Farmers of the Constitution

The school year progresses, and with it the momentary joys of teaching, i.e., student blunders. The title of this entry comes from a rash of homework answers I received two years ago, in which the "farmers" of the Constitution set up the "farmwork" of this nation. The odd thing was, I probably read three or four papers before it dawned on me that this wasn't exactly what was meant. I guess my grading-taxed brain had registered the translocation as "well, yes, many of the Founding Fathers were farmers, at least of the gentlemen variety. This makes sense". Hm.

This entry's choice blunder isn't all that funny, but I am trying to maximize my procrastination effort, so I'll try to make it funnier than it should be. One of my students in 3rd period (the hopped-up-on-speed-class) informed me in writing that "Spanish people of the 16th century got their spices from Asia". I just couldn't help imagining some Renaissance husband pulling on his armor and sword, hollering out to the kitchen, "Chiquita, I'm off to Asia to pick up the spices. Do we need anything else? If I don't make it back, have a mass said for me, hey?"

See, I told you it wasn't funny. But I've wasted a good ten minutes from slogging through quizzes that are convinced America, India, and Europe were the three main countries who sent explorers to the New World. I guess the EU would agree with part of that statement...