This morning was dreary: gray, rainy, and far too chilly for mid-May. On the drive to work, the spitting drizzle was too sporadic to merit even the slowest setting of the windshield wipers, but too persistent to be ignored. I rotated the on/off knob back and forth, back and forth. In the classroom, only dim light filtered through the high windows, making the space too dark for reading. I was forced to flick on the harsh fluorescent lights. Students groaned. Even inside the building, the air felt heavy. No one wanted to be at school.
Heads nodded towards desks during period 1. Half-lidded eyes flickered open, then closed. Students strove valiantly to pay attention, to fight off the malaise, but it was no use: several slept during work time. After a few half-hearted attempts to keep them on task, I let them rest.
I had hope for period 2 – grade 9 – but they wandered in, half-dazed. I surveyed them as they read and realized that there was no way they were going to write an in-class essay today – or at least no way they would write a good one. We needed a change of plans.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. None of these ninth graders had ever seen it. Just what the day called for. On it went.
80s movies can be tough for the students. They start more slowly and rely more heavily on dialogue than their modern counterparts. Worse, I wouldn’t let the students use cell phones – even though we were taking a break – so they were stuck actually watching. And then we got to this scene:
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – Nine Times
“Why are they so worked up about him missing nine times?” asked a student.
I snorted.
“Well, there was a time when if you missed ten days, you had to repeat the class.”
The students close enough to overhear this discussion looked at me in disbelief. And no wonder: over a fifth of this class has already missed over nine times; another handful have already missed seven or eight. And we still have five weeks to go.
“Like, you failed just because you didn’t come?”
“Exactly like that,” I said.
And we went back to watching the movie. I’d like to think that the students had a renewed respect for Ferris, but I suspect they were simply shaking their heads at the weird things we used to do in the olden days.
(In case you’re wondering, it’s still a good film.)
Persistence and Pedagogy 
Love Ferris, and I love how you capture the differences with the interactions of the students. Great slice!
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Loved your intro; this was a perfect day to change plans and what a way to do it by introducing Ferris Bueller. I thought missing more than 10 days was still cause for retention. Now I’m curious what the policy is for the district I sub in.
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You mean going to class is important?!? Way to read the mood of your students and shift your plans to meet them where they were. I hope the sun is shining tomorrow and everyone has a bit more energy!
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I love the detailed way you started here, Amanda. I almost felt like one of your students, hands on my chin, trying to stay awake.
Many connections here, and the issue with attendance nowadays is one that bugs me too much to think more about this close to the end of the year.
I do appreciate how your slice reminded me of how changing plans based on the students’ mood, is something I wish I did more often.
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I like how you captured the rain, the mood, the film and the surprise. Funnily when I read your teaser in my mind I wondered whether besides snow days US also had rain days and you had missed this much school because of the rain.
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The description of the weather, though dreary and moody, made me jealous — here in FL we are having a heatwave that just won’t quit. I would do anything for gray rain. I think I’d stand out in it in a daze!
I love how you set the scene and then had that aha! moment of putting on Ferris Bueller (one of my faves), and the interesting discussions that came out of it!
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