The Talking Consta-Reminder

Jon walked into class carrying only his cellular phone, a pack of Bubble-Yum to give to the ladies, and the expectation that he NEVER does school work. Mr. Reminder asked Jon if he had his materials today. Jon replied that he didn’t have his materials because they were in his mom’s car, and her boyfriend drove him to school today. Mr. Reminder said it was ok today, but in the future Jon should really be more responsible.

The next day Jon ambled into class carrying only his cellular phone, a pack of Bubble-Yum to give to the ladies, and the expectation that he NEVER does school work. Mr. Reminder asked Jon if he had his materials today. Jon replied that he didn’t have his materials because his locker just don’t work right. It don’t like him. Mr. Reminder said it was ok today, but in the future Jon should really be more responsible.
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The next day Jon sauntered into class carrying only his cellular phone, a pack of Bubble-Yum to give to the ladies, and the expectation that he NEVER does school work. Mr. Reminder asked Jon if he had his materials today. Jon replied that he didn’t have his materials because he had to go to the hospital with his aunt last night, and he left them in the waiting room, and visiting hours didn’t start yet so he couldn’t get them. Mr. Reminder said it was ok today, but in the future Jon should really be more responsible.

The next day Jon swaggered into class carrying only his cellular phone, a pack of Bubble-Yum to give to the ladies, and the expectation that he NEVER does school work. Mr. Reminder asked Jon if he had his materials today. Jon replied that he doesn’t bring materials to class, and added that Mr. Reminder was the dumbest teacher he ever met to not have learned that yet. Mr. Reminder said it was ok today, but starting tomorrow, things were going to be different, and Jon was going to have to start bringing his materials.
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The next day Jon walked into class carrying only his cellular phone, a pack of Bubble-Yum to give to the ladies, and the expectation that he NEVER does school work. Mr. Reminder didn’t bother to ask Jon if he had his materials for class because it wasn’t worth the fight anymore.

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Teacher Takeaway

You’ll notice in this anecdote that Mr. Reminder consistently talks to Jon about bringing materials. He also consistently tries to reinforce with more talking that responsibility is important. For the purposes of writing, and the easy and judicious use of the copy and paste feature, this story is very repetitive. Most level two talkers will laugh at the repetitive absurdity of this anecdote, because they also explain to students what responsibility means, and they talk to Jon about his sick aunt, and they talk to Jon about how it feels to him when his mom gets a new boyfriend, and they talk to Jon and share stories from their own lives about times that they made responsible decisions and how those decisions paid off. They do MUCH more than the story above indicates, so they deserve to be WAY higher than level two.

No they don’t.