Sophomores are Sophomoric

As we trudge along towards this year's (very late) Spring Break, my sophomores grow more and more unruly and annoying . . . they can barely concentrate, even during a quiz-- which led me to insert questions like these amidst the actual comprehension questions on Shirley Jackson's masterpiece We Have Always Lived in the Castle:

2. When you are finished with this quiz, you should:

1. Turn and chat with your neighbor about the answers

2. Make strange faces at people

3. Sit silently until the entire class is finished

4. Poke someone

4. You should take AP English because:

1. You genuinely enjoy reading and analyzing literature

2. Your friends are taking it

3. It looks good for college admissions

4. Your secret crush is in the class

9. Draw a picture of the Blackwood house. This is not worth any points, but simply to occupy you and prevent you from being obnoxious and annoying while the rest of the class finishes the quiz.

and, oddly, this strategy worked and they were much better behaved during the quiz today than they were last class-- when I had to deliver a profanity-laced diatribe to get them to stop pestering each other while some students finished the quiz . . . now mind you, a profanity-laced tirade does work, but it's exhausting-- so this was a more efficient strategy and I will be putting "behavior reminder questions" and random word jumbles and picture prompts (that are not worth any points) on all their quizzes in the future.