Entry 4

I wanted to write today about a few things I've observed. The students are obsessed with their pencils. They love their pencils and pencil sharpeners. They spend lots of time sharpening their pencils all day. They borrow sharpeners from each other. There is no sharpener in the classroom. There was one, but it broke.

The students are also particular about their shoes. I made the mistake of stepping on more than one student's foot. You would have thought the world was coming to an end. It seems to be a matter of respect with them. It's a boundary I'll be careful not to cross again. The student's reaction seemed extreme to me. Perhaps the reactions were extreme, because their shoes are one of the few items they identify as theirs alone.

These personal items, pencils and shoes, are important to the students.