There's a light in the tunnel

The grades are awful and we can't get the kids to take it seriously. But even with that wretched news, a student who has given me nothing but grief (telling me pointedly which teachers he liked - my name was not among them) handed me Mardi Gras beads today. I laughed and gave them back and told him that the act of giving me the beads meant so much more to me than the beads would, so he should enjoy the beads and I would enjoy the memory.,