This week has been fascinating for a variety of reasons. First, the kids seem to be politically intelligent but have little interest in politics. I was hoping that was not going to be the case, but I think the stereotypical anarchist and politically radical youth syndrome may only be seen in college kids these days (if anywhere.)

They are remarkably opinionated though, and they seem to have already figured out that I like the discourse, so they can get me off topic pretty easily. I am rapidly developing the "you and I are really talking about the same thing" reversal, though. I think some of their diversions have become "learning moments" despite their best efforts.

I began the week with an assignment to get some information about the media about Cindy Sheehan so that we could discuss the motivation of the media and its involvement in the political process. I was hoping to make a clear differentiation between politics (particularly the soap-operaesque, "he said - she said" world of controversy politics) was a seperate from government, but closely related.

I was disappointed to find that almost all of them were ignorant to current events and reluctant to change that much. Those that did actually look for some news on the topic were able to engage in an intelligent, and I hope educational, discussion about it.

I have been much more confident than I was at this stage of the game last year. I feel that My lessons are less engaging than they should be, though, and I haven't been able to plan as well as I would have liked for this week. Next week, however, is a full one and should be a little more structured and interesting.

Finally, though I was getting used to the idea of being isolated out in the sticks in my old portable classroom, its age and relative disuse is really showing. The swamp-cooler blew hot air for a couple of days until it stopped blowing completely. This, in the end, was actually a good thing as when it was blowing there towards the end, it was blowing hundreds of flying ants into the room. Thankfully, the kids were gone by then, but the problems have had us roaming from romm to room in search of cool air and a teacher with a convenient prep block. I have been carrying our classroom set of books around for the last two days.