Why Do I Open My Bigass Mouth?

So. Here's the scene. The past 5 days have been spent discussing the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The background, who said what when, who did what when, why, and why, and why, and causes and effects and why, and why. Today is the final day of the unit; and I have them work in groups on an online simulation/game. It rocks.

The goal is to get 100% approval ratings for both the Israelis and the Palestinians..... oh and the world, too. So, you know, that's pretty easy and all.

They play the parts of either the Palestinian President or the Israeli Prime Minister. As a teacher, it is always one of my favorite days. Exhibit A: Students engaged. For and hour and a half. Exhibit B: Said students working....gasp....together. And I mean, not just one student doing all the work and the rest texting each other on their cell phones. As a teacher, I hate cell phones. As me, I heart them. I am complex.

Exhibit C: By the end of the game, they "get it". They understand that you just can't blow everything up, you can't give Jerusalem to one side and expect no repercussions, you can't "make" them get along. Much like me, the issue is complex. The issue might be a little more so than moi.

So, this was the first year that I offered extra credit for those groups that could succeed in getting an approval rating for BOTH sides of at least 30. My first thinking was: "No way." But two groups did it. I had one of the groups getting up into the 70s and 80s for approval percentages and it was nearing the end of the class. Other groups were giving up as they were in the negative approval ratings and were coming over to watch the group that was now in the 80s and 90s. Here's where I made my mistake. I open my mouth and said, "If you can get 100% approval for both sides, I'll make cookies for the whole class." As soon as I said it, in my head, I said, "Shit. Why did I go and say that?"

So. Yep. Uh-huh. So right. With 30 fat seconds to go before the bell, the majority of the class in a U-Shape around the group, cheering them on, giving advise, reasoning out pros and cons of each action, glancing nervously at the clock, they did it.

A cheer goes up from the peanut gallery, slaps on the back, "way to go"s all around and one soul says, "Ms. SoThereThen, you really are gonna make us cookies, right? You weren't lying, right?"

What do you say to that? "Yeah, I don't have any eggs. (Which I don't. Crap.)"

So, my last class, which is also the same content...World Studies, had heard about said incentive. So. Yep. Uh-huh. So right. Have to be fair. They also got one group that had 100% for both sides. So, now I am making cookies for two classes. Which isn't all that bad as I had promised someone in our house that I would make "Not Bad" cookies. (I used whole wheat bread flour last time and apparently that equals less than tasty.).

So, I am off to the store for eggs.

The funny thing is, I am at the District Office tomorrow for a meeting all day; the students are going to think I am avoiding them. I can just tell them I had to take the day off to make them cookies.