Tricks, Cons and Bamboozles | Wednesday | Period 1

[charming_thief]

Today the classroom had a stage set up at the front of the room, and there were colorful lights and a shiny, shiny floor. Be wary.

"Hey, guys," Neal greeted the students from a comfy chair in the back. "So... some of you may have heard there was a puppet show in another class last week. From what I hear it was pretty controversial--" actually, he'd just heard that it was Madrox, so he was assuming -- "but it's not bad to have talents like that on hand in case you ever need to stage a distraction. Or, who knows, maybe you'll run into a situation where the ability to parody your classmates in puppet form is actually important." A beat. "Though I might not hold my breath for that one."

He was maybe a little disappointed that he hadn't been depicted in the puppet play. Because Neal was twelve.

"So I thought I'd let this class be an opportunity for you guys to show off your skills." Some of the colorful lights rotated around, creating a spotlight oin the middle of the stage. "I'm sure you all can... probably do some things. So. Head up there and show off what you can do. Or just embarrass yourself. I'm good either way."

The Art(s) of War and Peace; Wednesday, Second Period [ 11/16 ].

[atreideslioness]

"Congratulations, you've made it all the way to week ten," Ghanima said dryly from her perch on the desk. "So far, many of our discussions seem to have focused on physical engagements of force, mostly because many of you are all familiar with tactics in a military sense. While I am as much a fan of armed combat as the next Fremen, however, it is it necessary to learn how to apply the tactical ideas you are learning outside a battlefield."

"Last week, we tried to measure cost against outcome when weighing the human element," Ghanima remarked. "Today, we focus completely on the human component, and turn our tactical prowess to that most dreaded tactical engagement of all - relationships."

Please to ignore the good-natured chuckling coming from the man behind the desk. No, scratch that. Not chuckling. Shunsui was downright giggling.

"Each of you has a slip on your desk with an assignment. You must try and follow the directions to the best of your abilities, using the tactical ideas we have discussed in your negotiations. You are not limited to your classmates for this exercise, and indeed, I shall award extra credit for each successful 'mission' you undertake. I will do my best to listen to radio and chart your progress, but you will be expected to report on your varying levels of success next week."

"Especially," said Shunsui, in between very amused and very pleased giggles, "since I'm taking it on as my personal mission, in the spirit of the assignment, to do what I can to distract Ghani-chan from charting your progress too closely ♥."

Yes, boys and girls, you are going on dates. Ghanima just raised one eyebrow at Shunsui, since by now she had a rather good idea of what sort of 'distraction' her co-teacher had in mind.

...which was possibly more than you EVER wanted to know about your teachers and their extra-curricular activities.

"Get what you want out of the other person, without giving too much ground," she sighed, trying to not facepalm. "Do try not to end the world while you are at it."

"And, please," said Shunsui, lifting his hat to give them all a surprisingly serious imploring face, "remember to have fun ♥. While all is fair in love and war, you may find things even fairer in love and peace ♥."

Wednesday: What was the school board thinking giving Jamie Madrox a teaching position?

[notmyownage]

The class met in the Danger Shop today to find nary a Jamie in sight. Instead, there was the ever hardworking TA Claudia, standing in the midst of a bunch of large wooden shipping crates lit by eerie purple light, wearing funky purple sunglasses. She smiled at the class.

"So our illustrious teacher asked me to take over class today. I'm assuming this is some kind of test and that me just making you watch a movie would result in something extra bizarre next time, so I have an actual activity." Also, she'd practically passed out from joy at finding out she'd get to do programming in the Danger Shop. "Welcome . . . to inventorying bizarre things that can kill you."

She gestured dramatically around at the shipping crates, then started passing out clipboards and purple sunglasses.

"Okay, so in here they can't actually kill you. But they can do some pretty weird stuff and throw you around like a cartoon character, so handle them with care."

That's right, Claudia was making her classmates do fake Warehouse inventory.

It might be an interesting class.

[ooc: OCD is on its way And we're good to go!]

Strange Creatures of the Deep, Wednesday, Period 3

[takesaftermom.livejournal.com]

Summer had once again let her students know to meet up in the Danger Shop for today's lesson.

There were small open, observation tanks set up around the room so her students could get an up close look at the creature they'd be learning about.

"The spider conch is a member of the genus lambus and can be found on our southern shores near coral rubble areas as well as other areas throughout the world, such as China," Summer explained. "It is often overlooked due to its camflouged outer shell. It feeds on red algae and often occurs in colonies, in shallow water from low tide levels to a depth of about 5 m."

Summer paused, observing the tank nearest to her. "As you can see, the spider conch has a thick heavy shell with six spines on the flared lip. The upperside of the shell is usually encrusted and thus blends with the surroundings. The shell opening is pearly and pinkish with orange or yellow tints.

Part of the body is olive-brown with white spots. It has large eyes on long stalks and a thick siphon. Like other conch snails, it has a curved, knife-shaped operculum attached to a long strong foot. This is used by the animal to 'hop' along the surface. The spines on the shell improves stability and prevents the snail from toppling over as it hops.

The long spines on its shell are found only on adults and gives it its common name. The shell of young snails look like large volutes. Male and female snails look very different. The shell of the males usually smaller and with shorter spines on the outer lip." It was quite a distinctive look.

"Where common, it is often collected for food by coastal populations, and the shell used in shellcraft. Appears in markets in the northern Philippines and in the Fiji Islands."

[OCD up.]