Editor's note: WIB presents "Head of Class," a two-part, autobiographical series chronicling guest blogger Matt Wood's experiences as a student teacher. The following was edited for grammar, clarity and length to bring the quality of writing up to a high school competency level.

Head of Class, Part 1: A Formal Rebellion

Most of you know that I have been working on my student teaching over here in Spokane at University High School. I teach US History and Current World Problems four days a week to 132 junior and seniors, including Kenna's little sister.

Two weeks ago I had my first observation. The day before my advisor was to come in, I told my students what was going to happen, and I tried to prep them for what to expect. My students all stated they understood and would behave appropriately. The next day, five male students, who usually wear baseball caps with well-worn sweatshirts and blue jeans, come in wearing dress shirts, ties and slacks. They take their seats right in front of my advisor and proceed to tell me how eager they are to learn.

Throughout my entire lesson these five guys keep raising their hands saying how this is the best lesson they have ever heard and that they were dying to hear what I have planned next. When I was lecturing, all five guys would nod their heads and scribble notes as if they were grossly engaged with the material at hand. At the end of class the guys came up to me and said they could not wait to get home and start their homework because this is their favorite class and I am such a great teacher.

The entire time I could hardly keep myself from laughing in the front of the class. Seeing their nodding heads with quizzical looks plastered on their faces was almost more then I could handle. My advisor told me in his 30 plus years of teaching he had never seen anything like that. I still have four more observations, so I hope next time they don’t show up in body paint or skirts.