As I watch my grandsons play baseball, I hear parents and coaches yell, "Baseball ready!" to the players. This might be an old expression, but I don't remember hearing it before. Some of the boys really respond and jump into their fielding positions ready for action. Others pretty much ignore the spectators and do their own thing. As some of the parents socialize during the game, it would be great to have a baseball player turn to the crowd and yell, "Spectators ready!"
On Sunday I saw a comic on Joel's blog by The English Teacher where a teacher is telling his students to be "College ready!" I'm not sure anyone has ever given me a heads up like this before. Seven months ago, I wish someone had looked at me and loudly stated, "Car inspection ready!" I might have caught a clue and taken my car right in for its annual check up.
It occurs to me that once an expression is used, most people stop listening. It just gets old and is no longer a cause for action. Several years back, our school district started requiring that all of us follow the same lesson format. We probably sounded like parrots as students moved from room to room. How boring! Then, we all had to put up the same posters stating objectives and all sorts of other stuff that I (and probably my students) have forgotten. Last but not least, I absolutely hated the time when we were expected to correct students who were misbehaving by bragging on a student who was being good. This probably caused the good students to have a few nightmares. Personally, it might have made me decide to no longer be a good student. Some teacher might just yell, "Betty ready!" Heaven forbid.
Allowing teachers to flavor their lessons with a little originality and personality might just keep students, "Learning ready!"
