Teeth

Yesterday I was in a class of 10th graders. After splitting the class in half between me and the regular teacher, I had a group in the back of the room. I was trying to get them to talk about different forms of Media in English as an introduction to a new unit. There were pictures of people in the movies, reading books and magazines, listening to the radio, at a ballet, at an art museum, and the like that were supposed to spark some conversation. But the students weren't really interested in it. Instead, it seemed like they had all gotten together before class and schemed how to change the subject, because all of a sudden, after I asked a question about the media, I hear one of the girls ask,

"We have a question for you."

"OK." We? This is some kind of plot.

"How come your teeth are so white?"

Crap. Why do 10th graders get distracted so easily? Are they talking about this among themselves when I'm not around? Only one thing to say: "I brush twice a day."

"You don't use whitening strips?"

"Nope. Just two times a day brushing."

I guess that is behind me now. You just never know what these students are going to say....