Silly White Teacher

At the high school in which I am student teaching, black students are the majority and I am getting too accustomed to hearing their slang. One student in the class has the name KeadRIAN, but the black kids call him KeadRON. One day, the inevitable happened. I recorded what was said below:

Me: Keadrian. Have a seat please.
Keadrian: (has a seat and then when I am not looking gets up again).
Me: Keadron!
(all the black kids laugh)
Jasmine: she call you Kead-RON!
Latisha: Yeah she be talking black!
Me: (quietly) I meant Keadrian.
(they keep laughing)

In the same class we are working on basket weaving...

Me: Hm.. You need to weave your basket tighter, Jasmine
Keadrian: Look at how tight my basket is Miss Page.
Me: Wow, your basket is crazy tight!
(all the black kids laugh at me again)
Jasmine: She say yo basket is “craayzee tight” Keadron.
Latisha: Yeah, she one of us now.

Another basketry conversation:

Me (looking at a student’s basket): So why did you choose to weave a smiley face on your basket?
Jack: Because I’m a happy person I guess.
Me (when the same student starts walking aimlessly around the room): Have a seat.
Jack: Why do you have to enforce the rules?
Me: What would the world be like if no one ever enforced the rules?
Jack (looking dreamily off into the distance): Then I would have two smiley faces on my basket.