Tobin's "Car Wrecks, Baseball Caps, etc"

Wow. This one immediately caught my attention because I have several students that fit the profile of the boy he describes: "He almost always wears a baseball cap; I heard from a colleague he was obnoxious; he disrupts the class because he's a transfer student"...etc. Teachers not only put boys into a box, but female students as well. Often times, teachers as well as students catagorize students as The slow ones", "the smart kids", the jocks, "the stoners", "the popular kids", and  "the trouble makers", just ot name a few. I am ashamed to admit, I do this, too. However, when it comes to reading a paper, I purposely don't look at the author, just so I can read the paper with a fresh mind and no bias. I enjoyed how open and frank Tobin is about his experiences. Although he is a college professor and I am a high school teacher, I can relate to the situations he endured. He really made me think about how I treat my students based on my pre-conceived notions of them. Fair and impartial treatment is not only imprtant on essays, but in the classroom as well. I will definitely try to let students show me who they truly are in both writting and behavior before I pass judgements.