THE ZEN OF Nth GRADE SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS b y Tim J Snell

Nth grade is still there despite all the new technology like cell phones.
I'm kind of reminded of the scene in "I, Robot"
When Will Smith's character finds them all bunch together
while being stored in old box cars in a junkyard at night

All the students bunch together around their electronic devices
New rules are being reinforced every day --
But no Smartphones
Allowed in the classrooms.

At least that would be my classroom.

And now I'm trying to strike while the iron is hot
Trying to record what its like to be left in a
Room filled with Nth Graders
Who are strong enough to fight me

Over the girls and young women the claim
And sometimes I wonder who is in charge.
Does it have to be us or them?

I mean one young man in the classroom
Looked me right in the eye when I told him to sit down
And he just walked away back to the relatively quiet flock that had gathered
Around the smartphones costing hundreds of dollars each
(so I could not just throw their darn "radios" right against
The wall.