Some years ago, I was subbing in a 7th grade math class at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Academic Middle School, San Francisco. I told a boy who was talking and fiddling with the window shades next to his desk to be quiet and repeated my admonition several times. Suddenly, I became frustrated and shouted at him to shut up.
I got nervous for a few seconds, but nothing happened. Both of us knew that the principal was very strict. If the boy had repeated my words to the principal, I can imagine their conversation.
“What were you doing?” the principal asks.
“Talking,” the boy answers.
“What else?”
“Nothing.”
“Get out of my office.”