What is Diabetes?

Another School Story: This is going down as one of my all time favorites.

I was teaching an amazing writing lesson, if I do say so myself, trying to pull some detailed facts from their own lives by giving them some inspired examples (so they would have material to write about through out the school year without asking, "What should I write about?" "I don't have anything to write about." or, "I don't know what to write about?") This way I had backup. I could say, "Why don't you write about one of your life experiences, from your nifty time line." While modeling what I wanted on their time lines, it came up that I was diagnosed with type one diabetes when I was in sixth grade.

Instantly the hands shot up and the looks of concern spread across the classroom. First hand, "Are you going to die." "Not if I take care of myself," I reassured him. Second hand, "Is it contagious?" "No, it's not." Alright, now I had a question. "How many of you know someone with diabetes?" About half the class raised their hands. "Okay, how many of you know what diabetes is?" A few students raised their hands, but one hand caught my attention more than the others. This hand shot straight up in the air, without any hesitation. Oh good, I thought, I have a safety net to call on. Wrong! I then proceed to point to her so she could give me her definition of diabetes. She spoke up with her clear confident voice, "It's when. . . your prostate stops working." I can feel my smile muscles twitching, fighting back the urge to laugh out loud I quickly turn on my serious teacher voice, "Actually I don't have a prostate, but you're close (trying to help her save face in front of the class). They both start with 'p', but it's when your pancreas stops working."

Can life get any more awkward and amusing then this? I submit that it cannot!