"This is I" - Teaching grammar in the elevator

As many of you know, I teach a couple classes part time at LDS Business College, which is located in a 10-story building downtown. Three elevators move tirelessly up and down those floors all day long, transporting students to and from their classes. I'm not sure what our total student population is, but I can tell you for sure that three elevators are not sufficient to accommodate it. During the busiest times of the day, first thing in the morning and then late in the afternoon, it's not uncommon to find students packed into those elevators like sardines. The chant is always, "Come on in; there's always room for one more!" Except there isn't. But they go in anyway.

Nope, there is not a separate elevator for teachers. One semester I decided to forgo the elevators altogether. I make a goal not to ride the elevator once during the whole semester, and OCD as I am, I accomplished that goal. It wasn't easy. Classrooms are on the 5th - 8th floors, with the library on floors 3 and 4, registration on 2, student support on 9, and administration on 10. That means my mailbox, along with our supply room and break room, is all the way up on 10. Every morning (the three days I teach), I climbed those ten floors to check my mail, make copies, etc. Then I climbed up and down among the 5th through 8th floors the rest of the morning.

Yeah, I decided not to make that goal the following semester, and back to the elevators I went. The worst part is when I'm stuck in the very back of the elevator, with tall people squished all around me. Can you spell "claustrophobia"? The elevator stops at every single floor, as more students pile in because "There's always room for one more."

Finally, my escape is in sight as the elevator approaches the 6th floor, where my first class is, and I announce for all to hear: "Sorry! This is I," meaning they will all have to move so I can get out.

"This is I"? one student asks. "Is that correct?"

I then proceed to give a brief lesson on Predicate Nominative, explaining why the correct form is "I" not "me" in this sentence, and the response from students is stellar:

"Really? That's amazing. I'm going to say it that way from now on. I'll never forget this. I will always get it right."

Music to this English teacher/grammar Nazi's ears.

"This is I" - Teaching grammar in the elevator.