The other day I had quite a few students in detention. I was pretty tired of their antics and decided to make detention more detention-y. I asked them if they wanted to listen to some music. They all said yes, so I played the Chicken Dance. On repeat.

The first time, they all liked it. A few of them started doing the motions until I reminded them they were in detention.

The second time, they laughed. One of them remarked that it was a really long song.

The third time, all their smiles dropped. A look of dreadful realization grew across their faces. I looked directly at them and flashed a classic super villain grin.

And so it played. For the next 30 minutes.*

I sat and graded papers, joyfully whistling along while the students cringed in their seats until I signaled the end of detention, wherein they flew from their chairs out of my room and down the hallway…

The next day in class, one of the students started to act out. I turned to him and with the same evil grin, clucked my hands and flapped my arms. Immediately, he stopped talking and sat up in his seat.

*Although I constantly teach my students not to use sentence fragments, I secretly love to use them myself. Mostly for effect.