Industrial Arts, Tuesday

[not_a_whiner]

Second day back, and Kaidan was still feeling jittery and antsy and he'd had several awkward conversations already. Not only that, but there was this thudding pain centered right behind his eye that didn't seem to know whether it wanted to turn into a full-blown migraine or not. It wasn't... exactly putting him in a sporting mood.

"So today we're going to do two things," he announced to the class. "First, you can show off what you built last week. Then..."

He gestured at the rest of the Danger Shop behind them, which was set up with a variety of targets, some made of cardboard, some made of wood. A track had been drawn on the ground as well - a couple of targets on there, all cardboard, but not a lot.

"We're taking the battlebots for a test drive."

No better way to channel frustration than that, right?

Public Speaking [Tuesday, April 2, 1st period]

[professor-lyman.livejournal.com]

Today the students would find computers on each of their desks as they arrived. "Morning," Josh said, clinging to his coffee with more than his usual devotion. "Granted, public speaking is normally out in front of people, sometimes with cameras, but being a public figure extends to all aspects of communication. Today we're going to talk about a very dark, terrifying place: the comment section of a news article. I've learned--" the hard way because Josh was a little bit argumentative in all facets of his life, "not to engage with the crazy, or at least not to engage under your own name. Today you're going to learn your way around a flame war. Actual flames should not be involved, but I will be grading for grammar and punctuation because by God, someone has to."

Each screen opened up onto a news story about President Obama's work with Congress on the federal budget, and an initial comment:

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH OUR CHILDREN'S MONEY?! WHEN YOU SPREAD THE WHEALTH YOU SPRAD THE MISERY SHAME ON YOU THE US WILL NOT TOREATE A SOCIALIST STATE.

Josh rolled his eyes. "You can start how to spell 'wealth' and 'spread' and what socialism actually is...And when you're done teaching this guy a lesson, Gertrude Yorkes is our press secretary today."