Small Talk in Conversation Class

Today was icebreaker, get-to-know-you, warm up activity day. I sang the Head and Shoulders song with my younger kids, played an ESL version of Simon Says, and then got geared up for the high stakes action of my top level E class.

I should've known that the old "any questions" line was a bad idea. Titus (yes, I named him), a somewhat hyperactive and emotionally unstable sixth grader in my class jerked up his hand and blurted out, "What do you think about pornography?"

This is a mixed age class with second and third grade girls as well as older boys.

I never thought I'd actually use the line, "That's not an appropriate topic for conversation in this class." But I did.