eileen laoshi's rules

people love rules. "getting in trouble" instills fear, thrills, and contemplation at any age. rules need to be simple and few. at best, they apply not only to the specific situation at hand, but also to the broader circumstances of life at large. before the school year began, i gave some serious thought to my future students, their rights and responsibilities, and the tone i wanted to establish in gaoshu english 101. i wanted students to know what i expected, i needed to be able to point (literally) to my expectations, and i wanted to be able to illustrate all of these things in a simple & comprehensible way. here are my rules for life and foreign language class.

rule #1

a pretty straightforward rule-- the golden rule, the ethic of reciprocity, do unto others as you would have others do unto you, never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself. one day, as english class wound down, 3-4 rough & tumble boys stood up silently and simultaneously pounded clenched fists into open palms. they stood there staring at me, their fists in the air. my mind started to race, and i wondered if we were about to rumble. i looked over at my co-teacher and whispered, "why do they want to fight me?" she laughed and said that they were performing a martial arts salute of respect for their instructor. RESPECT.

rule #2

"if a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as michelangelo painted, or beethoven composed music, or shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well." --martin luther king, jr.

rule #3

know your responsibilities, and be prepared to carry them out no matter the circumstances. if your school has an assembly and there's no auditorium-- bring a chair. if the school bathroom needs to be cleaned and it's your day to clean it-- grab a hose and take off your shoes.