need to schedule a parent conference as well." Trevor deflated. His mouth remained closed 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 smoothly next time, and I find that children remain well-mannered for some 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 tales about the Three Pigs 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 will never be able to do so. "Aiden, you're weird." "Ok, let's just finish our log entries, please." After some thought, I finally decided on something short and straightforward. Takeaways. There’s a big difference between discipline and oppression. “No…” “No?” “Santa’s never going to be here.” 【紅霞譯】
“同學們，開始上課，每位同學要盤好腿、閉上嘴、背起手。” 考勒太太呼哧帶喘地說，我差不多一眼就能看到她頭上支楞的白髮，宛若校園雜草一般。
“同學們，今天我們閱讀《三隻小豬》……”她有意停頓少許，靜候課堂反應，大家沉默無聲，“……或者《烏龜與兔子》……或者《獅子與老鼠》,你們自己決定。”
“我想看《烏龜與兔子》那本書！”“不不不，小豬！”“三本書一起。”“對對，全部三本！”“三本，三本，三本……”後面傳來一聲屁響，逗得大家哄堂大笑。
“木頭小學的同學們！你們已是三年級的學生，不是學齡前兒童！川兒，站起來，如果你需要再來一遍，請到廁所去。” 我得意地笑着，考勒太太生氣時挺有意思，臉像個西紅柿。 考勒太太用看待《當代少年》的表情瞅了我一眼，兩位高中生助教坐在圖書館後排。“同學們！開始上課。” 她翻到大厚本童話集錦第一個故事，“同學們,看來大家得先讀三隻小豬。吔，誰開心……”她收起強裝興奮的表情。 “從前，有三隻小豬……” 已經聽過這個故事十多遍，我忍不住打起盹來。 鼓掌聲把我吵醒。“恰到好處”，朋友湯姆低聲說道。
考勒太太剛才情緒低落，現在得意起來，她好像在問：“那麼有誰喜歡這個故事？” “我——”“我喜歡，考勒太太。”“天哪，棒極了！”“我覺得故事編得太蠢。”
原來是班上那位活寶，考勒太太翻了個白眼：“川兒，話可不好這麼說—嘿，爬出來！”
川兒乾瘦，身穿小T恤，正四仰八叉躺在一張桌子下面，還露着肚臍，他的那幫狐朋狗友啞然失笑。 “考勒太太，怎麼狼不吃小豬？” “哦，川兒，如果你聽講，就知道來龍去脈。” “我在聽，考勒太太，但狼幹嗎不吃小豬？” “因為小豬蓋的磚房狼吹不動，大家懂嗎？這正是為什麼你們應該參—” “但是考勒太太，狼何不守在門外等它們出來呢？” “川兒，不要打斷別人問——”
“但是狼為啥不呆在房外等它們餓死？”川兒坐起來，朝下拽了拽衣服：“狼真蠢。”
考勒太太緊皺眉頭：“川兒，說人傻不禮貌，這樣有傷感情。對不起，川兒，我不得不記下你的名字，你的行為實在讓人無法接受，我們可能還要開一次家長會。” 川兒一下子蔫了，後面的故事會他一言未發。 午飯下課時間，同學們連蹦帶跳離開了圖書館。
“請別亂跑！” 考勒太太走到圖書館後面喊道：“今天我甚感抱歉，川兒的舉止無法容忍，但忠言逆耳利於行，這一點大家有目共睹。當然，我們需要強化班級規章制度，以防此類劣行再度發生，你們聽懂我說的意思吧？” 三位同學點頭。 考勒太太繼續說：“所以從本質上講，當下嚴明紀律有助於日後教學秩序，我發現孩子們會聽話一陣子。” 大家再次點頭。“他好像啞巴了，真的假的……”湯姆在我耳邊輕聲嘀咕，考勒太太讓我們填寫報告表。 日期：十二月十二號。 時間：1:30 事件：課堂故事會 說明：老師在班上朗讀三隻小豬的故事 課外作業…… “嗨湯姆，留神課外作業。” “我認為是懲罰作業，你覺得呢？” “說不好。” “既然如此……我準備寫懲罰如何讓淘氣包變乖。” “同意。”
可一旦動筆，我禁不住陷入沉思：“湯姆，狼大概不會在門外守株待兔，對不？” “是呵，但這不是重點。” “那麼重點是什麼？漫不經心地聽取老太婆嘮叨胡編亂造的童話圖書？” “親愛的兒歌，冷靜。”
圖書館門吱嘎一聲打開，川兒走了進來。他步履沉重地走到閱讀區中間張口問道（並沒針對任何人）：“有誰看見灰色外套嗎？” 我回應說：“沒有，我沒看見。” “嗯。” 他原地兜了一圈，轉身朝門口走去，肩膀朝下耷拉着。 “嘿，川兒！”我大聲喊道：“嘿，保持良好思維，我喜歡你的風格。” “謝謝。”川兒離去。
湯姆轉向我：“什麼意思？” “我挺遺憾，因為沒人賞識他的想象力，想給點安慰。”
另外，我覺得從此以後學習壓力會日趨強化，如果孩子們現在不能表達自己的思想，那麼將來也永遠不能。 “兒歌，你真軸。” “好吧，先填完報告表再說”
斟酌片刻，我終於決定簡短一些。 至於課後作業，紀律與強壓之間區別極大。
Today in History(歷史上的今天): 2013: Muscat Fortress, Oman(阿曼馬斯喀特要塞風貌)  Volleyball Gathering @ Montgomery Twp Community & Rec Ctr
(蒙哥馬利“巨人山”鎮社區娛樂中心·排球較量 10-11-2019)  Female Mallards @ Windlestrae Park
(溫德爾斯特雷“風草”公園·雌綠頭鴨) Crosslinks(相關博文):
11th Grade Flash Story—Storytime(小小說—故事會) 10th Grade Short Story─Born from Blood(短篇小說─本能)
9th Grade Flash Story─Splash in a River(小小說─玉花飛濺) 9th Grade Short Story─Reunion(高一短篇小說─相逢) 8th Grade Flash Story─My Glory to Your Honor(初三小小說─為你驕傲) 8th Grade Flash Story─Sleep is Bliss(初三小小說─能睡是福) 6th Grade Flash Story─Crisis on Mulberry Street(初一小小說─桑樹街危機) 3rd Grade Flash Story─Halloween(三年級小小說─萬聖節) 11th Grade(高中三年級)
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