Joey Contemplating a Skeleton
By Elton Camp
The teacher told Joey to learn each bone by name
And that there were only about 206 of the same
The parietal, temporal and occipital are in the head
At least that’s what the biology teacher then said
The atlas and axis are two bones found in the neck
Twelve vertebrae are attached to ribs if you check
Lumbar, sacrum and their parts learn without fail
And don’t forget the coccyx that looks like a tail
Of the maxillae and mandible the jaws are made
Collar bone is the clavicle; scapula shoulder blade
Humerus in upper arm, ulna below, radius thumb side
And in wrist and hand carpals & metacarpals reside
Phalanges are found in both the fingers and the toes
The femur, patella, tibia and fibula in the leg goes
But this is only a small sample of what Joey must learn
If an excellent grade in his biology class he will earn
"What's the opposite of joy?" the teacher asked the student.
"Sadness," responded the student ever so prudent.
Another student was asked, "What's the opposite of depression?"
The student responded to the teacher and answered, "Elation."
"What's the opposite of woe?" The teacher asked a student just waking up.
"I believe the opposite of woe," said the student, "would have to be giddy-up."
When It Really Is the Teacher’s Fault
By Elton Camp
This is the excuse that we sometimes see
“I did that bad cause teacher don’t like me.”
It is far too easy to attempt to shift the blame
And the teacher is a convenient one to name
Yet, there are cases almost beyond any belief
Where the teacher is a scoundrel and a thief
To accept his monthly paycheck he has nerve
When he had done but little any pay to deserve
Tenure keeps a teacher from being unfairly fired
So that the principal’s own brother can be hired
But the incompetent and simply lazy it can shield
That’s why some states such laws have repealed
Often employed by such an unprofessional jerk
Is assigning mindless and excessive homework
On family life such as this has become a blight
Dominate kids all day and control ‘em at night
About student work he doesn’t really give a heck
And throws the papers away without even a check
Teachers like that surely need to be shown the gate
To wait for them to retire is just entirely too late
Foggy haze
causes some road delays.
Summer waves goodbye as fall arrives.
Reluctant children trudge back to school and new lives
Eager first graders will soon be counting by fives.
Older students search for last year’s friends.
The student horde descends
and attends.
Fun vacation days
will soon become memories
or a backward gaze.
The teachers hope to implant
the love of learning in all.
Today is the opening phase
of educational plan that finds
a path to flexible minds
in new exciting and enticing ways.
The good teacher hopes the change pays
in most significant rewinds
of the student’s study habits and stays.
Lessons will no longer be called grinds.
Children who merely nibble and graze
at lesson their teacher assigns
will sooner or later fall on behinds
and be reasons teachers lose their minds.
The good students are why she stays.
For Jared’s contest
.
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