Contract Rather Than Constrict

This class has been opening my eyes to just how naive I really am. My "english" and the way I talk is the right way and the way everyone else talked was simply because they were from another town or country...or so I thought. It's safe to say that my eyes have been opened. They have been opened to the broad reality and question of "what is English exactly?". As I have battled with this question, I have found the answer:  There is no definitive answer to that question. I have come to the conclusion that there is no right or wrong. However, as I look in my own life, I write and carry on in classroom conversations so differently than if I am talking with my social group. I tend to "be on my best behavior" when it comes to  my school language but when I'm with my friends, "totes my goats" is a term in the dictionary. What I'm saying is in a high school setting, I know that will be true of my students. I know that they are going to be restricted when it comes to school but rather than feel constrained and confined to the "proper english" I must expand and contract my understanding of english and what I expect of my high school students. It is not just my students that need to be "fixed" but, instead, it's myself as well.