The Lesson that Flopped

Inspiration struck in the car. Shane and I were listening to the Hank the Cowdog for the umpteenth time and I thought, "I wonder if I could use this with my freshman seminar?" 

Hank is funny. He does a good, bad-job of talking himself into things for all the wrong reasons and I could use that. It should be new, silly, and asking the kids

I decided to go for it. 

The lesson was intended as a follow-up to a brain states lesson. I wanted to get kids to think about their inner voice (self-talk) and how it can lead you astray or justify anything if you aren't careful.

Enter Hank.

Hank is camping with Slim when Slim leaves some food out on accident. Hank is disparaging the food when he realizes it and eventually talks himself into believing Slim left the food out on purpose to reward him for all his work. 

This leads to a very sick pup, gut-wrenching sound effects, and hilarity. After laughing, the class and I could reflect and think about times in our lives where we talked ourselves into making a poor decision. 

Or so I thought.

Here's the cover of the book:

What I discounted was Hank was trying to eat a pack of garlic, "weenies."

I knew this. I remember thinking, "That's a funny/awkward choice of words," but that didn't factor into my planning.

It really should have when dealing with teenagers.

The class was dead silent the first time Hank talked about the weenies. I don't know if it was shock, awkwardness, or respect for me that prevented laughter.

I never realized how many times Hank said it either.

It was painful.

Imagine a moment where you think something is hilarious and then replace it with a crowd and awkward silence.

I tried a few gentle prods to burst the tension, but ended up cutting the scene before the puke. I tried to kickstart the reflection afterward, but the awkward persisted. No one wanted to speak or share anything.

I felt like a comic dying in front of a live audience. I cut my losses and audibled to have the kids add to their journals. I got an idea or two through to some kids based on what they wrote, but I still felt like an idiot.

I had one kid who cut class and I'm not sure if it was a blessing or an irritation. He would have had a field day with "weenies," but to have the gall to ditch....

The one thing that went well is a friendship between two of the girls. Originally, they sat on their own, but they're started to sit together. I sent them to the library to get a CD-player when I realized my chrome book wasn't equipped with one (The one girl's mother works in the media center). I let them leave to go to lunch a few minutes early to return it, so they had a good class no matter what happened in between!