"My Boss is Literally the Devil"

In my US History classes, we are talking about the Industrial Revolution. To give students a little taste of working conditions during this time period, I formed a little factory in my classroom. Students had to pass books around the room, while not smiling, talking, laughing, or sitting; I even cranked the heat up to about 90 degrees while they were working. And I did a lot of yelling (I don't think I've ever really yelled at a class before this).

A lot of students realized that this was just a simulation. Their assignment after the activity was to write a letter home as if they worked in a factory during the Industrial Revolution and describe the conditions. After reading through their letters, I found that some students took the simulation a little too seriously. One girl wrote, "My boss is literally the devil." I know she was talking about me, not a fictional boss, because she was describing our box-moving factory, and she said "she" when referring to the boss (there were few, if any, she-bosses during the Industrial Revolution). I feel like that should have hurt my feelings, but it only made me happier.

In other news, Rich and I went to the BYU basketball season opener versus Fresno State on Friday, and it was a wonderful blowout. It's going to be a great season! Have I mentioned that BYU basketball is my favorite?!