Quoth The Raven...

Don't get me wrong. I love parent contact, but it has its headaches too. I received an email from a parent late on Friday (Where else do I have to go?) asking me what their child missed and if there was any work that she could work on over the weekend to get caught up. It was a little late to ask because there was no way that she could get the study guide that we used. But hey, the parent's heart was in the right place. Anyway, the assignment--I told the parent that, at the very least, her daughter needed to read "The Raven".

Monday rolls around and I have a second email to greet me. It was the mother again. She wanted to know where they could find "The Raven." They wanted to know if it was in the textbook. IT IS "THE RAVEN"! C'mon! It's on t-shirts. Websites are dedicated to it. It's in every library. People recite it on the street for spare change. I'm pretty sure the government places it inside Franklin's nostril to catch counterfeited money!

Breathe.

Where can I find "The Raven?" That's like asking, "Where can I find the words to 'Happy Birthday'?"

The frustrating thing is that if the assignment were to memorize the last episode of "Bob Sponge Pants Square" (or whatever it is), there wouldn't be this problem. Why can't it be the same for the great works of literature? But I guess those days are--"nevermore."

Sorry, I couldn't resist.