the bard and the bully

i think i've mentioned the shakespeare class i'm teaching this year... (loving it, by the way!) ... and i've been so impressed and excited by how quick all the kids are and how eager to learn, by some in particular. i know that having favorites is bad, but if i were to have a favorite it would probably be Jared.

12, blonde, TONS of freckles, and always so unabashedly enthusiastic about the play and about learning. it's wonderful to see him not be ashamed by his interest in the subject, especially at that age, where such things are apparently uncool. so last week we were having a nice little discussion of the roman conspirators and what character traits/flaws led up to them deciding to assasinate caesar, and Jared started talking about it, and as he spoke he got more and more excited and breathy and loud, quite earnestly. here are his thoughts:

" well... i mean, caesar wasn't all that girly (looks around at all the girls in the class) ... uh, i mean weak, but cassius kept talking about what a sissy he was, and that he couldn't swim so that meant his brain was weak, and all the conspirators were so much better than him and they could swim too, so they assasinated him! so i think cassius was just... well... well... he was just a BIG FAT BULLY!"